Address delivered at a Banquet given by the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago.
It is an unusual pleasure for me to address such a distinguished audience as is here present, and might I say equally so to the ten or fifteen million listeners in my invisible audience through the National Radio link, the arrangements for which were expedited through the courtesy of that distinguished American gentleman, Mr. Owen D. Young, Chairman of the board of the Radio Corporation of America.
I shall be forever grateful for the opportunity which has been afforded me to realize one of my dearest hopes - to visit the great country of yours - to meet in person so many of those who have been our good friends in days of tribulation; to have an opportunity of conveying to them, on behalf of the Irish people, our gratitude for the kindly sympathetic practical interest which they have always manifested in our welfare and for the generous measure of support and encouragement which they have extended to us over the years. This hearty welcome which you have given me is but another evidence of the deep affection which exists in the hearts of the American people for our little island country 3,000 miles across the ocean. It is a long way; often, as I have reason to know, a stormy way, but it is a way over which many of my countrymen and yours have passed. It has been travelled by the sad-hearted exile driven from his homeland to seek bread and shelter in the wake of the westering sun. It has been retraced by many a homing Gael returning to revisit the scenes of his boyhood, to spend the declining years of his life, and in the end, to await the last trumpet blast in the hallowed soil of his native land.
Upon the eve of my departure there assembled in Dublin a distinguished gathering of the citizens of the Capital to wish me God-speed on my way and to charge me with the pleasing task of expressing to you the high appreciation and the affectionate esteem in which they hold you; to congratulate you upon the proud place which the United States occupies amongst the nations; to thank you for all your kindness and to wish you, with all their hearts, a continuance of the prosperity with which Providence has been good enough to endow you. That task I discharge with the greatest pleasure. I regard it as a high honour that it should have fallen to my lot to be the bearer of Ireland's greetings and good wishes.
I feel sure you are all anxious to hear how we are getting on in Ireland, to hear what use we are making of our hard-won freedom, what measure of progress we have achieved, what results we have obtained and what goal we see before us. I can only hope to give you the very briefest sketch of these things, and as such a sketch is a narrative, not of brilliant victories nor of heroic enterprises, but of hard material things. I must crave your indulgence if, in spite of the best good-will, I should trespass on your patience.
For seven hundred years the Irish race has dreamed of the day when Ireland, emerging from thraldom, should once again enjoy the freedom which God intended for her; for seven hundred years generation after generation has striven and suffered to hasten the dawning of that day. It has been reserved for our generation to see it, minus perhaps some of its ideal glory, but nevertheless the dawn. Its brightness is somewhat obscured by what we trust is but a passing cloud, which covers a part of our historic northern province. When that cloud lifts, as we firmly believe it will lift, then indeed we shall have come into the full light of freedom's morning. Until then we can only pray that we will so use the light that has been given us that our northern brethren will seek of their own free will, to cross from the shadow to the sunshine.
If I begin by a brief reference to conditions in Ireland when, following the Treaty of Peace of 1921 which closed the long and bitter struggle for independence and which laid the happy foundations of peace and friendship with Great Britain, the responsibility for the management of our household descended upon us; it is only to enable the work of the six years which have elapsed since then to be viewed in a proper perspective.
We in Ireland could not hope to escape from the post-war reaction which depressed all Europe when the period of inflated prices and false prosperity came to an end. Primarily dependent upon agriculture for our wealth, we were indeed very severely hit by the diminution in the purchasing power of our customers. Our industries, other than agriculture, as you know, had one by one been wiped out in earlier years by repressive legislation, in later times by the pressure of the big business combines. Our roads and our railways, the control of which was not in our hands, had, during the war years, been allowed to depreciate. The super-added burden, of our three years struggle for independence, which entailed much dislocation in business and was accompanied by much material destruction, imposed a further handicap. Leaving aside, altogether, therefore, the difficulties and dangers incident to the building up of new national institutions, a process which in our country, like too many others, was unfortunately not a wholly peaceful one, it is easy to see that the capacity of our people for self-government was about to be subjected to a trial of an uncommonly searching kind.
