MF – 1863.11.21 – Fenian Society – #97 – F12248
The Fenian Society or Brotherhood has been talked about and written about for a few weeks past. The English papers enquire what it is and what it means, and sometimes try to overwhelm it with ridicule. The American papers, indulging their taste for extravagance, sometimes tell big stories of its numbers, its strength and its intentions. The truth seems to be that it is a Society which, after a propagandism of some five or six years, now exists in nearly every city and town of the United States, and in many towns of the Confederacy, and has a great number of members in the ranks of the U. S. army. Its avowed object is the establishment of the absolute independence of Ireland by physical force, and it assumes that the time for making the attempt at liberation will be when England shall be involved in any great war – particularly if that be a war with the United States. The Society, which has grown very strong of late, and which now boasts of having a sufficient number of veteran Irish soldiers and skilled Irish officers to do its work, held a convention of the representatives of all its branch Societies in Chicago a few days ago for the avowed purpose of perfecting its organisation, so as to be ready for the opportunity which its leaders say will soon be found.
Whatever may be thought of the wisdom, the propriety, or the [feasability] of such a scheme for the regeneration of Ireland, it must be admitted that constitutional agitation has failed to elevate the condition of the people, and that the cessation of constitutional agitation has not been followed by any of the benefits which, according to English politicians and journalists, were to [ n] on the country when agitation ceased. If we are to judge it by its fruits, the Government of Ireland is one of the worst in Europe. In no other country are the majority of the people compelled to support a Church Establishment for the benefit of a small minority. No other country is so afflicted with the curse of Absentee and Alien Landlords. In no other country has the taxation been doubled within the last twenty years – nearly all the taxes being taken out of the country to be spent elsewhere – while during the same period the harvests have been deficient and the population has been diminishing. It is scarcely to be wondered at that when their country is suffering so frightfully, and its rulers persist in the same policy that has inflicted on it such sufferings, and admit that they are unable or unwilling to apply any remedy, so many Irish exiles think that a revolution is necessary, and are eager themselves to attempt it whenever such circumstances arise as may render the attempt not hopeless. Revolution is always a fearful, often a wicked thing, and the views of these Fenians may be visionary, their hopes may be baseless; some may think their intentions wicked and their schemes rash and wild; but those who approved of revolution in Tuscany and Parma must at least admit that the grievances which the Fenians would redress are [unparallelled] in their enormity, even if the means by which they would redress them should not meet with approval.
A late Dublin paper thus summarizes some official returns:
The statistics of agriculture and emigration which have been published, inform us that –
For the year 1863, as compared to 1862, there has been a total decrease in acreage under crops, amounting to 92,431 acres. But in 1862, as compared to 1861, there was a decrease in the acreage under crops amounting to138,841 acres. And in 1861, as compared to 1860, there was a decrease amounting to 81,373 acres. This shows a loss of acreage under cultivation in 1862, as compared with 1860, amounting to 312,645 acres. And between the year 1860 and 1857, there was a falling of 106,184 acres, making a total decrease between 1863 and 1857 of 418,829 acres.
Those figures are drawn from the official returns. Let the reader remember them. Over four hundred thousand acres gone out of cultivation in this country since the year 1857! The loss in money represented by these figures must be computed for each year separately, and the sums then added together. It will be found to be enormous. But it does not represent our whole loss, for in other sources of wealth we have been at the same time losing heavily.
In 1861, the loss of value in livestock, as compared with that of the previous year, was officially set down at £1,161,345. In 1862, as compared with 1861, it was £1,564,710. And in 1863, as compared with 1862, it was £1,227,041, making a total loss on live stock in three years, amounting to £3,953,096. If we calculate the loss back to 1859, we find it amounts to £5,370,713.
Then the loss of our population remains to be counted up. From March, 1851, up to the present time, our country has lost on emigration – as shown by Mr. Donnelly’s statistics, – 1,378,33 persons.
To these facts we may add our loss by the undue taxation which the British Government imposes on us. It amounts to about £3,000,000 annually.
To this again we have to add our dead loss by absentee rents and by payments for articles of British manufacture, which, were Ireland self-governed, would be produced at home, and this we may set down as, at the very lowest, £10,000,000 annually.
