The Irish vote will be so valuable in the American
elections of 1892, that prominent politicians, especially the Governor of New York, are supporting Messrs. Dillon and O'Brien in their application for a fighting fund. Money is therefore coming in with some rapidity, the collection being aided by the formal withdrawal of the appeal from the Famine Committee, on the ground that there is no danger yet. Messrs. Dillon and O'Brien are, of course, making excited speeches, in which they misrepresent all facts, coolly asserting, for instance, that Ireland has never since the Union suffered from a natural famine. Scarcity is all due to landlordism and British legislation. The only evidence for this astounding statement is, that Government has never in any famine stopped the export of food. That is to say, the British Parliament has never ruined one district to cheapen food in another, and has never " improved " agriculture by rendering its profits in the fertile counties hopelessly uncertain. It is said that the British-American Associations, which are growing numerous, intend to exert themselves to counterbalance the Irish vote ; but to do this effectively they must ally themselves with the Germans, which is a difficult matter to arrange.
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