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PATRICK'S HALL, OTTAWA, KLAlbK STUKKT KAST. /A.<^ A^^T^i^-^^^t^j r..^ l/^ THE IRISH IN CANADA. St. Patrick's Hall, Ottawa, was crowded to its utmust copacity, on Tuesday evening, the 2l)th ult., to hear the promised lecture, by Mr. Mayor Waller, on the sbbject of "The Irish in Canada." In the audience were many leading citizemi of all classes and different shades of politics. Ex -alderman Honey Mas called to the chair and the Rev. Father Whalen also occupied a seat on the platform. The chair- man having briefly introduced the lecturer, who on rising was greeted with a jierfect storm of applause, Mr. Waller said -.—Before immediately pro- ceeding to oar subject, I deem it but right to state that in the remarks I am going to address j'ou this evening my object is not political. My pur{)ose is simply, ia our interests, as a component part of the Canadian people, to convince you that we are not so l)adly off in our adopted country as certain parties — for whatever object— would lead you to believe ; and to point out that it is not in our interest, nor in the general interest of the country, that we sliould be carried away by the false impressions attempted to be created by a few dissatisHed individuals in Ontario— and in Ontario only- -who, charged with havittg per- sonal ends and objects in view, desire to ac- complish thciu at our expense ; and who, in pursuing so unpatriotic a course, would do us an amount of mischief or injury if not check- ed in their career. (Applause.) I projjose to demonstrate to you the weakness and absurdity of the position taken up by those would-be leaders or dictators, and in con- cluding, to point out what in my judgment is the true course for us to pursue with the view of obtaining that one thmg which alone 've have any reason tt) complain about in Canada — adec^uate representation in Parliameut. I am not going to treat you to a flowing or flowery dissertation, hut to a recital of plain facts, which I consider it in our interest should be generally known, and which it will be to our benefit to reflect upon. The population of Canada is, as you are aware, a mixed one, being made up of no less than KUJHTEKN UIFFKRKNT NATION ALITIKS, and some twenty-five or thirty religious de- nominations. All of these are on an e((uality in the eye of tlie law and the constitution, and all of them are — and must be- equally interested in tlie welfare, prosperity, and advancement of the country ; for if it be prosperous and progressive, all must enjoy their proportionate share of the prosperity ; while, on the other hand, if stagnation lie the order of things, all in their respective degrtses or stations must proportionately suffer. Now, these being the facts, it is a plain pro- position, easily established, that it is not only m the interest of those eighteen nationalities whose lot is cast together in this happy land, but in the interest of his their native or adopted country, that pe<..ce and unity should prevail amongst them, and that they should live together in friendsiiip and hannony, and as far as practicable all pull together for the general good. (Applause.) The soundness of this proposition, I take it, can hardly be denied. I am safe in asaerMng, then, that whoever acts in opposition to these senti- ments, and counsels an opposite course of con- duct, is an evil genius in the country, whose advice, in so far as it clashes with the princi- ples laid down, is not safe to follow, and whose influence for mischief, as far as possible, should be counteracted by the wise, the prudent, and the go(xl. (Applause.) A house divided against itself cannot stand . A hou.-pe of the operatiim of huinuii iiiitiire will be that that, nationality or sect will inherit in a grt^at douree the ho«- tility of all the rest, and will (Certainly l>oa suf- ferer and no gainer to the full extent of ita iudis- eretion in this resncct. This hfing ndmitttd, and it cannot well ne denied, it is obvious to the least retleeting that the true interests of the Irish in ('anada — whether I'rotestant or Ca- tholic — lies in avoiding the occupancy of bo anotnaloiis anil unjirolitable a position : and, in every way in their power, to discounte- nance and disapprove of tiie conduct of ^unau thorized individual:! who, devoid of a broad patriotism, to answer seltish ends and jiur- po8«8, continually deal and dabble in national and sectariai issues. (Applause.) In my ad- dress on 8t. Patrick's Day last, which, it is pleasing to me to know, met with so exten- sive an approval from the leading and think- ing Catholic men of the Dominion, I pointed out that in trade and