THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 18 August 1921, Page 7

THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

INTERIM REPORT How Great Britain Met Insurrection. It is with the means used by the British Government to meet the situation brought about by the defection of the Irish people that this Commission was required chiefly to concern itself by the terms of its appointment. Since no exponent of the policy of the- Imperial British Government availed.himself of the opportunity offered by the invitation of the Commission to appear in defence or explanation of the British policy in Ireland, the Commission has been forced to determine the outlines of this policy partly by the proven actions of the Imperial British forces in Ireland and partly by decrees, orders, and other official British proclamations put in evidence.

Civilised Governments meet such a situation in one- of two ways (l) a declaration of “a state of war” and suppression of the insurrection under the rules of warfare as recognised and practised by civilised peoples; or (2) a declaration of martial law under which responsible Governments maintain their authority when the ordinary processes of civil law are deemed inadequate. It does not appear that the Imperial British Government used the first of these two measures to meet the situation in Ireland, at least until February 24, 1921, when a decision of the King’s Bench in the case of John Allen declared that a “state of war” existed in Ireland, It seems clear that, until this date, proclamations of martial law and the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act of 1920 were relied upon to legalise the British policy of repression. But the facts suggest that the actual operation of this policy was not based upon law. There exists neither under the laws of war nor under the codes of martial law in civilised States any justification for assassination, pillaging, or terrorism as a means of suppressing insurrection. And yet this Commission is reluctantly forced to the conclusion by evidence to be set forth in the succeeding chapters, that such means are relied upon by the Imperial British forces in Ireland to bring the Irish people once more under the control of the Imperial Crown.

Irish Resistance. It is admitted by witnesses who have appeared before us that during the years 1919 and 1920 following the creation of a Republican Government members of the Imperial British forces have been killed by the forces of the Irish Republic. No direct evidence has been presented as to these killings or as to their exact number. These are the cases customarily referred to by spokesmen of the Imperial British Government as the "murders of policemen " We have heard testimony that the greater number were slain in conflicts between the forces of the Irish Republican Army and the Imperial British forces-often in raids by the Irish to secure arms and ammunition. The rest, it is testified, were killed either because they were spies or because they were guilty of some specific crime directed against Irish Republicans; and had been tried and condemned before death. (We note that it is generally conceded that among the victims of this procedure were no women or children aged or infirm, priests or ministers.) It is not contended that the victims were present at these trials, and we have received no proof of the circumstances alleged in extenuaton -of these killings. We may take cognisance of ' the tact that among the more prominent of the ■ victims wore Inspector Swanzy, indicted by. a coroner's jury as one of CoLTsS ° f L ° rd May ° r Curtainof y Cork? and Colonel Smyth concerning whom witnesses presented proof Feiners 6 wit ment ° We sku S hter of Sinn Joiners. We have also been impressed by the evidence t!lv P l b f r BritfSh miHtary tdbunal in trialof on Teehng that Lieutenant Angliss, one of the British officers who were killed in Dublin on November 21, 1920 had been hvmg as a civilian in a house in Dublin under"theS sumed name of MacMahon. Furthermore, evident has

been presented which would seem to indicate that no British “police” or soldiers were killed by the Irish in 1917 or 1918 with the single exception of an inspector who was injured leading a baton charge to suppress a public assembly, and who died later of his wounds. There is evidence, however, that during these two years the Imperial British forces had carried on a campaign of suppression in which more than a thousand Irish were arrested without warrant and deported, or held in custody without trial; that fairs and markets were prohibited ; assemblies of unarmed men and women were broken up by violence; and about a dozen Irishmen were killed by bullets or bayonets handled by Imperial British or soldiers. But. when all this has been set forth it seems established by the evidence that certain discriminate assassinations were the deliberate work of Irish citizens.

The Commission would point out that murder is not a question of date. And if the Irish assassinations are in essence executions, yet the accused is perforce absent from his trial; and the condemned not being in custody, the executioners in error may dispatch some uncondemned person.. We deeply deplore the whole procedure no matter how great is the provocation as contrary to the dictates of social morality. ,If the purpose of assassination was to safeguard the people, it has failed; the British terror was not arrested by it but has continued in spite of it and has progressively intensified. Assassination would seem to us necessarily degrading to those who actively participate in it; injurious to the fair fame of the Irish people; and harmful to the cause of Ireland in the public opinion of the world.