And we have still to recollect that, while the population and the wealth of Ireland are diminishing as above shown, the burden of taxation imposed on Ireland by England is being increased. In the year of the Union, the population of Ireland was nearly what it is at present – but Ireland now pays double the amount of taxation which she paid at that time. England, wealthy England, is having her taxation lightened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Ireland, impoverished Ireland, is having hers increased. A parliamentary return, recently published, shows that during some years past the taxes remitted in Great Britain [exceded] those imposed by £44,386,637, while the taxes imposed on Ireland [exceded] those remitted by £1,882,287.
These facts show a desperate condition of the country.[*]
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The Herald – 1878.07.20 – Twelfth of July, 1878 – #22
TWELFTH OF JULY, 1878
This day, so much dreaded by all lovers of peace and law and order, has passed off this year with less than the usual amount of [lawlessless] and riot. In the United Kingdom, the demonstrations that took place were the most miserable character. The need of public by professing their attachment to the throne by gaudy processions and insulting words and tunes appears to have lost its hold on the average English, Irish and Scotch mind. Only one or two localities in the British Isles were disgraced by unseemly conflicts between citizens of this mighty empire. No lives were lost, and much less than the usual amount of bloodshed was the result of the day’s proceedings. Strange as it may appear, the most serious encounter between the rival factions appears to have taken place in a Scotch town, where one would least expect such disorder on such an occasion. In the United States, the “truly loyal,” whom it is asserted, are not and can not be from the nature of their secret oath-bound society, loyal to the United States Government, do not appear to have entered into the celebration of the “ pious, glorious,” etc., with the usual enthusiasm. This is to be expected. No true American citizen can at the same time be a good Orangeman. If there is one thing more insisted on than another in the Constitution of the American Union it is surely toleration. This being so, no Orangeman, whose aim must every and always be, if he be faithful to his engagements, Protestant [ascendency], can be a faithful defender of the laws and traditions of a free and tolerant Republic. The oath pledged to one authority must naturally clash with that given the other. Clear sighted Americans are not slow to see this. Hence the utter want of power and respectability among the Orange body in the United States. That we may not be thought guilty of a want of impartiality in writing of an organization that is considered by some as respectable and law-abiding, we quote the testimony of Mr. Elwood Harris, who writes over his own name to the Montreal Post with reference to the character of the Orangemen of his [acquaintence] in New York. Mr. Harris says : “Now, sir, I, who am a North of Ireland Protestant, need not have recourse to newspapers to find out what Orangeism is; and while I yield to no man in my unswerving allegiance to the Protestant religion I look upon that peculiar association called Orangeism as the greatest curse that can be introduced into a community. My Orange acquaintances are about the worst Protestants I know, they seldom go to church, and the only time they handle a bible is when they are sworn into a secret, an illegal and a disloyal society. “This testimony as to the status of Orangeism in the United States can hardly be suspected of undue partiality as it comes from a gentleman who proclaims his “ unsorrowing allegiance to the Protestant religion.”
In Canada it is gratifying to note that the [fell] spirit of fanaticism, as shown by intolerant Orangemen, has given public proof of only insignificant proportions of its existence. In this province only a few paltry attempts at display were made, and the result has not been such as to augur well for the future of Orangeism here. At Musquash, Pisarinco, Golden Grove, St. Stephen and Dorchester, the only celebrations occurred, and these were not of an alarming character. Our local readers will very readily perceive the magnitude of attempts at gorgeous display in such places as Pisarinco, Musquash and Golden Grove. As these localities are at best but sparsely populated, and as it is fair to suspect that not nearly the entire population turned out, it must be concluded that the demonstrations were not on a magnificent scale. The daily papers reported that special trains (?) took excursionists from St. John, Fredericton and Woodstock, to the most ambitious of the Orange displays, held at St. Stephen. The same reliable authority stated that the excursionist by the “ special trains” numbered – forty ! This would give an average of 131/3 from each of the populous places named above. At Dorchester, it is said, that two or three hundred members of the Orange Association perambulated the streets of that town, and further, that Mr. Reynolds, of the Borderer, a paper that has recently attained a bad pre-eminence, appeared as one of the leaders ; also, that Mr. Blakeslee, the defeated of St. John, was to the fore. Well, men of certain calibre must have triumphs of some kind, and these Orange triumphs are about the cheapest we know of. It is gratifying to record that nothing occurred to create ill-feeling, more than what the brethren of the yellow line themselves were guilty of. The twelfth in Montreal was looked forward to with much anxiety by all, but there no lives were lost, only two or three grievous encounters took place, and the firm action of Mayor Beaudry resulted in keeping the peace of the city. As far as the province of Quebec is concerned, the “ rights” of the Orangemen have been pretty well settled. Some journals claim that no attempt can ever again be made in Montreal or, in fact, in the Province of Quebec, to insult the Irish Roman Catholic population. Should this prove true, one cause of weakness will be removed from our midst, and the people of the Dominion will be able to act in union for the future welfare of Canada.