connnercc, arts, agri- culture and manufactures, and in the nnvtter of public contracts, the Irishmen of Canada were in uo way behind their neighbours of other nationalities in either enterprise or suc- cess. This cannot be vlenied — no one pretends to contradict the assertion —and on this head, therefore, we hear no complaint from the conatitutioaal grumblers and igitators, will) profess to have so much at heart the welfare of their countrymen and co-reli- gionists. It ujay be taken for granted, then, that on these heads there is no room for complaint ; although to my mind, if thou- sands of our countrymen who drag out a miserable existence in large towns and cities, both in l^anada and elsewhere, were to make an effort to settle tiiemselves on a farm— how- ever humble their beginning — they would bo tar more ccmifortable, far more independent, far happier, more contented, and better off in every way than they can ever possibly hope to be depending on the precarious subsistejico of a day 8 labour. Much bett'^r would it be for theui— much more in their true interests — to direct their attention in this way, and encourage them to proceed in a course that leads to independence, health and comfort, than to eternally iitipress upon them the false idea that one-half of them are entitled to government situations ; that they are not getting their due ; that they are crushed out by a grasping? ascendency party ; that they should bury all these grievances m their souls, and hope and w-ait for a day of retribution, under the guidance of some self-constituted guardian, to mete out vengeance upon the pol'tical oppressor of their race and creed. The Irish are not a mereenar< , place-hunt- ing people ; they are a people of honour, pride and principle ; a people who love fair play and justice, and ask for no more ; and, in the exercise of their elective franchise, cast their votes intelligently, accoaUng to political (jonnction or through jMirsonal appreciation and rcsjiect ; but there are a few scheming demagogues of their number in almost every community, as there are rotten branches on every tree and sickly sheep in every flock, who for the advancemenu of their own private interests, take the name of the Irish people in vain, and incessantly talk about want of justice to Irishmen and Catholics want of representation in Parliament -and want of fair jilay in the di8tribution of public jMitronage ; all for the sake of di-awin-^ an at- tention to themselves as leaders or spokesmen — self-elect — that thereby they may benefit themselves or their connections, by a liberal share of that patronage they speak so much about. Sucii persons as these are the worst enemies of the Irish Catholics of Canada. (Ap- plause) Their conduct is a course of libel and detraction of national character ; they provoke for us ail hostility and op]>osition that we would not otherwise encounter, and seriously i.npede our social, material, and political advancement. It is my purpose to convince you before I have don'i, that more than one- half the agitation of these unpatriotic in- dividuals, which is so injurious to our intcidsts, is misreproseutation. According to the last census, THE POPULATION of the Dominion WPS .S, 579, 752 souls, or, with the addition of probable populations of British Columbia and Manitoba, say, for round numbers 3,600,000. This total population, as I have told you, is made ujp of some eighteen different nationalitiea, dividetl into some twenty-tive or thirty religious denominations ; the principal divisions by nationality Ijeiug as follows : English and descent 706, .169 Iri^ " " 846,414 Scotch " " 549,946 French Canadian 1,082,940 Germans 202,991 Other nationalities 97,101 British Columbia and Manitoba say 21,218 Of this total the Irish number, as nearly as possible, 850,000 ; the religious complexion of the population being as foUows :— Protestants of all denominations . . 2,035, 0i)6 Catholics 1,537,923 Religion not given 26,981 Of this 1,537,923 Catholics, about 400,000, as nearly as can be estimated, are Irish and of Irish extraction. Now, with these few facts and others I will refer to, in our possession, and for the sake of accommodating ourselves to the arguments of the agitators, making population according to nurnbers, a basis of national representation in the Civil Service, in the Senate, the Cabinet, and the Parliament of the Dominion, we can, with a littie oalcu-" lation, tell exactly how maay officers, how many Senators, how many W inisters, and how many members of Parliair.ent the Irish in 4. -„.-,.