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ANTI-LAND LEAGUE MEETING.
A large audience assembled at the Town
llall on Tuesday evening, February 13, to hear
an "Anti-Land League Lecture" delivcrod
by Mr. E. Riley for the purpose of refuting
toe arguments given by Mr. J. E. Redmond,
M.P., who lectured in the same place on the
previous Friday on the " Irish Rational
League." The'Hon. G. W. Cotton, M.L.C.,
presided.
The said he had been asked
that morning to preside at that meeting,
and he was glad to have the opportunity of
doing so, because the other evening he
attended to hear the views of a gentleman
who was well-known and was supposed to be
well posted up in the affairs of Ireland, and
the relation or want of relation, whatever
they might call it, between that country and
the British Parliament. While he was much
pleased with the eloquence of Mr. Redmond
he had hoped to have found something which
would give a promise of a modus viemdi by
which the Irish and the English would be
more amicably and permanently consolidated.
He must say, however, that when the charm
of Mr. Redmond's oratory had passed
away he had felt with Mr. Gladstone that
it was heartbreaking to find that there
was so little hope with such men and the
party they represented of living on peace
able and friendly terms with that great Go
vernment of which those present delighted to
call themselves loyal subjects. (Applause.)
It had been denied that the object of the
Irish Rational League was the dismemberment
of the empire, and he had listened to hear the
unity of the empire spoken of as the base
rock upon which the solution of the Irish
difficulty was embedded ; but no one who
went away from tho meeting could be satis
fied that Mr. Redmond -was standing on such
a bedrock. Did Mr. Redmond, sen., or Mr,
Redmond, jun., believe that it was a thing
utterly impossible that the golden link of the
Crown which united Ireland to England
should never be broken. (Applause.) He
was glad to have an opportunity of standing
there that night ana vindicating the loyalty
of every man, be he English, Irish, or Scotch,
to the Crown of Great Britain and Ireland.
(Applause.) Of Mr. Riley he had but a
slight acquaintance, but what he did know of
him was highly favorable, and although he
could ill afford the time he would, should it
be necessary, in order to learn a modus eiosndf
for the Irish question, [consent to occupy that
honorable position for the week. (Applause.)
He was prepared to do anything to rectify
the wrongs of Ireland. ("What about the
Real Property Act':" and laughter.) Irishmen
he held to be his fellow-countrymen—(ap
plause)— and he wished them to be as con
tented under that wholesome sway of the
British sceptre as he was -willing to doanything
that within him lay to promote such a desir
able object. It was conceded even by the
Americans themselves that England was the "
freest country in the world, and using an
adjective be noticed in the press that day he
would say that England was the freest coun
try in the universal world—(applause)—and
he asked that night, and asked wherever he
was, whether it was not possible that this
freedom and this prosperity—the result ot
freedom — could be infused or transfused
into Ireland as well as England. He re
membered full well when he was young,
in the year 18-11, seeing a cartoon
in Punch representing Nicholas of Russia
and Queen Victoria conferring with maps
of Ireland and Poland side by side.
The Queen, very sad, was saying to
Nicholas, "Brother, brother, wc are both iu
the wrong." lie asked them now how many
tears had wrung the royal and womanly heart
of the Queen since then, as she had felt the
wrongs, both real and imaginary, under
which that " First _ flower of" the earth and
first gem of the sea-," over which she reigned
had writhed. (Applause.) The story of the
sticks was true to-day. United they were
strong, but divided they were weak, and what
was more deplorable than tlia-t the weaker
rod, as Ireland would be by herself, should
be left in her weakness by a division. Ho
bad come there that [night to hear and be
instructed, and without further preamble he
would introduce Mr. Riley to the meeting.
(Applause).
Mil. Rix;-,y, who was flatteringly received,
said he felt like the ass which donned the
lion's skin—(laughter)—and he was afraid that
when he began to bray all the allusion as to
his being a- lion would vanish. (Laughter).
