Plunkett's 1904 Book

Century of Endeavour

Ireland in the New Century

Horace Plunkett

John Murray, London, 1904

Although this book was also published long before I sat down to write 'Century', to my eternal regret, as in the case of Trevor West's biography, I had not come across it. I am adding the following notes on it in support of the Plunkett et al background to JJ's political work, and also with particular reference to the contemporary need for a re-evaluation of the need for co-operative organisation. The book is dedicated to the memory of WEH Lecky the TCD historian.

In what follows I use Plunkett's own chapter headings, and note primarily the contact-points where his world-view can perhaps be seen as a feeder for that of JJ. RJ 31/07/07.

1. The English Misunderstanding

I quote: '...One seemed to hear the voice of Bishop Berkeley, the biting presence of whose Queries is ever fresh, asking from the grave.... 'whether it would not be more reasonable to mend our state than complain of it, and how far this may be in our own power?'

Later on p20-21 he attributes the lack of industrial development to the nature of the system of land tenure; he goes on to comment on the effects of the land war. He concludes that the Irish problem is neither political, nor religious, nor economic, but a complex amalgam of all three, seen as unsolved by Anglo-Saxons, and therefore insoluble. He aspires in the following chapters to show how it can be solved by Irish efforts within Ireland.

2. The Irish Question in Ireland

Plunkett blames what he sees as the deficiencies in the Irish character on the educational system. He identifies the differential between the industrial north and agricultural south, and suggests that the former needs the latter in the form of a prospering home market, and should benefit by its organising for prosperity. The art of doing this transcends the unionist-nationalist political issue. He regrets the lack of corporate existence among the post Land Acts small farmers, and urges that this needs to be fostered with some State aid. He identifies the perceived pasture vs tillage conflict as capable of resolution via co-operative organisation. He states the overall problem in terms of the negative influences of politics and religion on education, to the detriment of socio-economic practicality.

3. The Influence of Politics on the Irish Mind

We get a Berkeley quote: Whether or Parties are not a Burlesque upon Politics?.

Plunkett is critical of both Unionist and Nationalist camps for ignoring the importance of the industrial interests, though he is supportive of the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association, and critical of Unionist dependence on the landlord interests, and of the policy of upholding the Union primarily by force. He is critical of the Home Rule movement for neglect of industrial issues and for its domination by a political culture imported from the experience of the emigrants in the US. He takes a positive view of the emergence of local democracy, though he is critical of the way the Nationalist Party used it, neglecting its all-Ireland aspect, as a channel for influencing Northern opinion. He calls for a substitution of a positive Irish policy for a negative anti-English policy in the current political environment.

4. The Influence of Religion upon Secular Life in Ireland

Plunkett is highly critical of the Orange Order, while being appreciative of the productive qualities of the northern protestant culture; he regards the latter as being '...disturbed by manifestations of religious bigotry which sadly tarnish the glory of the really heroic deeds they are intended to commemorate..'. He is also critical of the Catholic Church: '...the reliance of that religion on authority, its repression of individuality... appear to... be calculated... to check the growth of the qualities of initiative and self-reliance..'. He goes on to analyse critically the role of the Catholic Church in European history, concentrating on its negative influence on economic development. Despite the negative image projected, he concedes that in Ireland '...the immense power of the Irish Roman Cathoic clergy has been singularly little abused.. they have not put obstacles in the way of the Roman Catholic majority choosing Protestants for political leaders... it is no disadvantage to a man to be a Protesatant in Irish political life..'.

On the matter of drink, he censures the priests for not condemning its excessive consumption at wakes, which events he condemns as '..ghastly parodies on the blessed consolation of religion on bereavement..'. He does concede however their positive role in the temperance movement, and the 'Anti-Treating League' which involved a pledge against 'rounds'.

This chapter seems to have been where he got himself into trouble; many of his points are valid but he could have developed them more diplomatically. The 'round' culture is alas still with us; I have always tried to avoid 'round' situations and this no doubt has contributed to my image of being 'mean'! RJ.

5. A Practical View of Irish Education

Plunkett quotes Lecky at length on the Kildare Street Society which was State-endowed and developed primary education in the period 1812-1831, on a non-sectarian basis, using the then current advanced ideas of Pestalozzi and others, with a strong practical component. He fails however to trace the history of how this good beginning was subverted by the take-over of control of education by the Churches, which resulted in the pathologies the the current system he was up against in 1904, to which he counterposed the Danish system which had been the life-blood of the Danish co-operative movement. He goes on to fulminate against the lack of access to higher education by Catholics, and to the degree of decoupling between the academic life of Trinity College and the requirement of Ireland. He had hoped for a national university system to emerge by reform of Trinity, and retained this aspiration.

On the whole however this chapter did not address critically the issue of the effective Partition of Irish university education which subsequently emerged in 1906.

6. Thought Through to Action

In this chapter he makes the case for people to associate and organise in order to achieve objectives; he takes the Gaelic League as a positive pilot example, sharing as it does with the IAOS its 'strictly non-political and non-sectarian' approach to its stated objectives, and its dependence on members' subscriptions. He stresses the importance of nationality as being distinct from party politics. He contrasts the active role of members in organising for an objective with the passive role or people following political leaders. He stresses the importance of open membership, avoidance of exclusivism. He leans on the writings of the US journalist Harold Frederic, who covered the Parnell epoch for the US media from London; the latter was highly critical of the performance of the Irish parliamentarians, who generated '...a century of unremitting gabble... a sad commentary of Irish life that such brilliant talents so largely rant to waste in destructive criticism..'.