-- Canada are ontitle0,')00 Irish en- titled to ? Answer, 49. Again, if 3,600,000 peojilc give 13 Cabinet Ministers, how many of this iiumlier are 850,000 Irish entitled to ? Answer, 3. The Senate, or House of Lonls, is composed of 77 meml>er8, and by the .same system of calculation just resorted to we find that the Irish in Canada are entitled to 18 Senators, on the basis of representation ac- ci)rding to population. From these calcula- tions, the correctnoas of which cannot be denied, it will be seen that according to the contention of the agitators the Irish in Canada are entitled to 850 officers under the Dominion (roveminent, ic> 49 members of rarliamcnt, 18 Senators and 3 Cabinet Ministers. But the Irish are divided into Protestants and Catho- lics, and unfortunately too sharply lietp up th«i dir.tinction for their own good or the good of the country ; antl the grumblers will insist on an even distribution of the honours, offices and emoluments. Well, again to accouintodate ourse.lveM to their views, let us assume nunibfrs shop Id be a basis for denominational representation. In this case the Irish Catholics wouhl be entitled to 400 offices under the Dominion Oovernment ; they would be entitled to 23 members in the House of Commons, to 8 representatives in the Senate, and to one Minister in the Cabinet. Tli«se facts being all ascertained, it now remains for UR to see how far THE IRISH AND THE CATHOLICS are represented in the several positions in- dicated. It will be remembered that in 1872 a return was made to Parliament of the names, origin, creed, position and pay of all the employees of the Dominion Government. That return I hft\ e carefully analyzed, and tind that those in the emijloy of the Government classing themselves under the heaoniinion (Jovern- meiit in 1872 was 979. m 129 o\or what they were entitled to on the basisi sought for by the demagogues. And if to these we were to add the large nninber of Irish appointments that have been made within the !ant tivr years, the figures would be still more in- creased. So that, in so far as appointments to office under the Goverinnent, arc concerned, it will be seen no justice has been done the Irish, and there is no room for complaint on this head. (Applause.) Of these 979 Irish em- ployees. 496 wenf Protestant, and 483 Catho- lic, showing ttie Irish Protestants having 46 over their due, on the basis of representation by j)opul.ition, and the Irish Catholics 83. The total amount of salaries of these 979 employees, annually, wius about -§4.30,000, the proportion of the Irish Protestants being about $224,000, and that of the (Jatholics about ?206 000. In the face of those indis- putable facts, deduced from the statistics of the country, carefully gone into and ascer- tained by myself, I think it must be verj' plaiii, to everyone, that there is no room, whatever, for the disturbing cry of unauthor- ized individuals, that Irishmen, and (/atholics in particular, do not get their fair share of the public patronage. In the Senate, or House of I,ords, the Irisl, are entitled to 18 members. At the present time they have 13, leaving them short five of their number in that body. Of these 18 members, the Protestants are entitled to 10 and the Catholics to 8. The complexion of the 13 memlwrs now in the Senate is 6 Irish Protestants and 7 Irish Catholics, leaving the Irish Protestants four short of their proportion, and the Irish CJatholics one. So that, in so fai- ius the Senate is concerned, . IRISH CATHOLICS '.' . , have no reason to complain of want of justice being done them there. Now, as to the Cabinet, I have shown you that the Irish are entitled t() only three members on the princi- ple we have b^eii ce the recommendation to office or position, and that these qiialitications should be the only passimrts to preferment in public lite. (Applause.) While in the ( 'ivil Service of the Dominion, in the Senate and the Cabinet, as I have shown you, there is little room for Irishmen to complain, there is some ground for dissat- isfaction as to Irish and Catnolic representa- tion in the House of Comnums. On the prin- ciple of representation by })opulation, we are entitled to 4i* meniber«i in that assembly 23 Catholic and 26 Protestant* ; but, as now con- stituted, we have only 28 representatives out of the 206 ; 20 of these being Protestant and eight ('atholic, thus leaving the former short six of their number and the latter fifteen. Here, I say, there is room jterhaps for some complaint. The present complexion of the House «f Commons is 0(1 Scotchmen, 54 Euf,- lishmen, 48 Frenchmen, 28 Irishmen, two Germans, and eight members of other nation- alities, returned Irom the different provinces in the foUoving proportion : i i . -s i 4 * W A Pt; O O Quebec 3 10 3 45 . . 