WHAT WILL IRELAND DO?

New Zealand Tablet, 11 January 1917, Page 30

WHAT WILL IRELAND DO?

After all, thai is the question. And I, as a humble unit among the ' close on two million people of Irish birth (that is, descent) and race '"in England, may put it to my fellow-countrymen without offence—certainly without being told that I am an Englishman, full of Saxon arrogance, and the other showers of amenities which darken counsel at a moment when we need the clearest light (writes Canon Barry, D.D., in the Catholic Times). What, .1 ask again, will Ireland do? Will she fling aside her chosen leader, go out of the war, and await its last act with folded arms? If she does, how will her attitude effect the fortunes of Heme Rule ? Will history praise her ? Questions more practical than these it is impossible to imagine. Yet we are treated to talk about eloquence, poetry, and the like side issues ; while never, since the tragedies of May 6. 18S2, in Phoenix Park, have the prospects of Ireland been more clouded. I could say a good deal about unseasonable rhetoric and wild words, if sharp retorts were to ray purpose. But I have something else in view. We Irishmen out cf Ireland were appalled at the rising of Sinn Fein. We hold that the young and excitable are in want of guidance, of restraint, when the air is full of thunder and menace. Ireland's future is at stake, the dignity of Ireland is in serious danger. I state the case plainly:—On August the third, 1914, the Irish nation pledged her word to join in the war against Germany. She has kept her pledge. at an immense and most honorable sacrifice. "Does she, or does she not, mean to keep it to the end Not England, but Europe. . We on this side of the Irish Sea cannot make up her mind for her. But we can lay down the alternatives. The war is going, on it will not wait. The Germans must be conquered or they will conquer. And if they beat the Allies, it is not Britain alone, but Ireland too, that will have to pay the price. - Let me ask our friends who are lifting the banner of Sinn Fein to tell us whether they stand for the Kaiser or against him. It all turns on that. "' Neither for nor against' would be the same as giving him victory, ' the strong hand above.' It would be also breaking Ireland's plighted, word. We were him in 1914; then

we must be against him in 1916, and to the close of the chapter. v But this • means V raising more and •;■ more soldiers, - making , good losses, refraining-from; a ■ policy which would harass the Allies/ and submitting to grievances which at -another itime^we.could - and :. should do our best to" get rid -of : There have been ; plenty of grievances besides the wrongs :of Ireland in -these j two years , .■ The '.scandals of : ; . scanty ;; munitions, ; dishonest army-contracts, waste in all departments, pro-Germans in high ;places- not the democracy of Britain had to ; suffer all this and i more ?..:' Yet that democracy is waging the great battle of freedom and civilisation dauntlessly. It is giving, labor, life, and treasure to the cause. For it is the cause, not of official England, of Downing Street, -or Whitehall, or Dublin Castle, but of Europe, threatened by a conquest of which the process may be read in the German War Book, and the aims in a hundred German writers. .-; I am .asked mockingly how much I know about Germany, since I know so little about Ireland. My knowledge of Teuton life and literature goes back over half a century, and whoever wants to test it may consult what I have published on its various departments. As for Ireland, the chances are that I spoke Gaelic and studied Gaelic authors before.my critic was born. , Let these personalities go down the wind. I will state my own conclusions beyond mistake. They are these Faith, Honor, Interest. Ireland and England are, as Burke said, indissolubly united. A self-contained, independent Irish Republic will never exist so long as England keeps her head above water. But Home Rule is perfectly compatible with Ireland's inclusion as a Federal member in the British Empire; and it is the right of the Irish nation. To attempt its achievements, however, by sedition, by armed .risings, or by other violent means, would be as wicked as disastrous; and I utterly abhor the policy, of Fenians, Clan-na-Gael, Sinn Fein, as simply fraught with evil to the country infested by them. Moreover, Ireland as Christian and Catholic is bound to resist by every means in her power the advance of the anti-Christian assault on liberty and morality known by the name of Germanism. The chief and instant means, already adopted with her hearty consent, is the war against the Kaiser. Ireland is in it; she cannot, without loss of honor, draw out of it. So far as she possesses the men, they were in principle dedicated and told off to this duty when Mr. Redmond spoke in the House of Commons as, in effect, her ambassador, and when she thus entered the ranks of the Allies. How she shall raise the men is her concern; but the contract is binding. It is not merely a pledge to England ;it was given to Europe; and I am quite confident it will be fully redeemed. There are national obligations created by circumstances; this is one of them. In the world-crisis now upon us the question is not what has the English Government done to Ireland? but what does Ireland owe it to her faith, her honor, and her lasting prosperity that she should do ?