Though lie was doubtless incompetent to -deal
with the subject in hand, he had been actuated
by a feeling altogether in tho interests of
Ireland and the Irish people. It had
been said that he had been sent out
to the colonies by the party who
opposed Mr. Redmond to advocate their
cause. Such a statement was hardly worthy
of contradiction, for it was not likely that so
young and inexperienced a man would be
chosen to oppose so able an orator as Mr.
Redmond. Then it was said that he intended
to follow Mr. Redmond about from town to
town lecturing two or three days after him,
the originators of this statement imagining
that this would be done with a view of enrich
ing himself. Nothing was further from his
intention, but liis desire was to denounce
the Land League, which he did from
the beginning, and to contradict state
ments made by Mr. J. E. Redmond
and his brother. He had a perfect right to
speak on this subject apart from his warmth
of (feeling, for he was an Irishman and a
Catholic. He did not oppose Mr. Redmond
individually, but he was there to contradict
and expose the doctrines of the Land League.
He had listened very carefully to Mr. Red
mond's able address, and never was his atten
tion so thoroughly rivetted on one subject,
nor so thoroughly commanded as it was on
that occasion. In his opinion, however, the
question was not dealt with impartially,
and he hoped he would be able to place
the real facts before that meeting in a
totally dispassionate and disinterested light.
He would mention that many things were
omitted by Mr. Redmond, M.P., when he
addressed a meeting at the Town Hall on the
picvious Friday—things which if they had
been mentioned would have resulted in a
large number of his hearers leaving the hall
possessed of far less favorable views concern
ing the National Irish League; and he would
assure tnera teat several or i\ir. itsatnona a
facts and statistics were grossly exaggerated
and highly colored. (Applause.) He would
ask all Irishmen present and colonists gene
rally what benefit could possibly accrue to
this colony by the pouring of. seditious doc
trines in her ears. (Applause.) Tne result
must be disastrous to the country. He
would ask colonists whether their homes
in Australia were happy homes or not?
They were happy. And why were they
happy ? Why did not his hearers see their
daughters and sisters exposed to outrage, and
their brothers to assault ? Why were their
houses not unroofed, and their helpless
children turned into the wilderness to starve?
The reason was this—Because they were not
infested with political agitation. (Loud
cheers.) What was the object of the colonists
of Houth Australia in coming to this country?
They came to live in peace and quietude; and
did not desire to be followed by political
agitato: s belonging to a league formed
against the British Government. (A
voice—" 2>o.") Was it to supply such men
with money to carry out this doctrine
of disloyalty that colonists had labored from
sunrise to sunset ? He thought not. He
rather believed that they had exiled them
selves from their native land in order that
they might live in peace and plenty, and see
their families grow up around them as God
fearing and law-abiding men and women.
Where did they suppose the money sought to
he collected for the league would go to? How
much of it did they suppose would be spent
in alleviating the immediate distress prevalent
in Ireland ? (Cheers.) And bow much did
they suppose would go towards defraying the
expenses of the emissaries sent to the
uttermost parts of the earth — to every
part of the globe where Irishmen dwelt
to stir up their feelings against England?
How much did they suppose would be spent
in the purchase of arms to be placed in the
hands of Erin's inhabitants to enable them to
riot, since it was by the sword, according to
Mr. W. Redmond, Ireland's grievances were
to be dispelled. Did they wish to subscribe
to the support of a body of men whose sole
object was self-aggrandisement—who when
they had attained their object would turn
upon them? Did they wish to see two coun
tries er.g3ged in civil warfare? He defied
contradiction when he stated that if this
political agitation should be allowed in our
midst, our homes and our hearths would
he rendered as miserable as those in
Ireland. With regard to charges brought
by Mr. Redmond against the Irish constabu
lary, he did not deny that some lives had been
lost in the riots, but they might be attributed
solely to the instigation of the leaders of this
league. He refuted as a foul calumny the
charge brought against the so-called mur
derers of the Irish girl—Ellen McDonough.