4 Ontario 40 28 15 1 2 2 Nova Scotia... 13 5 2 .. .. 1 New Brunswick 4 7 4 Prince E.I 4 1 .. 1 .. .. British Col 3 3 Manitoba 1 1 I Of the 28 Irish representatives m the House, Ontario, it will be seen, gives 15, Quebec 3, Nova Scotia 2, New Bruriswick 4, British Columbia 3, and Manitoba 1. Of the 21 members that the Irish are now short of their number in the House of Commons, Ontario should furnish 15, Quebec 4, New Brunswick 2, Nova Scotia 1, and Prince Kdward Island 1 — deducting 2 from British Columbia, which gives that number over its proportion. Now, if there was a law by which, according to numbers, members of THE DIFFERENT NATXONjLITIES were to l>e nominated for Parliament and elected in the ditfereut Provinces, every na- tionality would have its full quota of mem- bers, good, bad, or indifferent, and no na- tionality would have any more than its due. But there is no such law in the Dominion, nor is there ever likely to be such a law— nor would it, perhaps, he in the interest of the people of the couutry that any such law should be enacted, as the operation of ^uch & system wouli; have an enervating mental ten- dency, and in time under suish a mode of selection Parliament might possibly degene- rate, and the country suffer in the character of its legislation in consequence. At the pre- sent time, as I have already dhown, the popu- lation of Canada is made up of no less than 1 j '•$ w i' • L, ■ S 'fc ■ i B^^u^i^^.i^ E.MV-.i,^;l^ ■«f •7 eighteen nationAliti«M ; uf these, however, Ihcro are only Hv« in )nrf(e iiroportioiis— the Kn^liili, Irish, .Scotoh, French, and (Jurnians. The»e five principal coiiiiKmentt nf viur {xtpu- lation rticiilar intcreHtM ^4> conserve, or he legislated fiU, neparatu and distinct from all tht; rcHt ; on the contrary, this complex population of ours inhabits the Mrholu Dominion, uru all mixepulation is not very apparent - for the men who asfiemble from all parts of the Do- minion ill the halls of Parliament to make the laws which govern the country are not sent there, nor do they come there to legislate for nationalities or for particular interests of any kind, but for the general interests of the whole country ; and, therefore, if one na- tionality be in a maj.)rity and the other in a minority in Parliament, no injustice Could be done the general interest thereby. No-one coinpouent of the ]iresent Parliament is strong enough, of it«elf, to undertake to make special legislation in behalf of its own nationality or creed, that would be prejudicial to the others ; and if any such attempt were nia hontile to Irish interests in Canada, ttwi dangeroi4H an example tt> set or be emulated ; and in this young country with its niixeil popidation, with the elements of peace anf the country, that Irish interests do not sutler in the Dominion, al- thouKh Irishmen have not their full numlHir in Parliament. There is, therefore, no real or logical necessity for advising the Irishmen of Ontario to make themselves XS KXrKrnoN IN THE IMIMIMUN, by banding together, apart from all other nationalities, for the anvaiiceineut of Irish political interests. Such a course iu quite Uiexi>odient ; such a course is quite imprac- ticable — impossible of acconiplishnient for very obvious reasons— and, if it were prac- ticable, and attempted to be carried into effect, it ivould result in stimulatinu hostility against us, and, instead of bettering our prohci.. condition, would sadly impair oi injure our m terial and jiolitical prospt^rity in the future. The only ptissible justification there could be, for asking Irishmen in Canada to divest themselves of their political princi- ples, and band together as a national or religi- ous organization, would be the evidence of a well-defined disposition on the part of thtir fellow-subjo jts of other creeds or nationali- ties to do them an injustice, or, by a factions attitude, deprive them of their rights. No such evidence of any such feeling or intention exists — no such evidence can be lound in the broad extent of this Canada of ours — and, therefore, there is no necessity for a policy of isolatitm or extlusiveness, anatriotism, honestly uttered in the interest of his country and his c untrymen, and in marked contrast with i.he wihl ravingb of unauthorized dema- ^;.