A CONTENTED IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 13 April 1911, Page 689

A CONTENTED IRELAND

At the St. Patrick’s Day sports in Hobart the Governor of Tasmania (Sir Harry Barron) was present, and while afternoon tea was being dispensed, Mr. M. M. Ryan, president of the Hobart branch of the Irish National League, in proposing the toast of ‘ Success to the day we celebrate,’ joined with that of ‘ His Majesty the King,’ and his representative in Tasmania, delivered a very patriotic and eloquent address, in the course of which, after alluding to the many changes for the better which had taken place in Ireland during recent years, be said ; —‘ But the crowning point of ,it all" was that they were within measurable distance of securing selfgovernment for Ireland. That would be of the greatest benefit to Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen, for as soon as it was achieved, the weak spot at the very heart of the Empire would become one of the strongest in its defence, and the granting of Home Rule would be the means of offering greater encouragement to that groat Republic of the West to come in and join the Mother Empire in a treaty for the mutual defence of the people of both nations. It was always his pleasure to associate the name of his late Majesty, King Edward VII. with their celebrations, for the reason, as he had said before, that the late King did all ho. possibly could to make it a success by ordering the shamrock and green to be worn in both army and navy, whilst he spent a good deal of money in presenting the national emblem to the Services. None regretted his death more than the Irish people. His broadmindedness and liberality had descended to his sou, and they had, for the first time, to couple with that toast the name of King George V. It was very pleasing to those of Irish birth and extraction to know that the liberal education bis Majesty had had was a good indication that justice would be done to all classes, and a great feature of the coming Coronation, towards which the eyes of the world would be turned, was that, amid the gorgeous ceremony attendant upon the occasion, not one word that would give the slightest offence to a single subject would be uttered by the King. Apart from that, they had every confidence that with his knowledge of the Australian colonies, as well as of other parts of the world, he would be a wise and good ruler. Referring to His Majesty’s representative, Mr. Ryan added that ,although he had joined all the representatives of His Majesty with the toast during the past 10 years at that annual celebration, he felt even greater pleasure in joining the names of Sir Harry Barron and Lady Barron on this occasion. His Excellency had travelled in all parts of the State and its dependencies in all weathers, and experienced the rough and smooth with the dauntless courage of an experienced officer of the greatest army in the world. He had made himself acquainted with the pastoral, agricultural, and mining industries of the State, as well as taken an active interest in the educational, philanthropic, and social activities in our midst; and in most of his work he bad been ably assisted by Lady Barron, who was unable to be present on account of a serious accident. He felt sure they would join him and his committee in the wish that her ladyship would soon be able to resume the duties which had given so much pleasure and satisfaction to the people. The toast was honored with cheers for the King, for Sir Harry Barron, and for Lady Barron, The Governor, responding in a speech punctuated with a good deal of humor, said he regretted more than ever, after what the president had said, Lady Barron’s accident. ‘ Lady Barron is an Irishman, as the Kerry recruit would say, and she could answer for this toast much better than I can. Last year I was away, and Lady Barron was here, and she told me afterwards,’ the Governor added, with a merry twinkle, ‘that she tasted Irish whiskey. (Laughter.) I have had tea to-morrow’s sun is not yet over the yardarm, so 1 have had tea.’ In his long service, he went on, he had had many dealings with Irishmen, and could tell many stories of them. He would not tell the stories, but be would say that of the many Irish soldiers that he had had under him, he had hardly ever had a had one. ‘I must not talk politics,’ the. Governor went on, but I often think what a pity it is that there should ever be any trouble between us all. We are all practically of the same stock; we all live pretty close together, and trouble does not take place between us. When we are in general trouble, then the Irishman sticks to us as we stick to him, and as we always stick together, and it has given me the greatest satisfaction in this State to find the intense good feeling which exists all round, not only between all races, but between the members of all the different religions.’ (Hear, hear.) It would be an awful thing to him to have to witness any disputes, and it was a matter of the greatest satisfaction to him to know that there was no such trouble in Tasmania.