(Applause.) It was well known that the
police in Ireland invariably acted with ex
emplary forbearance in performing their
duties, even in the face of great provo
cation. Perhaps it was not generally
known what an Irish mob was like.
The mobs was {generally half armed, and
sometimes composed principally of women
who were viragoes. This woman said to be
sixteen might have been six feet high, and
as strong as any in the crowd; and she might
have been armed with a shillela'n in one
band, and a bunch of stones in the other.
Was it therefore surprising that after the
constabulary had withstood aggravation they
should have been ordered to charge; and
haviBg been told to charge was it wonderful
that life should have been iost. The leaders
of the league were responsible for the
outrages in Ireland. (Applause.) He
was well aware that these outrages had
been denounced by Parnell and "viichasl
Davitt and other such bright1 stars, but
we wanted something more than de
nouncement ; we wanted them to de
nounce them in a more practical way. If
Mr. Parnell had openly declared to the
numerous audiences he had addressed that
unless these crimes ceased he and his col
leagues would withdraw from the leadership
the evil would have ceased. He (the speaker)
was well acquainted with the Irish character.
He knew hi3 opinions and expressions con
cerning the league were strong, but had
that league ever neglected a single
opportunity of running down the British
Government? It had never missed an oppor
tunity of defaming it, and attempting to
place it in as vile a light as it possibly could
in the eyes of the public; andatthe same time
they appealed to the Government for support,
and for funds for the relief of the distressed
Irish, and had not been refused, as Mr. Glad
stone's action had shown. It wa3 a curious
fact that the leaders of the league accused
the Government of neglecting Irish affairs;
and yet Irish matters had engaged the at
tention of the British Ministry for the
last three years. These men seemed to forget,
or at any rate they entirely ignored the bene
fits which had been conferred by England on
the sister island; they said nothing of the
sums subscribed by Her Majesty the Queen,
and the large sums subscribed by those very
people whom they run down. They were also
oblivious of the relief afforded by this very
colony. Was it likely thai any right-thinking
man in Australia would be prepared to place
moneyinthehands of these men who had made
such unjust, such uncalled for, such libellous
statements against the British Govern
ment? As to the question of the national
isation of land, he would ask all land
owners present whether they would ap
prove of the system and allow it to be
applied to themselves. Those who owned
land held it by right of purchase or by right
of inheritance. No sensible man could up
hold or agree with the theory that because a
man had paid rent for a number of years that
man by virtue of those payments tendered in
return for the use of land was entitled to
claim the ownership of the land. Such a system
was opposed to logic—it was on the face of it
absolutelyabsurd. (Applause.) Whenimprove
ments were made by a-tenant on land rented
from another, it was but right that the tenant's
rights to those improvements should become
exhausted by lapse of time. And it should
be remembered that something was due to
the capital and labor of the owner as repre
sented by the ownership of the property.
When the tenant had reaped the results of
improvements for a time long enough to
enable him to repay himself for liis labor and
realise profit it was time for the owner to
participate in the profit of his land. He was
" entitled to it, because that profit was largely
brought about by his expenditure. The
mere payment of rent, however long it might
be paid, could never entitle the occupier to
claim the land as his own. If he hired land
which was not only owned, but which had
also been improved by another man, then
the rent he might pay for the right of culti
vation could never by any lapse of time en
title him to any right whatever to the selling
value of that land. If by the mere payment
of rent he could be entitled to possess himself
of the selling value of the capital invested in
the land and the improvements on the land,
then on the same principle tliemerecontinuous
payment of rent would entitle him to possess
that other portion of the capital invested in
the ownership of the soil. (Applause.) That
would be a new and very cheap way of pur
chasing land. _ (Laughter.) This seemed,
however, to be in strict accordance with the
advice given by a land leaguer to a tenant in
1SS0, when he told him that he had paid with
his rent the capital value of his farm over
and over again and thus might fairly claim
it for his own. If that were the view of the
Land League he would have nothing
more io say on the question. (Applause.)
