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8 July 2021

from Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 - 1954), Saturday 28 July 1894, page 5

A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

A horrible occurrence took place in Clew Bay on Thursday (says the Weekly Freeman of the 22nd June), which resulted in forty deaths. A number of harvesters were coming to Westport from Achill in a hooker, which, being overloaded, capsized close to her destination, and the whole mass of people were immediately struggling in the water. Had the catastrophe occurred out at sea all might have been lost, but it took place close by a steamer which was waiting for the passengers, and help was at hand in seven minutes. Forty youths and young girls were, however, drowned, and their bodies still continue to be recovered, while the shore is filled with the lamentations of their friends, of whom they were the stay. The purpose of the journey was in itself pathetic. The Local Government Board are pressing the poor people of the island for the price of seed potatoes with which they were provided in the bad years, and this vast body of men and women and children were on their way to England for the harvest in order to earn tbe money which was due. Every year this exodus takes place from the islands and other portions of the west and north of Ireland. The money that is brought back not infrequently goes into the pockets of the landlords, and Mr. T. W. Russell himself was obliged to admit that in Gweedore the rents could never be made were it not for the annual exodus to England and the results of the earnings of the poor people there. The annual subsidy will be missing in many an Achill home this year. Upon the threshold of their departure the earners met with this terrible calamity, and the prop and stay of many a family has been swept to death under the waters of Clew Bay. Were it not for the exertions and the bravery displayed in saving life, the catastrophe might have been much worse, and the fact that seventy-five lives were saved is ample testimony to the splendid work done in those few minutes. While we should be thankful that the misfortune has been thus mitigated, we have, however, to face the fact that the blow, as it has fallen, is a heavy one, and that it will mean great destitution.

Universal sympathy has been excited by the terrible sorrow that has fallen upon the homes of the poor people of Achill. Through the representative organs of all classes and of all parties the expression of the sympathy has come, and it appears to be as genuine as it is widespread. The tragedy is one that must needs touch the heart of the most hardened, and appeal for pity and comfort to humanity wherever an atom of it exists. The full story of the disaster, as narrated at the inquest, adds few important details to what was already known. The evidence goes to show that the boat was overcrowded; but, apparently, that is the usual condition of these hookers on such occasions. A second hooker that followed the lost vessel had to pass by the struggling mass of humanity in the water without rendering assistance, lest the addition of any more passengers might capsize it also. There appears to have been no apprehension of danger, however, among the passengers, accustomed as they are to the dangers of the sea. At the fatal moment the crowd of young girls were shouting and singing, rushing up from the hold to see the steamer by which they were to sail to Glasgow. To this rush the skipper attributes the disaster; while others ascribe it to the unskilful way in which the hooker was "jibed." There was, probably, a combination of causes, the full discovery of which may avert future accidents of the kind, though it will bring little consolation to the homes now desolated.

In the House of Commons, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Sexton, and Mr. Horace Plunkett questioned the Chief Secretary and the president of the Board of Trade with reference to the calamity. It is satisfactory to have Mr. Morley's pledge that the Government will do all it can to alleviate the suffering resulting from the disaster. A commissioner of the Local Government Board has been despatched to Achill, and it may be hoped that, in face of the sorrow there, even officialism will thaw into sympathy and render effective help. But there will be the and the need of private effort and charity all the same, and the appeal which the devoted pastor of Achill makes has not fallen on deaf ears. With characteristic large-heartedness and open-handedness, Mrs. William O'Brien has hastened to render help. Her action will do something to render the resulting misery and anxiety of the poor people less hard to bear, and it will inspire others to similar action. His Eminence Cardinal Logue generously contributed £10, an evidence of his sterling sincerity, not alone in the hour of trial, but in fair sunshine. The list of practical helpers is increased by Lady Aberdeen and Mr. Michael Davitt, who sent the generous contribution of £25 each to the fund. Their example will find many imitators. In the effort to relieve the sufferers all party lines are being obliterated, and Mr. William O'Brien's appeal through the leading organs of the different parties has already found a generous response. The High Sheriff of Mayo intimates that it is proposed to form a local committee to undertake the direct work of relief. There seems to be a danger of conflict between too many agencies, and the suggestion of a local committee is a good one. It is better than that made by Mr. Commixsioner Wrench in his letter to the Times, suggesting that the Congested Districts Board should be made the medium of relief. Those on the spot are certain to be better equipped with knowledge of the local needs than a committee of the board. Mr. Wrench makes another suggestion that deserves attention—namely, that something should be done for Achill after the relief of cases of immediate distress is accomplished. A great deal could be done, he states, to improve the island, and the improvements would provide employment. He confirms Fr. Connolly's statement, however, as to the character of the land of the island. It “can never be turned to much agricultural advantage." If the work is not to be merely temporary, therefore, some more far-reaching measures must be undertaken. There is only one possible permanent remedy—migration.

Mr. Bryce promises to make inquiries with the object of discovering whether some regulations could not be imposed on this primitive passenger traffic so as to reduce its dangers. As Mr. Sexton pointed out, this is not the first time that an accident of the kind has occurred. It ought to be possible to prevent, by penalty or otherwise, such overcrowding, and to safely limit the number of passengers by the tonnage.

These are incidental points, however, that will not distract attention from the permanent condition of these poor people, upon which it is being fixed. The struggle for life of the migratory labourer and his children has been made the centre of a sorrowful interest by the disaster, and already the public is asking cannot the life be rendered easier. The parish priest of Achill directs attention to the hard necessity that drives these people folrth. As he says, the barren land of Achill could not support the population for six months of the year even if they had it for nothing. It is a disgrace to the "statesmanship," at the mercy of which the Union placed us, that nothing substantial has been done to improve that condition before this. The question is not one for a Land Court; nor can Mr. Balfour's Congested Districts Board do anything but play with the social problem it presents. It is a matter for strong and thorough measures. These people have been harried and driven, and huddled on the barren bogs and mountains, where they struggle and starve. The now almost profitless fields from which they were hunted lie empty. Let there be a new "plantation," this time of Irish "planters," of the men whom Mr. T. P. O'Connor so feelingly describes—the seed of an industrious, thrifty, moral nation. The way has often been pointed out; If' "the blessed word compulsion" may be invoked by an English Parish Council to render easier the lot of the unskilled English worker, whose fortune is not to be compared with that of the Connaught peasant, the invocation is doubly blessed here. The circulation of prize cocks and the provision of blooded hack stallions will not touch the root of the evil. Such work is very good as far as it goes; but it does not reach the really helpless.