THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 20 October 1921, Page 7

THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

, INTERIM REPORT (Continued from last week.) CHAPTER Vl.—(Continued.) Imperial British High Command in Ireland These officers presumably . acted under the direction of the Imperial British 'High Command. There is no testimony before'us concerning the personal morality of those in command of the Imperial forces m Ireland. But the code by which their public acts are tested is the Hague Convention, by which civilised armies are supposed to be governed. In their warfare on the Irish Republic, the British High Command would appear not to recognise that convention as determining their conduct. The Hague Convention specifically forbids th« use of hostages. The following notice was placed in evidence: Use of Hostages.—" Notice is hereby given that on account of the numerous attacks which have been and are being made by rebel forces on motors and lorries conveying forces of the Crown, officers and leaders •of the rebel forces (commonly known as the Irish Republican Army) will in future be carried in Government motors and lorries,. "Given under my hand, at Cork, December 18, 1920. "(Signed) H. W. Higginson, . "Brigadier-General, Military Governor .,; . , The "hostages" thus carried, it was testified, included the Mayor of Kilkenny and Colonel Maurice Moore, late of the British Army, who was for a time recruiting officer in Ireland for the British and who lost a son in the "war. The following editorial from the London Daily Herald of December 21, 1920, was placed in evidence: The Hostages ' "On Saturday night three Sinn Fein prisoners, in custody at Cashel Police Barracks, were taken out by the military in a motor lorry. During the journey, two of them were shot dead. "On Sunday night, notices were issued by the military governors of Cork and Kerry (presumably also of Tipperary) that 'on account of the numerous attacks, which had been and are being made by rebel forces on motors and lorries conveying forces of the Crown, officers and leaders of the rebel forces (commonly known as the Irish Republican Army) will in future be carried in Government motors and lorries.' "That carrying of' "hostages" as a safeguard against attack is an old device of the Boer war —denounced in those days by Mr. Lloyd George and his colleagues as a barbarity and a, breach of the laws of war. "But what has it to do with the death of these two men at .Cashel twenty-four hours before the order was issued? By whose.' orders, and for what reason, were they taken on their tragic journey? And, who shot them ? One 'must stretch credulity to believe that there was an ambush, that Sinn Feiners fired on the lorry and, by a miracle, shot the two Irishmen stone dead while not a soldier' was touched. ■■','•'".'' "All that is clear is that once more prisoners have been shot while in the custody of the military. On previous occasions the Government story has been that they were "attempting escape." On this occasion, apparently, it is to be that they were "hostages." "But what the Government says is not evidence. The only sure fact is that these men were prisoners, and that they have been shot. "Again we challenge an impartial inquiry." v We have also had submitted to us other proclamations ,by the Imperial British High Command. One groups the male citizens of certain districts, allotting to each group an area; those in the given group are held responsible if the Imperial British forces suffer casualties in its allotted area. ;.:.:; "'■■■-' '■'-[,■'■;% Another proclamation, ; from the same source, ordains that any one - harboring a '■[_ rebel : =- will suffer■ death. ■ This

proclamation makes death the penalty even for a mother who harbors her son in her homeif he is a Republican; and eighty per cent, of the people are Republicans;

“(d) That a. state of armed insurrection, exists, that any person taking part therein or harboring any person who lias taken part therein, or procuring, inviting, aiding,' or abetting any person to take part therein; is guilty of levying war against His Majesty the King, and is liable on conviction by a Military Court to suffer Death.”

This proclamation would seem to us to be directed not only against Irish womanhood, but also against the memory of the' noblest- of Englishwomen, Edith Cavell, shot for harboring persons levying was against His Majesty the Kaiser. The British High Command would appear to make the heroism of Edith Cavell a crime and to confirm her sentence. . ■

Death penalties imposed by proclamation for those who carry or possess arms, for those who have information and neglect to make it known to the British Imperial Forces, and for kindred crimes have been brought to our notice. The following attested excerpt from 1 the Weekly Freeman, Dublin, February 5, 1921, was placed in evidence:

“An official communique, issued from Victoria Barracks, Cork, on Tuesday, states: Cornelius Murphy was tried at Cork, on January 17, by a military court for an offence against martial law, and he was charged with being at' Ballydaly on January 4 in improper possession of arms and ammunition, namely, a, loaded revolver.