^ueB, who a«t. SCOTf'II ASCKNDKNCV \\a« t'.H cause astiigned for the want of rejire- .sentation in Parliament, and as a cure for this (;vil it was pro,>oaed by those who have im- periou:iiy constituted themselves our dictators — the guardidns of our riahts aad lil)erties— that the Irish and the English and other na- tionalities should unite together to crush out Stch ascendency. W hat a noble pr<>i>osi- tion this was, in a free country bke this, whv-re all have equal rights and privileptes, and wherH ail have the same course oper. to them to walk to honour, fame, or comwiercial prosperity, to auk a. million and n qnarter of people to set themselves up against 300,000, to prevent tliem from attainit,^ honour and jiower, through the legitimate exercise of energy, inne side to the other at the will of heartless denia- goi.'ues ; 1 will convinee you, by a few more fayts of an indi.Hputabio (character, that no good, but only miseliit,'', could possibly come from such an anooialous and unnatural atti- tude. As you are aware, there are eighty- eignt constitneneies in Ontario, to which I will co.ifine myself for illustration. The com- plexion of those constituenciei I have care- fully analyzed, and have ascertainei' the total number of the ]to]iulatiMn in each, and as nearly as jKissible the t;>ti: ',:..:,.,\ « in such a /ooHhIi attempt, iujurc their future prospocta. Out of the 1, 620,801 of a popula- tion in Ontario tKbv are only about 190, 1 2.>, and in sucn small fragments in the ( Catho- lic representiition in l.'arlianK'nt, they are not sufficiently strong in any one constituency in Ontario to elect an Irish Catholic without the co-operation of some other nationality. What powerful ally in Ontario have these li)0,C(X) Irish Cathelics that th(iy can afford to be placed in a position of auta^'onism to their Scotch fellow-citizens or anyone e'se ? Not a single one. What is to be gained then by a cry of Scotch ajcendency or ny counselling a policy of isolaticm ? Most certainly nothing to gain but everything to l.ise. Nv'ere we to assume an attitude of this kind we would place ourselves in t)ie position of a>i inharmonious and dissatisfied comiwnent of the population — and the only 'lihxe us in the repugnant por'tion of un- principled men, ready for sale in self-interest — tlie unreflectiug tw^lsof aspiring individuals and could only result in ultimate disaster — in engendering a hostility - gainst us, on the ]>art of every utuer nationality in tlm Dominiou. la brief, it would be dtstnictivo of our iuter- ' ^ta to have the idea prevail that the Irish Catholics of ('anada, were in harmony with any such wild, visionary, dishonest and dis- honourable course of coiiduet. (Ajiplausi;.) But, tor the sake of argument, let us see how far the uni''«d action of the Catholics of On- tariu is i)ractic'able. Is there anythiitg prac- ticable about it ? I rontend that there is not ; and I have uiven you already sufilcieut grounds for thinking so ; but to m(tke mat- ters i|uite clear, I will remind ys proposed to submit," they tell us, ' to the leaders of the two political parties, certain propositions in the name and on behalf of tne ('atholic body, in view of uniting the support of ti>'it body in favour of "^'ir John Macdonakl or Mr. George Brown, according as either one or th • other would guarantee with reasonable certainty the most liberal terms." But it Would appear Ui\t the Convener of the Lengue, the Toronto gentleman, who was ainijitious of Parli unentary honours, flow into the arms of iMr. Biom'h or the (Jrits before the terms of Sir John Macdonakl were com- municateil ; aiid, for this aud for other reasons stated in the protest, the gentlemen just named withdrew from the League and advised their friends to do likewise in the fo'lowing language : "By reason of those plain aud palpable evidences of bad faith and lactionism ; ami, furthermore, on account of the manifest failure of the League to bring about the results proposed by its establishment — iustciul of unanimity and harmony, we find diiKensiou and discord : instead of the language of conciliation and friendship on ^^ 10 the i»rt of its spokesman and organ, that "t insult and vinJictiveness — we consider it our bounden duty thus publicly to announce our withdrawal from all connection with the Catholic licague. Moreover, we advise all those who have joined theorganization, through our instrumentality or on account of having seen our names coupled with its pro- ceedings to consider well the advisability and necessity of severing their connection with men whose manifest aim is to wheedle the Catholics of Ontario into a political alliance with (Jeorge Brown." Is anything more than this necessary to convince us of the utter futi- lity of any attempt at brin^^ing about a united politi- 1 action on the part of the Catholics of Ontario irrespective of party proclivities ? I should think not. The thing is utterly im- pvacticaMo, and even if practicable, as I have deniojistrated, could do us no good but posi- ' tive harm. Besides all