BUREAUCRACY IN DUBLIN

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18357, 2 June 1917, Page 4

BUREAUCRACY IN DUBLIN

HOW KEELING HAS CHANGED

h\ th© Springfield Republican, Norman Hapgood writes from Dublin under date £th March: —r

The last time 1 was in Ireland' was just after the Lusitania went down in 1915. Thei feelingl of the Irish was then running' more strongly towards the Empire than it had been for a long time. -Sergeant ■ O'Leary was the national 1 hero. The boys were coming back; from the trenches, where they had. fougiht side by side with the British. There was still , some dis-

affection, but it amounted to almost nothing;. We heard stories in America I about submarine' basis in Ireland 1 and other absurdities. For STibmaa-ines to ! have .replenished themselves with oil in> Ireland' would) have been made impossible, by the simple fact that, so little oil is isold in Ireland that any large sale of it anywhere would have attracted the attention of the police. Ireland was friendly, and 1 growing; all the time more friendly. In addition to the sentiment of fighting on the same side, there was the encouragement of prosperity, a prosperity stimulated mainly .by the British demand for- foodi and partly also by the large war allowances to the families of soldiers. The tide began to set the other way wiith the ■failure-to put, the Home Rule intol operation, and it began, to run its strongest after the ■ executions which, followed the rebellion.'

i Th© .big reasons; why the Irish problem is a hard one are fairly j simple. In the first place it is no . longer primarily a question befrwaen Ireland and England. The English member® of the House of Commons would probably vote five or six to one in favour of any Home Rule arrangieniant on which the Irish would unite. The difficulty is between the different elements in .Ireland itself. i Next in importance to the division among the Irish themselves should be put the nature of the British i bureaucracy in Ireland. Dublin Castle has been almost'wholly with.----i out ima.g!inati'O:n. It has not been filled with mem who were capable of doin^ what Britons, have done in South Africa. -It has not tried to

understand) the Irish and to .act acoordinci to their nature, but merely to impose upon .them the most rigid point of .view. Most of the difficulties we. see in Ireland are such as will disappear with.time, but nevertheless will require a considerable ( amount of time. This particular matter of personnel,'.however, one would think, could be rapidly champed if it "were realised in Eneila.nd how much of the difficulty of workin-s o-ut" the Irish situation has.been due to administrative density. /

Dr. Norton, United States Government expert asserts that Germany's hold on the dye market has vanished. The domestic output to-day in the United States equals » the country's consumption.

The importance of the machine gun in modern war has been, recognised m thp best possible way by His Majesty the King, whol has authorised the formation ot a new mit of the Household Brigade, to be known as the "Machinegun Guards." It has been stated that the machine-gun corps now number over 70,000 of all ranks—a. contrast with the days wEen the original expeditionary force went across to France with the liberal allowance !'of two machine guns per battalion, and those of a heavy type now quite out of date.

The Medical Board was engaged today in examining recruit*, and 21 were examined, by Lieut.-Cols. Cook and Scott, tho medical office? 3.' Captain Car. ter (dental officer) and Lieut. McDonald attesting officer, were also in attendance. There are 29 further men to bo .examined on .Monday. We understand that very few have been passed as n't for service. it is usual to publish the names of those who have been pat&ed, Uit it appears that a new order by the Defence authorities now prohibits this being done. Tub is a senseless piece of red-tapism. Tho matter is public property, and is being talked oi all over the town by the parties concerned, yet newspaper publication is forbidden. Major Browne, area officer wih his usual courtesy, desired to. give us the information, but found !ii:iu self barred by the new edict.