ICELAND'S CIVIC GUARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18374, 14 April 1923, Page 13

ICELAND'S CIVIC GUARD.

AN UNARMED FORCE.

PARADE HELD IN DUBLIN.

FINE BODY, rOF POLICE.

Fourteen hundred "men of Ireland's new Civic Guard paraded through the streets of "Dublin recently. . Under the command of the - Chief Commissioner. General O'Dufly. they set out from Marlborough Barracks, their headquarters, to the musia of brass and pipes. On the steps of the Government buildings stood President Cosgrave. accompanied by other Ministers of the Free State, to take their salute as they marched past- Tho President expressed the general view when ho said afterwards : ; " The Guards are a splendid force, and Ireland ought to be proud of them." for the blue-uniformed men looked fit, smart, and steady. A space in the , neighbourhood of the Government buildings was swept clear by troops with fixed bayonets, but along tho rest of the route considerable crowds collected to witness the parade. The Guards returned to their depot to be addressed by Mr.. Kevin- O'Higgins. Minister for Home Affairs. lie impressed it on ; them that they were upholding the people's law impartially and impersonally, and they had reacted well to discipline because they were impersonal and impartial. They were not the servants of a. particular Administration, but were, just as .Ministers were, the servants of the people. ■"' ' ; , ~ When Mr- O'Higgins touched later upon the " bad corner" which the Civic Guard had successfully turned, he was alluding to a crisis which, in the early days of the . force, threatened to ruin it altogether. Agents of the Republicans enlisted themselves. in the newly-formed force for the express purpose of seducing the loyal men from their allegiance, and vigorous action had to be taken to root them out. The discipline of the force is now excellent, by the accounts. The men who marched through Dublin are still under training "at. their depot. The other two-thirds of the.force, which number nearly 4000 altogether, are spread in small detachments all 1 over the country, and they have been extremely well received in most of the districts which they are policing.; The Irregulars have attacked many of their barracks, well knowing that the occupants had no means 6f defence, but have never yet succeeded in driving them out of a district once . they have taken up their posts *|>n it.' If their barracks are bombed or burned they shift into other quarters, that is all. If only one house is left standing in the district, said Mr. O'Higgins, then they will occupy that.,.:.-'/..;.. . .": : . -

The same Minister said that when the Civic Guard barracks at Dun drum were destroyed the occupants merely migrated into the house ot Mr. Patrick Little in the same town. By those who know Mr. Little, and Tiis propagandist activities on behalf of his fcllowißepublicans, the joke is considered rather a good one.