THE CASE OF IRELAND

NZ Truth, Issue 818, 16 July 1921, Page 5

THE CASE OF IRELAND

REPLY TO MISREPRESENTATION

Wlat The Cables Conceal aid The " Day-Lies " Distort

PAST AND PRESENT HAPPENINGS WITH A WORD FOR " THE FUTURE

I. REPLY TO MISREPRESENTATION. It is usually regarded as a truism, particularly .m connection with political controversy,, that there are two sides to a case. It would appear, howiever, that this rule, does not hold good with regard to Ireland. At any rate, this country has for. years been deluged iwith cable news by means of ■which . the case" of Iceland has been bo grossly misrepresented that a large ,section of public opinion is necessarily misinformed and perverted. It is true . that there are English papers m strong sympathy with Ireland's national aspirations/ but these are rarely quoted m the cable news, and their yiews appear studiously to be withheld by the colonial press. Accordingly, it ia^the object of this article, as succinctly as may be. to state a few facts m rebuttal of the prevailing misrepresentation. . .'' SOME RECENT HISTORY. At the outset we would point out that for i years prior to the buthreak 'of the late (war .the people of Ireland jßteadUy and consistently maintained a lawful and constitutional agitation for the repeal of. the, Act of Union — 'la measure enacted when the vast majority of her people were denied political rights, and the passage of which into law was secured by methods of corruption' unexampled m political history. Throughout that long constitutional struggle the Irish cause and Its representatives had to endure a continual tirade of slander, until, on i' the outbreak of war, it suited their {{enemies' purpose suddenly to discover "the friendliest attitude towards the Messrs. Redmond a*id.tibieir Nationalist colleagues- Need -we recall the fact that when the Redmond brothers vis»>ited the colonies many years ago they were everywhere denied the use of public- halls; that numbers of their , countrymen m Australia were removed from the Commission of the Peace for participating m their reception; that a motion was tabled m /the New South Wajes Legislature to deport .William Redmond as an undesirable person, and that m New Zealand they were received everywhere with marks itof opprobrium and insult? Notwith-, standing the remarkable change m the attitude • of official England towards them on the outbreak of w,ar, the •OKome Rule Bill; 'which had passed the Imperial Parliament, was not permitted to become law. HONORS FOR / CARSON. Not only, iwere the aspirations of the people of Ireland (grievously disappointed and betrayed, but Sir Edward Carson and his followers were encouraged by the official leaders of the Tory Party to threaten, bloodshed if the measure were passed , It is too recent to be forgotten that the Ascendancy minority were allowed to set up a provisional Government, to import arms, to drill troops, and carry on their propaganda m the Army, -with the avowed object of resorting to re- , bellion. In face of all this the British Government observed an attitude of quiescence, m marked contrast with the promptitude and , severity , with which the rising of Dublin during Easter week, 1916. was 'suppressed. In considering the present state of Ireland, It is necessary to bear these facts in' mind— to remember that a week before the outbreak of war a 'crowds 'of inoffensive people were fired upon by the Scots Borderers at Bachelors' Walk, when a number were killed; that '■although grievously (wounded, James Connolly was propped •up with pillows and shot after trial by drumhead court-martial; that Sheehy,Skeffington and two companions, who had taken no part whatever m the ris-. ing. were shot without trial. This act was officially excused on the ground that the officer "responsible, Captain Bowen Colthurst, was insane, ; and had been so Rince the Mons retreat. The people of Ireland may be pardoned for disregarding this . excuse' when it is remembered that Colthurst had remained on duty after Mons until the murders. It Is significant that when an officer shot Canon Magner recently •while he was administering the Last ) Sacraments to a dying man,- he was also excused' on the ground of insanity! Under all the circumstances, it is small wonder that the vast major- • ity of the people, of Ireland have lost confidence m official* assurances. Moreover, the people of Ireland would not be human were they todis- ■ regard the fact that while Roger Casement and his colleagues were swiftly put to death, Sir Edward Carson, the initial promoter of rebellion, has been rewarded first with a place m the Ministry and then with a Judgeship v ; CRIME IN IRELAND. Having provoked the people beyond endurance, it now 'suits the purposes of her calumniators to represent Ireland as seething . with lawlessness. There is, o& course, a percentage of crime and criminals m Ireland as m every other country. it is a notorious fact' that the vast majority of the people of Ireland are peaceable and law-abiding, as they are pre-eminent for their high standard of morality. That distinguished English criminologist, Mr. Havelock Ellis, m his book, "The Criminal," describes Ireland as "the leatst criminal land m Europe." Writing m the Law Times _ Of August 27, 1911, Mr. J. Tighe Hopkins said: ; ... Fourteen years ago, after visiting (Kilmainham 'and Mount joy prisons m Dublin, 1 wrote that crime, as we knoiy it m England, was practically unknown m Ireland. "Our great guilds of crime— the bands of professional burglars and robbers, the 1 financial conspirators, the adept forgers, the < trained thieves, - 'the fashionable leviers of blackmail, the bogus noblemen, parsons, and ladies of family; the 'long firm' practitionerc, the hotel and railway sharps, magsmen, fhooks,'.. and bouncers — these are almost wholly unrepresented m Ireland. In a word, s6 far as , habitual a-nd professional crime is concerned, there' is not as decent a , country m Europe." The situation to-day is no worse than it was m IS9G, f.or Kilmainham, is either closed cr about to be closed. C^rime m Iraland is either agrarian or political, and the persons concerned in.it have, seldom beeh known' as regular transgressors of the law. vWhat have the slanderers of Ireland to say to this? As' was recently pointed put m a manifesto signed by representative non-Catholic clergymen m England, the crihrje at present prevailing m Ireland cannot be regarded as anything other than that which.frequently m history has accompanied strong political feeling, particularly *when that feeling is reinforced by an abiding national spirit. It is beyond dispute that the responsibility for the present linhappy . state of affairs rests primarily with the British Government, which stands convicted before tfltt world either of crass stupidity or something much worse Speaking from his place 1 ' m the House of Commons -recently. Mr.- Arthur Henderson, Leador of the Labor Party, said .that it ■was not until 1919 that the people of Ir-i-'.'r,r_c! bagat; to ■ retaliate against pre-

