Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 30 October 1913, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL. ■". Mr. T. P. Gill, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, in Dublin,' has had his salary increased from £ISOO to £IBOO a year. Mr. Gill was formerly a member of the Irish Party. At the time of the Parnell split he declined to take either side. The will left by a retired merchant of Armagh, Mr. John McClelland, whose estate in the United Kingdom /has been valued at £16,974, was entirely taken up with the appointment of executors and omitted to make any disposition of the property. On the motion of the Rev. M. Cullen, seconded by the Rev. D. Waldron, Kildare, Mr. P. Charleton, T.C., who is a Protestant, has been unanimously reelected chairman of the Co. Kildare. School Attendance Committee. In returning thanks Mr. Charleton said his election showed that no such thing as religious bigotry existed among them in the County Kildare. The Dublin Corporation, by a majority of two votes, have refused to accept the conditions laid down by Sir Hugh Lane regarding the erection of a Municipal Art Gallery. Sir Hugh, had offered to pay the architect's fee and to bestow a number of priceless pictures on the proposed art gallery if the Dublin Corporation would allow him to choose the architect and agree to the site being placed on a bridge to be built over the Liffey. The Corporation insisted that Irish architects should have opportunity of competing, and it declined to provide the site proposed. Messrs. T. Scanlan, J. O'Dowd, J. Fitzgibbon, and F. E. Meehan, M.P.'s, on September 7, addressed the largest Home Rule demonstration that has been witnessed in Sligo for many years past. Contingents with bands and banners were present from all parts of Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Mayo. About 10,000 men marched in the procession through the town. Splendid speeches were made by the members of Parliament present, and Mr. Wm. Fraser, Protestant Home Ruler, was also amongst the speakers. The Very Rev. Father Sebastian, C.P., rector of Mount Argus, Co. Dublin, presided at the final meeting of the lady stallholders and assistants in connection with the -great record-breaking Ovada bazaar held in May last. Mr. G. A. Moonan, honorary secretary, read the list of stall results, and it is interesting to note that the Lucky Tent (presided over by Madame de Navarro Mary Anderson) realised the highest total with £626 14s. There were three stalls credited with totals of over £3OO, and six had sums of £2OO and over. The Very Rev. Rector expressed his personal thanks and the thanks of the Passionist Community of Mount Argus to the ladies. The visit of Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., to Midleton, on Sunday, September 7, for the opening of a new Hibernian hall, was made the occasion of a magnificent Nationalist demonstration. The town was lavishly decorated with bunting and scrolls, and large contingents of Hibernians, United Irish Leaguers, and members of the Land and Labor Association, with bands and banners, representing Cork City and the whole eastern part of the county, attended. Four special trains were run from Cork, and one from Fermoy, in addition to the usual Sunday service. About 5000 people were present at the demonstration. THE TENEMENT DISASTER. In connection with the appalling tenement house disaster in Dublin, resulting in the loss of eight lives, and in the reduction of over 100 people to a homeless condition, the heroic and Christian work of the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers, who have worked wonders in the uplifting of the people in the Church street area, called forth the admiration of the citizens of all creeds. The two houses which collapsed were situated directly opposite the Father Mat Memorial Hall, a great 'social service centre in Dublin, and the good

Capuchins provided food, clothing, and lodging for the unfortunate people left desolate through, the awful disaster. ..' .j;-' -- '".".■; "■' ' , ■ -- . - ■ 4 -■•-.- -"--' THE PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES. The Dublin correspondent of the London Universe, writing of the departure of the Irish pilgrimage to Lourdes on September 8, said: —lmpressive scenes were witnessed at the points of departure— Greenore, and Rosslare—of the three sections of the first Irish National Pilgrimage to Lourdes. In an interview with the Rev. Father Lockhart (general secretary), I learned that nearly 2500 pilgrims were included in the party, which was thoroughly representative of every diocese in Ireland. Amongst the general body were 250 invalids—men, women, and children—from a variety of maladies. The Pilgrimage Committee are spending £3OOO- on this section alone, the greater number of the invalid parties having all expenses paid, for them out of a special fund. In case of accident or illness, eight doctors, twenty-two nurses, and ten ambulance attendants are travelling with the pilgrimage.. The contingent from the west, south, north-west,; and! south-east of Ireland (corresponding in the main with, the archdioceses of Armagh, Tuam, and Cashel) left byspecial boat from the North Wall, Dublin, and numbered 800, including over 30 * chaired ' invalids alone.. The scene at the quay-side as the invalid pilgrims were being carried aboad the Cambria was an affecting one,, and noble work was performed by the band of helpers; wearing distinctive armlets. As the boat sailed down the Litl'ey, the strains of the hymn, ' Star of the sea, could be heard by the large parties which lined the quays on each side of the river, and a scene of like impressiveness was witnessed on the departure of the Dublin diocesan party by the 9.20 boat. Amongst the members of the hierarchy accompanying the pilgrimage are his Eminence Cardinal