ARSON CAMPAIGN.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 February 1923, Page 5

ARSON CAMPAIGN.

MORE FIRES IN IRELAND. HISTORIC HOME BURNED. MILITARY ACTIVITY, By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Feb. 5, 11.45 p.m. London, Feb. 4. Armed men on Saturday night visited Colonel Charles Guinness’ beautiful historic mansion, Ciermont Park. They allowed the household 15 minutes to collect a few small valuables, and placed the colonel, h:s wife and the servants, under armed guard. They then sprinkled the house with petrol from the basement to the roof, and it was quickly consumed. The damage is assessed at £lO,OOO. The colonel is head oft he Guinness family of Ireland, and is a prominent Unionist. The Dublin correspondent of The Times states armed men shortly after dark raided a restaurant in Henry Street, the property of Senator Wysepower. They ordered out the customers, sprinkled petrol, set the premises on fire, and then escaped. The fire was extinguished. Military activity is increasing. Thirty impbrtant arrests were made and large quantities of material and documents discovered. Two cross-Channel cables have been cut. Howth, the summer residence of Senator O’Sullivan at Killarney, has been burned down. A number of postmen were held up and robbed of letters. A train was set on fire and wrecked at Killala, County Mayo, where the railway station was destroyed. DE VALERA INTERVIEWED. REPUBLICTANS OBSTINATE. London. Feb. 4. “Peace based on the so-called treaty is impossible. The Republicans will never consent to surrender the national independence and sovereignty to threats. They will fight to the last against the recognition of foreign authority, direct or indirect/’

This is the considered opinion of Mr. de Valera obtained by a Daily Mail correspondent after a journey to'Mr. de Valera’s secret hiding place, the whereabouts of which ho could not disclose if he would. All he knows is that it cannot be far from the heart of Dublin. The car journey took barely half an hour from the rendezvous in one of Dublin’s busiest streets. The appointment resulted in the arrival of a car driven by a most charming young woman, who intimated that she' was appointed to take the correspondent to meet “Mr. Bourke.” The limousine twisted and turned in side streets, traversed strange thoroughfares, crossed water twice and drew up in a street of old substantial houses. Tho guide knocked with peculiar emphasis on the door, which was opened by a woman in evening dress who led her visitor through a handsome hall, up softly carpeted stairs to tho drawing room where he found Mr. do Valera.

The Republican leader declared that the Irish Government “must be determined by the people, not dictated from outside. We arc in arms now resisting exactly what the nation resisted from 1919 to 1921. Tho only difference is that England was then maintaining her claims directly; now she is maintaining them through Irishmen. This is a continuance of the former fight against foreign aggression. Mr. Lloyd George and his colleagues bullied the delegates into signing the treaty. Remove outside threats of coercion, and we could have peace within a day, but if England continues to refuse she cannot rid herself of the responsibility. Mr. Lloyd George played the part of a tyrant. If the Free State ever functions it will be over £7ic bodies of the Republicans. England will have cause to regret her mistake .and the new Ireland will remember her wrongs in the hour of England’s difficulty.”

Mr. De Valera continued: “A brother who kyicd a brother sooner than have a sister surrender will remember who caused him to brand himself with the mark of Cain.” Mr. de Valera declared that, had he been in the position of the Free Staters, he would draw the line at war in order to compel acquiescence, and would not have put to death men like Brugha, Boland, Childers, Mellows and O’Connor. He would have told England he had made a mad mistake and could not do what he had thought could be done.” The Republican Government was functioning; it was collecting revenue and organising an army. The Free State was doomed; it was alive only in the cities and towns. Replying to a question as to what would happen if the Republicans triumphed, Mr. de Valera stated that ho hoped the Government of the Republic would be wise enough not to be tempted into the path the Free Staters had followed. MR. O’HIGGINS REPLIES. London, Feb. 4. Replying to tho do Valera interview, Mr. O’Higgins says: “We have reached a stage when the grimmest decisions will have to be taken if organised sabotage continues. Mr. de Valera, like his compatriot, Don Quixote, is tilting at windmills. People arp acting with him in a criminal conspiracy against the life of the Irish nation, and they cannot complain if the latter in self-defence deals with them summarily and ruthlessly.”