British Responsibility. The Commission, however, understands that the British Government has not abandoned its claim to be the titular custodian of law, justice, and order in Ireland. Political assassination especially in a country where ordinary murder is as uncommon as in Ireland is a phenomenon whose causes require investigation. It has therefore seemed of paramount importance to examine the means used by the British Government to enforce whatever principles of justice it deems applicable to Ireland, and to ascertain, if possible, upon what principles this justice is grounded. For, if we accept the claim of Great Britain that it is in control of affairs in Ireland, we cannot escape the conclusion that the British Government must accept responsibility for the deplorable conditions that have followed upon its attempts to maintain, its authority. We find that the Irish people are deprived of the protection of British law, to which they would be entitled, as subjects of the British King. They are likewise deprived of the moral protection granted by international law, to which they would be entitled as belligerents. They are at the mercy of Imperial British forces which, acting contrary both to all law and to all standards of human conduct, have instituted in Ireland a "terror" the evidence regarding which seems to prove that: 1. The Imperial British Government has created and introduced into Ireland a force of at least 78,000 men, many of them youthful and inexperienced, and some of them convicts; and has incited that force to unbridled violence.

2. The Imperial British forces in Ireland have indiscriminately killed innocent men, women, and children; have discriminated assassinated persons suspected of being Republicans; have tortured and shot prisoners while in custody, adopting the subterfuges of “refusal to halt” and ‘attempting to escape”; and have attributed to alleged Sinn Fein Extremists” the British assassination of prominent Irish Republicans, v 8. House-burning and wanton destruction of villages and cities by Imperial British forces under Imperial British officers have been countenanced, and ordered by "officials of the British Government; and elaborate provision by gasoline sprays and bombs has been made in a number of instances for systematic incendiarism as part of a plan of terrorism. F

4. A campaign for the destruction of the means of existence of the Irish people has been conducted by the burning of factories, creameries, crops, and farm implements and the, shooting of farm, animals. This campaign is,carried oil regardless of the political views of their

owners, and results in widespread and acute suffering among women and children.

5. Acting under a series of proclamations issued by the competent military authorities of the Imperial British forces, hostages are, carried by forces exposed to the fire of the Republican army; fines are levied upon towns and villages as punishment for alleged offences of individuals; private property is destroyed in reprisals for acts with which the owners have no connection; ( and the civilian population is subjected to an inquisition upon the theory that individuals are in possession of information valuable to the military forces of Great Britain. These acts of the Imperial British forces are contrary to the laws of peace or war among modern civilised nations.

6. This “terror” has failed to re-establish Imperial British civil government in Ireland. Throughout the greater part of Ireland British courts have ceased to function ; - local, county, and city governments refuse to recognise British authority; and British civil officials fulfil no function of service to the Irish people.

7. In spite of the British “terror” the majority of the Irish people having sanctioned by ballot the Irish Republic, give their allegiance to it; pay taxes to it; and respect the decisions of its courts and of its civil officials.

CHAPTER in.-IMPERIAL BRITISH FORCES IN IRELAND. The testimony before the Commission shows the forces of the Imperial Government in Ireland to be divisible into three classes: (a) The Royal Irish Constabulary; (6) The Military; (c) The Auxiliaries. The R.l.C.—The Royal Irish Constabulary seem to number between 9,000 and 10,000; and are commonly referred to as the R.1.C., or the "police." They appeared to be a body recruited in Ireland, given military training, taught to use revolvers, carbines, and bayonets, made expert in bomb throwing, organised as a military force, distributed at strategic points under the command of officers called inspectors, and responsible not to elected Irish authority but to Imperial British authority. Military. In addition to these 10,000 "police" the Imperial British forces in Ireland contain regular regiments of the British army, such as the Essex, the Lancashire, the Hampshire, the Cameron Highlanders, and the Seventeenth Lancers—numbering, it is testified, anywhere from 60,000 to 200,000. These men wear trench helmets and are equipped with all the modern instruments of destruction.

Auxiliaries—Besides these, there are seven thousand irregulars, wearing partly R.I.C. and partly military uniforms, who are distinguished by their origin, their high rate of pay and their character, and who are known as Black-and-Tans.”

Cadets. Lastly, we have testimony concerning a supplementary irregular force of higher rating than the Black-and-Tans, comprising mainly ex-officers of the innn ISh calle( i Cadets, and numbering more than 1000 ;, Altogether, the Imperial British forces, in Ireland would at the lowest estimate seem to number 78,000 one to approximately, every eight adult males in Ireland, exclusive of Ulster. ’ • ! pl r iid tradition of the Imperial British forces m the late war, as well as justice to the rank and file of these forces now engaged in Ireland, would seem to require that the consideration of the circumstances in which they find themselves should precede the consideration of their conduct in these circumstances. Apprehension.-The skirmishes, ambushes, and other activities of the Irish Republican Army, together would 8 natU ? ° f - the military d “ ty in Ireland, would appear to give grounds for natural appre- ™ n w-n- tte In erial British forces.' Miss Ellen O. Wilkinson read into the record a picture of the apprehension which lurked in the mind of a member of the Imperial army "Only those who have experienced ” this man writes, "the thrill of patrol work and raids in Ireland can realise the strain on the nerves. At any second we may meet an active antagoinst. In Ireland the enemy is a shadow. A sinister death, rarely seen until R

is too late to advance or retreat, may lie just around the corner.”

