Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 15 June 1911, Page 1111

Irish News

ANTRlM—Treatment of Women in Belfast The Rev. Mr. Osborne, minister of Rutland square Presbyterian Church, Dublin, speaking under the auspices of the Irish Women’s Suffrage Association recently, , advised his audience ,to read an article in an English magazine oh the treatment of women in Belfast, It would make - their blood boil. The Lord Mayor of Belfast had the audacity to stand up in the House of Commons and to declare that there was no sweating of the workers in Belfast. He (Mr. Osborne) knew as a matter of facthe had it on very good authority— those statements which were made some ; time , ago iby Miss Margaret Irvine of the women workers in Belfast were true. Because the women workers of Belfast had not votes a woman had to stitch on a handkerchief or some piece of linen 138 dots with thread which she bought herself, and all she received for that was one penny, and in addition she had to lose the time occupied in going to and from the factory with her work/ ARMAGH—A Destructive Fire ' On Sunday evening, April 23, the fiercest and most destructive conflagration, considering the period it lasted, ever the town of Lurgan, broke out in the extensive premises occupied by Messrs. Little . and Campbell,. grocers and provision merchants, Church place. The outbreak apparently originated on the second storey of the building; and, in ' a very short time, aided by ■ a strong south-westerly gale, the front portion of the premises was entirely , enveloped in flames; and it was the general opinion that the three new shops in course of erection by Mr. John O’Hagan on the north side, and the premises occupied by Mrs. M'Cusker, victualler, on the south, as well as ' the post office and other buildings towards the ; north, would becomed involved. It was early recognised that Messrs. Little and Campbell's premises were inevitably doomed; and the brigade accordingly directed their efforts I towards confining the outbreak to the building in , which it had originated, and with such remarkable success that , none of the surrounding premises suffered damage to any serious extent. The damage is estimated at between £SOOO and £6OOO. CLARE—Elementary Agriculture The Clare County Committee of Agriculture has adopted a resolution, strongly expressing the opinion that in the National School the principles of Elementary Agriculture should be taught, if any widespread benefit is to result i from the efforts of the Department of Agriculture in Ire- , land. DUBLIN— Proportional Representation Lord Courtney, of Penwith, speaking in Dublin, on April 20, said the question was how they were to govern themselves. ,He came to Dublin not as a Unionist or as a Nationalist, Catholic or Protestantnot even as an Irishman. He came as a political thinker, with the message that . if;' they wanted to launch the Ireland of the future on-sure and stable lines, if they would have the Government so placed as to command the respect and confidence of all, and their action so governed that no complain should he raised, they should accept the principle of proportional' representation. ; ** GALWAYThe Teaching of Agriculture JilLCliT In each of the seven deaneries of the archdiocese of Tuam the following resolution, which has the warmest approval _of the Archbishop, Most Rev. Dr. Healy, and all Shie priests, has been adopted: ‘That we consider the teaching of agriculture on thoroughly practical and up-to-date lines to the youth of Ireland a question of the most urgent importance, and vitally necessary for the economic development of this country, particularly along the Western area. Our people are naturally tenacious of old customs, and wo regret to see that the most backward and primitive methods of cultivating the land are still in vogue, with the - lamentable result that the -agricultural industry, des- . tined to be the main industry of Ireland in the future, is making little or no progress.' We call upon the various boards concerned 1 to co-operate generously for the establishment of a better system. ~We are decidedly of opinion that the teaching of agriculture should be re-established in the National ■ Schools, particularly in the rural districts; and whilst the lands of the country are in the . hands of the Congested Districts ; Board We think that suitable plots should -be acquired in the vicinity of the schools, so that the teaching carried out should be not merely theoretical, but productive of really practical and permanent results.’ LIMERICKWhite Gloves for the Judge At the Spring Quarter Sessions at Omagh .(Co. Tyrone), Armagh City, Ratlikeale (Co. Limerick), and Wicklow, the County Court judges were presented with white gloves in token ofr blank criminal calendars/1 Judge Law Smith, at Rathkeale, remarked that this was the third pair of white gloves He had received ’on the ’ Sessions circuit —one at Limerick 4 City, one in the eastern division,' and ' this ’■'one in the' western cjivision, 1 .

