The Days of a Man 1914 



Prosperity Act, by which the great holdings of absentee land- 

 m inland i or( j s were broken up and sold to resident owners. 

 Plunkett and Russell also developed the system of 

 cooperative dairies, which enables farmers to pro- 

 duce butter and cheese of high and uniform quality, 

 thus giving these Irish products a standing in the 

 commercial world. 



The current situation was concisely summed up by 

 Sir Horace: "Home rule must be regarded as a fait 

 accompli; meanwhile Irish history is for Ireland to 

 forget and England to remember." The question is 

 not one of better government or worse, but rather of 

 government's relation to the people. It may be that 

 Rule of "Dublin Castle" knows better what is good for 

 Castle" I re l an d than the Irish themselves, but unless the 

 latter freely agree, the regime cannot be good. What 

 Dublin Castle means is that force and fear make a 

 better show of order than freedom and responsibility. 

 To those who like it the goose-step represents a high 

 degree of discipline, but a goose-stepping nation is 

 not on the road to progress. That depends on in- 

 dividual initiative and efficiency. 



When it is said that home rule in Ireland must 

 necessarily be inefficient, wasteful, partisan, and 

 priest-ridden, many will give assent. But home rule 

 Men learn is the essence of democracy. It establishes a national 

 h trying training school in civics by which good government 

 may in time be attained. There is no other way. 

 Government for the people must be government by 

 the people, it being an unchanging maxim of political 

 science that whoever rules looks first to his own in- 

 terest. 



Opposition to home rule was voiced occasionally 

 on social grounds. A titled Irish lady of Dublin, for 

 C620 ] 



