8
AN GAOḊAL.
THE MEN WHO RULE IRELAND
The New York Journal of Sept. 17.
gives the following exhibit of the class
of men [Black Legs] who rule unfortu¬
nate Ireland :—
"69 Peers Shown to be Figureheads
in Worthless Companies.
Two Hundred and Seventy Millions
that never Paid a Cent of Dividend !
The Critic Lashes the Nobility [?].
London Paper Declares the Peerage is
now Bartered according to the Laws of
Supply and Demand.
LONDON, Sept. 16. — Promoter Hooley's dis¬
closures of payments to members of the nobility
to become figurehead directors in his companies
did not reveal one-tenth part of this swindling
practice in England. Quiet investigation has been
made of these "guinea-pig peers," as they are
called, and the result is astounding. Names far
above suspicion are found in the list.
Duke of Somerset.
Earls.
Essex, Albemarle, Aylesford, Delawarr, Chester¬
field, Denbigh, Donoughmore, Dunmore, Enni¬
skillen, Fingall, Kilmorey, Kintore, Lathom,
Lonsdale, Verulam, Warwick [This is the hus¬
band of Lady Brock — now Countess of Warwick,
notoriously connected with the Prince of Wales in
Baccarat Scandal], Westmoreland, Rosse, Stad¬
broke.
Lords,
Lonsdale, Beresford (Chas.), Annaly, Batemar,
Beresford (Marcus), Howe, Butler, Campbell,
Castle, Clanmorris. De L'Isle, Fitzgerald,
Ebury, Hamilton (Frd), Hamilton (Ernest), Har¬
ding, Hay, Kesteven, Loftus, Lurgan, Montagu,
Mountmorris (Vis), Norreys, Trimlestown, West¬
bury, Waterpark, Paulet, Powerscourt, Raglan,
Ribblesdale, Stafford, Stanmore, Sudeley, Suff-
Teynham, etc, 75 peers in all, representing 190
companies, having a combined capital of $320,000,¬
000. Of this amount, $270,000,000 represents the
capital of componies that have never paid a penny
in dividends, either in cash or in script.
We publish the above to keep be¬
fore the world the picture of the class
of persons who revile and seek to de¬
grade the Irish people so as to have an
excuse to continue their robbing on¬
slaught on them. With few exceptions
the Anglo-American press handled the
lordly footpads most gingery — think¬
ing the matter would blow over in a
few days. But if the Irish fail to keep
it before this cosmopolitan public, aye
to cover the dead walls of the country
with the story of their rascality, as pa¬
tent medicine men advertize their nos¬
trums, then they deserve no compass¬
ion if they be robbed, plundered, revi¬
led, degraded and enslaved by that
common prostitute of nations of which
these lordly guinea-pig free-booters are
the shining lights! Where are the
O'Briens O'Niells, O'Donnells O'Sulli¬
vans, O'Rourkes, MacCarthy's, O'Con¬
nors, etc, of the days which inspired
the gifted poet to sing —
"Rich and Rare," etc.
It is a fact that hundreds of pat¬
riotic Irishmen are laboring zeal¬
ously in one cause or another tend¬
ing to the elevation of their native
land. This is a fact that cannot be
controverted by their bitterest soc¬
ial and material enemies. Were all
these separate exertions employed
in the furtherance of Irish Nation¬
ality, that would have been assur¬
ed The query, then, arises, What
are the elements of Nationality?
Echo answers, The Language ! Let
that die and it is as difficult to re¬
cover the nationality as it is to re¬
surrect a dead corpse? Why then
these separate exertions? Why
not secure the Nationality first? —
and, if you will, use the other etce¬
teras as sauce in the operation?
The formulating of a movement
to converge divided exertions for a
specific purpose is the most difficult
and tedious part of the operation.
This tedium and difficulty are now
brushed aside by the Gaelic Socie¬
ties of America in organizing the
Gaelic League of America, whose
mission is the Cultivation of the
Language, Literature, Music, and
Art of Ireland — the National Life.
This is a tremendous undertake¬
ing because of the financial consid¬
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