At the complimentary public banquet to Mr. Horace Plunkett held
in the Rotunda, Dublin, on Tuesday, Lord Dafferin, who presided, paid an eloquent tribute to the services of the guest of the evening. Mr. Plunkett, he said, had indisputably done more than any one else to advance by practical measures, well thought out and carefully elaborated, the material prosperity of Ireland. The leading principle of his organisation was "co-operation and self-help, in contra- distinction to isolated effort and perennial appeals to the Government for assistance." In Lord Dufferin's opinion, the man who started a small village industry probably con- ferred greater benefit on his country than the maker of dozens of eloquent speeches in Parliament. The address presented to Mr. Plunkett by Lord Dufferin was signed by twenty thousand names, representative of all shades of political opinion and religions conviction and every material interest in the country, and the banquet was attended by nearly three hundred guests, including the Lord Mayors of Dublin and Belfast.
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