Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 11, 25 March 1925, Page 47

Irish News

IRISH FREE STATE: ELECTION SUCCESSES.-AN IRISH PILGRIMAGE TO ROME.—IRELAND'S EXPERIENCE.—THE FREE STATE AND DIVORCE —THELANGUAGE QUESTION.—IRELAND'S INDUSTRIAL SOLVENCY. —THE BOUNDARY.

Mr. Cosgrave (says a message under date March 14, to the daily press) commenting on the Irish Free State Government's success in holding and winning seven out of nine seats at the by-elections, said significance lay in the fact that two constituencies for which Republicans had been returned in November had now returned Government candidates with majorities of over 10,000. He regarded the by-elections as a complete test, obviating the necessity for a General Election. The President stressed the fact that his Government had held office coincidently with a period of unexampled depression, for which it was blamed. Every act essential to the restoration of order was criticised, and every act of clemency was regarded as weakness, whereas it was the Government's consciousness of strength which enabled it to exercise generosity.

nature of the marriage bond. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the Cosgrave resolution. ha

In October his Grace the Archbishop of Cashel will lead a National Pilgrimage to Rome. On the outward journey the pilgrims will spend a day at Genoa, where they will visit the death place of O'Connell. His Holiness the Pope has granted the Apostolic Benediction to all who co-operate in making the expedition a success.

«#* Ireland is regarded as the country of greatest experience in reference to land problems and land law. The famous International Institute of Agriculture at Rome is constantly turning to Irish precedents for the solution of difficulties. The Reclamation Bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, in connection with the settlement of idle lands in the desert regions of western America, is at present inquiring into Irish land methods, as well as those of other European countries.

Re-marriage after divorce lias been declared illegal in the Irish Free State by the action of the Dail Eireahn to-day in adopting a resolution proposed by President Cosgrave. The resolution directs the Joint Committee on Standing Orders relative to Private Business to prepare a rule of procedure which will prevent the introduction of bills of divorce. President Cosgrave asserted that the Irish courts have never had the right of granting a divorce with permission to re-marry. Prior to this action of the Dail Eireann, the only method of obtaining a divorce in the Free State was through passage of a private bill. This method has now been removed. Professors Thrift and Alton of Trinity College opposed the Cosgrave motion on the ground that it infringed upon the liberty of conscience. Both, however, upheld the sacred

At a recent presentation of prizes at Rochelle Protestant School, Blackrock Road, Cork, the head mistress, Miss Christina. M. Bewley, showed her spleen against the Irish language (says the Dublin Leader). After all, Cork is in Ireland, and if the youngsters in Rochelle School object to learn the national language—it is the national language according to the Constitution—let themselves and their parents go over to England. A certain number of people of that class have gone out of the country, and some, we believe, are rather sorry they did so, but this country can get on without them. If Ireland managed to live since 1848, notwithstanding the continuous yearly exodus of so much, of her best native humanity, we have no fear for Ireland if all the "West Britons in the country bought single tickets to Holyhead or anywhere else. We are not driving them out, but if they go there is no reason why the mere Irish should turn pale. The lady wants an organised protest. Such a protest would please us quite as much as did the demonstration on Poppy day. We regret to feel. that our people so long.,accustomed to comparative slavery need a special stimulus to rouse them. An organised protest against the teaching of Irish would ho, in our opinion, the very first thing that could happen for the benefit of the teaching of Irish. Let Miss Bewley say her own say:—"Heads of schools are protesting, and have protested, against what can only be called tyranny. References have been made to it in sermons and other public utterances, but what is needed most is an organised protest on the part of those who are, after all, most concerned, namely, the parents of the children, if this danger, which very seriously threatens to lower the standard of our general education, and to.handicap our pupils in after life, is to be averted." We would welcome a protest by the "parents of the children" and Ave'' would be particularly interested in the names of the parents. We believe that there are many parents who would back up that protest secretlyand these not of any one creed or class either; we would he glad if they all signed their names to such a protest. Let the enemies of Irish show courage and come out in the open. Irish Ireland is rusty for a fight. Hit

The National Loan, which was down to 92 about a month ago, reached 94 during the week-end (writes the Dublin correspondent of the Edinburgh Catholic Herald). There could be no better index of the growing stability of the Saorstat and of the Government —which in this country are

practically the same thing. 'lt" is the very irony of things that such a state of confidence and such faith in the country should be the direct result of Mr. John Dillon's' pessimistic and doleful idlagone of a month ago.' In v answer to the defeatist speech of this modern Cassandra, the Government* exhibited to the world the National Balance Sheet. They put all their cards on the table. First of all, while Mr. John Dillon trumpeted to the world that the National Expenditure was £36,000,000, the Government showed that the actual payments to the end of the first week in January amount-' ed to only about £19,000,000, and their estimate for the remaining three months until the Ist April comes to a total of about £23,000,000. for the expenditure of the entire year. Irish investments abroad represent invisible exports of close on £15,000,000. Considering ;that so large a proportion of the expenditure I*of 1 *of the last three years is-non-recurrent and with the exception of the ten million Loan that it has been met out of revenue; that Ave have had two bad seasons and that this country has suffered from the general agricultural and industrial slump, any man not inspired by jaundiced hatred of the State cannot but admit that, compared with the financial position in other countries, ours is a most enviable one. We have more cattle, sheep, and pigs in. the country to-day than at any given time for seven centuries. These are our principal source of wealth after all.

f A contributor to the London Evening Standard, has- been reviving the Boundary question recently (says the Irish Weekly). Is it still hoped in some quarters that, the final decision of Mr. Justice Feetham and his colleagues, (if any) can be influenced by a perpetual .reiteration of the false statements and real facts, wild assertions and valid arguments which Have been, dinned into the public ear day in, day out, since the beginning of the year 1922? It is unlikely that the opinions of.even one individual in this part of Ireland can be altered by the most elaborate .newspaper articles or the most-eloquent speeches that can possibly be written, or started. Compilers of one-sided and .mostly, misleading- contributions like those published- in the London newspaper hope to make some impression on English public feeling. The last article in the Eventing Standard was avowedly a statement of the case from the Craigite viewpoint. Partition must be maintained because "two emotions struggle for expression" in "the heart of every Orangeman"; one is "fear of the Church of Rome"; the other "even more powerful"—is the conviction that "the Orangeman is the custodian of the British Empire." These are ancient delusions, 'i