THE CRUDITY OF ENGLISH OPPRESSION

New Zealand Tablet, 13 May 1920, Page 23

THE CRUDITY OF ENGLISH OPPRESSION

p. he f S L o W A ag lette , r has been sent -by Major Erskine r if 01 r- D - S -°-> to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, General Headquarters, Dublin. Major' Childers •is n n u- formei * Chancellor of the : Exchequer of the Butish Cabinet ;. His famous - novel, The Riddle of y the t ’ n,' a m ed tl f Ellgllsh People of. the German menace. NuZ- Ch ) C If & T K S ° wro i e a volume in the London Times’ Uistoiy Of the liar, and is a .publicist of wide reputation, The raid upon- his residence in Dublin is .one of the -countireland ICOS ; the crudity of the English oppression .-of

+ Sir,— l received the honor of : a visit last night - from a tank belonging to your command at the somewhat- inconvenient hour of one a.m. I do not demur to this. Var is war. But I suggest that: it might bo in ; the : ultimate interest of both of the : visitors and the visited on these occasions if a code of etiquette or. deportment were imposed _ upon the former. It would* perhaps, -be - unreasonable to complain of bayonets being flashed in the eyes of my small boy in his cot and of similar means of impressing the household generally with a proper awe or the forces under your command. - But . it is a matter of legitimate complaint that a young subaltern (of by no means attractive appearance, if you will forgive me) should on entering the house stroll into my drawing-room m my presence puffing a cigarette, and should continue to refresh himself in this manner after I had invited him to desist. The trifling scene which ensued was ended by the intervention of another officer of no less polished breeding, who decreed an ingenious compromise under which the cigarette was to be thrown unextinguished .upon the carpet. ‘ Upon the carpet ’ was the express injunction delivered with studied insolence by this young car-pet-knight. Thus, I was to win my point about the consumption of the cigarette and he was to save his dignity by burning a hole in my carpet. . "The point may seem trivial, but is it so? When armies are eventually withdrawn from occupied territory and may I, without the least offence, express the hop© that yours will be eventually withdrawn from ours? is ol the most vital importance to the future relations of the nations concerned that .an army should leave behind it a record for civility and humanity in . the performance even of its most obnoxious duties; Surely hone can be more obnoxious and more easily provocative of; exasperation than these midnight raids -upon civilians’ - houses, about 19,000 of which have taken place, I understand, in the last two years, often, as-in my case, on false -in-forma-tion and often resulting in indignities and hardships infinitely worse than anything I experienced. •.... “Though I am no longer a member of the British Army, long service in it during the war, and the regard which I still retain for the best among its traditions,- encourages mo to address these remarks for your consideration. “I have the honor to remain, “Faithfully yours, “Erskine Childers (late Major R.A.P.) “20 Wellington Road, Dublin, March 9, 1920.”