It was absurd on the face of it, and
yet that was the doctrine of the
league. Hack-renting had been freely
spoken of, and although this was doubtless a
grievance the remedy was easy. The ma jority
of Irish landlords were, he maintained, good
landlords—(applause)—in spite of what the
members of the Land League said. He
could tell them the names of many good
landlords to whom their tenants had to pav
their rents privately, not daring to do so in a,
public manner, being threatened with boy
cotting. The Commission appointed to
enquire into the subject of rack-renting,
except in the rarest cases, totally
failed to produce any instances of in
crements of rent being - charged upon
undue notices. In ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred in which allegations as to rack
renting were made the facts as stated by
witnesses did not tend to prove anything of
which the commission could lay hold. (Ap
plause. ) Then the landlords were accused of
evicting their tenants in an unmerciful way.
He could state on better authority than his
own that no appreciable number of evictions
had taken place in Ireland since the Com
pensation Act which in the slightest re
ason could be termed capricious. They had
almost always arisen from the non-payment
of rent, which was due to the fault of the
tenant. Those present knew to whom it was
due, The incapacity of the tenant to culti
vate the soil to any advantage to himself, the
owner, or the State, or because removals had
to be made in order to improve the holdings.
(Hear, hear.) A great many uneducated
people were in the habit of saying that the
Land League agitation was a question of
Protestants against Catholics, or English
against Irish. Nothing could be further
from the truth—and there was no earthly
foundation for such an opinion. He who
denouncedtheLandLeaguewas aCatholic and
an Irishman. (Applause.) Parnell, the leader
of the league, was a Protestant. Archbishop
McCabe, of Dublin, had openly, frankly, anil
persistently denounced the league and all
its work from first to last, without at the same
time concealing his opinion that there was
much need or reform in the government of
Ireland. The archbishop had never missed
an opportunity of speaking out plainly on ail
occasions, in pastorals, sermons, speeches,
and letters, and impressing on his flock those
lessons of dutiful loyalty to their Queen and
obedience to the law which it became his
high position to inculcate. (Applause.) The
Pope, moreover, had marked in a public
and distinct manner his entire approval
of Archbishop McCahe's proceedings by
raising him to the highest position to which
he could be raised in the Roman Catholic
Church. The question was therefore not
between Catholics and Protestants and
English and Irish, but between the rights of
those who had property, and the desires of
those who had none. (Applause.) It was a
significant fact, which would no doubt give,
rise to a considerable amount of conjecture
as to its motives, that Parnell had lodged a
petition in the Laud Court for the
sale of all his property in Ireland. As
those present would know, Mr, Parnell
owned nearly .3,000 acres of property
which was encumbered to the amount
of £13,000, and it was no doubt a surprising
fact that he should put this property up for
sale. There were many reasons given for
this action. It had been remarked as strange
that one' who had so large pn interest in pro
perly should do so -much to depreciate its
value without apparently receiving any com
pensation for the loss, and that the land
should be brought into the market at a time
when land was at so low a value. (Hear,
hear.) The reason land was at so low a
value, and property almost worthless, was
entirely and totally owing to thcleaders of the
Land League. (Applause.) Fewmen were sup
posed to part with their visible means of
subsistence without some equivalent*^ recom •
pense. Did those present think Mr. Parnell
was aware of some' more prosperous pursuit
than thatof a landowner—by the way; though,
that was not a prosperous pursuit—or did he
fear the total wreck of landed property in
Ireland, and want to save what he could V
Did he want to extract himself from the diffi
cult and anomalous position in which he was
placed, so that he might be entirely discon
nected with landlordism, and so be free to
take any line of action he might think
fit in a new and more revolutionary agita
tion '! It was impossible to conjecture
rightly on this point. They might have
their opinions, and time would show whether
they were or were not well founded. There
were several statements in Mr. Redmond's
speech which would admit of contradiction.