We had to think first of setting our house in order by completing our governmental machinery. In the midst of this pre-occupation we were faced with the consideration that, unless steps were immediately taken to reconstruct our broken industries, to recover our lost markets, to improve our communications and our trade, the rest of the world would have passed us by in the race and we would have been unable to overtake our competitors. We were very young, we were almost inexperienced, but the task had to be faced so we gritted our teeth and went on.
We started on our career by making one good resolution which we have kept, notwithstanding many temptations, and that was to pay as we went. True, we were not able all at once to defray our total expenditure out of revenue, but from the very beginning we made it a rule to which we have strictly adhered that all ordinary and recurrent expenditure should be met out of revenue and that our borrowings must be solely in respect of capital and non-recurrent charges. In the last three years, including those charges which are properly of a capital nature, our budget showed a surplus of three and a half millions of pounds - a figure which is all the more remarkable when it is realized that in the six years since 1922, we have made very considerable remissions of taxation. We reduced the tax upon incomes to 50 per cent of the 1921 figure. We abolished all duties on tea, cocoa and coffee, and reduced the tax on sugar over 60 per cent. As a result, the tax revenue imposed per head of the population has been brought down from $52.50 to $32.50, or approximately 40 per cent.
The value of the investments of our people in industrial and government securities of other countries is upwards of one billion dollars from which we derive an annual income of $55,000,000 - in other words we are a creditor nation.
We have, of course, had our advocates of inflated currency, but we have steadily set our face against any such course. Our currency re-organization, which is the outcome of the investigation of a Banking Commission, presided over by Dr. Parker Willis, former Secretary of the Federal Reserve Board, is based upon a parity with sterling, which is tantamount to the establishment of the gold standard. Our recent loan here is as you know payable in gold coin of the United States.
As I have said, the main source of our national wealth is the soil. The problem created by the slump in agriculture was therefore one of vital importance. It had to be tackled from several aspects, amongst others the two main ones of proper distribution of land and of its economic use. There are many among you who will remember the days of the Land League, formed to defend and protect the rights of the tiller of the soil against the greed of the large land holders; to secure that the tenant farmer would become the peasant proprietor, owning the land upon which he lavished his labour and his care. Before 1921 a considerable amount of work was done in this direction. Various Acts of Parliament had been passed through the British Parliament enabling advances to be made at a comparatively easy rate of interest to tenant farmers for the purchase of their little holdings. But the work was far from being completed. A considerable volume of estates remained untouched by these Acts. We extended their scope to cover those estates. Since 1922, we have divided almost one million acres into economic holdings and we have at the moment in various ways upwards of one million further acres in process of distribution. When the process is complete every arable acre of land in Ireland will be the property of the farmer to use to his best interests and to enjoy the full fruits of his labour thereon. The day of the rackrenting landlord is gone forever, thanks, indeed, in a large measure to the great men of the last generation, to Davitt, Parnell, Redmond, O'Brien, His Excellency Mr. Healy, our present Governor General and others, all of whom knew and have some testimony to the generous support which they received from our exiled brethren here. I may perhaps be permitted, in passing, to join with those two gentlemen recently called to their reward, whose efforts contributed in no small depth to the happy result. I refer to two distinguished landed proprietors - members of the first Senate of Saorstát Éireann - the Earls of Dunraven and Mayo.
The second main aspect of the agricultural problem was the question of production and markets. We have many competitors and it required no great breadth of vision to discover that unless we could deliver goods at least equal to and if possible better than these competitors we should not succeed. Our main items of agricultural produce are live stock, butter and eggs and our main market is Great Britain. We proceeded to tackle the problem of increased and improved production in these commodities in a systematic way. Beginning with eggs, we insisted upon registering all shippers. Regulations governing testing, grading, packing, cleanliness and uniformity of equality were drawn up and rigidly enforced. The improvement has been little short of marvellous. From a position of inferiority Irish eggs at once jumped to the premier position. The result was keener demand and higher prices. From the latest available figures we have shown an increase in 1927 of seven and eight per cent over the previous year.
