The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1916. THE MADE-IN-GERMANY REBELLION

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIII, Issue 18, 4 May 1916, Page 29

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1916. THE MADE-IN-GERMANY REBELLION

- . HERE is-ample and conclusive evidence that the insane plot and rising of which the Sinn Eeiners have allowed themselves to «the made the tools and . the victims the Sinn Eeiners have allowed themselves to be made the tools and the victims was . hatched in Germany, and that it was, in Mr. Redmond’s measured phrase, equivaX lent to a German invasion of Ireland as -r' cynical as that of Belgium. So much may be gathered from the published -utterances iof the German Government itself. Sir, Roger Casement, who, for the past, four years, has been engaged, half openly, half secretly, in a violent - proGerman propaganda, - very shortly after the outbreak

fe;. of war proceeded to Berlin as a self-appointed Irish & ambassador. An official statement by the German pv!; Chancellor on the subject of the visit was published in the accredited organ of the German Foreign Office in these terms:—‘The well-known Irish Nationalist, Sir Roger Casement, who recently arrived in Berlin from the United States, was received at the Foreign Office. |||’ Sir Roger Casement pointed out that there had been circulated in Ireland statements, apparently authorised ifeby the British Government, to the effect that a German « " victory would inflict great injury upon the Irish people. Sir Roger asked for a convincing declaration about p,| Germany’s ' intentions towards Ireland such as might restore the equanimity of his fellow-countrymen Ip; throughout the world, but especially in Ireland and , America, in view of the disturbing statements circulated from responsible British quarters. The ActingSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs thereupon made |:J the following official statement on behalf of the Im$0? perial Chancellor ; —The Imperial Government rejects with the utmost decision the evil intentions ascribed to it in the assertions quoted by Sir Roger Casement, fe The Government takes this opportunity of making the p/ categorical assurance that Germany cherishes only senti- ||, ments of goodwill for the prosperity of the Irish people, |t:r their land, and their institutions. The Imperial M- Government declares formally that Germany would never invade Ireland with’ any intentions of conquest fc or of the destruction of any institutions. If, in the |- course of this war, which Germany did not seek, the fe fortune of arms should ever bring German troops to the coasts of Ireland, they would land there, not as an | :: -army of invaders coming to rob and destroy, but as the ll'i: fighting forces of a Government inspired only by good- || will towards a land and a people for whom Germany ||.f only wishes national prosperity and national freedom.’ I/; There is a sinister hint in the concluding sentences sufficient to indicate that the scheme for using Ireland as an instrument to deal a blow at Britain had already g/; been formulated in Berlin. Casement also visited p America, and got in close touch with the hot-heads of fe- the Clan-na-Gael and with the heavily-subsidised propir German press of the country. Between August, 1911, p/ and December, 1913, he had been engaged in writing ■ a number of articles, for private circulation among fe; friends, attacking Britain and urging a German-Irish alliance and these have since been published in pamphp/ let form, under the title The Crime Against Europe , If. by his German friend and confrere, Dr. Kuno Meyer, p-; Even then the scheme of German-Irish co-operation in £ the next great war had apparently been bruited. ‘ The day the first German comrade lands in Ireland/ he Mr: : wrote, * the day the first German warship is seen / proudly breasting the waters of the Irish Sea with the |;v' flag of Ireland at her fore that day many Irishmen pi: may die, but they shall die in the sure peace of God p- that Ireland may live. A victorious Germany, in I ' addition to such terms as she may find fit to x impose in |K' her own financial and territorial interests must so

draft , her peace conditions as to preclude her 1 great antagonist from ever again* seriously imperilling the freedom of the seas. . I know l of no way, save one, to make free the open seas: Ireland, in the name of 'Europe, must be withdrawn from British, custody and restored to Europe. As an Irishman, I have no fear for Ireland for German triumph ; I pray for it.’

It is matter for gratitude to be able to record that so far as the actual rising is concerned the misguided movement behind it neither the spirit of Irish nationality nor of Irish faith. James Connolly, who, . according to the cables, signs himself ‘Commandant of the Irish Republican Army,’ and who is evidently a /man of more than ordinary ability, was born in Ireland, /but imbibed his social and revolutionary ideas in the (United States. As an ally of the notorious Larkin, he has been a bitter assailant of the Catholic Church, and is what would be described on the Continent as an anti-clerical, * N tali 'auxilio, nfic defemorihus istis, % tempus eget.* Not' by such help will Ireland ever be /led along the path of ‘freedom. Casement himself,