He maintained in opposition to Mr. Redmond
that only a small percentage of the landlords
in Ireland had acquired _ properties in
the bloodthirsty manner which had been
spoken of« More than two-thirds of them
were of old Irish families who had lived in
the place since it was a nation. It was con
tended that the Irish were not well repre
sented in Parliament, but there were
members for every county, and their
opinions were listened to in the House of
Commons. Mr. Redmond had omitted to tell
them o£ the " Coiner boys," who were a body of
radians frequenting the streets of every
populous town or village, who listened to
every possible agitation, and went about the
country committing depredations. The Irish
people were warm, impulsive, and easily led.
They could be led by a thread of silk.
(Laughter.) Mr. Eorster had been most un
justly dealt with the other night. He was a
true loyal British subject, and whatever he
had undertakenhe had always carried through
to the best of his ability. It was quite pos
sible that his name was execrated in Ireland
amongst the class to which Mr. Redmond
alluded, hut his name was highly respected
and esteemed by every loyal Irishman. (Ap
plause.) He had the pluck and determination
when his vicus were not agreed to by his col
leagues to retire from the Ministry, and not
to be dismissed. (Applause.) There were
doubtless other points in Mr. Redmond's ad
dress which might he contradicted were he
able to do so, but he had had a very short
time in which to make any preparation for
his speech. The Land League had caused
discoid anddissension where formerly reigned
nothing hut harmony and quiet.' Mr. Riley,'
after*thanking hm audience for their atten
tion, resumed his seat amid applause.
Mr. R. A. White said he totally disapf
proved of Mr. Redmond's proceedings and o
the Irish National League. The delegate of
the league (Mr. Redmond, M.P.) and his
brother had evidently come to Australia to
extract money from the pockets of the ser
vant girls. It appeared to him that the
reason of their visit was that they had
drained the pockets of the domestics in
America and England, and finding the game
"played out" in those countries had come
hither. (Laughter and applause.) He was
an Englishman, and regarded the subject in
a calm and dispassionate manner; and while
admiring the Irish character, and sympa
thising with the distressed poor of Ireland,
he strongly objected to the proceedings of
the agitating leaders of the league.
Mr. E. Riley then proposed the following
resolution :—" That this meeting having
heard the statements of Mr, Riley, wishes to
record its want of confidence in the proposed
National Land League, and will withhold its
countenance and support from that organisa
tion until its objects are more cleaidy defined,
and some guarantee is given that the money
collected will be applied to the furtherance of
some legitimate object."
Mr. J. HAYr seconded the resolution.
Mr. W. Vjxleneuve Smith, in support
ing the resolution, said he had the greatest
regard for the Irish nation, for where British
troops had won their most splendid vic
tories, Irish soldiers had ever been in the van.
But they must not allow the gift of speech
with which Mr. J. E. Redmond was so
largely endowed, and with which they had
all been charmed in that hall on the previous
Friday, to render it possible for a man to
make fools of them. (Applause.) The most
pathetic portion of the speech made by
the Irish National League delegate was
that concerning the treatment of Ellen
McDonough; but was it right, or just, or
fair, supposing the story were true, to lay it
to the charge of the British Government ?
When he listened to Mr. Redmond's address
he felt ashamed to think that a man with such
talents as he appeared to possess could justify
and excuse the murderswhieh had taken place.
Indirectly Mr. Redmond had excused the
crimes. A man—orator or not—who could
do that was not worthy of a moment's con
sideration. (Applause.)
The resolution was then put, and carried
almost unanimously, two or three dissentients
voting against it,
Mr. W. V. Smith then moved a vote of
thanks to the lecturer, referring in terms of
praise to his well-directed efforts.
Mr. W. S'JTRLiKg seconded the motion,
which on being put was carried by accla
mation.
Mr. Rilf.y having suitably replied, a vote
of thanks was accorded the chairman, and
the proceedings, which were orderly through
out, were terminated by a call for cheers for
the Queen and the Prince of Wales, which
was enthusiastically responded to.
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