vious .persecution. In 1918, he said, only one policeman was killed m Ireland; but as early. as 1917,- 347 Irishmen had been arrested for political offences, and 269 had been sentenced; 18\ gatherings of unarmed) men. women, v and children had been attacked, 36 civilians had been brought to trial be-' fore court-martial, and 24 had Meen deported without charge or trial. In 1918 there were 250 raids on private houses, and 1107 Irishmen were arrested for political offences, m the face of all this there had been no rebellion, and up till 1919 all the outrages were ■ on the side of Dublin Castle. Mr. Henderson's facts were unrefuted, because they were irrefutable, CRIME IN, ENGLAND. \ In spite of all the provocation, however, it is doubtful if Ireland has proportionately as, much crime as England, which is' seething with lawlessness of every kind— -murders, bank robberies, burglaries, hold-ups, and post office raids. During the month of February, 1920, thirty-one murders were committed m England, the majority of the victims being women. Commenting on this state of affairs. "The Times" wrote: The probability of a wave of crime after the war had been, foreseen and . foretold by students of social problems, and some of its causes, at all

events, are obvious. They include the release from the / Army and return to their. old life of a large number of professional criminals, the failure and disinclination of a certain proportion of soldiers to obtain work, decreased regard for the sacredness of life caused by familiarity with bloodshed, and the unhealthy influence, especially upon youths, of the violence of war, are prominent, features. . A despatch from London appearing m the New York "Times" m January, 1920, stated: The outbreak of crime m England continues, and is causing the, police and the public much uneasinessThree new outrages were committed yesterday, the murder of an old man by a burglar at Bolton, and two post office raids, one hold-up by armed men and the other a safe robbery m which the thieves escaped m an automobile. No clue was left by the thieves who stole £10,000 worth of jewels from Lady Loughborough, nor is any progress reported m the task .of tracing the murderers of '. Miss Shore, who was 'killed ih a train, and Mrs. Frances Burton, who was killed at her inn at Chelsea. It is worthy of note that nothing about this state of affairs is being indicated by the cable news to this country, while everything occurring m Ireland is paraded and exaggerated throughout the world.