MAYLand Purchase : -1 The last portion of ' the ‘ estate of the ' Earl of ' Lucan, who . was .the first landlord in Mayo to dispose of his property to the Congested Districts i; Board, has -just beep purchased by the : board, ?] with the 3 exception ? of > the parks surrounding Castlebar, , which are being retained by Lord Lucan with the intention of dividing them among the' town tenants of Castlebar when the town comes to : be purchased/ Secondary Education Starved —h-h pm-3 ' The new intermediate school, Castlebar, ' was recently the/ scene of a very interesting function/ : when Father McHugh, P.P., Crossboyne, who had been in the United States/collecting funds -for the: institution, was presented with- an address by the professors and . students. In replying, the rev. gentleman paid a warm tribute of praise to the generosity of the exiled sons of Erin, and haded;, with delight the fact that the new Intermediate School was to be conducted by the best and most ' successful educators in the English-speaking world— Christian : Brothers. The Intermediate education system, he, said,"Was in a chaotic condition. P The Treasury provided x no money for the erection or the equipment of-P such schools as .that: f: And what was worse, there was ; no provision for the training, .of a professional, body ; of intermediate teachers—a v/ matter so essential in any educational system. In fact, the ordinary observer of their education ah needs "• could not fail to see that secondary education should be placed on as firm a basis at least as their primary system. Let them ' hope that the Government that granted the,charter of a National University would speedily remove the obstacles ■ on:,, the only road that led to that institution. . H . | i % The Settlement of the Land Question ' n Most Rev. Dr. Healy, Archbishop of Tuam, during a Confirmation visitation at ■ Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, in the course of -his| address to the people, said ; that every other matter in the Irish political world is subsidiary to the settlement of the land question and the dividing up of the land amongst those who will till it; there could be no happiness or prosperity in Ireland until this chapge is effected. The sooner landlords; and tenants came to just terms the better for both, as the .matter; was easier of settlement now than it would 1 be ; as time went on. His Grace especially denounced outrages as a means of forcing settlements. % , - ** MEAIH— Veteran Priest -I:, The announcement of the death of the Rev. John Rooney, Drumconrath, Ardee, who has passed - away at the age of eighty-four, has caused , great regret throughout the diocese of Meath, where he was respected by - all classes. Father Rooney; who was-for twenty-five years in charge of Drumconrath parish, never recovered/ from the effects of an illness with which he ..was stricken- down last October. Nevertheless he discharged the duties of his sacred calling until the last. P Although he took no.part in public life, the National movement had at all times his sympathy and practical support., WEXFORD—Death of an Editor The death of: Mr. .Simon McGuire, editor, of the Wexford Free Press, has caused widespread regret not alone in journalistic circles,, but amongst , a large number of other acquaintances. Mr. McGuire, - who was one of the most popular pressmen in Ireland, possessed a charming and amiable personality. He was a journalist of r rare ability and a stout fighter for the r Nationalist cause. ' McGuire who . was the eldest son of Captain Hugh McGuire, one time Mayor of Wexford, had been, associated with the Free Press since its foundation in 1888, with ’ an ! interval of a year, during which he was attached to the editorial staff of the National Press in Dublin.. His popularity and the respect in which he was held were striking' tributes to his character and courtesy. The largest and most prepresentative_ funeral cortege seen in Wexford for many years accompanied his remains to the family burial ground. New Church at Enniscorthy Enniscorthy is soon, to have a new church- ,The present church was built by the late 'Richard Devereux, I but is now much too small for the needs of the parishioners Accordingly, Father Rosritdr/ Superior of the ; House of Missions, petitioned the; Bishop; for permission to' build a new church/ and his Lordship has consented to sanction the commencement of: building operations as soon as there is a response to the appeal for funds. . The new Church will be built on the Templeshahnoh side of the town. 1 - GENERAL The Closing of Prisons - L } , r ’-iMr. . Birre * l, Chief • Secretary, informed; Mr. Nannetti, M l ~ that five prisons, six .minor prisons, ten bridewells, and one lock-up have been closed in Ireland since the appointment of the present Chairman of General Prisons Board in 1895,. . T > .... The Condition of Primary Education < ; t . Many matters affecting the ; condition’of ! primary 'education were discussed at the annual congress-of the Irish National teachers, which was held at Bangor. That Irish schoolmasters are inadequately paid , is now generally, admitted (remarks a Dublin ‘correspondent). The salaries they receive : are considerably less - than - those 1 ' paid-'' for doing similar work in Great Britain. ; Why this should be so can-

