IRISH AMERICANS AND THE SINN FEIN.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXIX, Issue 3893, 13 March 1918, Page 3

IRISH AMERICANS AND THE SINN FEIN.

| A MESSAGE TO IRELAND. i —„—. i The entry of America into the war i is responsible for the hostile and de- : termined attitude of Irish Americans j generally towards the Sinn Fein in Ireland. Hitherto the latter was tolerantly regarded by them as a I mere political factor indirectly con- | tributing towards the success of Home Rule; now its foolish acts of militarism, and its active hostility towards Mr Redmond and to the interests of the Allies, has completely estranged it from the great majority of Irish Americans, who are ardent constitutionalists andi unconditionally loyal to America. The National Guard of New York, who are mostjly Irishmen, led by their popular commander, General O'Ryan, as well as the famous 69th Irish Regiment, were amongst the first to volunteer for the front. Since then nearly all other Irish associations throughout the United States have enthusiastically shown their practical sympathy towards the objects of the American military and naval forces, with the result that an undue proportion of both forces now consists of Irishmen or their descendants. The recently formed American-Irish constitutional liberty committee has rapidly spread; throughout the country. It consists of the prominent Irish social leaders of every State. It has undertaken to raise £50,000, or more if required, for the purposes of the. Irish Parliamentary party in the approaching general elections. Some £20,000 has been subscribed, and £10,----000, as a first instalment, was sent to Mr John Redmond, .the Irish leader, accompanied by a lengthy address, the tenor of which is summarised in the following resolution, carried at a representative meeting of Irishmen at Portland, U.S.A. :— " That in common with our fellowcitizens throughout the United States the friends of Irish constitutional liberty, this body of American citizens, Americans first, last, arc! forever, Americans without qualification, recognise in Mr T. P. O'Connor, who for 40 years has been one of Ireland's most gifted and brilliant leaders, the true spokesman of the responsible people of Ireland ; that the Irish constitutional movement is the only practical policy for Ireland at this time, seeking as it' does the attainment of the widest possible measure of home rule for Ireland, and at the same time pledging the loyalty of the Irish people to the cause of the Allies ; that to embarrass England at this hour would be to embarrass a powerful, ally of the United States in the fight for world freedom ; that to embarrass any of the Allies is to embarrass them all; and that the Irish Parliamentary party and the Constitutionalists of Ireland deserve the respect of America and its Allies for refusing to purchase the liberty of Ireland at the price off the liberty of the world.' "What troubles this country is not the high cost of living but the cost of high iiving."