The outlook in Ireland: the case for devolution and conciliation

Front matter

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

THE CASE FOR DEVOLUTION AND CONCILIATION.

BY THE

Contents

Page.

Introduction ...... i

Chapter

Introduction

THE OPPORTUNITY.

AT EVER before in the modern history of Ireland has the outlook — political, indus¬ trial, and social — been as favourable as at the present moment for a strenuous effort for her regeneration. And yet never before has the situation been so critical. The fate of the country is in the balance. If the “ pre¬ dominant partner ” will continue to evidence the desire to deal justly, generously, and intelligently with Ireland ; and if Ireland will recognize that desire, and will show prudence, moderation, and a conciliatory spirit, an oppor¬ tunity will be made for shifting the country from a downward and permanently placing her upon an upward grade. If these conditions are not fulfilled, an opening which may never present itself again will be lost, to the infinite detriment, if not to the absolute destruction, of Ireland. There is no doubt that the people of Great

B

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

Britain are favourably disposed towards Ireland. It is true that an attempt was made to inflame their passions against her prior j to the General Election of 1906 ; they were threatened that if they returned a Liberal Government they would be committing the country to a policy of Repeal. The attempt failed. The menace produced no feeling of panic, because the electors in England, Scotland, and Wales real¬ ized that it was a false alarm raised to serve party purposes. The bogie was all the more transparent to their eyes, because the public in Great Britain remembered all the incidents which preceded Mr. Wyndham’s resignation of the office of Chief Secretary ; and accepted fully the assurances of the Liberal leaders that, whatever their ultimate aspirations might be, their immediate practical policy was to take up the threads of Irish administration at the point at which Mr. Wyndham had been compelled to lay them down, and to endeavour so to mould the administration gradually and on well-considered lines as to render Irish government in accord with Irish ideas. All immediate danger from this foolish attempt of “official Unionism” is past; and the Irish people have the satisfaction of knowing that they have in the new Parliament a huge majority, honestly desirous of doing justice to their country.

INTRODUCTION.

The principal items in the programme agreed upon between Mr. Wyndham and Sir Antony MacDonnell, and presumably concurred in by Mr. Arthur Balfour, were the solution of the Land Question; the co-ordinate control and direction of Boards and other administrative agencies ; the settlement of the education problem ; the promotion of material improve¬ ment and administrative conciliation ; the con¬ solidation and increase of existing grants for Irish local purposes ; the development of transit for agricultural and other products, “possibly by guarantees to railways on the Canadian model,” &cd

Some of these projects have been already carried out ; and the Government are pledged to take up the remainder. They are pledged, above all, to bring in a measure according to Ireland a large extension of self-governing power. They may be confidently expected to take a wise, just, and perhaps even a generous view of Ireland’s circumstances, and to be ready to do all in their power to foster and encourage the policy of conciliation upon which everything depends.

The burden of responsibility for the future of the country rests, therefore, less upon the Govern¬ ment and the people of Great Britain than upon

1 See Appendix VI.

the inhabitants of Ireland. By the exercise of self-control ; by bearing in mind the legislative limitations of any Government in dealing with reform, and with all the phases of an intricate problem ; by preserving the peaceful condition of the country, and refusing to lend themselves to any form of unconstitutional agitation, they can give the Government the powerful assist¬ ance which is essential for the successful fulfil¬ ment of the policy to which they are committed.

The sound policy of moderation and concilia¬ tion makes progress, gradually it is true, but more rapidly than external circumstances may seem to indicate. The whole policy has met with bitter opposition ; no stone has been left unturned which can be used to arouse religious and political animosity in Great Britain against the Irish people ; and no means have been neglected of causing dissension in Ireland. The struggle is a hard one, and spectators must bear in mind that vehemence of expression on the part of extremists is likely to rise in pro¬ portion to the headway that conciliation makes. Is it too much to hope that in such a crisis Irishmen who really and truly desire to see their country happy and prosperous will adopt a large-minded attitude towards each other ; will deal fairly by one another ; will honestly co-operate in avoiding causes of friction, and in discouraging any recurrence of agitation and any

INTRODUCTION.

semblance of disorder which can be so distorted and exaggerated as to hamper a Government which, apart from all party issues, is, I believe, honestly anxious to do all in its power to help Ireland to rescue herself from the misfortunes which have so long afflicted her ?

