He shirked the point at issue, and attacked Mr.Quinn along another line in the hope of arousing his indignation.
'But it is not fair competition that you are called upon to face.

Do you call it fair competition when the Government subsidizes a woollen factory in a convent ?' 'Ah!' said Mr.Quinn, 'you are thinking of the four thousand pounds the Congested Districts Board gave to the convent at Bobeen.

But it is hardly fair to hold the Government responsible for the way that body wastes eighty thousand pounds a year.' 'The Government is ultimately responsible, and you must admit that, after such a gift, and in view of the others which will certainly follow, you are called upon to meet most unfair competition.' 'Yes, I admit that.

But isn't that exactly what you want to make general?
There doesn't seem to me any difference between giving a bounty to one industry and imposing a protective tariff in favour of another; and if your preference for Irish manufactures means anything, it means a sort of voluntary protection for every business in the country.

If you object to the Robeen business being subsidized you can't logically try to insist on mine being protected.' It was puzzling to have the tables turned on him so adroitly.