It is the same with our butter exports. They have, thanks to a similar system of supervision, increased in value by over 20 per cent since 1926. Of the hotel butter imported into Great Britain from all sources, we supplied 6.9 per cent in 1925, 8.5 per cent in 1926, and 10.5 per cent in 1927.We have reorganized the creamery industry by buying out the proprietary creameries and thus ending cut-throat competition with the farmer-owned co-operatives. We are now beginning to realize the dream of that great Irishman whose name is so familiar in the United States, Sir Horace Plunkett, of co-operative production and marketing by the Irish farmer. I do not want to bore you with further details of our agricultural policy so I will merely mention the introduction of the sugar beet industry and the establishment of an Agricultural Credit Corporation as an indication of the lines on which we are working.
Meanwhile, other branches of industry clamoured for attention. We were every day buying more from abroad. Boots, clothes, furniture, confectionery were being imported in huge quantities while skilled workmen were idle. To remedy this state of affairs, tariffs were raised against a number of selected commodities. The immediate result of the tariffs has been the opening of about 100 new factories and the employment of from 10,000 to 15,000 extra hands. But protection is a very different matter in our country to what it is here. You have a settled policy of high tariffs, but then you have the resources of an area of continental magnitude from which to draw. You have your immense natural wealth, minerals, every class of soil and almost every variety of climate. We have none of these things and we must face the fact that there are many luxuries and necessities which the present standard of living demands, that we cannot now and perhaps can never hope to produce satisfactorily at home. There are other commodities which we could produce quite well but the production of which might limit our output of a more profitable article. With these considerations in mind we have to walk warily lest our tariffs should result in an enhanced cost of living figure, or should in some unexpected way cut across development in any important field. Consequently, we have set up a tariff Commission which is to all intents and purposes a judicial tribunal to examine in all their aspects future applications for protective duties.
Another measure for the promotion of industrial development has taken the form of State guaranteed loans for the purchase or erection of premises plant and machinery. But the big problem to be solved is one of power-supply at a reasonable cost. Our discovered coal resources are comparatively small, we have not yet struck oil, consequently we resorted to water, of which we have plenty. The Shannon Electrification Scheme was begotten of this necessity for power. In its partial development it will cost over twenty-five million dollars. Work began two years ago and we hope to have this phase completed next year. Much of the excavation work has been finished; the construction of the power station is well advanced; considerable progress has been made in laying the distribution lines. In all there are about 4,500 men on the job at the moment. The estimated output from the partial scheme is 153,000,000 units of electricity per annum, a very substantial contribution towards the power and light requirements of the country. The scheme is so prepared that as the demand increases, the output can be substantially increased at a comparatively small extra capital cost without dislocation of the existing service. We have high hopes in this scheme, not only in its immediate effect upon industrial development but in the social sphere that it will brighten the lives of the people, economize time and labour, and place at their disposal even in the remote places, conveniences and comforts which they have not hitherto known.
I have said enough to show you the material side of our work in the last five years but I have only touched upon the bigger issues. I will not bore you with details of our social legislation for the improvement of the conditions of our poor; of our work on the roads which are now as good as any in Europe; of our schemes for transit improvement. I feel, however, that any survey would be incomplete if I did not say a few words on the matter of our cultural aims and our educational policy. We have set ourselves out to reconstruct the educational system so as to co-ordinate the work of the different branches primary, secondary, technical and university. We have scrapped the old system of independent Boards controlling the different branches and have unified the work with which they were charged in one Department of State, under the control of a cabinet minister. Primary education in the Irish Free State has long been free; it is now compulsory as well. Every child between the ages of 6 and 14 must show an effective school attendance for each whole year. If he fails, his parents are punished for their neglect. Mindful of the natural importance of agriculture we have made Rural Science an ordinary subject of instruction in all primary schools; we have endowed new faculties in General Agriculture and in General Dairy Science in the National University of Ireland.
The Irish language, which was dying, is being restored through the schools; every child is now taught Irish; every encouragement is given them to practise it. It is no uncommon thing now to hear the school boys, even in non-Irish speaking areas, chatting in Irish on their way to or from school. When we were young, if our parents wanted to say something to one another that they did not want us to understand, they spoke in Irish. Now the boot is on the other foot. Special steps are being taken to improve the economic conditions of the western Ireland districts where Irish has throughout remained the living speech. Assistance is provided for the production and publication of works in the Irish language. Irish music and dancing are being fostered and encouraged.
