IRELAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18751, 3 January 1923, Page 5

IRELAND

NORTH AND SOUTH. MR COSCRAVE URGES UNITY FREE STATE I IRMLY ESTABLISHED. Free* Association—By Telegraph—Copyrigat LONDON, December 31. Mr Cosgvave, in an article in The Times, takes an optimistic view of the future, but he declares that unless the North and the South combine there will always bo a sinister obstacle to peace—a. peace ever bristling with dangers and awful possibilities. Mr Cosgrave adds: “The Boundary Commission is not a perfect cure; but there seems to he no alternative. The difficulty with the Irregulars, which he describes as ‘Bedlam out of bounds,’ is being dealt with effectively.” He concludes: “The Now' Year finds the foundations of the Free State firmly laid. We have gone far towards restoring normal and ordered conditions. lam very hopeful that the position will shortly mature and enable » solid and abiding arrangement wdth the North that will satisfy both parties, and that will not be inconsistent with the ideal of complete co-operation between the two Governments in social and economic reconstruction.’’ —The Times. REBEL FRICHTFULNESS. THE GOVERNMENT’S THREAT. NEW YORK, January 1. The New York World’s Dublin correspondent interviewed Mr Cosgrave, who condemned the acts of the Irish Republicans as outdoing in ferocity the model set by the Black-and-Tans. In order to save the State from destruction the Government was determined to punish this tyranny by a minority with death. He concluded: “Mv Government wants no bloodshed ; but its first duty is to protect the people, and it will try to perform that duty honestly and fearlessly, as Abraham Lincoln would have done. No Government in history ever treated an army of revolt with greater clemency, but this clemency has been misinterpreted. The Government intends to use the authority which it derives from the Irish people to make that authority prevail. The alternative would be the destruction of Ireland.” Mr Cosgrave charges the Republicans with attempting to recruit followers by promising them the property of the Free Staters. —A. and N.Z. Cable. DESIRE FOR PEACE. PRESIDENT’S NEW YEAR MESSAGE. LONDON, January 1. Mr Cosgrave, in a New Year message to Ireland, says: The people desire peace, and they intend to achieve it. The only possible way-, is by the establishing of the right of tHe majority to rule. The year opens with a message of hope for peace, order, goodwill, and unity with our countrymen who are temporarily divorced from us. —A. and N.Z. Cable. THE BASIS OF PEACE. TREATY MUST STAND. LONDON, January 1. In replying to a resolution by the officers of the Tipperary Brigade of the Irish Republican Army calling for a peace conference, Mr Cosgrave said: The basis of peace must be that the treaty shall stand, and that there shall be no armed force or military organisation, no carrying of arms or war material except what the Free State permits, and no interference at elections. —A. and N.Z. Cable; WEEK-END OUTRAGES. INCENDIARIES AT WORK. LONDON, January 1. Rebel activities were marked during the week-end. A detachment of troops was ambushed near Castle Gregory, two being killed and one wounded. A bomb was thrown at a military post near the office of the newspaper Independent in Dublin, but it did not explode. A revolver battle followed, but no casualties occurred. One rebel was captured. Ten armed men attempted to set fire to the house of Alderman Cole in Dublin. They first huddled all the inmates, including three women, in one room, sprinkled the house with netrol, and withdrew after applying a match. The fire brigade prevented the destruction of the house. Four rebels who were sentenced to death in County Kerry were granted a respite, on condition that the outrages ceased. It, is now believed that the executions will bo carried out. Armed men entered the house of the Misses O’Hanrahan, in Dublin, ordered the occupants out, sprinkled petrol, and set fire to the house. An incendiary bomb was also thrown. Firemen extinguished the blaze. The occupants aro sisters of Michael O’Hanrahan, who was executed during the 1916 rising.—A. and N.Z. Cable. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA. LONDON. December 31. The Daily Mail’s Dublin correspondent reports that a document which was widely distributed, signed bv two women, Mrs Deapard and Mrs M'Bride, alleges wholesale torture of prisoners to extract information. Mr Cosgrave, interviewed, described this as another attempt to embarrass the Government, which would investigate anv complaint. I*le pointed out that, though the Free State at present held 7000 prisoners, there had been only one death. —A. and N.Z. Cable. GIRLS ASSIST REBELS. LONDON, December 31. A Free State report declares that neurotic girls, who are adherents of the Irregulars, are active carriers of documents, arms, and ammunition. Some are known to accompany the men on murder expeditions, concealing their arms in thefr clothes. —A. and N.Z. Cable.