“The Church of Ireland has a very strong organization,” said Mr. Wigham, “but, of course, it is not so strong or so extensive as that of the Roman Catholics, because they constitute at least three-fourths of the population of Ireland. The Presbyterians and Methodists are also well organized and have a temperance society in every parish and connected with every chapel. Our central organization is supported by them all, and is entirely nonsectarian, as you will perceive upon examining our list of officers.
“Nearly all the temperance work in Ireland is done by religious organizations, and whatever may be the differences of the denominational leaders over theology and other matters, they are united and harmonious in their opposition to the liquor traffic. I should say that the influence of Maynooth College is greater than that of any other institution. The temperance sentiment under the influence of President Mannix is very strong there, and the students have a society called ‘The Pioneers,’ the members of which take a pledge that they will abstain from all intoxicating liquors during their entire life. No man can join ‘The Pioneers’ until after two years of probation, in order that he may take the vows with his eyes wide open and with plenty of reflection; but more than two-thirds of the priests that come out of that institution are ‘Pioneers.’
“There has been a decided change in the habits of the priesthood of Ireland during the last generation or two. Formerly it was not considered improper, and, indeed, it was customary, for a priest to set out a bottle and a glass for the refreshment of all visitors of importance, and his parishioners would feel very much mortified if they could not offer similar hospitality to the priest when he came to see them. It was common for a priest to have wine and whisky on his table and to linger with the rest of the guests at a dinner party when the ladies had left the dining-room. But that is the exception nowadays. Those customs are obsolete and most of the priests would as soon think of offering a dose of poison to a parishioner as to hand him a bottle of liquor. The old-fashioned rollicking parson has entirely disappeared from both the Roman Catholic church and the Church of Ireland, and the priesthood is at present composed almost entirely of earnest, devout men, who abstain entirely from liquor and try to promote habits of temperance among their parishioners. A majority of the bishops have forbidden the use of liquor at wakes and will not allow anything stronger than tea on those occasions. A majority of them will not confirm a child that will not take a pledge of total abstinence until it is twenty-one years of age. Some of them put the limit at twenty-five. A great work is also being done by the Jesuits, the Capuchins, and the Franciscans, who have been asked by the bishops recently to co-operate in a great propaganda that is to include the entire island.
“Dr. Walsh, the archbishop of Dublin, and other archbishops, have recently undertaken to secure the closing of all saloons on St. Patrick’s day, and it is proposed to boycott the publicans who keep open doors. Last year Archbishop Walsh published a pastoral in his diocese in which he said, ‘In certain districts, not a few of the licensed houses for the sale of intoxicating drinks are still kept open on that day. This continues to be done, although a number of the proprietors of licensed houses, indeed the majority of them, closed their establishments in honor of the holy festival of our national apostle. In so doing they did their part toward securing the observance of the national holy day that should not be marred by intemperance among the people. It is lamentable that the efforts thus made in so good a cause should be frustrated to a large extent by the selfish actions of those members of the licensed trade who are setting the healthy public opinion of the city at defiance and seem to make the praiseworthy action of others an occasion of profit to themselves. A vigorous combined effort should be made by the clergy to secure a general closing of licensed houses on St. Patrick’s day.’
“This patriotic action of Dr. Walsh has had a decided effect upon the celebration of St. Patrick’s day,” continued Mr. Wigham, “and it is now more of a religious festival than an occasion for carousing. Several other bishops have taken the same stand with similar results.
“The labor party has also taken an advanced position in favor of temperance legislation,” continued Mr. Wigham. “At the annual meeting of the labor unions last year a resolution was adopted in favor of local option. The resolutions declare that ‘the liquor traffic is a frightful source of poverty, crime, and lunacy,’ and demand a law ‘giving the inhabitants of every locality the right to veto any applications for either the renewal of existing licenses or the granting of new ones, seeing that public houses are generally situated in thickly populated working class districts.‘
“The vote on the adoption of this resolution was 666,000 against 103,000.
“The local option bill now pending before parliament applies to England only,” continued Mr. Wigham. “It does not affect Ireland, but we expect to see the passage of a law prohibiting liquor to be taken from the premises on which it is sold and also forbidding a man to use the wages of his wife and children or to pawn the property of his family for drink.”
“What is the drink bill of Ireland?” I asked, and in reply Mr. Wigham gave me the following table showing the total expenditure and the per capita expenditure of the people of Ireland for liquor annually for the last six years:
| Total. | Per capita. | |
| 1902 | £14,257,751 | £3 4s 5d |
| 1903 | 14,311,034 | 3 4s 10d |
| 1904 | 13,816,318 | 3 2s 10d |
| 1905 | 13,340,472 | 3 0s 10d |
| 1906 | 13,787,970 | 3 2s 10d |
| 1907 | 13,991,314 | 3 3s 10d |