Michael Davitt to Reverend James Owen Hannay [George A. Birmingham], 4th April 1906. IE TCD MS 9376/1046

IE TCD MS 9376/1046: Typescript letter from Michael Davitt, St. Justin's, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Ireland to Reverend James Owen Hannay [=George A. Birmingham], Westport, Co. Mayo dated 4th April 1906 referencing his parliamentary career and "Canadian Cattle": "Happily for myself I am no longer an M. P. I resigned my seat in October 1899 as a protest against the infamy of the war against the Boers, and though this resignation was the one thing in my Parliamentary career which I could really feel proud of I am still believed to be a member of the House of Commons by, I fear, most people in Ireland who do not take too close an interest in the public affairs of the country. I am sending your request on to Mr. T.W. Russell who may, out of gratitude to the author of the 'Seething Pot', put the application for C - before the right authority in these matters. Yes, the question of the Canadian cattle is a serious one for the country. I have warned the tenants again and again during the last ten years that the restrictions against importation could not always be upheld, and that this fact should be seriously considered by them when buying their holdings. it was all In vain. Nothing short of absolute danger or necessity will rouse them out of their dirty, slovenly habits of living from hand to mouth, a shiftless, thriftless, ignoble existence. When I return home from little countries like Denmark, Holland and Belgium it makes me mad to look on at the criminal misuse of the best lounge in Europe which you see in our midland counties and around here where I live. Next (in my view) to the long experience of English rule, I blame our whole education system for this economic ruin of our fertile soil. It has scarcely any relation to the industrial needs of the country; and yet because it is supposed to be, in some mysterious way, a safeguard for 'Faith and Morals' our Bishops - and I fear yours too - are standing in the way of efficient reform. One would like to know, (if he could obtain the opinion by proxy) what the Devil's private view about 'Faith and Morals' that are protected by ignorance and a slovenly social life really is..." Recovered by Mrs. Mary Davitt.