not be explained, for they do their duty as well as their brethren across the Channel. '‘ - The ; miserable pensions ; they ; - are given after having spent their -lives in the onerous work of instructing the young Kare nothing short of a scandal •; The policeman or the ordinary {soldier„■ after: a quarter, of {a;; century’s service, obtains at least;sufficient to: eke-out {an existence on. 1 C The - unfortunate?- teacher after a similar v period of arduous labor {is entitled ;-to sixpence per day; if invalided through ;■ ill-health. That the instructor of youth-'-deserves to be treated as well as a. constable or . a soldier ; can scarcely ;be denied. Yet the i fact remains, to the : discredit of the Treasury, that; he is not. . { The parsimony ; of the Treasury in refusing grants urgently required for - replacing by new buildings the wretched school {structures {; existing in many parts of the - country - is lamentable. Teachers and children are compelled to spend many , hours . daily in the fetid atmosphere of badly ventilated and insanitary buildings. Protests against {this state, of affairs have>. been made again and again by the ; clerical managers 'of ; various deaneries. The Irish members of Parliament have- 1 been requested to bring pressure to bear on the Govern-: ment in this matter in the interests of'primary'-education ;• in Ireland, : That they will do their part is certain. Some . hope is afforded by Mr. Birrell’s answer to Mr. Dillon in:. the House of Commons., ’ - What was done in South Africa Mr. John Dillon, in the course of a speech in the debate in Committee on the Parliament Bill, said the Unionist members used a great deal of strong language about the ‘ ruin and destruction ’ in Ireland, and ‘ disorder in Ulster ’ as a result of the passing of the Parliament- Bill. He asked hon. gentlemen to consider the wisdom of this policy. Let them go back to the - debates on South Africa four years ago. Where would we be to-day if the House of Lords had vetoed the South African Constitution question? The Liberal Government of 1906 under the leadership of Henry Campbell-Bannerman, would not have been able to give liberty to South Africa had it not been for .the fortunate discovery that it could be given by Royal proclamation, -though that could not be done in the case of Ireland. If they had been blocked in the case of South Africa - as they were in the case of Ireland, they would have South Africa to-day in a very different condition, and when the Coronation came South Africa, like Ireland, would be absent; they would have had no Minister present at the Coronation entitled to speak for the people of South Africa, as they would have in fact. In the debates on the South African Constitution leaders of the Opposition had spoken, as they did in connection with Home Rule, about the horrors and evils that would fall upon the loyalist minority at the hands of the majority. , The. Het Volk was then described in very much the same terms as were applied ' now to.the Ancient Order oUHibernians. In the entire history of England she never did anything so successful and so glorious-as -granting the constitution to South Africa. ' -The only real road to union was conciliation and equality. Last week the Leader of the Opposition ~had charged the Government with being in the power of the Nationalists, who care neither for you nor for your Constitution.’ He told the Leader of the Opposition, however, that his words were false. It was not true to say that they and those who went before them cared neither for the people of England nor the Constitution. What they did say was that ‘we have never enjoyed their. Constitution.’ In spite of all he had suffered in the past under it he was one of the greatest admirers now living of the British Constitution, • and he wanted to bring its blessings to Ireland, where they had never been enjoyed, and where the people liver under an absolutism, and had no voice in the government of their: country. It was a cruel and unjust reproach, for from the days of Daniel O’Connell down to the days of Parnell and Redmond the Nationalist Party had always been the friends and champions of the working masses of England. He told Mr. Balfour that while it was perfectly true that he and his friends were the enemies of the House of Lords and of reaction in this country, they were, and always had been, and he trusted would be in a greater measure in the future, the friends and champions,of the: British democracy.