" 'The court found Cornelius Murphy guilty and sentenced him to suffer death by being shot. The finding and sentence of the court were duly confirmed by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Ireland. The sentence was duly executed at 8.1 a.m. on February I.' " Failed to Inform "At the same court, Denis Murphy was charged with having failed to inform the Competent Military Authority of the fact that his brother, Cornelius, had firearms and Accused denies that he was aware of the fact. * "Sentence in the latter case does not appear to have been promulgated.'' And to these excerpts, by way of contrast, counsel for the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic added the following, attested as taken from the London Nation of February 5, 1921: "And now, men, keep your arms, no matter what happens. I rely upon every man to fight for his arms to the end. Let no man take them from you. I do not care who they be or under what authority they come. I tell you, ' Stick to your arms.' " —[Sir Edward Garson at an inspection of the Ulster rebels, June 6, 1914.] / - Sir Edward Carson was made a member of the Imperial British Cabinet, and is to-day alleged to be a chief instigator of the Imperial British policy in Ireland. It would seem to us that the British High Command scarcely recognise the authority of the Hague Convention. Their proclamations appear to indicate that their military failure to suppress the Irish Republic has already driven their conduct'beyond the 'boundaries of conventions. Imperial British Government in Ireland ./..■' Attested utterances, from official sources, of Ministers of His Majesty's Government have been placed in evidence, and we have cited several of Sir Hamar Greenwood's statements in" the course of this report. These would seem to lis to indicate a moral tone regrettable in a public official' of a civilised people. We would particularly emphasise his explanation of the death of Mrs. Ellen Quinn, the expectant mother who was shot wantonly, by the military of hisinquiries by military tribunals into the Crimes ordered and committed by the military; of his failure to arrest the miscreants who sacked Balbriggan, and his condonation of| the, Croke Park massacre. There has been "placed in evidence the following 'attested excerpt from the London Nation of January 29, 1921 \ . , ..["> "One of the most important of these documents is the Weekly Summary.. This, it will be explained, is a paper which Sir Hamar < Greenwood established as. a means > of keeping up the spirits of his constables.. These conlstables were men enlisted by the medium of, an advertising

agency for ex-soldiers . who could not find employment in England. The Weekly Summary will be the most important !' document that the historian can use for showing the spirit which Sir Hamar Greenwood wished to introduce and maintain in a body of men armed with such powers as ,no British force had exercised since 1798. Let us note a. few of the extracts that were chosen for publication in this paper.. A number of the,m are threatening resolutions attributed to persons spoken of as ' The Anti-Sinn Fein Society.' " "If in future any member of His Majesty's Forces be ' murdered, two members of the Sinn Fein Party in the Co. of Cork will-be" killed. And in the event of a member ?a of the Sinn Fein Party not being available, three sympathisers will be killed. This will apply equally to laity and clergy of all denominations. In the event of a member - of His Majesty's Forces being wounded, or an attempt made to wound him, one member of. the Sinn Fein Party will be killed, or if a member of the Sinn Fein Party is not available, two sympathisers will be killed." [This was literally carried out a few weeks later.] 1 . "A fair warning to , Sinn Feiners and* sympathisers. Lisburn will claim not an eye for an eye, but three or more lives for either the murder of or injury to any local member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, or Auxiliary Forces." Notice ' <•• . "If G. Hogan is not returned by four o'clock to-day (Friday), December 10, rebels of Cork, beware, as one man and one shop shall disappear for each hour after the given thins. ; " . ' ' . '•(Signed) 8.-and-T.'s "Organisation Headquarters, Retaliations Section B." Sinn Feiners Get a Warning "It is your duty to support your Government. Don't harbor, engage by hire or otherwise, associates of Sinn Fein or members of that murderous society. We warn you that, if you do, revenge will be taken by means not yet j heard of. " , "By order, Secret Service Dept, 2 B, No. 17396 V." '•The public funerals of the murdered officers was a solemn and impressive sight, by which many thousands were deeply affected, and we have not a word to say against it. But a far more satisfactory tribute to ■ the dead would have bee/i the spectacle of a Sinn Fein murderer hanging on every lamp-post in Sackvillo Street and Grafton Street, and that is what ought to have been done.— The Winning Post."

