<P> Parnell preferred to keep all options open without clearly committing himself when he spoke in 1879 before Irish Tenant Defence Associations at Ballinasloe and Tralee . It was not until Davitt persuaded him to address a second meeting at Westport, County Mayo in June that he began to grasp the potential of the land reform movement . At a national level several approaches were made which eventually produced the' New Departure' of June 1879, endorsing the foregone informal agreement which asserted an understanding binding them to mutual support and a shared political agenda . In addition, the' New Departure' asserted the Fenian movement and its armed strategies . Working together with Davitt (who was impressed by Parnell) he now took on the role of leader of the New Departure, holding platform meeting after platform meeting around the country . Throughout the autumn of 1879, he repeated the message to tenants after the long depression had left them without income for rent: </P> <P> You must show the landlord that you intend to keep a firm grip on your homesteads and lands . You must not allow yourselves be dispossessed as you were dispossessed in 1847 . </P> <P> Parnell was elected president of Davitt's newly founded Irish National Land League in Dublin on 21 October 1879, signing a militant Land League address campaigning for land reform . In so doing, he linked the mass movement to the parliamentary agitation, with profound consequences for both of them . Andrew Kettle, his' right - hand man', became honorary secretary . </P> <P> In a bout of activity, he left for America in December 1879 with John Dillon to raise funds for famine relief and secure support for Home Rule . Timothy Healy followed to cope with the press and they collected £ 70,000 for distress in Ireland . During Parnell's highly successful tour, he had an audience with American President Rutherford B. Hayes, on 2 February 1880 he addressed the House of Representatives on the state of Ireland and spoke in 62 cities including in Canada, where he was so well received in Toronto that Healy dubbed him "the uncrowned king of Ireland". (The same term was applied 30 years earlier to Daniel O'Connell .) He strove to retain Fenian support but insisted when asked by a reporter that he personally could not join a secret society . Central to his whole approach to politics was ambiguity in that he allowed his hearers to remain uncertain . During his tour, he seemed to be saying that there were virtually no limits . To abolish landlordism, he asserted, would be to undermine English misgovernment, and he is alleged to have added: </P>

What did parnell contribute to the movements for home rule and land reform