FREE STATE ARMY

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 173, 10 April 1923, Page 7

FREE STATE ARMY

CHANGES IN HIGHER COMMAND COMMITTEE TO ASSUME CONTROL CIVIL SUPREMACY ENSURED

Owing to the dissatisfaction In Ireland in regard to the army, the Free State Government has decided upon important. changes in the higher command. BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION. —Copyright. London, April 7. Important changes are pending in the higher command of tho Free State Army. For some time past there has been much dissatisfaction in Ireland in regard to tho Army. Since the death of Michael Collins it has been run by an Army Council consisting of General Mulcahy (Com-mander-in-Chief), General MacMahon (Chief of Staff), Lieutenant-General O’Sullivan (Adjutant-General), . Lieu-tenant-General Sean 0 Muirthille (Quartermaster-General), and MajorGeneral Dermot O’Hegarty (Director of Intelligence). These men were prominent in the fighting between the English and the Irish, but none is a trained soldier. All are ardent Gallic Leaguers, and many friends of the Free State have been of the opinion that too much attention is being, paid to the development of a Gaelic Army and too little to the development of an efficient fighting force. Recently these misgivings have crystalised ana apparently, the Government has decided on action. It is understood that the GovernorGeneral used his influence in the matter and that a committee is about to be formed, which will assume all the Army Council’s functions. The committee will consist of Mr. Kevin O’Higgins, chairman, Mr. W. P. Cosgrave (President), Mr. Joe MacGrath, and Generals Mulcahy and MacMahon. It seems to be a compromise, as it contains two of tho principal members of tlie old Army Council, but the presence of throe civilians, and more particularly tho fact that Mr. O’Higgins is chairman, will ensure civil supremacy in all Army affairs. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

ARCHBISHOP HARTY’S PEACE PROPOSALS FATE IN THE BALANCE (Rec. April 9, 8.10 p.m.) London, April 9. The fate of Archbishop Harty’s peace proposals is in the balance. A fortnight ago .the Executive Council of tho Republicans rejected them provisional!v. but will meet again this week for final decision. It is understood that De Valera and Austin Stack have softened their opposition, and it is hoped that Liam Lynch will follow their examnle. Most, of the other members of tho executive, except Miss MacSwiney, it is believed. favour Archbishop Harty’s proposals. _ Moreover, two of the most active militants in the south, Tom Barry, who tried to get into Four Courts during the fighting disguised as a nurse, and Humphrey Murphv. of Kerry, are working hard for peace. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

, REBELS MORE ACTIVE

RAILWAY TRAFFIC BLOCKED London, April 7. The Irish rebels are more active. They blocked traffic on the Great Northern railway by blowing up two bridges between Dundalk and Dunleer. Armed men captured Sergeant Stapleton, belonging to the Free State Army, as he was returning home to Ballykieran, and put him in a well for refusing to give information. Later the armed men led him to his house and ordered him, in the presence of Lis wife and child, to prepare for execution. They, besprinkled the house with petrol, and set fire to it. Stapleton obeyed the command to kneel and pray, but before the captors shot he escaped across a hedge. In Dublin all the prominent business men have received notices from Republicans forbidding them, on pain of severe penalties, to advertise in any of the Dublin newspapers which the notices say are hostile to Republican ideals. Some of the advertisers have withdrawn their advertisements already. Cornelius Hanafin, captured by rebels, was taken to the hills and sentenced to death. The grave was dug and ho was being marched to it for execution, when Free State troops unexpectedly arrived. The rebels fled, and Hanafin escaped.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

EXPLOSIVES STOLEN IN SCOTLAND AND WALES

FIGHTING IN GALWAY (Rec. April 9, 7.25 p.m.) London, April 9. Despite optimistic reports of tho everyincrcasing number of arrests of rebels, outrages of all types continue in Southern Ireland, and rebel adherents in Britain are active. An armed man in a white mask, evidently an Irish gunman, led a raid on the Knightswood brickworks near Glasgow, assisted by two men wearing black masks and armed wtih revolvers. They hold up two nightwatchmen, bound them hand and foot, and placed them in a wooden hut, while they searched the premises for gelignite. When they had found a quantity the three men escaped on bicycles. Other robbers seized two casks of blasting powder and other explosives at Pailtmawr quarry, Wales. Two bodies of rebels entered Headford, Galway, and seized two large warehouses adjoining the National Bank', where National troops arc unaltered. Fighting continued for several hours until tho warehouses weie destroyed by fire. The rebels retreated, leaving four dead and four Free Staters wounded. Five armed men in a big touring car raided tho house of Dr. Brennan, who is the the coroner in Dublin, and seized depositions and documents in connection with an inquest on a youth recently found shot in Dublin Street.

The outrage apparently was connectedwith the motorists who murdered Breslin Kernan. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

OUTRAGES IN MARCH 135 PEOPLE KILLED London, April 7. The “Belfast Telegraph” publishes a table of outrages in tho Free State during the month of March, showing 135 persons killed or murdered; 6" buildings burned, and 62 attacks on railways or other property. —Aus.-N.Z Cable Assn.

10,000 REBELS CAPTURED s London, April 8 Mr. Kevin O’Higgins, the Free State Minister for Home Affairs, has announced that there are now 10,000 captives in Government hands and that thev are coming in at the rate of 200 daily. On a liberal estimate those still active against the State number about 2500.—Au5.-N.Z. Cable Assn