DEATH OF IRISH PRESIDENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16811, 14 August 1922, Page 5

DEATH OF IRISH PRESIDENT.

MR ARTHUR GRIFFITH. TRIBUTE BY BRITISH PRIME MINISTER. By Te!«*graph—Prow* Association—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON. August 12. The Irish President. Mr Arthur Griffith, died euddenly in Dublin, of heart failure. Mr Lloyd George telegraphed Mr M. Collirus as follows:—“ I am deeply distressed to learn of Mr Griffith's death. My admiration for his single-minded patriotism, ability, sincerity and courage has grown steadily since first we met, less than a year ago. His character mad© a deep impression on the British Ministers who shared with him

| those unremitting labours iri which he. ; was called upon to play so testing and : difficult a'part. His loss is a heavy | one for Ireland. I trust his work will | continue to complete success.” j Mr Lloyd George al.-o telegraphed to I his widow in similar tornm, adding, j •• 1 am certain Ireiaud will always reverence his memory as one of her most loyal, gifted and courageous sons.” CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEATH, Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, August 12. Mr Griffith had T/een a patient of a private hospital in Dublin for a fortnight. He was recovering from influenza and had also been operated upon for tonsilitie. Wb/Jo proceeding to thebathroom this mc/rning he fainted but regained consciousness after being put to bed. A priest, was summoned. Mr Griffth collapsed again and died in a few minutes from cerebral haemorrhage. All kinemas and theatres in Dublin have decided to close until Tuesday. The opening of the Dublin Horse Show has also been postponed. THE LATE PRESIDENT. The late Mr Arthur Griffith, the. j son of a Dublin compositor, was born i in 1872. He was educated at the I Christian Brothers School. Dublin, and i became a render on the staff of an Irish j journal. • Ho was, for some years. | resident in South Africa and returned jto originate the present Sinn. Fein * movement. Ho published a volume j drawing n. parallel between Hungary J and Ireland, urging the formation ot ! the organisation with which he has been jso prominently identified. In further- | ing his campaign he founded several j journal" which were, one after another, | suppressed while he himself -.vent to gaol on political charges. He was I elected to the House of Commons in | the Sinn Fein interest for Tyrone and ; Cavan in 1918 and still represented those constituencies at the time of his I death. Tn common with the other j Rinn Fein members, of course, he did | not take hie sent. He was the founder and first editor of “ Sinn Fein.” from Il9ofi.ro 1915 and editor of “ Nation ! a]ity ” from 1916. He accompanied i Mr de Valera to London for the con- ! fererice with the British Government in i duly, 1921. When the Dai! Eireann | adopted the treatv in January and M’ ! de Valera was defeated. Air Griffith being elected president. He was a logical and forceful speaker with a fine flow of language. ' At the fateful session of the Dai! F.ireann when the treaty was accepted. ; Mr Arthur Griffith wound up the debate. “ I have signed this Treaty,’ be >aid, “ and the man or the nation that dishonours it*., signature is dishonoured for ever.” The Irish people, Mr Griffith continued, were led to believe that the plenipotentiaries had gone to London for a , republic and for nothing else, and that they hud violated their mandate. Before hft went he said at a Cabinet meeting that if be were to go to London he could not get a republic, that he would try for it. hut ho did not think he would be able to bring it back. They went and tried for a republic. One deputy said they had been guilty of treason against the republic. If they were guilty of treason let them be tried for it. Ho had nothing on his conscience. What he did he did for the best interests of Ireland, and he believed he was doing right. He believed now he did right, and he would do the same thing again. (Cheers.) They wore sent to make some compromise or arrangement—lie would not use the word bargain. ‘‘ 1 hold,” declared Mr Griffith, “that what we brought back from England frees ms from aggression. It gives I ue power over our own life .and relieves j us from the occupation of Ireland by j tlie army of another country. I have 5 listened here for days to discussion on j the oath, and if you are going to have . 2 form of association with' the British ' Empire you must have an oath. 1 am j not going to speak in terms of theology or law about an oath, but in this asI sembly there arc men who have taken oath after oath to the King of England, and 1 notice that these men have shouted loudly when slighting references were made to the young soldiers hero on account of the oath. 1 have here seven different members of this assembly who have taken oaths at different times to the King of England, oaths of gentlemen who sat on the English Bench, and all of whom are I going to vote against this Treaty because they will not have an oath. (Cheers)• Oh, tin's hypocrisy, which is goihu to involve the lives of hundreds of brave young men, this damnable hypocrisy o£ jnen who hung out flag* when the King of England came to Ireland, of men who received hirst, of men who fought in his armies, of men who sat on his Bench, and men who attack the young men of Ireland about their oaths. Tt is damnable Jiypromsv. (Cheers.) “ We have gol to deal with the pro-

pie ; we have got to remember that they are our flesh and blood ; we have got to remember that we arc not sitting at a table playing chess with Mr Lloyd George. Our countrymen and women and their lives and fortunes are what we are dealing with. We want to see this country placed on its feet; wo want [ to put the British tax-gatherer out of I the country ; we want possession of our ports and harbours and commerce : and .vo want to have- the voice and power to educate our people as they ought to be educated. We have got all this in the Treaty. (Cheers.) Any man who is going th tell the young men of Ireland to go out again and fight and suffer ns they have suffered before has got to tell them where they are going. (Cheers). T know young men who went through hell with Michael Collins, and it is because they went through hell with him that we. are here this evening. M o would not have this assembly, and j we would not be discussing this Treaty unless those young men had gone through that, hell with Michael Collins, and I will not let my countrymen be led on n false track. They will be led or. a. false track if the Treaty is rejected. I will not agreo tbs’, the • pie of Ireland should be crucified for n formula. The principle I have stood for all my life lias been Ireland for the Irish people. If I can get it with a. republic i will have it. If 1 can get it with a monarchy I will have it with a, monarchy. Like Owen Roe. I do not care whether the King of England is King of Ireland, so long as the people of Ireland are free to live their oven lives and fashion their own Wfe the means of securing that? here. We ha,ve no other means, £ad I say now to the people of Ireland, it is your duty and your right- to see that this Treaty i% carried into operation, and that for the first time for centuries you get a chance to live your own life and take your place among the nations of Europe.” (Loud