THE FREE STATE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17732, 7 April 1923, Page 15

THE FREE STATE.

CAMPAIGN OF MURDER. LOOTING IN COUNTY LEITRIM. (B7 CABLE —PRE 93 ASSOCIATION COPTRI9HT.) 'ACSTitALI&N AKU N. 3. CABLE ASSOCIATION-* LONDON, April 5. Kcrnan and Breslin, two Dublin youths, living with their sisters, wero taken from bed by three armed men, put into motor cars, and carried to Ashtown Suburb, where they were flung into the road. Ivernan had t»o bullets in tho heart, and Broslin's head was blown off and the body riddled with bullets. Residents heard tho shooting and saw' the bodies thrown into the road, but dared not coin© from their houses until tho cars had returned to Dublin. Three similar mysterious murders have been committed in Dublin since iliursday. In each case tho victim, apparently, was a ltepublican. A party of rebels luoted tho town oi Dromoliair, in County Leitrim, plundered tiie shops anci burned down uio courthouse. During a so-called political argument in lianina, au oiu wuwuu muueu AioUumnetis ana her son were snot uuau m uwu' nom-i.'. i'no district is in uio ■uuulls oi ULLO rebels. Interviewed regardng the arrival iu AUaiuuia oi i'luuur Ui lunufcuu ana iU i' u .Iviilly aii a, unssiou ou Licnuii ol tn<lrisn mi sum ; "j; ricuu;) 01 ueiaud in Au»waiia be wen advised to accept no pieujnaou statement ot tact on uie auuioruy oi miner i-atuer inanagau or .ah' vrveuj. in America they ana other propaganda poured out a mass or IU^ 1 " ■cations and delusions regarding tm status of tue i'reo state auu tlio actual course ot altairs m .Ireland. > . '•'.trusting unit the American public comd not 00 propeny ,lliumeu ' * uaign ot rcciuess unuruui was aiva to secure money and ueiore the truth couid oe kuown. ••iiio leaders of anarchy uociarethat the next iew months wiu oe the ti uo " time tor tneir aims, it enougu people can be deceived tor a lew months tncj think that all will be wed. tau, nne words about freedom and ality, but the gospel they preach and. practise at homo 13 democracy. ' , . "Th© policy for which sympathy and subscriptions will be sought in Australia has a double programme, wholly alien to the spirit and record of Irish patriotism. The common, people are to be bullied into submission by shooting, bombing, mining, burning, and wrecking. . , , • "Bv the same campaign of destruction and disorder against public works WKi facilities, such as railways, bridges, postal apparatus, public buildings, and gainst private mansions stored with the treasures of generations, the n ancial resources of the are to b dried up and the financial credit ot tn» nation destroyed. . "De Valera in one of his many manifestoes recently gloated over the P ro ® peot of foroing Ireland to become a financial debtor of Britain. It is to assist thepe aims that Irish Australians •will be invited to subscribe. "The burning of homes, the wrecking of passenger trains, the destruction of public waterworks, the looting and shooting up of isolated villngos-theso are the methods used by Father O'Flanagan's and Mr o'Kelly s friends in their war on the Irish nation. "They have failed, because the people are staunch. "Father O'Flanagan, who now so valiantly clamours for a renewed war against- Britain, is the man who raised a solitary cry for compromise six months before the and for a time seriously endangered the national position. . , . , "The origin of tlie mission to Australia is explained in letters and documents recently captured. One of their leaders, named Moylan, writing from New York in February, said: 'Owing to the lack of real enthusiasm among the Irregular supporters in America / we found that splits were wide and numerous. Some were out for graft; few thought of Ireland.' "A dozen other letters confirm the tale of. dissension. "De Valera himself, writing to o'Kelly on February sth, said: J our letter makes heart-breaking reading. There are five or six of vou there. America is a big place, and surely - should have been possible to secure harmonious working. If O'Flanagan and yourself consent to go to Australia it ought to relieve the American situation. "So it seems that Australia must for a time suffer what the Irish in America: found, intolerable." OLYMPIC GAMES POSTPONED. LONDON, April 5. The Irish Olympic Games will not be held in 1923 owing to the state of the country, and to the financial stringency.