The Herald – 1878.07.13 – The Twelfth – #21
THE TWELFTH.
It is a matter for profound congratulation that the Orange society of this province has had the good sense not to obtrude its gaudy parade on the attention of those who, very justly, feel insulted at such a proceeding. The Orange body in this province is in itself insignificant, and if left severely to itself will rapidly wither and decay. The present real strength, not on paper, can easily be learned by any one curious in such matters by giving a little attention to the number, character and position of the lively gentlemen who attach half a dozen letters of the alphabet to their names and march displaying a large amount of orange or yellow ribbon, to their own delight and that of their lady friends who deck them out so brightly. These men, we repeat, can do little harm of themselves. It is only when they meet with opposition that there is real danger. If they are permitted to lay the role of martyrs, if they are attacked in public processions, or annoyed in their private lodges by their opponents then they may become really dangerous. It is, therefore, the plain duty of all well-disposed citizens to let the Orangemen alone, and in this way their power for evil will be considerably lessened. Two years ago when this society, under the leadership of the Ex-Hon. E. Willis, G. M., &c., &c., persisted in marching through a part of the city where their presence was particularly offensive, only the good sense and good humor of our citizens, and particularly of those residing in the quarter referred to, saved St. John from bloodshed and riot and all [uncharitableness]. Even when waited upon by a number of our most respected and respectable fellow-citizens, the Orangemen, who should be slow to give or to take offence, despised all warnings and petitions, and walked in defiance of public opinion, except that small portion of it represented by five or six hundred of the Orange hue. The experience of that day, the utter want of strength and importance manifested by the display has, no doubt, had a [marvellous] effect in keeping our Orange friends from making a show of themselves at St. Stephen this year. Our readers will remember that this procession should have taken place in St. Stephen last year, but was postponed on account of the great fire. It is this year “postponed†without a definite reason. Perhaps it will be delayed until the next local elections take place, although even as a political power Orangeism, as was proved in the last local contest, is dead. So little respect had the King-Kelly government for the Orange body that the Grand Master was obliged to step down and out, and this without bringing any very marked punishment on that Government, which afterwards pursued the even tenor of its course to the end. Such facts as those we refer to should be sufficient to convince our local statesmen that no great strength is to be gained politically by connexion with this body, and the sooner they leave it the better for themselves and the country. Why should any set of men bring into this free and prosperous country recollections of old-time feuds, souvenirs of deeds of shame for their common country and for themselves? Why will Irishmen in particular quarrel with his brother Irishmen over the outcome of battles and broils with which we in this Dominion have nothing to do? The sooner a different spirit is manifested by [partizans] of Orange and Green the better for the whole country and for the peace of the whole people. If anything should prevent Canadians from making for this Dominion a glorious place in the annals of the new world it certainly would be the growth and expansion of secret societies, of bodies bonded together for purposes which cannot be known to the whole people, and, which, as they cannot bear the light of day, must be looked upon with distrust and suspicion by all right-thinking men. We hope the day is not far distant when Orangeism and Freemasonary, twin omens of evil for this Canada of ours, will be forever banished from our midst.
