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The Republic.
and his sincerity makes an effective contrast
‘to the double-dealing of men like Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman, who shout one day,
“ Long live the Duma," and the next bellow,
“ Down with the Egyptians.” Even in her
crimes, England lacks a sense of style, and
her methods never reach a higher plane than
those of the land-grabber and the gombeen-
man.
Discovering Sinn Fein . . .
The Irish Unionist Press takes not only
its politics but its views from England, and it
was not until the London papers discovered
Sinn Fein that it awoke to the fact that a
new movement was on foot in Ireland. Then
it roused itself with a vengeance and during
the last week it has been describing our
' methods and policy in articles, that if not
of much account as serious contributions to
political thought, should rank high as experi-
ments in imaginative and humorous fiction.
One writer, who professes to speak from an
intimate knowledge of the inner circle, was
astonishedzto find that, as a result of the spirit
created by Sinn Fein, that there would be no
Royal visit to the Exhibition, a fact that he
might have learned a couple of months ago if
he had deigned to read our columns; and the
same scribe broke new ground by attempting
to play off Sinn Fein against the United Irish
League. It is an ingenious manoeuvre that
has worked splendidly in the past, but, with
other things, lrishmen have learned that they
can settle their differences without the assist-
ance of bottle-holders from Dublin Castle.
“As Good And As Cheap.” . .
It is a measure of the work that still remains
to be done in the way of economic teaching in
this country, that so acute a mind as Cardinal
Logue’s can still harbour the “as good and as
cheap fallacy.” Speaking at the opening of
the new technical school, at Dundalk, last
Friday, his eminence said :-“ I never blame
a man for passing over an article of Irish
manufacture, if it is not equal to that which
can be had from any other country,” One
can easily imagine a state of affairs in which
that would be the normal condition, but it is
not now, nor is it likely to be for many years.
the case in Ireland. The ideal of unfettered
competition is the root of the difficulty. It is
forgotten, such a thing does not exist i11
practice, and that reformers are fighting to
obtain a basis on which it may be realized.
The old theory underlying that tangle of
metaphysicial absurdities known as Inter-
national Trade was that different nations
should only cultivate that branch of production
for which they were supposed to be best fitted,
a theory that allotted to Ireland the glorious
destiny of being “the fruitful mother of flocks
and herds.” Since then the conception of a
nation equipped and developed at all points
has arisen, and the principles of the Man-
chester school, which for a time dominated
Europe, have been relegated to the seclusion
of the Cobden Club. Not even Cardinal
Logue’s great authority can revive them,
though by throwing his influence into the
scale against the national movement he may
do much to hamper progress. Cardinal Logue,
it would also appear from his speech, has had,
like many of us, unpleasant experiences with
Irish workmen; but the two instances he
quotes seem insufficient as a basis for such
sweeping generalizations. He complained no
doubt with good reason, of the defects of an
Irish wood-carver and a worker in marble;
but we wonder if he is satisfied with the Italian
toyshop stuff that occupies the place of honour
at Armagh. Foreign work of any kind has
an air of incongruity in a national cathedral,
but this has not even artistic merit to redeem
it and is both vulgar and ugly in design,
composition and execution.
The Exhibition Fiasco . . .
When it was seen that the country was
definitely opposed to the scheme of an Inter-
national Exhibition, Mr. James Shanks and
the Executive Committee consoled them-
selves with the refiection that it required only
firm handling to bring Nationalists to their
knees, and that money was bound to tell in
the long run. To their horror they have dis-
covered that modern Ireland refuses to be
either bluffed or bribed, and takes its own line
serenely indifferent to their protests and
appeals. That its influence is making itself
felt is shown by the fact that, as the opening
day draws nearer, the tale of desertions grows
larger, and the committee are anxiously won-
dering if they can muster even a few respect-
-W .‘,..- .-,.-.., . WM I --.”r.‘
,.... .....,.........
(Mr, M.‘
