only too true.

Mr. John E. Redmund, member of Parliament for Waterford, Ireland, has
stated that the present harvest is the worst since 1879, and that there
is every reason to fear that a large portion of the Irish population
will soon be on the verge of starvation.

To help these unfortunates, sixty-four of the Irish members joined in a
petition to ask the Government to call an extra meeting of Parliament to
vote money for the relief of the famine sufferers.

The Queen has the right to call the British Parliament into session at
any time she deems it necessary, but for a long time it has been the
custom for it to assemble in February and remain in session until
August.

In reply to the petition from the Irish members, the Government stated
that there did not seem to be any necessity for summoning a special
parliament to deal with the Irish troubles, as, if the worst fears for
Ireland were realized, the Government had power to use funds to relieve
the people without waiting for the consent of Parliament.

The Irish members, in addition to asking for a special session of
Parliament, entreated the Government to lower the rents of the Irish
tenants.

The petition stated that, in consequence of the poor crops, it was
hopeless to expect the tenants to pay their full rentals, and to avoid
the suffering and bad feeling that arises from evictions, or turning out
the people who are behind in their rents, it was begged that the