To hold out the open hand of fellowship one to another ; to meet “ the predominant partner” half-way, and show a desire to be¬ come an active, prosperous, useful member of that partnership ; to put aside personal jealousies, sectional quarrels, and animosities of class ; to cultivate a sense of proportion, and recognize limitations ; to be practical and have the wisdom to take and make the most of what will be of inestimable advantage to their country, even though it may fall short of that which many of them consider their due ; to hold their country’s welfare above all things dear ; to place the national cause before party, the community before self ; to stand fast by the great principle of conciliation — that is the part Irishmen must play if they would seize an opportunity which may never occur again to give their common country a chance of re¬ establishing herself?

What can Ireland do ? She can be concilia¬ tory, willing to believe that justice will follow upon reasonable demands, and prosperity upon justice.

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

What can Great Britain do ? If the British people will meet the Irish people half-way ; if they will recognize, respond to, and cherish the feeling of confidence in Parliament that has grown up in the sister island during the last few years ; if they will back up the Govern¬ ment, they have before them now a unique opportunity of gradually improving the whole economic and social circumstances of Ireland, of effecting a wholesome change in the re¬ lations between the two islands, and of greatly strengthening the whole fabric of the Empire.

I do not say that an opportunity exists of settling for ever “ the Irish question.” Matters of so general and broad a character can never be said to be settled ; finality in the require¬ ments and career of a community is impossible, save in its extinction. So long as the Empire and the United Kingdom last, there will be Imperial, British, and Irish questions, and problems arising out of them to be dealt with. But I do say that we have now before us a chance, such as has not offered itself for a century and more, of settling all the more acute problems of the day, and of establishing far happier relations between Great Britain and Ireland than have previously existed.

To attain such a frame of mind, and to form such a conception of Ireland as will enable them to seize this opportunity, the British people

INTRODUCTION.

must recognize one fact, and divest themselves of one delusion. The great and fundamental mistake that the English people have made is in attempting to turn Ireland into England. Since Ireland was handed over to England in the year 1155, every effort has been made to extirpate the Irish race, and to pre¬ serve the purity of the Anglo-Norman blood. With marvellous but mistaken pertinacity England has laboured to anglicize Ireland for some eight hundred years, and she has failed. Has not the experiment been tried long enough ? It is unnecessary, surely, to investi¬ gate causes, to set out reasons why Ireland has not, does not, and never will become English. For a practical, common-sense people, the fact should be sufficient. No means were left untried to stamp out the originality and distinctive characteristics of race. Land was confiscated over and over again, Irish surnames were interdicted, the use of the Irish language was forbidden, native costumes and customs were placed under the ban of the law and of the Church. But the Irish not only remained Irish, but assimilated the Anglo-Norman element as fast as it was introduced. That is the fact, and the English people have got to admit it. They must realize that they cannot anglicize Ireland ; and, having admitted that fact, they will come to the conclusion that they must proceed to work on other lines.

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

The British public — not enlightened men, of course, but the general public — have, I think, considerable difficulty in realizing the intense pride of the Irish people in their nationality and the justification that exists for it. They do not understand what there is to be proud of, or why the Irish people should not be delighted to merge themselves in the wealth and strength of Great Britain. They are under a delusion, and the delusion is due to historical ignorance.

I hey forget that for centuries Ireland was in all respects in the forefront of western civilization. They do not remember that during critical ages

I I eland held aloft and sheltered the struggling flame of Christianity. They are ignorant of the fact that when art and learning were well-nigh extinguished in Europe, they were cherished, nurtured, and kept alive in Ireland. They do not understand the natural pride in the mere fact that, in spite of every effort to deprive her of nationhood, Ireland remains Ireland to this day. To come down to modern times, they neglect the evidence of capacity for trade and commerce displayed by the Irish people, and the means whereby trade and commerce were crushed out. Physical courage appears to be the only quality inherent in the race which is recognized. For the rest, though it is admitted that Ireland has given us great soldiers, administrators, and statesmen, the

