IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 31

IRISH NEWS

.-" ■■■ " if ,".;.'. — ♦ .••-■ —— "''•','' ,;■" ~" .'.', . ' ■'* GENERAL. " ' . * " The Government lias "suppressed" the Sinn Fein or* ' ganisation in Co. Clare, together with ; the. Gaelic League and ; other national bodies. It is said that the suppression i will extend to Cork and other,, southern counties. But (comments the Glasgow Observer) of what avail is a decree : of this sort from Lord French or his man Macpherson? ; Before it was issued they had tried every means they knew to suppress Sinn Fein and had failed. Men were gaoled for holding public meetings, and even girls were apprehended' for attending Sinn Fein dances which were "gatherings" not to the taste of Lord French.* It is the century-old story of the "Wearih' o' the Green": '-'When law can stop the blades of grass from growing as ' they grow, And when the leaves in summer-time their verdure dare not show," '■ . Lord French's "suppression" of Sinn Fein may take effect. • He, can't keep men from thinking. And it is thought that counts. ': Whilst police and military are actively engaged tarrying out raids which prove abortive, in Co. Tipperary, the commanding officer is evidently endeavoring to curry favor with the local authorities. Thurles Urban Council has received a letter from that officer, offering to have a German cannon sent to the town as a war trophy, if the council would accept it. Mr. Bolton: "We'll accept it when they give us our freedom —not till then." The clerk: "Mark it 'read.'' The chairman: "It is worth a little more than that." Mr. Bolton: "Wait till we get our freedom. They're keeping us,under subjection for hundreds of years, but they allow Carson's crowd to say and do what they like, but won't allow two or three of us to meet. Let them send them to Carson." The chairman : "But these are German puns." Mr. Bolton : "I don't care what they are." Mr. Fitzgibbon: "I don't think the people would much care about that trophy unless they withdrew the military from the town." Galway Urban Council deferred the offer of the War Office to present the city with two field guns and two howitzers. Mr. Moloney said, amidst laughter, he would be glad to accept a machine-gun. FOR INDEPENDENCE. On his return to New York .from his first transcontinental tour, Mr. de Valera (reports the .\>ir York Herald) stated: —"As a result, of what I saw and heard I am perfectly certain that if a plebiscite of the American people were to be had on the Irish question the great majority would vote for independence. I have no more doubt of that than I have of the result of a similar plebiscite in Ireland." He had, he said, addressed 17 meetings in five days in San Francisco, with an attendance of 150,000, and he also spoke at great demonstrations at Chicago, Omaha, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Butte, Helena, and from the train platform at many smaller cities. He was particularly pleased with the meeting at Helena, because of the fact that only one Catholic, Bishop Carroll, was among the speakers. The chairman was a Methodist clergyman, and among the speakers were a Jewish District Attorney and a Baptist minister. In a letter of welcome at Anaconda, Dr. Lenihan, Bishop of Great Falls, wrote : "You hope, and we all hope, that our Government, as an act of justice and gratitude, will give assistance to Ireland to gain her freedom. The long-suffering people of Ireland have a much stronger claim of gratitude from the United States than Cuba or even France." AN IRISH PILGRIMAGE. A very large number of people made the annual pilgrimage on Sunday, August 17, to the "Holy Mount," near Hilltown, Co. Down, amongst whom were many who had come, from Belfast, Dublin, and even further afield (says the London Catholic Times). In the Penal days the hill was the scene of a massacre of Catholics who perished with their priest. A weather-worn rook near the summit was the rude altar on which, whilst scoutsit-Kept*! a look-out for the priest-hunters, the Adorable Sacrifice was offered. In a glade within the shadow of. the Mass Rock the annual ceremony took place, the Bishop of Dromore, the Most Rev. Dr. Mulhern, presiding. Thousands of devout worshippers found room in this natural cathedral, its aisle, columned with stately trees,? leading to, a canopied '| altar,• extemporised for the occasion. ' A particularly impressive feature of the proceedings was .the procession taken part in by the confraternities of the' parish to the accompaniment of hymns. Girls in white veils and carrying wreaths of flowers walked* in advance, preceded by a-cross-bearer, j and the Sacred "Host; was - borne j. underneath ..a., canopy by

the Most Rev. Dr. Mulhern, attended by clergy* and acolytes, the Very Rev. Canon Kearns being a prominent and venerated figure amongst the assemblage of clergy, who attended from all parts of Dromore < and the adjoining dioceses, --ri- :^; : ••; ..-■...• -,-■.-,.- =.• -.-;-.:-.•■- .-...-:.• Addressing the assembled pilgrims, the Bishop said that; the holy ground j on which they stood that day, and the memory of the sacrifices made in that and other places throughout the country should, direct their minds to the fact that their .Faith rested upon devotion to Our Lord and the Sacrifice of the Mass. Thus they were brought face to face with the means by which their fathers had kept the Faith, and it was only fitting they should open the ceremonies of that day by reciting the Rosary, and asking the intercession of the Mother of God that they would all lead the lives of good Irish Catholics. They should ask that intercession for their country, that God might bless it, and remembering from how many dangers their country had been saved they should also devoutly thank God. DE VALERA CAMPAIGN. The American journals continue to chronicle at much length Mr. de Valera's sayings and doings. Among other honors conferred at San Francisco was that of honorary membership of the Sunshine Club, organised to brighten the lives of the aged and dependent, and the gold medal of the club was presented on a visit to the Home for -the Aged. The Hindustan Gadar party presented Mr. de Valera with a, beautiful diamond inlaid and engraved sword and a " silk flag bearing the Sinn Fein colors. Mr. de Valera, returning thanks, said: "You must be very careful with England. She will offer you reforms, disguised as self-government, and endeavor to deceive you, as she has tried to deceive Ireland. When you weigh and consider those reforms you will find that they amount to nothing." In the course of a banquet speech at San Francisco, Mr. do Valera said: "I am a great believer in organisation. We in Ireland could not have done what we accomplished unless it was for organisation. Our basis is that of a democratic foundation from the bottom up. When the men at the top were arrested, the work went on. The thing we need in the world to-day in order to secure the ideals the United States fought for is an organisation. In Ireland I dreamed of men of Irish blood throughout the world banded in one vast organisation. We Irishmen can then be the nucleus to throw ourselves into any world-wide organisation for fostering the President's ideals. 1 came here because I felt that I wanted an organisation in America to further the recognition of the Irish demand. T want you to put a portion of your organisation at our disposal in. order that the Irish National bonds which we shall issue here shall be sold. These bonds will be used for the broadest national purpose. The money will be as much at the disposal of the Orangemen from the North as the Catholic men of the South. I wish to combine every section of the Irish people to do for themselves what England has never improve the natural resources of the country. I appeal to the Hibernians to place their organisation behind this work." At Butte, Mont., a great Trust centre, Mr. de Valera was welcomed by 40,000 people, who cheered his declaration that "exploitation of human beings is the same whether it is practised on individuals or upon nations. I am convinced," he said, "that the plain people of America are the only hope of the world. I am convinced that they will actually save it." America, he held, would bo doing a "positive act of injury to the cause of Irish freedom if it were to ratify the League of Nations covenant as it stands. If America leads the way now for the peoples of Europe, there will be an end of autocracy everywhere. '