The Herald – 1877.07.14 – Celebrating the 12th – #1
CELEBRATING THE 12TH. – Wednesday night was a gala one around the Indiantown dock, at least to a party of wood boat men who, finding it inconvenient to stop in town to celebrate the “pious and immortal memory” on the twelfth of July, resolved to do the usual honors on the 11th. A crowd well primed with rum and having their shirts and vests decorated with all the orange cigar box ties available, paraded around the wharves in the vicinity, uttering yells, and snatches of party songs, much to the amusement of the sober citizens who witnessed their antics. After this sort of thing had went on for about two hours, a policeman put in an appearance, but not before one of the “boys” got a “[tlfter]”: under the ear from an Indiantowner, with whom he was becoming familiar. When the policeman came, the hooting freshwater sailors retired, some to the bar-rooms while the remainder slunk away to the recesses of their woodboat cabins.
MF – 1864.06.16 – Orangemen of this Country – #109 – F12249
Last year, in the St. John election, Mr. Tilley’s agents and tools were set to work to excite the Orangemen of this Country so that they may be used as the Government wished. We believe their artifices succeeded to some extent, and that many Orangemen were duped by them. Then, however, they had some material to work with. Mr. Thomson is a member of the St. Patrick’s Society of this City, a body composed mainly of Protestants, and which as long as we have known it has elected only one Catholic President. According to the immemorial custom of the members of that Society, Mr. Thomson wore a Shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day, and for this he was denounced as a nominee of the Catholics, as courting Catholic support, as insulting all good Orangemen, &c. – We do not know how many were deceived and misled by such shallow artifices, but we believe some were.
Those same agents are now working hard to produce a similar result by the like means in Queen’s County. Last year these artful dodgers declared that it was an insult to all Orangemen that Mr. Thomson wore a Shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day, and that a man who had committed such an outrage as thus to proclaim that he was Irish should never be allowed to represent St. John. This year they take the Catholics of Queen’s under their fond protection and lavish a world of kindness and attention on them. They tell them that Mr. Perkins is the nominee of the Orange body, that every man, woman, and child in the Country knows this to be a fact, and that no good Catholic should vote for such a monster. They pretend to hold the interest of Catholics above all other considerations; but they play this part very awkwardly, for they, as far as in them lies, insult the Catholics by representing the Catholic Church as “a party,” and Orangemen as “adverse party,” and by letting it be seen that they think the Catholics of Queen’s a set of fools who can be provoked to quarrel with their neighbours whenever such a quarrel would serve the ends of these political tricksters.
But while labouring to set the Catholics against Mr. Perkins, they endeavour also to make the Orangemen his enemies, and in order to do this they attack the Freeman. They pretending still to have the utmost regard for the feelings and wishes of the Catholics, rate us roundly because, as they say, we neglect those interests and seek to sacrifice them at the shrine of party and of self. They allege that we have made some sort of compact with Mr. Perkins, and to prove this they misrepresent and distort the little we have said of the candidates. Misrepresentation, however, not being sufficient, they set their wits to work [ ] invent, and now they assert that the [ ] to Mr. Perkins, which we first saw [ ] card of Witness, was written in [ ] in the Church. If by lying by [d ] the Freeman Office. could persuade [ ceit] by any means, they the [Fre ] the Catholics of Queen’s that [sa ] [ man] played them false, and at the [same] time persuade the Orangemen that they ought to oppose Mr. Perkins, Mr. Tilley’s tools would have done their work well. But they bungle sadly.
They do not, however, desire to turn over the votes of either Catholics or Orangemen to Mr. Hoben, and this is one of their troubles. He is too intelligent and shrewd a man to suit them, especially as he has declared himself independent, and they only dislike him less than they do Mr. Perkins, who is out openly in opposition. Mr. Peters, the cousin of Mr. Tilley, is their candidate, and for him they would get the votes of Orangemen and Catholics if they could – by lies, by misrepresentation, by exciting sectarian feuds, in short, by any means.
But it is hard to work without material, and they have not even as much as the wearing of the Shamrock gave them. They try to provoke the Freeman, but the Freeman laughs at their folly, and will not utter a word to offend Orangemen or any others; will not even take an active part in the election at all; but is quite willing to allow the people of Queen’s, Catholic and Protestant, to choose for themselves without the aid of its advice the man who they believe will make the best representative.