INTRODUCTION.

traditional stage Irishman, a sufficiently ridicu¬ lous, capering person, seems to set the general estimate of the race. It is a very false one. The Irish people have characteristics and a history of which they are proud, and of which they have every right to be proud. If the people of Great Britain will acknowledge the fact that Ireland cannot be converted into so many shires of Kngland, and if they will rid themselves of the delusion that no real justifica¬ tion exists for pride in Irish nationality, they will infallibly come to three sound conclusions : — Firstly, that if Ireland is to develop, she must be allowed to develop on her own lines; secondly, that for the venom in the sting of memory, respect, forbearance, and just dealing are the only antidotes ; and, thirdly, that it is only by admitting and encouraging the sense of her own nationality that a feeling of larger nationality and true Imperial sentiment in Ireland can be created and nurtured into healthy life.

IO

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

Chapter I. Economic And Social Conditions

Under the provisions of the Land Act of 1903, the agricultural land of Ireland is passing from its former owners into the hands of occupying proprietors. The Irish people are becoming the owners of Ireland in a sense and to an extent which was never contemplated by practical politicians before the meeting of the Land Con¬ ference which preceded the introduction of Mr. Wyndham’s Bill. The radical character of the recommendations of the Conference, and the practical concurrence of the landed classes in those recommendations, while heralding a period of greater content and the healing of old sores, were in reality a signal of distress from the Irish to the English people, a cry for help to apply a drastic but wholesome remedy to a desperately unhealthy condition of things. Year by year the country had been sinking deeper and deeper in misfortune: it had reached the point at which it had to be decided whether the down¬ ward tendency was to continue to the inevitable and most melancholy end, or whether a supreme effort should be made to lift the country out of national bankruptcy in man-power, intelligence,

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

II and material prosperity which so imminently threatened it. Mr. Wyndham’s great Act was the first step in the right direction. It has made all things possible ; but alone it will not suffice.

Ireland is sick almost to death. The wise man makes a careful diagnosis of his patient before attempting to prescribe ; but in Ireland’s case the origins of distressing symptoms have become so obscured that physicians are apt to confound cause with effect. Owing to the inter¬ necine warfare which for many years has been one of the main occupations, if not recreations, of a majority of the people of Ireland, the atten¬ tion of England and the world has been directed away from the causes of Ireland’s distressful condition to the quarrels of parties as to the best remedies to be applied. The aspect of the history of Ireland which has most strongly impressed itself upon the minds of those who live on the other side of the Irish Channel has been the bitterness of sectarian strife, and the warfare of party politicians. The disease, for which extreme partisans have been vehemently suggesting violent remedies, has been lost sight of amid the din of battle ; and while the quarrels have gone on from year to year, Ireland has been slipping swiftly downward in all that goes to make for physical health, intellectual progress, and material well-being. It is very desirable, therefore, to consider the actual condition of Ireland, and the causes of that

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

condition, before attempting to form any theory or policy for her relief.

It is necessary, in the first place, to note one of the most curious and pathetic features in Irish history to-day. By some strange mis¬ understanding the British people have come to regard the Irish as a race lacking in the primary virtues which make for happiness and prosperity, a people indolent, thriftless, and inordinately addicted to drink. Never was a race more cruelly libelled. The Irishman is a hard worker in every quarter of the globe ; and if he does not always display the same energy at home, in common fairness his circumstances and environment, insufficient food, insanitary dwellings, and the general de¬ pression brooding over the country, must be taken into account. If the people could be persuaded that bread and stewed tea form a bad diet for adults and are poison for children, it would perhaps be as beneficial as many Acts of Parliament. The average Irishman is no more a model of sobriety and virtue than the average man to be met with in other parts of the United Kingdom. Ireland is not absolutely exceptional. Ireland is inhabited, as are England, Scotland, and Wales, by human beings of all sorts, and in common with Great Britain she possesses an unfortunate variety of men and women in almost every stage of social degeneration : but the Irish are not particularly addicted to drink; they are distinctly less criminally inclined than the in¬ habitants of Great Britain ; and in no country in the world have the people reached a higher standard of morality. In fact, the casual visitor to Ireland, who spends a few weeks away from the beaten track in some Irish village, is usually impressed with the extreme dulness of life, and is invariably struck by the rigid rectitude with which the moral code is observed. This charac¬ teristic of country life in Ireland has even been put forward in partial explanation of the great flood of emigration to America. It is said that Irish life is so deadly monotonous, is so lacking in all the allurements and attractions of modern civilization, and so devoid of all the pleasures which are gained by social intercourse, that the young people welcome emigration in the hope not only that the new world will right the balance of the old, but that in a new environment they may find life more varied and attractive. Be this as it may, let us recognize that the Irish are not a race of shiftless drunkards.