Lo'gue, Most Rev. Dr Mcllugh (chairman and organiser), Most Rev. Dr. O'Dea, Most Rev. Dr. Higgins, and other prelates. One of the great events of the pilgrimage will be the unveiling ceremony in connection with the beautiful Irish, cross erected at Lourdes, a telegram having been received in Dublin on Saturday night from the Bishop of Derry (who had gone on to Lourdes before the general body) announcing that the cross had been safely erected that day. GREAT LABOR UPHEAVAL. , about a fortnight, Dublin has been the scene of labor troubles which are certain to result in suffering for many innocent persons, including women and little children (writes a Dublin correspondent under date September 9). Nearly five thousand people have thrown up their various employments and are now idle, and in some cases hungry. Many of them were fairly treated by their employers and simply struck in sympathy with their less fortunate fellows. They adopted what is now known as the sympathetic strike, which has the effect of paralysing trade and causing great public inconvenience. Under its rules, workers refuse to handle the goods of firms, no matter for what reason, at loggerheads with their employees. Shipping; companies, railway companies, carrying companies of every kind, and even the most generous business firms become affected and their work impeded. Into the principle underlying this form of warfare it is not necessary to enter, but it should be said that repressive measures, such as the authorities adopted at first, are no remedy for the unrest. With the gradual withdrawal of the overwhelming police force from the streets matters have quietened down and are now practically in a normal condition. The bringing of the Royal Irish Constabulary into the city on such an occasion is generally admitted to have been a grave' mistake. Their military training is no recommendation for' the work they were called upon to do. Moreover, there were soldiers at hand if they were required. But over twelve hundred Metropolitan policemen, for whom the citizens pay an exorbitant tax, should have been sufficient to preserve the peace. In response to the

demand of the Corporation, the Lord Lieutenant has announced that an inquiry into, the conduct of the police will be granted when order is restored, and the cases which are sub judice disposed of. This is only right, seeing that two unfortunate men lost their lives, and that many innocent citizens are suffering from wounds from which they may never completely recover. Both of the men who died in consequence of injuries sustained during the onslaught by the police were accorded public funerals, which were attended by thou-, sands of citizens who hate turmoil but desire that fair l play should be shown all round. Last Sunday's meeting in O'Connell street was one of the most orderly imaginable, although there were no police to keep the peace. It was in striking contrast to the scene enacted in the great thoroughfare on the previous Sunday, when innocent people received barbarous treatment without any provocation or justification whatever. LESS CRIMINAL EVERY YEAR. Ireland is, perhaps, the most crimeless country in the world, and it is becoming less criminal every year (says the Glasgow Observer). The official return of criminal statistics for 1912 has just been published, and the figures are very interesting. There is a decrease of 335 in the number of persons convicted of indictable offences in Ireland. The number of such offences in England was 11,340; in Ireland, 1465. Of those convicted in Ireland 778 came from Great Britain, 91 from the colonies, and 41 from foreign countries. The percentage of criminals of superior education is nil; of illiterates, only per cent. There is an increase in cases of drunkenness of 804, but there was a decrease in the previous year of 1503. Dublin shows 845 cases of drunkenness per 100,000 of the population the proportion for Belfast being 1342, and for Derry 2388. In 1912 drunkenness constituted 37i of the criminal cases in Ireland, as compared with*39£ per cent, in 1911. The Irish police force numbers 11,845; English, 51,203; Scottish, 5654. There are eight police for every indictable offence in Ireland; 4| in England, and 3in Scotland. The cost of the Irish police in 1912 was £1,500,000, an increase of £6932. As the Freeman's Journal says —' As crime decreases in Ireland the police force increases.' A FALSE MOVE. The Ulster Orangemen are the best supporters of Home Rule. No argument could tell more in favor of that cause than the action of numbers of the fraternity in converting the Ulster Association in London into an Orange lodge.. Judge Rentoul, himself a Unionist, in vain pointed out that they were doing a very bad job for Unionism.' In vain did Mr. Vesey Knox, K.C., a past president of the association, state in a letter which was read at the meeting that inasmuch as the fundamental rule of the society excluded politics the resolution would be contrary to law as well as to common sense and good manners. Vainly, too, did Mr. Stephen Gwynn, M.P., call attention to the absurdity of the resolution in declaring that the association shall be non-political, whilst proclaiming that the Unionist policy on Home Rule is part of its constitution. The Orange members proved that their intelligence and their sense of humor are on a level. The command had gone forth that members like the late Lord Russell of Killowen should be expelled, and the resolution was carried. What would be thought ' of the majority of an association, professing to represent an English county in London, if they proposed that only Conservatives would be admitted to membership? They would be regarded as men who were mentally defective. Doubtless the narrow-minded Orangemen of the Ulster Association imagine they have proved that all Ulster is Unionist