MR ASHMEAD BARTLETT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11686, 1 May 1916, Page 8

MR ASHMEAD BARTLETT.

A CHAT'ON AFFAIRS OF STATE THE IRISH SITUATION. AND OTHER. TOPICS. Mr Ashmead Bartlett. who rrpresented the British Press as war correspond: exit in the Gallipoli campaign, arrived in Christchurch yesterday in continuation of his lecturing tour. As ho is to come face to- face with Christchurch audiences, it may suffice to describe him as not unlike the portrait that adorns tho cover of his now.familiar hook of despatches from Gallipoli. A southwesterly buffeting on the trip from Wellington to Lyttelton had not discomposed him as he came forward to greet a "Lyttelton Times" interviewer yesterday aft-eraoon. Mr Bartlett, of course., is concerned chiefly with warlike topics, but •ho steers clear of comparisons in the matter of fighting values, declaring that if he could say (which he cannot) wliotner the New Zealander is a better soldier ■than other colonials he.would not say ?it. '■" As to the duration of the war. he •thinks that it will last through the present vear, and' probably tin s wnole of 1917." ''Actually, to end the war jquickly.'' he said, "it would bo noces|ary to have an internal revolution m Germany—and to see or that — -or starvation in Germany— -ar.A we see fno sign of that. The two important things are our blockade of Germany and 'their submariuo attacks on lis. which getting harder to d°al with. 1 do "not think you can look for a speedy victory. Mainly by the process.of attrition tho German lines will get too thm to hold, and they will have to contrae* "them: That is our great hope.' ■ • A question about Ireland' started Mr Bartlett ou a congenial topic. *' 1 thud: 'it is of the greatest impfu'tnr.'co. be ..remarked, "that people should understand the real facts about the situation iii Ireland, because I have noticed a. general tendency amongst the majority -<n£ New Zealanders with whom- 1 have spoken to attach an entirely exaggerated importance to the events there. .The only evil thai can arise from the "present disturbance is the had' moral effect that this supposed ■internecine warfare or revolution, or whatever you like to call it. may have --amongst, our Allies and in neutral or 'even the dominions of '.the Empire. Probably tho Germans j&ave a keener realisation of its relative ■'jrriaterial unimportance than s anyone else, but they are naturally working to create a general impression throngh- * out neutral countries,' and especially in ; ine United States, that the British Em-; '.pire is in danger of internal dissolution. 'l' think . myself that they also j 'hope that the present disturbances "•would help them most materially in j ;-their negotiations with the United, •States over the submarine question. They want to tie President Wilson's] "Hands and to orevent him from taking j 'the decisive stop of actually breaking | off 'diplomatic relations. They can rely on the very large German element in ,the' States, and they, also hope bycreating' the present situation in Ireland to arouse further, sympathy amongst the fairly largo irreconcilable Irish element in the United States who would thus also bring pressure to bear on thoss in authority. '-'" The "recent raid on Lowestoft.' Mr Bartlett continued, ' ; seems to have been part of -this general scheme, but up to the present there has apparently been no further co-operation of either the German naval or military forces. -I have been in Ireland a great deal during the lasf four disturbed years, ana rpughlv the population may be divided into three groups. There, of .course, ■'ire the loval Ulstor-men m the north who are Unionist to tho backbone. Then come the Irish 2sa.tionalists, wjo Acknowledge the leadership of Mr Redmond and the United Irish League, and who would prefer to arrive by peaceful and legitimate means at t,, 0 attainment, of. their hopes and ideals ,-for Home • Rule. Outside these two parties is the sinister organisation inown as the Sinn Fein, who ot recent years have kept tardy in the background They do not-acknowlodge-any leadership and would preter to .keep Ireland in a perpetual state of distance and revolution.' and not even to se e a settlement of the Home Rulo controversy. Their orgamsat,on is carried on bv underground channels arid although they themselves £?■' not large m numbers, i! r is of course possible that they may have led astray a number of the quieter tvpe who nominally a f kno^°J' r liedmond as their leader The emotional Celtic temperament is easily aroused, but as a rule the fires burn bufc.rapidly, and once the leaders of the Sinn Fein are safely under lock and &ev the whole rebellion is bound to -cbllapse ; like, a house of cards. It is certainly the maddest movement m historv, because at the present time, m spito of the fact that we arc at war, wo arc in a better position to suppress "a rebellion than at any other previous fet'age in our history. Wo have hundreds of thousands of troops trained or partly trained in England, Scotland and Ireland, and it is simply a question of 'feetting them into the disturbed ceu : tres. This will not keep them from the front, as they will simply continue •their training in Ireland instead of in the camps and depots at home. "We must not forget,, in our indignation at these disturbances,*' Mr Bartlett added, "the wonderful work that jjas been done by the loyal Irish troops in .France and in Garlipoli. The memory of 1 the'landing of the Munster Fusiliers and.Dublin Fusiliers from tho "River Clyde on .the historic morning of April Zo last year will never bo forgotten, and a nation that can produce fighters of that stamp must he sotind enough at the core, even if it can be temporarily disturbed by irreconcilable l trained agitators." | v Undoubtedly," said Mr Bartlett to j a question, "the Irish disturbance has j been financed by Germany through America." But of the American people he declared that the vast majority were heart and soul with tho Allies. ?■''.-" Would it-be a dangerous thing for America," he said, "to break off relations with Germany? Well, I went into that point while I was in America, and I thought it would be dangerous, but they assured mo that not. only a. Xery large number of Germans in America were totally out of sympathy with Germany in the war. and in her method of conducting it, but that, any element tending to cause a disturbance would be easily held in check by the States militia " " America is not. prepared at all," conceded Mr Bartlett, but he expressed the opinion that the States militia could cope with any internal disturbances. But- undoubtedly the Germans 'V(*f* trying to embroil the United State* with Mexico to "tie them up" sown there.