THE IRISH DELEGATES.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 375, 9 November 1889, Page 2

THE IRISH DELEGATES.

MR DILLON’S VISIT TO GISBORNE.

liisiBDiATELT it became known that Gisborne was included in the places to be visited by the Irish Delegates great interest was evinced. Of course Irishmen and Home Raters were jubilant, and at times somewhat exubarant in the expression of their gladness, but up to time of the arrival of Mr Dillon, the leader of the Irish mission, to whom the-visit to Gis borne had been assigned, nothing had hap pened to which any one could object. Of course there was a lot of " argufying," but this was all carried on in a friendly spirit and tha best of tempers, To others as well as those mentioned the visit was not without its interest; partly from ourioshy and partly from a desire to hear ona who was a member of the Imperial Parliament as well as the Irish Nationlist party, Yeetorday morning the interest had increased. The Committee of Reception were busy holding meetings and arranging for the reception. Bunting was stretched from the Gisborne Hotel to the Catholic Church, and one jubilant individual got so excited that he hoisted a flag upside down and did not know of it until he was subsequently informed. THR ARRIVAL OF MR DILLON. At twenty-five minutes to one the Tarawera arrived in the Bay. Immediately afterwards Messrs Rees, Crawford, and Gannon proceeded on the launch Snark, at the breakwater pier, Mr Gannon being the last to arrive. Besides the Committee there were not above half a dozen other persons on board and the pier was almost deserted.. Mr Dougherty decided to delay the return of the Snark for a short time in order to get the benefit of the inborning tide and bring Mr Dillon right up to the wharf. At the wharf the scene was a busy one. The schooner Waiapu was profusely decorated with banting, while here and there, from the other vessels and from the wharf, flags floated in the brew. By the time the launch reached the wharf a large crowd had collected, many country people being included in the number. The Home Rule question was being debated at all quarters, and the old arguments were threshed out over and over again by different groups of individuals, during their long dalay at the wharf. At last the launch arrived, there being nothing out of the ordinary course of things, beyond the crowd, to mark the

nwiavTios of the delbcats. He wae directed to Mr Stevenson’s brougham and, accompanied by the throe gentlemen wbo went out to meet him, he was driven up as far us the post office, where a large crowd soon collected, and ths Mayor was ia readiness with the address that was to ha presented. Three cheers were given for Mr Dillon, as he dismounted from the vehicle. The Mayor read the address (already published), and then handed tha engrossed copy to Mr Dillon, who made a brief reply. He expressed his pleasure at tha reception accorded him, and said that the cause they were advocating was a just one, and he felt sure that they would be well received iu a constitutionally governed colony like New Zealand. Mr Dillon and party were then driven to the Masonic Hotel, where a halt was made for a few minutes, and then a large party usoompanied Mr Dillon for

A drive in ths country, Messrs Stevenson’s an i Tansley’s two largo brakes having been secured for the occasion. At Makaraka a halt was made, whern the Delegate inspected the natural gas which was burning there and at the time of tho visit was boing utilised to boil a saucepan containing pork and cabbage. Here Mr Crawford brought out his camera and took three negatives of the party. The brakes then turned down the Matawhero Road towards Whe.kafz’, where the party again alighted and inspected the Maori Church, which is to be opened in February next, and the carvings in which seemed to interest Mr Dillon very much.. While the party Where in the church Hono Ruru came in, and shaking hands with Mr Dillon, expressed his pleasure at having a visit from a member [of the Imperial Parliament, and invited the delegate to come and see his carved house, where some natives were waiting to welcome him. Mr Dillon accepted Hone’s invitation, and walked to the place indicated. Hone, who had taken a short out, was ready to receive his guest, and to tha great amtisement of the bystanders mistook Mr S. McLernon for the Irish Delegate, and requested Mr Rees to translate what he said to the supposed M.P. Inside the runanga house, after the carvings had been inspected, Anaru Matete (Mr M. J. Gannon acting as interpreter) briefly welcomed Mr Dillon to this part of the country. Hone Buru followed. Mr Carroll also spoke (fa Maori) and said that as the visit was . somewhat unexpected by the Maoris, they had not turned up in as full force as they otherwise would have done. Me Dillon briefly replied, thanking the Maories for their warm welcome. He had. he said, often read of the beautiful country of the Maoris, and had heard of their great personal bravery, but this was the first time that he had met one of a race which ha had often desired to meet. The brakes being filled up, the horses’ heads were turned, and the passengers went round to Makauri, where they met with a hearty reception. Across the rr»d an arch had been erected, and bore the inscription ’• Ceid mills failthe,” with the represeatatiop of a shamrock, while at one side of the road there was flying the green fli? with harp and crown. Tha party alighted amidst cheers, when Mr E. C. Bolton read the following address signed by several residents i —