Two publications of the Imperial ( British Government were mentioned in the evidence; one, The Eue and Cry, and the other, The Weekly Summary. Miss Wilkinson testified: “There is a publication called The Weekly Summary given by the British Government to the “Black-and-Tans” in Ireland, and it purports to give a list of all the crimes of Sinn Feiners against the Government. It is, of course, a deliberate incitement to violence. Copies of this have been produced in the 'House of Commons, and the Government has been very severely criticised about it, but without much result,”

It would appear that the natural fear of the Imperial British forces in Ireland is fostered by propaganda into terror, under the auspices of the Imperial British Government. The bearing of this natural and artificial apprehensiveness upon the prevalence of drunkenness among the troops may be surmised if not denied. And the temptation to quell fear in drink would appear to be officially placed before the British troops by the barrack' canteens.

Drunkenness. John Charles Clarke, an American, witnessed the shooting of a boy on the streets of Cork by two drunken “Black-and-Tans,” who, scarcely able to walk, fired into a crowd, and were then led away by their fellows. Mr. P. J. Guilfoil, ■ testifying to a raid he witnessed on a saloon at Feakle, Co. Clare, said: “The military had taken possession. They were plainly partaking of the liquors in the place. I saw that as I passed by.” And later: “It was getting dark. Dr. O’Halloran, the town physician, came down and I said: “Where have you been?’ and he said: ‘Up to the barracks. They are all wild drunk.’ ”

John Tangney, a former member of the British forces, testified concerning a raid in which he participated on a village near Ballylorby:

This County Inspector Lowndes had the orders, and he adjourned to an adjoining saloon and had a drink, and two young military officers, who were in charge of the military party, adjourned with him and got stupidly drunk. All three were drunk. There were some Irish terriers outside the saloon door, and the officers took these dogs and threw them at each other. Well, we went home and the military were firing all the way back. I myself , had to come to a soldier who was stupidly drunk and take a revolver out of his hand.”

John Joseph Caddan, a former member of the R.1.C., testified that about one year ago canteens were opened in the barracks, to serve liquor in unrestricted quantities to the men. The men drank before going out on service. “They were up there, some of them, most of the night drinking.”

Frank Dempsey, chairman of the Urban Council of Mallow, testified that when that town was burned by British soldiers, September 27, 1920, most of the soldiers in the raid were drunk. “The first thing they did was to' fire revolver shots and rifle shots, about the town. Next they raided some of the public houses and looted them and got drunk.” The witness states he complained to the officer, who replied that he had lost control over them; “Damn it, they are all drunk.” Youth of Imperial British Forces.—lt would Appear that the Imperial British troops engaged in Ireland were composed partly of war veterans but also in appreciable numbers of raw youths. Many of the witnesses emphasised the extreme youth of the British soldiers in Ireland. In Belfast Mrs. Annot Erskine Robinson and her companions saw large numbers of youths of seventeen or eighteen wearing the uniform; “None of them looked like men.” Miss Wilkinson found the same condition in the South: “It is the boys who are being sent to Ireland now.” Mrs. Robinson described these boy soldiers as “the most pitiable figures in Ireland to-day. They have been brought straight from home, and with no knowledge of life. They are under military discipline, and believe they are in the midst of a hostile population. Many of them are absolutely nervous and hysterical. The drinking habit has become common—there is nothing else for them to do.” “When you get these boys together and talk to them and fill up their minds with the idea that every Irishman is a murderer,” continued Miss Wilkinson, “you bring about war psychology,

and then you get the atmosphere that makes it possible for these things” (the outrages against the persons and property of Irish citizens) “to be done.”

Convicts. Testimony alleged that these young soldiers have in the “Black-and-Tans” associates sometimes of questionable character. It was stated in evidence that a British detective discovered in a single barracks several with criminal records, attracted to the service perhaps by its licence, perhaps by the —which is equivalent, to that received by a lieutenant in the British Army in France.

It would appear that in such a force discipline is necessarily lax.

(To be continued.)