Our aim has been to develop the national and individual character and self-respect and to awaken and train the intelligence of every Irish boy and girl for the service of the community. Ireland kept the light of learning burning in the darker ages of Europe. She was the island of saints and scholars. One use we will make of our new liberty is an endeavour to restore our country to that proud place in the world of knowledge.
To you citizens of a great nation which has written the word 'Democracy' upon its standards, it will be of interest to know that our Constitution was framed upon the basic principle of all democracy 'Government by the people for the people'. Its second article declares that all powers of Government and all authority, legislative, executive, and judicial, are derived from the people of Ireland. We have adult suffrage. Men and women are on a footing of perfect equality. Freedom of worship is universal - we live up to the words of Davis: 'We heed not race nor creed nor clan' amongst Irishmen.
The Irish Free State Government gives an example of political and religious toleration in all Departments of its administration. All appointments to the National Civil Service are made in accordance with the results of competitive examinations. Legislation has recently been passed which makes this also the practice in local administration, so that no political or religious influence determines any appointment in the Government, municipal or county administration. Further illustration of this spirit of impartiality is exemplified in the appointments of judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court of the Irish Free State; five of the nine judges of these courts are non-Catholics though the vast majority of the people of the Irish Free State are Catholic.
It is sometimes stated that our people are not a peaceful people. This is contrary to fact. The police of the Irish Free State, known as the Civic Guard, are unarmed. It depends mainly for its support on the moral co-operation of the people. This is the reverse of what was in progress before the Anglo-Irish treaty when the police of Ireland was an armed force and regarded as a British garrison. Again, since the passing of the Criminal Justice Administration Act which allows time for the payment of fines the prison population has steadily decreased and at present the number of prisoners in Free State jails is only half the 1914 total. Of these the great majority are undergoing short sentences and convicts do not, as a rule, exceed 70. All this is very heartening and confirms the view, which may seem a paradox to some outsiders, that the mass of our people are essentially law-abiding.
The Irish Free State is a sovereign state with all the powers, duties and responsibilities inherent in sovereignty. We make our own laws upon all matters entirely free from any dictation from without: we make our own treaties and conventions. We are co-equal partners in the group of nations known as the British Commonwealth. We have the same freedom that Great Britain has, that Canada has, that South Africa has, and we are really the most democratic of them all, because in Ireland the President of the Executive Council is chosen by the Dáil, his cabinet must be approved by the Dáil, every action must be taken at the instance of the Executive Council or on their advice and the Council must answer to the elected representatives of the people.
Now I do not want you to take all these things I have told you on the strength of my statement. We want all of you who can do so, to come and see them for yourselves. Statistics, useful and instructive as they are, are rather dry. You can read of our trade expansion; of our stability in finance; of the smallness of our national debt, which, incidentally is only $48 per head of the population as against $75 in Denmark and $840 in Great Britain. You can read of the measure of our independence but to realise the change to the full you should come over and see. I can assure you of a hearty welcome. We can give you very good roads, comfortable trains, cheap and plentiful hotel accommodations, the finest scenery in Europe, lake, mountain and seashore, places full of historic interest. If you come in winter you can have all the hunting you want in as fine a hunting country as there is, and you need not fear to trust yourself to our mounts. If you want shooting and fishing it is there in plenty. You can have a very pleasant holiday at reasonable expense. You can judge yourself what use we are making of our freedom. You can see our sovereign parliament sitting untrammelled in the old town house of the family of Lord Edward Fitzgerald; you can see Dublin Castle, once a synonym of oppression, now the seat of the people's courts of justice; in Phoenix Park you will find the Viceregal lodge occupied by an Irish commoner, the former lodge of the English and the Chief Secretaries by the Minister of the U.S.A. accredited to Dublin. Ireland has a big heart for all her children. She will greet you as a mother. She awaits your coming.