We, t|ia colonists of the Makauri district, Poverty Bay, desire to express our pleasure st your piesehce among us faring your tour through tfle colony. As friends of freedom we are glad to recognise tha good wwk you have undertaken for what we believe to he for the well-being of Ireland and the furtherance ot that unity which nhnuld exist between peoples and countries ruled by the same wise sovereign. We trust that your mission will be suooessfu’, and that fa. parsing through this Colony yon will obtain that sesiatsm)e »nd encouragement which the cause deserves, and which will enable you to carry on that noble work which the great majority of Irish representatives fa the English House of Commons are determined to fl fat until victory is won, We again welcome you most heartily to our district, and trust your visit will be one of unalloyed t leasure and profit. And may God htess and prosper your endeavors, is tha desire of every true Jover of justice and right " Mr Dillon having briefly replied, three hearty cheers ware given, and the party Continued tfle journey towards Gisborne, via Whataitpoko, town being reached at about a quarter to six. Mr Dillon expressed hiujself highly pjeased with the country he had passed through, and at Makauri described it as the best laud he had ever seen.

LAST NIGHT' S MEETING : MR DIL. LON’S ADDRESS.

There was a. large attendance at the f fleatre Royal last night, many ladies also being present. The Mayor (Captain Tucker) took the chair- He acknowledged that he was not fully informed upon tpa subject to be discussed, but felt conndeht that lie Dillon, with other leaders of his party) would ba unanimous that the beat force they could bring to bear was that of argument and reason, and alsq thltt those persona who took a warm interest iu imperial politics would allow a fair bearing. Mr Dillon was received with enthnsiatlo applause. He began by pointing nut that everyone la the Empire had now been brought to admit that something must be done for Ireland, but in the same breath they were told they were a lot of agitators. Was it likely that there would he epch agitation if there were not grievances to redress! If anyone in the colonies preached discontent he would not he listened to, Why ? Because they had not the grievances, while the reverse applied to Ireland. He said he felt it a privilege to be ahle to address an audience in Gisborne and to plead the cause for which he and his colleagues had been struggling for ten bitter years, but he felt confident that whatever might be the views of those he was addressing—and he supposed there were some who had not made un their mihde on the question,—they would when he had finished, give him the the credit ot not having uttered a word cateulated to sow discord among the people of this country, ot among tha people of otbor countries from

which he came. On the contrary they would a Imit that the mission was one of peace and goodwill. What they complained of was that m Ireland and in that part ot the United Kingdom alone in matters relating only to those people and not to England or Scotland, the wishes of the vast maj irlty were habitually overriden and laws forced upon them which were distas eful and uoj nt in the opin on ■ • four-fitihs of the peiple of Ireland. H ..a' e a picture of the terrible <ff ot» of the famines fa Leland. Thepaopieli d'.oliveout of tha preface of iha land; in a good season they had great difficulty to eke rut a bare subsie ence, but whrn a bad reison came the

people were face to face with starvation, and the fact was that when the famines were at their worat the greater number < f evictions took pho?, When the Aua ralian colonies were being appealed to for funds in aid ot these poor people they were being turned out into the streets, and he thought it batter that there should be a r.-duetion of rents tian that tha lenants should have to app<»! to the charity of ths world, and most of the money subscribed in Amtra i; during these famines had gone into the landlords' pockete. He then adduce! figures showing that the largest number of evio'.iona took place during the worat seasons. Even the tenant who had