It may come as a surprise to the virtuous Englishman, who accepts this charge against the people of the neighbouring island, that the Irishman drinks less than the people of any other part of the United Kingdom. This statement is not made on ex-parte evidence, but is based upon the figures prepared by the

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

Rev. Dr. Dawson Burns, the well-known Tem¬ perance advocate. He has compiled three most interesting tables in order to show the extent to which each division of the Kingdom contributed to the expenditure of ^164,167,941 during the year 1905. From these statistics it will be seen that in Scotland the consumption of spirits is i*6 gallon per head of the popula¬ tion annually, or twice as great per head of the population as it is in England, while it exceeds that of Ireland by ‘6 gallon per head, the Scotsman spending on spirits 16s. 3d. per head during the year more than the Irishman. Con¬ trary to popular belief, Ireland consumes a considerable quantity of malt liquor, although the figure falls much below the consumption of England.

ENGLAND.

Liquors.

Quantities

Consumed.

Per

Head.

Expenditure.

Per

Head.

British Spirits (gallons) ...

Other Spirits ,,

Total Spirits (gallons) ...

Beer (barrels)

Wine (gallons) ...

Other Liquors (gallons) ...

22,305,046

5,496,567

Gals.

£29,554,186

7,282,951

—

27,801,613

•8

£1 1 6

29,670,937

10,153,759

14,000,000

•3

•4

£88,812,961

9,138,383

1,400,000

£2 12 2

°54 0 0 10

£136,388,481

£3 19 10

The consumption of beer in England is estimated by adding one-fourth of the quantity paying duty in Scotland and Ireland to the quantity paying duty in England.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

SCOTLAND.

Liquors.

Quantities

Consumed.

Per

Head.

Expenditure.

Per

Head.

British Spirits (gallons) ...

Other Spirits ,,

Total Spirits (gallons) ...

Beer (barrels)

Wine (gallons) ...

Other Liquors (gallons) ...

6,667,156

689,143

Gals.

^8,833,982

913.115

—

7,356,299

^9,747,097

£2 1 8

1,188,929

1,194,560

500,000

9-0

•3

•01

£3,566,787

1,075,104

50,000

^0 15 3 047 003

£14,438,988

£3 1 9

IRELAND.

Liquors.

Quantities

Consumed.

Per

Head.

Expenditure.

Per

Head.

Gals.

British Spirits (gallons) ...

3,626,780

—

£4,805,417

—

Other Spirits ,,

585,124

—

775,289

—

Total Spirits (gallons) ...

4,211,854

1*0

£5,580,706

£* 5 5

Beer (barrels)

2,390,738

2*0

£7,172,214

£1 12 8

Wine (gallons) ...

597,280

*1

537,552

Other Liquors (gallons) ...

500,000

*1

50,000

£13,340,472

£3 0 10

While the average expenditure in the United Kingdom in 1905 was equal to ^3 15s. iijd., the average in each division of the Kingdom was: — England, ^3 19s. iod.; Scotland,^ is.gd.; and Ireland, £3 os. iod. England spent more per head than Scotland or Ireland on beer, and Scotland more per head on spirits than England or Ireland.

Putting aside “wine and other liquors” as not affecting popular consumption, the consumption of spirits and beer is per head of population as follows : —

England, Spirits... £i i 6 Beer ... £ 2 12 2

In England the outlay is about two-and-a-half times greater on beer than on spirits. Ireland spends about one-and-a-quarter more on beer than on spirits. Scotland spends nearly three times as much on spirits as on beer. Conse¬ quently, Ireland compares well with the other divisions of the United Kingdom, and the com¬ munity are beer-drinkers rather than spiritconsumers.