this, the highest dig- nitary of the Catholic Church in Canada puts his veto on such assumption of powers in the following words : "No association of persons or journaU has any right to dictate on sub- ject's affecting Catholic interests, without con- sulting the prelates of the C!!hurch, who are the natural guardians of those interests." But let US reflect for ; moment on the injus- tice — the more than injustice — put upon the Irish Catholics of Ontario by those Catholic Leaguers, excellent and all as their intentions may have been. Without consulting leading Catholic gentlemen, we are told, and without having any expression of opinion from the Irish Catholics of the Province as to the desi- rability of the movement, one officious gentle- man of Toronto, who fancies, no doubt, that he ought to be a member of Parliament or of the t'abinet, and who would appear to be in a hurrj' tr get there, calls a pre'iminary meet- ing foi the oftensible purpose of uniting the Catholics of Ontario, and thus in- creasing their numbers in Parliament. And how was this end to be ac- complished? By proposing to Sir John Macdonald, on the one hand and to Mr. (ieorge Biown on the other, to make an offer for the Catholic votp and whoever was the highest biddc, I! be declared the purchaser. And all this has to bo done ' ' in the name and on behalf of the Cabholics of Ontario." Was this an honourable or dignified jwsition in which to place us as a component part of the Canadian people ? (Cries of " no 1 no !") I think not. Anything more unwarrantable than this — anything more shameful fo- men professing to be representative Catholics to propose — anything more degrading to the ill- used Catholics ot Ontario, " in whose nam* and in whose l>ehalf " the humiliating bargain was to have been struck, it ia not easy to con- ceive. The men who were to have sued for terms from Sir John and Mr. Brown were self-elected to the position ; they had no com- mission from the Catholics of Ontario to barter away their political rights and privileges in the then coming elections — no right what- ever ; and yet unauthorized and all as they were to negotiate, they were to have commit- ted the Irish Catholics of Ontario to the one party or the other. Do we desire a repetition of such weak and undi^ilied conduct in our name and on our behalf at the present time ? (Applause.) I should think not; and if so, it is not one bit too soon tliat the Irish Catho- lics of Ontario should rise in their power, in every jiart of the Province, and through the men in whom they have confidence, denounce this degrading antl damaging conduct on the part of self-constituted chamnions, who, to advance their own individual interests, are continually taking the Irish Catholic name in vain : placing us in a 1ours of other nationalities to attei exclusively to business and interests that concern the whole of us — that we are interested in as much as they are — it must be obvious to the least reflecting 'bat {Mjliticallv and otherwise we are standing in our own light. If we have fitness and poaitions— and many of us an ambition or desire •Molutely necessary that js and our abilities in and in doing so bring A notice ; or, like the rose in the desert, we may be born, mature and die, without attracting any attention. This is so self-evident a truth that there is no deny- ing it. It is equally true, unfortunately, that too many Iiish Catholic men of means and ability are entirely too apat t\^ in this re- spect ; they do not identify emselves suffici- ently with our public atfairt, either local or general, and in refraining from doing so they not only do themselves and their co-religionists an injustice, but they set an example which has a bad effect on the young Catholic men of the daV, who to a very great extent, takm^ them as a whole, are copying too faithfully the apathy of their fathers. Now this one drawback, and it is a serious one, ban more to do with our want' of Catholic representation in Parliament than many of you would be willing to believe ; but it is nevertheless a fact, and with the view of remedying the evil so muc'.li com- plained of, it is oasentially ueceasary that this ability for public have — and if we h for public life, it ' we must use our i the general interc ourselves into genei apathy or bashfulness, or whatever we may call it, must be overcome, and we must ^H)MK TO THE SURFACK a little more than we have been in the habit of doing. A waking up in this respect on the part of individuals in the different cities, towns and villages of Ontario, manifesting an interest in public affairs, and at the same time exhibiting an aptiti.de and fitness for ])ublio position, wouln do more in a year or two, in the period to elapse between general elections, to increase our numbers in Parliament than all the Catholic Leagues you could form in Canada in the next 25 years. (Applause.) Such a cour le of conduct yon must see is ab- solutely necessary to increased representation — it is an esseutial condition of such an increase, f nd in the absence of such a line of conduct, no amount of organization can remedy the evil complained of. Who are the men to-day in the occupancy of public positions throughout the country ? Are they those who up to the hour of their Ix'.ing elected to public office, minded their own business and took no part in public affairs ? By no means. Almost every one of them carved their way to those positions by previoup'y identifying themselves with general interests, pe as a unit on the most im- portant of all temporal cincerns- -politics. The only bond of union that can be approvixi is community of feeling- -unity of sentinieut on public ({uestionp, and in the management of national affairs ; and where those are wanting, principle, honesty, good government, are not to be found. " ( Applai .se. ) How very tme. Mr. O'Hanly then went on to prove that the Scotch are not a unit .in politics, and gave the following forcible incident of the fact : — m " W* have at this hour a lively illr.dtration of it in North llenfrew, where the Prime Minia- ter of the Domiuiou — a very luiusual thing jn- deetl has left his desk to brave the nguurs of a 'Janadian winter in that primitive mfnle of conveyance, the sleigh, to use his great m- flaeove ton^ Irishman against a .Scotchman." ThM refers to Hon. Mr. Mackenzie's going up to Renfrew to support Mr. Murray against Air. White. (Loud applause.) In the same letter Mr. O'HanJy further remarks :— "The Irish in Canada, even if a policy of isolation were desirable, are in a hojieless minority to ac complish anytiiing for or of themselves. They must have allies, they have to ohooeo one of two alternatives, aai alliance with tb« Ttries or the Libei-als. " ThesV sentiments are all soujid and do not by any ueans savour of the false and impracticable idea of national, religious or p«)litic»l organization for lettering the Irish » atholic poaitiOD in Canada. We must nnmistakably be on the one side or the other, according to cur co4itical organizations? The thing is iJtteriy im- pssible. These being all inooutestible fa«its It appears to me that the plain unmistakable course lor u« to pursue is that which I have endeavoured to point out. Let us identify onrselveemore actively, such of us as have the means, time and talents, and can afford them to our country in public affairs. l^t us from a knowledge of the aims and objects of politi- cal parties, ally ourselves intelligently on the one side or the other, and there firmly remain untU we can justify ourselves on broad prin- ciples for a change. Let us show ourselves in every way, not merely in the country, but of the country. LKT OCR YOl N(. MK.\, as it is their right and privilege, and as they owe It to this their native country- become memhers of our volunteer c.-rps, and enjoy the several advantages to arise from such an a«t l^t Viem, instead of wasting valuable time in bowling alleys or billiard rooms, seek more tretiuently hbrary associations, and the public journals of the day. and works on history tsures of the hills, . rills, 18 and sunny plains, pri>'iieval nature reigns. E::hau8t lo;;8 treasures of the teeming toil, These loudly call to enterpriBinjj toil, t Applause.^ Let us all as the people of a common country, then, join harmoniously together to develope those grand resources of this Canada of ours, and contentedly enjo. the blessings to result from our labours. " et us," in the words of his Grace Archbishop Lynch, for whose senti- ments we all entertain a profound respect, and by whose excellent aflvice we cun all safely be governed, " shouldor to shoulder build up this our country with a generous loyalty, without forgetting the land of ovir birth," and under such happy aus,' ^ it will l)ecome "a great nation in th' ure — great in the morality of its peo; .nd in that eminent prosperity and conttt leut which God be- stows on dutiful and obedient subjects.' (Loud and lon|[ continued applause.) Mr. M. Beiinet here advanced, and amidst cheers presented his Worship with a hand- some iHHiuet of flowers, while the band gave a selection. A vot« of • anks was then m»)ved to the leotorer by Mi , W. Kehoe, seconded by Mr. Marpby. Mayor Waller replied and after some dis- cussion the motion was earned amidst loud ^oheers, and the meeting broke up. f-.i ■oe» " .1