DE VALERA : A STUDY

New Zealand Tablet, 17 June 1920, Page 37

DE VALERA : A STUDY

Eamon d© Valera, whose career reads stranger than fiction, was born in New York City 38 years ago. His mother was Irish and his father Spanish, so that the blood of the two great branches of the Celtic race flows in his veins. His father died when he was three years of age, after which time his mother took him to Ireland, where he received an excellent education. At the age of 15 he possessed a good knowledge of the Irish language, and before he was 20 his mind was thoroughly saturated with the Gaelic spirit. He was a professor of science at the age of 30. He is now acknowledged as one of the three greatest mathematicians in Europe. Five years ago he was practically unknown to the Irish public; to-day he is recognised the world over as the elected representative of the Irish people. In the Irish Rebellion of 1916, de Valera played a prominent part, and exhibited military talents of- a high order, which won the confidence and admiration of. every man under his command. Padraic Pearse’s order to surrender was brought to him by his heroic ''wife on the seventh day of the rising. De Valera gave up his sword in proper military fashion, saying to the British officer: “You may shoot me, but my men must be unmolested when surrendered.” A few days later he was on trial for his life.

Since that memorable Sunday afternoon de Valera has spent most of his time in English prisons. While in gaol he was triumphantly elected member for Clare, and when the Dail Eireann assembled on January 21, 1919, he was unanimously elected President of the Republic of Ireland, on the motion of Arthur Griffith, who referred to him as a "soldier and a statesman."

President de Valera arrived in this country nine months ago, and since then he has been twice' across the continent. He has spoken to great audiences in every city he visited, from New York* to San Francisco, and from Portland, Me., to Portland, Ore. He has received the freedom of the principal cities in the United States. No European since Lafayette visited this country in 1824 has ever received such ovations and aroused such enthusiasm.

De Valera is not a great orator, but he is a philosopher and logician. When before an audience he is always master of his subject. His style of oratory is conversational. He appeals to the intellect rather than to the emotions. He can hold his audience spellbound by his evident sincerity and earnestness, which are the essence of real eloquence. ■ Like Newman, he uses plain, simple English. He prefers plain facts, expressed ,iii the plainest language. " Emerson says: "There is no true eloquence unless the man is behind the speech." De Valera is listened to with respect and attention because his audience know and feel instinctively that the man is behind the speech. He is a close student of men and measures, and yet he has proved himself a man of action and the soul of honor. There is no line long enough or broad enough to shut out his sympathies from suffering humanity or to prevent him from espousing the cause of human liberty in every land beneath the stars. T i ! ,7 a^ ra is in man y res P ect s the "Lincoln of Ireland. He is not only a soldier and a statesman but a profound thinker and a born leader of men He commands the confidence, devotion, and support of fully 80 per cent, of the people of Ireland. He is to-day recognised everywhere as the sole and undisputed leader and spokesman of the Irish race at home and abroad.

m President de Valera disdains the tricks of the typical politician who is usually all things to all men. While politics is supposed to be the science of government and statesmanship the art of government, there is as much difference between a politician and a statesman as there is between a stonemason and an archi-

The principal object "de Valera had in coming to this country- was to get recognition for the Republic of Ireland, and the secondary object was to raise 10,000,000 dollars in Irish Bond Certificates for national reconstruction purposes.

That is now a supreme crisis in the history of Ireland. The Irish people understand the conditions that confront them, much better than we can 3000 miles away. During the past four years they have waged a war of passive resistance with marvellous skill, against all the power and resources of the British Government. They have elected their representatives to the Dail Eireann and have laid down a constructive programme and national policy with marvellous unanimity. They have appealed through their chosen representative, to their kindred in America and elsewhere for moral and material support. No man or group of men in this country has any right to dictate to the people in Ireland or their elected representatives the policy they, should pursue. The motto of the Irish in America who sympathise with Ireland now should be "Harmony and Co-opera-tion," instead of carping criticism. President de Valera is the man of the hour. He has all the essential elements for leadership. He possesses the Spartan patriotism of Wolfe Tone, the Celtic versatility of Thomas Davis, and the principles and ideals of John Mitchel. Such a man ought to command the sympathy and support of every liberty-lov-ing American regardless of race, creed, or political affiliation. Thomas S. Lonergan, in an American exchange .