the money, could not at one time buy out hia farm, as the landlords actually combined to prevent the tenants bring able to purchase. He admitted that the court appointed to decide as to fair rentals was a just measure, but those appointed to control over the courts were the landlords themselves, or their friends and relations. Those whom he represented contended that, as in the colonies, the people who are to be subjected to a law have a right to a voice in miking that law. It was nnjust

that the Parliament of Westminster, composed of 103 Irish members, as against 560 odd English members ot Scotland, England and Wales, should, against tho will of the vast mqority of Ireland's represeota tives, pass laws affroting Ireland Laws, too, that were administered by a different executive to that which administers the laws in England—by the executive known as the Castle of Dublin, an executive commonly

composed of strangers—which is in no way responsible to the people of Ireland an I delights in ostentatiously setting the will of the Irish people nt nought. In regard to most essential matters there were laws, and in regard to all matters a separate executive, from those existing in tho rest of the United Kingdom. The operation of tint executive Government Is directed to maintaining in power over the neoljs of the vast majority of tha Irish nation a small section of that nation—a section consisting mainly of those who came over ia past days of con quest, and to whom the land of Ireland was handed io confiscation over the heads of the Irish people. Ho would be the last man to tolerate, even if to-morrow they had the whole control in their bands, that they should disturb any man in Ireland in his rights in property, because at these transactions long gone by. Still it added to the bitterness ot the situation that thia small faction was by the might and strength ot England maintained there as against the will of tour fifths of ths people ot Ireland, He denied that the movement was a religious question in Ireland—it was a question of a privileged class against the masses ot the people. From the earliest days they would find the question was not a religious one—it

was purely accidental that the majority of the privileged class professed the Protestant faith and the majority ot the people professed the Catholic faith. Across the Channel they would find that tho men who were their main pillars of support were the Non--0 mformist party end their ministers, w ieren s the English Cathodes were mainly supporters of the Government. Their object was as it had ever been to do away with that abominable spirit of religious bigotry which had been encouraged and maintained by the C-rstle of Dublin, lest the people of Ireland should unite for the common good of their country and prove too strong for the faction which now destroys her. In Ireland, when it was a question for the good of the country, the Nationalist party never enquired what faith a man professed, and if a man was honest in his public life he stood before a constituency on the same level as a Catholic. In nine cases out of ten men who called themselves Unionists could not tell what it meant. They would ask, why wera the Irish people not content to abide by the law as it ruled over England ? Why should they, a srna'l section, seek to have different laws from the English people ? Iu the questions of education, marriage, and the land, and in a host nt other questions, the laws were radically different, and if statutes wera passad by the people of Ireland, no one would think of applying the same laws to England. Could they call it a fair and just union which did not give the same laws to the

people of the United Kingdom’ — which enabled the people of England to make their own laws, whereas the people of Ireland bad laws made by the English people, most of whom had never put their foot in the country. In i Eng'and no Minister could hold office for a single day after he bad lost the confidence ot ' the peop'e, as expressed in the House of Commons, In Ireland a Minister whose sole duty is attention to Irish affairs, beyond which be has no voice, continues toadminister the laws and control the whole system of government, although be can only rally to his support 14 out of the 101 members who represent Ireland in the House of Commons All they asked was that they should have a Parliament in Dublin, with the right to legislate on matters relating to Ireland and Ireland alone. They were content to leave to the Imperial Parliament all questions affecting the Empire ; all questions relating to the military forces and tha control of the army and navy. They did not wish to interfere with the forlegn relations or with ambassadors. They had offered every reisonable security and guarantee that was thought desirable that no attempt will be mafic to disturb the unity of the Empire, It was always understood as part of the Home Rule proposd that all the strong places in Ireland should be garrisoned by the Queen's troops 'under command of the Imperial Government, By conferring upon the people of Ireland the privileges asked he believed they would gratify and satisfy the national aspirations of the people of the country, and that peace and prosperity would follow in the train of the measure, and that the people would not be led into any insane and purposeless attempt’- an everyday life they found that those who had some of the good things of life are not the first to take part in tumultous proceedings; on the contrary the best way to promote tumult and rebellion ie to strip a man of everything he hss. ft rested with those who galled themsslves Unionists to point out what was unreasonable in their demand. It was no answer to adopt the attitude of unbelief. What was the future of the British Empire if those who represented four-fifths ot the people of Ireland, when they came forward to speak as the representatives of the Irish people, and fa that capacity pledged their soieipn wtjt i of honor that they had no bidden designs—how iu the nime of common sense were the affairs of the Empire to be carried on if the wordt ot a great people were to be treated with contempt’ The so called Union had been in existence 89 years, and what had been the record? An almost paralysis of industry end trade, widespread poverty and periodical famine almost unknown in anv other country in the world, and'that In J most fertile country; and they had disturbance and crime. Iftt when ije heard people denouncing th? « n aooount Of erime and disturbance that had SOCOUlpanied it he wondered whether they were ignorant of Irish history. Long before he Wai born the crime in Ireland in one single month was greater than they now had in three or four years. Their mission had been all along to substitute public agitation and discussion in place ot conspiracy and crime. They were Bomettiues told they were|disloyal; to the monstrous and degrading Dublin Castle rule they ware, to the English Throne they wera not. Had the people of Ireland at any period during the last 91} years been allowed to make and administer there own land laws, humanity would have been spared the disgraceful sufferings, wrongs and ruin of the peasantry of Ireland, there would have been no boycotting, nor Land League, nor Plan of Campaign. Jf they considered these things he would ask them to suspend their judgment until they looked into history, and could decide whether the moral blame for these things should not rather be laid on the shoulders of those who had so long denied the Irish people justice, and who had driven then to such desperate courses. Iu

