IRISH CIVIL WAR.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 12091, 28 June 1920, Page 5

IRISH CIVIL WAR.

United Press Association—By Eloc , trie Teiegraph—Copyright. LONDON, June 26. The under-secretaries from Dublin Castle, together with the military chiefs, conferred with the magistrates at Londonderry, with a view to arriving at peace by conciliation, being of opinion that it would leave less bitterness than a forcible settlement. A Conciliation Committee, representing all classes, will meet forthwith. Railway difficulties in Ireland are developing with alarming rapidity, and wide areas in the south are without trains. Dublin is threatened with the cutting off of food supplies. The dismissal of railway men for refusing to carry police and soldiers continues. Twenty masked men barricaded the road, stopped the Cavan motor mail, chloroformed the drivers, stole the mails, and left the drivers unconscious on the roadside. Another party stopped the Cavan mail train and abstracted letters.

Two masked men held up the pay office ‘of the Great Northern Railway at Belfast with revolvers during the afternoon, and stole £IOOO. Lord French, speaking at Belfast, said that the Government was determined that the Irish should enjoy the same protection and privileges as people elsewhere, and would not hesitate to employ all the forces at its disposal to this end. It desired the country to enjoy the utmost freedom, and it would never listen to a proposal for a republic or the coercion ■of Ulster. Trouble has arisen on the Irish railways owing to .the guards and drivers refusing to carry soldiers. The strike Is extending, and the traffic on the two main lines is practically suspended. Armed men raided the Sligo gaol at midnight and released a prisoner who awaiting trial for arms. Another armed gang seized 80 gallons of petrol at the Limerick station Derry is reported to be quiet and under complete military control, and business is resuming