Plunkett's conclusion to this first, theoretical' part of the book is the requirement to develop a movement for organised self-help, and the need to be able to supplement this with State aid. He calls for the replacement of Adam Smith's 'economic man' by the 'economic association'. In this context he retained a basically unionist view of the role of the State in Britain, to which he attributed a positive role, based on the success achieved by the Recess Committee in setting up the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, which he headed.

From this position he subsequently evolved into a supporter of Dominion Home Rule, on an all-Ireland basis, a position which isolated him from his unionist colleagues and also from the emergent independence movement. It was however close to that which JJ subsequently tried to develop within the Free State.

In Part 2 of the book, which Plunkett introduces with a message from the King, Plunkett concentrates on the practical applications of the organised self-help principle.

7. The New Movement: its Foundation in Self-Help

While improvement in the education system is essential, we cannot wait; it will be necessary to educate the current generation of active adults in the character-building principles of self-help leading to inclusive organised economi development. Farmers need to organise to purchase their supplies and to market their produce, and not leave these processes to predatory middlemen dealing with individuals. It was possible to learn from the co-operative movement in England, but this tended to remain at the consumer end of the chain; it never developed in agricultural production. He acknowledges the pioneering efforts of the Ralahine group on the Vandaleur estate in the 1830s, under the leadership of E T Craig, from the Scottish movement; this was subsequently taken up as a model by James Connolly in his Reconquest of Ireland. The definitive breakhrough did not however come until the 1880s, thanks to the development of industrial dairy technology by Laval in Sweden, and this was taken up widely on the continent, later forming the basis for the first wave of dairy co-operation in Ireland, despite the opposition of local nationalist politicians: '..every pound of butter made in this creamery must be made on Nationalist principles, or it shan't be made at all..'. Local credit was expanded in the Raiffeisen system, which works well provided all members are equally poor. Village libraries were started, and these were supportive of the development of the work of the Gaelic League in the domain of Irish culture. IAOS organisers were active in the field, helping to develop poultry societies, teaching how to grade and pack eggs of export, and encouraging horticulture and bee-keeping. All these developments were reported, supported and encouraged with the aid of the Irish Homestead edited by AE. State aid was forthcoming in support of the education programme via the DATI.

It could be argued that Plunkett's 'message from the King' helped contribute to the idea that the co-operative movement was part of a programme to wean the minds of the Irish away from the need for independent government; this idea certainly persisted in nationalist circles, fortified perhaps by the dependence of nationalist politicians on the support of the village gombeen men. Objectively, the development of co-operative organisation among working people was a means of strengthening their political influence in natinal politics, and Connolly was clearly aware of this.

8. The Recess Committee

The 1895 general election had resulted in the long-term postponement of Home Rule from the agenda. By this time the co-operative movement was beginning to become effective, and in the light if its initial promise, Plunkett in a letter to the press called for an all-party committee to meet during the parliamentary recess to consider what might be done to promote the economic welfare of the country. This was initially opposed by some nationalists, but in end got the support of Redmond's party and the Ulster Liberal Unionists; other notables were recruiited, such as the Jesuit Fr Finlay, the Grand Master of the Orange Order and several philanthropic businessmen from the north and south (cf p218). This group sent observers abroad and laid the basis for a comparative study of their agricultural competitors. The main output was the proposal for the setting up of a unified Department to look after in a unified manner all agricultural and industrial interests. The net effect was to get a measure of industrial Home Rule out of a unionist Government. The main results of the work of the Recess Committee are outlined in the following chapters.

One can't help noting the analogy with the current 'post Good Friday and St Andrews Stormont' situation; there was a palpable sense of positive potential for inclusive socio-economic life in an emergent all-Ireland Home Rule situation. This however was destroyed subsequently by the polarised situation subsequent on the Larne gun-running, organised primarily by the British Tories in 1914, with the aid of Carson and co, in support of the 'Protestant Ascendancy' principle, and against Home Rule seen as a 'Rome Rule' threat.

9. A New Departure in Irish Administration

The new Department was by no means a simple copy of the Board of Agriculture in England. It was a 'Department of Agriculture and other Industries and Technical Instruction and was supported by a Council of Agriculture, with local government input; it integrated under one management the work of several existing services, including veterinary, food adulteration etc, and transferred from South Kensington the function of science and arts grants and technical instruction, taking over the Albert College in Dublin and the Munster Institute in Cork. The chapter goes into some detail about the structure and functions of the Department, which was clearly a step in the direction of an Irish-based governmental function, though still within the Union.

Was this a threat to the independence movement? Or was it a stepping-stone to independence? The answer to this may perhaps emerge in the evolution of the current version of Stormont. Will we perhaps get the makings of an all-Ireland Department of Agriculture again?

10. Government with the Consent of the Governed

In this final chapter Plunkett summarises the experience to date of his role as head of the Department, defining the lines of demarcation between central and local authority and voluntary organisation. There is much emphasis on the need for science and technology, and the role of the College of Science in the training of teachers is emphasised, also the teaching of science in schools. The work of the Department was made widely known to the public via the Cork Exhibition in 1902, which stayed open, fully staffed, for 6 months, achieving someinternational recognition.

***

The foregoing epic deserves re-assessment in some terms other than being part of the 'Kill Home Rule with Kindness' policy. A better label would perhaps be 'All-Ireland Independence via Home Rule by Stealth'. It remains to be seen whether contemporary Northern politics will pick up this message, as JJ had hoped it might, first at Convention-time, then in consultation with the Free State, and later in consultation with the Republic using the opportunities presented by the O'Neill reforms under Civil Rights pressure. The ending of the unnecessary mayhem triggered by the B-Specials in August 1969, to which the Provisionals were the predictable response, has again opened up a window of opportunity for constructive all-Ireland thinking, in which perhaps the Plunkett model can again be seen as relevant. RJ 03/08/07.

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