Ireland landlords spent nothing In tha country, many of them were atwonteM, while ’hose who lived there spent nothing on their farms, while in England a tenant would not take a farm, until it was properly equipped. Io Ireland the tenants had to do evey.hing for themselves, end in hundreds and tens of hundreds of oases they had to reclaim their farms from tho wilderness an 1 convert almost worthless lands into fertility. The Irish tenant was ev c ed from the house which he built w.th ms own money, and in most cases after buidmg it he has bought it back by tho continuation of rent paying. He doubted whether in the whole history of mankind there was such wholesale and lo; g oontinued robbery of land as the robbeiy nrao’-isod by tha landlords on the poor of Ireland Some people said this was all past and that the people would settle down peaceably hut for the agitators. Tb»t wag nonseneojthe Irish people bad a grievance, and if the present agitators disappeared other* would spring up to urge the claims of jostles He admitted that great advances had been made in the position of the Irish peaesnt; the Acts passed had gone more than half way to emancipate them from the horrible condition of servitude. Those Acts ware not won by returning members to Parliament, but by thousands of men going to prison, by flares agitation, agitation wbiah the people of tha colony are invited to announce; after ten years’ hard work, the members ot the Nationalist League were now asked, when the work was three fourths done, to leave unfinished the task of leading the people out of the land of bondage into the land of promise. They had learned the power of combination and IO follow in the footsteps of those who had done so much to raise the dignity ot labor in England, A good many reforms yet rem rioed to be won, and tho cause was one which ought to oomm°nd itself to every nun who believed in the dignity ot human labor and the dignity ot human nature. Thera was prolonged cheering when Mr Dillon sat down, and Mr Rees than made an able address in favor of Home Rule, but want ot space compels us to omit a full report of what was said by that gentleman. His reference to Sir George Gray and the letters he had written on the subject to the Daily News, were received w ' l la loud cheering. Mr teres then moved, " That this meeting expresses its thanks to Mr Dillon for his kindness In visiting Gisborne, and for his address, and also plsocs on record the sympathy felt by Ker Majesty's subjects fa this place, for the Irish people in their heroic efforts to secure that self government which is possessed by all other communities in the British Empire.*' The motion waa seconded by Mr Sievwriglit, and Messrs Gannon and Crawford also spoke in favor of tho Chairman also complimenting Mr Dillon on the temperate way in which he had placed hia subject before them, 1 The motion was then carried without a dissentient.

About fifty people walked down th breakwater pier to see Mr DiHoo off, final sheers being given. During dinnertime Mr Crawford put the quest! m to Mr Dillon as to how the money collected wis distributed. Mr Dillon replied that over £UOO a month was now being disbursed among evicted tenants, of whom there were at present 200 families being provided for. At the proper time duly audited accounts would be published, The delegates, he said; only received bare expense*.