The Irish ought to feel
that the very best help must come from themselves. This is the
best method for teaching independence. Look at the little Isle
of Man. The fishermen there never ask for loans. They look to
their nets and their boats; they sail for Ireland, catch the
fish, and sell them to the Irish people. With them, industry
brings capital, and forms the fertile seed-gronnd of further
increase of boats and nets. Surely what is done by the Manxmen,
the Cornishmen, and the Cockenziemen, might be done by the
Irishmen. The difficulty is not to be got over by lamenting
about it, or by staring at it, but by grappling with it, and
overcoming it. It is deeds, not words, that are wanted.
Employment for the mass of the people must spring from the people
themselves. Provided there is security for life and property,
and an absence of intimidation, we believe that capital will
become invested in the fishing industry of Ireland; and that the
result will be peace, food, and prosperity.
We must remember that it is only of comparatively late years that
England and Scotland have devoted so much attention to the
fishery of the seas surrounding our island. In this fact there
is consolation and hope for Ireland. At the beginning of the
seventeenth century Sir Waiter Raleigh laid before the King his
observations concerning the trade and commerce of England, in
which he showed that the Dutch were almost monopolising the
fishing trade, and consequently adding to their shipping,
commerce, and wealth.
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