Land
koned with, though the politicians continued to ignore it; it appealed to many of the better elements in the country, [ess owing to its defiance of " British tyranny," than to its revolt against the dubious methods of the Irish Nationalist organization, with its local " bosses " and rings and its reliance on the support of the publicans and " gombeen men." l
Less popular in its appeal, but none the less of considerable political significance, was the enthusiasm of the Sinn Feiners for the revival of the Irish (Gaelic) language and a specifically Irish learning and culture. The Gaelic League, founded in 1893 for the promotion of these objects, was not indeed as yet identi- fied with the Sinn Fein separatist movement; but an important step seemed to have been taken towards the realization of the Sinn Fein ideal when, in Sept. 1910, the Senate of the new National University decided that a knowledge of Gaelic should be required of all candidates for matriculation from 1913 onward. 2 Meanwhile, on the surface of Irish history during 1910 the most conspicuous happenings were connected with the renewed land agitation, the battle of the factions within the Nationalist ranks, and the marshalling of the forces for and against the Union in view of the imminence of a Home Rule bill. The policy of violence for securing the distribution of the land had been deliberately reaffirmed by the United Irish League on Nov. 28 1909, two days after the passing of the Land Act; and since, in pursuit of its policy of conciliation, the Liberal Government had repealed the Arms Act, suspended all " coercive " legislation, and reduced the forces of the Con- stabulary, it proved quite incapable of coping with an organized campaign of outrage. At the meeting of the League in Dublin, Mr. Denis Johnston, a member of the Directory, said that " the people should make up their minds to put a ring of fire round every land-grabber and grazier in the country 3 and tell them to quit," and under the auspices of the League, throughout the year, cases of boycotting, cattle " driving," cattle maiming, firing into dwelling houses, and the like, continued in various counties. The conditions in this respect were not so bad as in the days of the Land League; but they were bad enough, and they had less excuse.
Meanwhile the struggle between the rival Nationalist factions was a bitter one, and rioting took place between the champions of Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Redmond. 4 In such cir- Natiooalist cumstances the declared policy of the new " All- for-Ireland League," started by Mr. William O'Brien in Cork City on Marcher, seemed like irony. It aimed at "a combination of all the elements of the Irish population in a spirit of mutual tolerance and patriotic good-will," at " guaranteeing the rights of the Protestants, winning the friendship of the British people, and disarming the prejudices of Irish Unionists against Home Rule." It was sig- nificant of later developments that, in putting forward this programme, Mr. O'Brien had the support of many well-known Irish Constitutionalists, as well as of many Nationalists. 5
1 Paul-Dubois, in his Contemporary Ireland (1908), called atten- tion to the good effects of the bill of 1898, which set up in Ireland the British system of democratic local government. He added, however, " Even at the present there is a tendency to ' corner ' offices and even contracts for members of this or that political league ; the custom of combinazione is widely diffused ; everybody is on the scent for places for his friends and relatives; and the reign of rings and bosses seems to be opening."
2 For statistics of the rapid decay of Gaelic from 1851 onward see 5.616. The efforts to revive it have not met with any wide popular response; which is the less surprising as modern literary Gaelic is largely an artificial language unintelligible to the Irish who still speak the dialects of Connaught, Munster and Ulster.
3 Ireland is preeminently a grazing country. The uncertain climate is unfavourable to the growth of corn, and the soil which produces magnificent pasture is often too rich for cereal crops.
4 At Kilcommon, near Ballimore, on March 21, the fighting be- tween the factions was so severe even revolver shots being ex- changed that the Constabulary had to interfere. At Dundalk, on Sept. 8, a Redmondite mob invaded the town hall, where Mr. T. M. Healy was addressing his constituents, and pelted the platform with iron bolts and stones.
5 A letter from the Earl of Dunraven, approving the movement, was read at the inaugural meeting.
Parties and Home Rule.
In general, however, Irish Unionists were less impressed by Mr. O'Brien's conciliatory rhetoric than by the fact that the Redmondite party had been carried to victory on the cry of " Up the Mollies! "* The Robert Emmet celebration early in March, conducted simultaneously in New York and Dublin, seemed to emphasize the true aim of the Nationalist movement. In New York aid was invited for the members of Parliament who were "working for independence through legislation." 7 In Dublin a republican orator, Mr. Bulmer Hobson, declared that " they had not in readiness any means to knock down an English dreadnought, but the Germans might do it for them." 8 The impression made by these demonstrations was strengthened as a result of the visit of Irish leaders to America in the autumn, for the purpose of collecting campaign funds. Messrs. Redmond, Devlin and Boyle left Ireland on Sept. 18 for the United States, while Mr. T. P. O'Connor went on a similar mission to Canada. Unionists duly noted the following passage from a speech delivered by Mr. Redmond at the Buffalo Convention:
Without freedom, all these great concessions (Land Acts, etc.) are practically valueless, or at any rate such value as they do possess is to be found in the fact that they strengthen the aim of the Irish people to push on to the great goal of national independence. . . . I have come here to-day to America to ask you to give us your aid in a supreme and, I believe, a final effort to dethrone once and for all the English Government of our country. 9
In spite of this apparently unequivocal utterance Mr. Redmond was loudly accused in Ireland, notably by the Sinn Feiners, ot " lowering the flag," a charge which, after his triumphant return, on Nov. 12 with a fund of $200,000, he proceeded to rebut. Thus at Tipperary on the i3th he referred to the " ridiculous rumour " that he had lowered the flag, and at Waterford, on the 27th, he defined his demands for Ireland as a Parliament elected by the Irish people, with an executive responsible to it, and with full control of purely Irish affairs. This definition of " independence " only increased the wrath of the extremists, while Unionists failed to be convinced by his asseveration that under Home Rule there would be no " persecution of Protest- ants." In Dublin, on Nov. 26, a great meeting of Irish Unionists recorded their unalterable opposition to Home Rule in any form; and two days later, another great meeting at Belfast uttered a more ominous note, the threat being uttered that no taxes would be paid to a Home Rule Parliament, and that any attempt to enforce Nationalist Government on Ulster might meet with, armed resistance. Thus the year 1910 ended with the first rumblings of the storm to come. A minor event of this year, which attracted no notice in England but embittered feeling in Ireland, was the decision of the Cunard Co., with the consent of Government, to omit the call at Queenstown of their great trans- atlantic liners. This was due to the exigencies of competition with the rival foreign lines, but was widely assumed in Ireland to be a fresh example of the deliberate policy of Great Britain to depress Irish commercial interests. 10
The year 1911 was, on the whole, uneventful in Ireland. Agrarian unrest continued, with sporadic cases of cattle-driving, boycotting, shooting and bomb outrages, and incendiarism; and in many cases, owing to intimidation of witnesses, the Crown was unable to bring the perpetrators to justice. 11 At Wexford, in Jan., a demonstration of the Gaelic Athletic Association was held, urider the presidency of the mayor, at which the Associa-
6 Mr. William O'Brien explained this as meaning " boycott of Protestants." In Ireland " Unionist " and " Protestant " are, or were, practically synonymous terms, though many better-class Catholics are Unionists and some Protestants Nationalists.
7 Freeman's Journal of March 1910.
8 ib., March 8.
9 Irish World, Oct. 8 1910.
10 This and the natural competition of Liverpool are the sole foundation for the charge made in the report of the American delegates to the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate that " England allows no ship to come trans-Atlantic to her ports " (66th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document 106, p. 828).
11 See, e.g., the charge of Judge Madden to the Grand Jury of Galway. (Freeman's Journal, March 2 ion.)