the fans et origo of the trouble, is not a follower of the dominant religion of Ireland, nor has he taken any representative part in the Irish National movement, which he entered only a few short years ago with the express purpose of disrupting it. For a time he put himself at the head of a movement of Ulster Protestants in opposition to the Carsonian Covenanters. He was one of the founders of the Irish National Volunteer movement, but he objected strongly to its control being transferred to Mr. Redmond, and from the outset was opposed to the Volunteers serving outside Ireland. When his pro-German sympathies and designs became unmistakably evident, he was promptly, repudiated by the Irish Nationalist Party. On this point the wellknown organ of the party, the Dublin Freeman’s Journal, was quite explicit/ Repudiating his right to speak for Irish Nationalists, the Nationalist paper said; 1 The most puzzling thing we notice in the whole transaction is that British newspapers should be so illinformed as to describe Sir R. Casement as a prominent Irish Nationalist. He was never known in Irish public life till he appeared in this attempt to disrupt the Irish Party and destroy the National movement in Ireland.’ That Casement is an out-and-out traitor is plain beyond all question. But even traitors, like the devil, must have their due; and it is but just to this wretched being to mention that there are real and solid grounds for doubting his sanity. On this point the words of Dr. Conan Doyle, written to the Daily Chronicle more than eighteen months ago, are worth recalling: —‘l am sure that you are wise to use no stronger terra than “infatuation” for Sir Roger Casement’s journey to Berlin. He was a man of fine character, and that he should, in the full possession of his senses, act as a traitor to the country which had employed and honored him is inconceivable to anyone who knew him. He had, it is true, . a strong prepossession in favor of Germany before the war, but this was due to his belief that she was destined to challenge the Monroe doctrine, which Casement bitterly resented as being the ultimate cause of all that Putumayo barbarism which he had officially to investigate. I may say that I disagreed with him upon this subject, but in all our discussions I have never heard him say a word which was disloyal to Great Britain. He was a sick man, however, worn by tropical hardships, and he complained often of pains in his head. Last May I had letters from him from Ireland which seemed to me so wild that I expressed fears at the time as to the state of his nerves. I have no doubt that he is not in a normal state of mind, and that this unhappy escapade at Berlin is only an evidence of it.’ What has been said of the leaders is true also of the rank and file of the insurrectionists. They are in no wise representative of the Irish national spirit of to-day, but on the contrary, as Mr. Redmond has pointed out, have throughout the Home Rule struggle thwarted and opposed, and bitterly and venomously denounced, the Nationalist Party. How little the spirit and aspirations of overseas Irishmen are in svmjpathy with the outbreak has been sufficiently shown by the disclaimers * which have been sent from America and from every part of the Empire —disclaimers which have expressed not disapproval merely but the utmost detestation and abhorrence of the Sinn Feiners’ deeds.

As to what is to be thought about the whole sorry business, the common sense estimate may be summed up in the single sentence of Archbishop Carr ‘ An outbreak of madness.’ Insane in its leader, it was insane also in its conception, possessing no definite objective, and having, of course, no possibility’ of success. On one point there will be, practically "universal agreement-and that is on the culpability of the British Government in' the matter. It was they who, in the first instance, allowed seditious arming and drilling to go on unchecked in Ireland. They allowed a Carsonite army to be drilled, equipped, officered, and armed, under their very nose— thus the fatal precedent was set. We have been looking over the files of pro-German papers published in America and

we have been struck by the frequency with which the Sinn —whose drillings and meetings were quit© openly and fully reported—emphasised and exulted in the ’fact that they were' but copying the example set them by Sir Edward Carson. We think it was John Bright who said : ‘ Never try to dodge a principleho man ever yet got lost on a straight road/ The British Government attempted to dodge a principle duty and necessity of suppressing sedition in whatever quarter it might appear they are to-day reaping some of the consequences. Ireland must, unhappily, take her share-a small one, we are glad to think— the discredit attaching to this mad business. But the sense of justice in mankind is not dead ; and the world is not likely to forget, as Ireland’s set-off, the magnificent •loyalty of the Irish people as a whole, nor the glorious valor of her troops on every front on which they have been employed. *

Details of the fighting are only now beginning to filter through ; but enough has com© to ' hand to show that the risinglimited though its scope and restricted though its dimensionshas been sufficiently serious. What the consequences would have been but for the steadfast loyalty of the people as a whole, and the commanding and restraining influence which Mr. Redmond has so long and so wisely exerted, one does not care or dare to contemplate. It is not necessary to accept as gospel all the items in the cable messages ; but if there is any truth at all in the statement's as to firing on tram cars of women and children and on innocent and unoffending priests, the reaction against Sinn Feinism in Ireland will be swift and sweeping. It has, indeed, been an anxious and trying time for the Irish people, both at home and abroad. At the time of writing (Monday night) the news is that the rebellion is practically at an end. We can only pray that it may be so : and that this painful and regrettable chapter in the history of the most distressful country may be speedily and finally closed.