The facts as to the drink traffic in Ireland have been stated with considerable force by Sir Horace Plunkett, who has had exceptional opportunities of studying the question on the spot in all its varied aspects. In his book, “ Ireland in the New Century,” he makes the following references, which deserve the widest publicity, and it may be hoped will serve to correct the popular picture of the traditional “ Paddy,” who in the past has figured with such deplorable frequency on the stage: —

Now the drink habit in Ireland differs from that of the other parts of the United Kingdom. The Irishman is, in my belief, physiologically less subject to the craving for alcohol than the Englishman— a fact which is partially attributable, I should

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

say, to the less animal dietary to which he is accustomed. By far the greater proportion of the drinking which retards our progress 1S of a festive character. It takes place at fairs and markets, sometimes, even yet, at “ wakes ’’—those ghastly parodies on the blessed consolation of religion in bereavement. It is largely due to the almost universal sale of liquor in the country shops “for consumption on the premises,” an evil the demoralising effects of which are an hundredfold greater than those of the “grocers’ licenses” which Temperance reformers so strenuously denounce. It is an evil for the existence of which nothing can be said ; but it has somehow escaped the effective censure of the Church.

The truth is that Ireland spends less per head on drink than England or Scotland ; the Irish are no more weak-willed — no more lacking in self-restraint— than are their neighbours. I am not arguing against Temperance reform, far from it , and I believe that better food, healthier surroundings, more prosperous conditions will tend in that most desirable direction, for the depression into which the country has sunk contributes in no small measure to the present rate of consumption of alcohol.

Life in Ireland is led under circumstances of great depression. For over sixty years the Irish population has been wasting away. There has been, and is still, a double leakage which none of the measures hitherto elaborated have effectively checked. The sun, as it has set day after day in a path of gold over the broad Atlantic, has been for sixty years a bridge of hope to all those who, physically and mentally, represent the best c l8 THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

of the population. Year by year, an unending stream of emigrant ships has been bearing away from Ireland to the American continent the finest brain and muscle of the country. These people in their millions have looked to an alien land for better conditions of life. Down to the year 1845 the population of Ireland was steadily growing — possibly at too high a rate considering the country’s resources — and the prosperity of the nation generally was increasing. In that year the inhabitants numbered 8,296,061. How serious the drain of emigration has been in subsequent years may be seen from the following figures, showing the population of the different parts of the United Kingdom at various periods : —

Date

ENGLAND & WALES.

SCOTLAND.

IRELAND.

of

Enumera-

Pop.

Pop.

Pop.

tion.

Population.

per

sq. mile.

Population.

per

sq. mile.

Population.

per

sq. mile.

8,892,536

1,608,420

5,395,456 l8l I

10,164,256

1,805,864

5,937,856

12,000,236

2,091,521

6,801,827

13.896,797

2,364,386

7,767,401

15,914,148

2,620, 1 84

8,175,124

17,927,609

2,888,742

6.552,385

20,066,224

3,062,294

IOO

5,798,564

22,712,266

3,360,018

5-412,377

25.974,439

3.735,573

29,002,525

4,025,647

4,704,750

32,526,075

4,472,103

4,458,775

In 1841, Ireland had over three times as many inhabitants as Scotland could boast ; half

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

as many as England and Wales claimed. At that time nearly one-third of the whole popula¬ tion of the United Kingdom lived in Ireland (see Appendix III). In sixty years the population of Ireland has fallen by nearly 4,000,000 (for in 1903 the number was estimated to be 4,391,565)— a record of national wastage which is unparalleled in the history of the world.

A most lamentable fact in the outward flow of the population is that nearly all the emigrants have been in the prime of life, or approaching to it. According to the last census, nearly 91 per cent, of the 430,993 persons who left the country during the previous ten years were over 10 and under 45 years, and just under 4 per cent, of the remainder had not celebrated their forty-sixth birthday. In other words, practically the whole of the four million emigrants who have sailed from Ireland in the past sixty years or so have been in the full vigour of life, and those who have remained have, for the most part, been the less physically fit, the most mentally deficient, and those who correspond to the lowest industrial standard.

