GERMANY WOOING IRELAND

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13206, 30 January 1915, Page 6

GERMANY WOOING IRELAND

SIR ROGER CASEMENT IN ; ' BERLIN,

REMARKABLE GERMAN OFFICIAL ALLEGATIONS.

. Router'h Rome corrcspomlont in a message says:— The flernimi snrvico of Italian newspapers eoiifnins n remarkable statement that the Irish leader, Sir Roger Casement, now in Germany, declares solemnly that all'the Irish tit home and abroad will work to assist the victory of the. central empires, as in their opinion this would menu the destruction of the British yoke upon Ireland. The Secretary of State issued a declaration by which Germany pledge's herself to do nothing injurious to Ireland, or to the why in which she wishes her institutions to be established. . If Germany lauded troops they would come not as conquerors but as forces animated by the best goodwill,

The London Evening News special correspondent, in a telegram dated from The Hague on Friday, says:—Among the latest batch of newspapers ami pamphlets despatched through Holland to New York this week by semi-otliciul German agencies employed to propagate pro-German sentiment in America are numerous copies of an alleged official statement expressing Germany's intentions regarding a possible invasion of Ireland. The statement, it is asserted, was elicited by the "well-known Irish Nationalist Sir Roger Casement," who had arrived in Berlin and was received at the Foreign Oflice. Sir Roger "sought to obtain a convincing expression of Germany's intentions to reassure his countrymen, particularly in Ireland and America.'' Thereupon, the report continues, the Acting Foreign Secretary, by order of the Imperial Chancellor, issued the following declaration:—

The German Government repudiates the evil intentions attributed to it in the statements referred to hv Sir .Roger Casement. The Imperial Government formally declares that under no circumstances would Germany invade Ireland with a view to its conquest or the overthrow of native institutions. Should the fortune of this great war bring German troops to Jreland they would land there not to pillage or destroy but as forces of a Government inspired only by goodwill, How a British subject succeeded in visiting Berlin without undergoing arrest is not explained. Previous Statements. "Tor a week past similar reports have been'reaching us, but publication has been forbidden by the censor, The German olllcial wireless news of Sunday last contained an almost identical statement. H was as follows: Sir Koger Casement was received yesterday at the Foreign Otitic ill Berlin, nud said ilial statements had been published in Ireland to the effect flint victory for the German arms would result in great loss to I lie Irish people, whose homes, churches, priests, and land would lie at the mercy of an invading army actuated only by motives of pillage and conquest. These statements, coupled with the remit speeches of Mr John Redmond, had caused apprehension among the Irish regarding the German attitude towards Ireland,in the event of a victory for Germany in the present war. • The AclingSccietary of State for .foreign Affairs, by order of the Imperial Chancellor,' ofiicially declared that the German Government repudiated the intention atrlibnted to it, and only desired the welfare of the Irish people and their country. Germany, lie said, would,, Ireland with a view lo its conquest in- the overthrow of any Irish national institutions, and, should fortune ever bring the German'troops lo Ireland's

shores, those troops would land not

as an army nf invaders lo pillage and destroy bill as I lift forces of a nation inspired by goodwill towards .Ireland ami her people, for whom Gcrmany desires national prosperity and freedom.

The (lermnii Press has evidently been instructed to-devote attention to the subject, i The Berliner Tageblatt savsi—

One must not forget that in Ireland England has a spectre in her own house. Hitherto expressions of Irish sympathy for the German cause have been confined to such assurances on the part of Irishmen in the United States, . The I'lnglish Government has

done its best to sustain lovnltv in

Ireland by trying to arouse anxiety as to what Germany would do to Ireland in case of a German victorv,

Germany wishes only national welfare

and national freedom for the people of Ireland. It would never invade Ire-

land with the intention of conquest or the destruction of any Irish institu tions. Such statements by us will serve to destroy the last misgivings that may perhaps be cherished against us in Ireland and correspondingly in tensity Irish enthusiasm fpr the German cause. NATIONALIST VOLUNTEERS, Sir Roger Casement is a native of Antrim, where he was born in. 1864. In 1905 he got the C.M.G. and was knighted in 1911. He look no active part in Irish politics, except that during the Ulster Unionist campaign he took the side of the Home Rulers in the North. At the time of the establishment of 4he Nationalist Volunteers in Dublin he became associated with the Provisional Committee, and when the Sinn Fein section broke away from the organisation last September that party claimed him as being with them, Sir Roger Casement was at that time in America, but the Sinn Fein manifesto indicated his views in the following paragraph:—"We regret that the absence of Sir Roger Casement in America prevents him from being a signatory with us." Sir Roger while in America on that and previous occasions was intimate with the Clan-na-Gael party, and, writing from New York, under date' September Kith, to the "Dublin 'Press, he gave expression' to his views on the war in the following terms;—" Let Irish men and boys stay in Ireland. Their duty is dear before God and man, We as a people have no quarrel with the German people. Germany has never-wronged, Ireland, and wo'owe her" more than oho don't of gratitude." 'Ho went on to refer to the proposal of the Hnimmrg-Amcrika Steamship Line' to send a liner to Queonstown and tho effect of tht-TBritish'Government's j n . terference in' prevoiiting tho carrying out of this proposal. In 'this connection a letter sent by Sir Roger Casement to the Press at tho time makes interesting reading in the light of pre-sent-day events. He quotes a letter which he sent on February Clh to various American papers, in' which tie urged all Irish-Americans to travel by the Hamburg-Amorikn. lino. Alluding to the British, ho said: "They havo succeeded, for a time at any rate, in keeping tho friendly foreign' company away from the shores of Ireland, and they think they have Irish trade inexorably in' their grip. In concluding the letter, which contained those remarkable extracts, Sir Roger Cnsomont used these remarkable words: "I hope before six months are over we shall have boon able to devise means of. asserting our right to*own our awu p«rH and to* open them to wlwin W9 Will," The letter in which these passage* occur was written under date. February 23rd of ]«st yertr. ' v - 5 V ;'- ,\ " ; ''