"Alderman McSweeney would seem to have been most anxious for the world to note that he 'died a soldier of the Irish Republic' . . . He might just as reasonably have averred that he died an Admiral of the Swiss Navy." It is inherent in British Parliamentary practice that the Premier is responsible for the acts and utterances of every member of his Cabinet. It would appear that he has not publicly dissociated himself or his Government from Sir Hamar .Greenwood. The moral obliquity • implied in "shot trying to escape," "shot for refusal to halt," "Sinn Fein Extremists," •'reprisals," and such terms, used in official British utterances, would seem to us to need no emphasis. It would appear to your Commission that the Imperial British Army in Ireland has been guilty »of proved excesses, not incomparable in degree and kind with those" alleged, by the Bryce Report on Belgian atrocities, to have been committed by the Imperial German Army.*' And it would further appear that the Imperial British Government have created and introduced into Ireland, a country in area less than the State of Maine, a <force of at least 78,000, many of whom were boys and some of them convicts; have incited thorn to slay, burn, and loot; have armed them for;their task; and have tempered with terror and alcohol this chosen instrument to fit it for the appointed purposes of the Imperial British Government in Ireland. It would seem to us that the moral responsiblity

for the crime of this instrument rests on those who fashioned and used it. '.'■". \ We would extend our sympathy to the great British people. The army which is the instrument of their Government in Ireland would also seem to be the instrument of the destruction of that moral heritage which was their glory and which cast its lustre on each and alb of them. The sun of that glory seems finally to have set over Ireland. British "justice" has become a discredited thing.. The official "Black-and-Tans" in Ireland compete for the dishonor of Anglo-Saxon civilisation with our unofficial lynch mobs. And decent folk everywhere are shamed and scandalised that such things can still be in their day and generation.* We welcomed the British Labor Report on Conditions in Ireland and the reports of the Englishwomen's International League and of the British Society of Friendswhose moral leadership, rising above the prejudices of race and nationality, has been in this great spiritual catastrophe of England almost the only sign of our common Christianity. We wish the Peace with Ireland Council Godspeed. We would congratulate the Manchester Guardian, the London Nation, the London Daily Herald, the New Statesman, the Westminister Gazette, and the London Daily News for the courageous stand they have taken in exposing and denouncing to the British people the murder done in their name. And we hope that the spirit of these efforts may be strengthened, to the end that the wrong done to Ireland may be righted and the agony of her people cease. When these things shall be the great British people will emerge from the darkness that now encompasses them into the glory of a new day.

AWe are under the disadvantage of lacking the official British side of the case save as we gathered it from documents presented before us, but the Bryce Commission was similarly handicapped, and to an even greater degre'b. ?

*Both in England and America it has been suggested that our right to criticise the Imperial British rule in Ireland is impaired by certain examples of American imperialism which contravene our boasted belief in the principle of "government by consent of the governed." The members of the Commission are vitally concerned for American honor and are opposed to coercive imperialism wherever and by whomsoever it is practised. Their present concern with Ireland is prompted by the acuteness of the issue and its bearing on internationl friendship. In the course of tho Commission's investigation it has become deeply impressed with the capacity of the Irish for selfgovernment. (To be continued.)