The evil results of this artificial, extravagant, and unnecessary flow of emigration are not by any means confined to Ireland. The actual decline of population is a direct loss to the United Kingdom, and the direction in which the flood of emigration sets is an indirect loss to

Great Britain, and a direct loss to the Empire. A great proportion of British emigrants settle within the Empire. The bulk of those who sail from Irish ports find a new home in the United States. All these many millions are a direct loss to Canada with her illimitable supply of cultivable land; and are an indirect but very substantial loss to Great Britain, owing to the fact that they go to swell a population buying from us at the rate of 5s. per head, instead of adding to a population buying from us at the rate of £1 18s. 8d. per head.

And the effects of sentiment must not be despised. The majority of Irish emigrants desert their country with hearts hardened against those whom they hold to be responsible for the diseases which afflict it, and go out into the world dis¬ seminating the story of Irish grievances and English injustice. The flow of emigrants from Ireland is consequently proving not only a fatal drain upon the land which gave them birth, and which they still continue to regard with natural affection, but it involves also a dead loss to British manufactures and those employed by them ; and, as a large proportion of the exiles go out into other countries with their hearts rebellious against British rule and British institu¬ tions, it cannot fail to be a source of anxiety to all those who value good relations with the great Republic across the sea, who desire to draw closer the bonds uniting the component parts of our Empire, and who attach inestimable value to the homogeneity of the English-speaking race.

Owing to the drain of population outwards of men and women in the prime of life, Ireland has become the country of old men and women. In this respect its position in the British Empire is unique. Let readers ponder on the fact that Ireland has a larger proportion of aged than any other country in the King’s dominions, because the young and energetic have fled to other lands in search of happiness and fortune. In Ireland, out of every 1,000 of the population, there are sixty-four men and sixty-three women of sixtyfive years of age or upwards ; while in England and Wales the figures are forty-two and fifty-one respectively ; and in Scotland, forty-one and fifty-six. On this question the compilers of the “ Census of the British Empire ” state :

The effect of migration on the age-constitution of a popu¬ lation is considerable. For example, the low proportion of children and the high proportion of old people enumerated in Ireland are mainly accounted for by excessive emigration.

And there is another terrible leakage from which Ireland is suffering, namely, lunacy. The figures of the Census of 1901 tell an amazing story of the mental gloom which year by year has been settling down upon those who have remained in the old country. Of every 10,000 persons in Ireland, 52*6 are registered as lunatics

THE OUTLOOK IN IRELAND.

or idiots. Considered by provinces, the pro¬ portion is lowest in industrial Ulster, as might be expected, there being a difference of over 20 per 10,000 between that province and Munster. In Waterford, the proportion is nearly 96 per 10,000 ; in Meath it is 78 ; in Clare, 73 ; in Kilkenny, nearly 71 ; in King’s County, 69 ; in Wexford, Tipperary, and Carlow, 68; and inWestmeath and Limerick, 66. In County Antrim, including Belfast City, the rate falls to 29*6 ; and in County Dublin, to 24*6.

The mental ravages among the Irish people are set forth with shocking lucidity in the last Census Report, in which the position is stated in another form : —

The total number of lunatics and idiots returned in 1851 was equal to a ratio of 1 in 657 of the population ; in 1861, to i in 411 ; in 1871, to 1 in 328 ; in 1881, to 1 in 281 ; in 1891, to 1 in 222; and on the present occasion, to 1 in 178, the ratio in the province of Leinster being 1 in 187 ; in Munster, 1 in 152 ; in Ulster, 1 in 226 ; and in Connaught, 1 in 184.

The following counties had the lowest ratios : — Antrim County and Belfast City, 1 in 336 ; Dublin County and City, 1 in 289 ; Londonderry County and City, 1 in 233 ; Down, 1 in 216; Wicklow, 1 in 209; Mayo, 1 in 208; Fermanagh, 1 in 205 ; and Donegal, 1 in 200.