Return of Miss Jessie Mackay

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 35, 7 September 1922, Page 21

Return of Miss Jessie Mackay

Impressions Regarding Ireland : Miss Jessie 'Mackay,. who left New Zealand in November last to attend the Irish Race Conference at Paris as one of the New Zealand representatives, has now returned to New Zealand, having arrived at Wellington by the Manuka from Sydney on Tuesday, 29th ult. .Miss Mackay was met on her arrival by Mrs. T. J. Bourke, Miss Eileen Duggan and other members of the Ladies’ Auxiliary Committee of the Self-Determination League, and on the evening of Wednesday, 30th ult. she met the members of the: Dominion Council and Wellington Executive of the League at its rooms. Mr. P. J. O’Regan, president of the league cordially welcomed Miss Mackay back to New Zealand. The original purpose of the-',lrish Race. Conference at Paris was to secure support from the Irish race everywhere" for the Irish Republic, and for the right of the people of Ireland freely to choose their own form of Government. Subsequent to the departure of the New Zealand delegates the Treaty was arrived at, whereby the Irish Free State was set up; The result was that no delegates attended from the United States, and only a very .small number represented Canada, the reason for their non-attendance being that, inasmuch' as it was assumed that the Treaty ■ would be the main subject, of discussion, at. the Conference, .it was ■ undesirable that any voice should be heard in connection therewith, but that of Ireland herself. The sequel showed that the Treaty was an important subject of discussion at the Conference, though even those who supported it, . including • the two representatives present from New Zealand, did so : with the- assurance that no limitation was placed , upon the liberty of Ireland in the future, ' . Without, reservation - he . could •. say . that the Treaty would have done much more to pacifv Ireland had it not .been preceded by a revival of the brutalities of Cromwell. (Applause.') They all felt that in selecting Miss . Mackav as one of their representatives thev had paid a tribute of confidence to a ladv who, even under the most unpromising circumstances had ever been a fearless advocate of Ireland’s right to determine her own Government. They would all join- cordially in welcoming Miss Mackay, who would now, address them. Miss Mackay was greeted with a round of applause, after which she spoke as . follows : THINGS SEEN IN IRELAND MISS JESSIE MACKAY’S VIEW All Europe is changing rapidlv for the better or the worse this year, and nowhere has the transition ■ been - more swift, more tumultuous.; or more., significant than in Ireland. It would be foolish, indeed, for a passing stranger ..with no roots in the-countrv to I think that two months’ poinurn there could give the key. to all- that, now 7 distresses and perplexes' every . Irishman, and . every friend of .liberty in the world. ■Yet it , may . chance 'that, a, detached out- • sider, fully in Sympathy and with, a. pea-tain - knowledge of

current history, could form, . even in so short, a time, cor- <•, rect. opinions? on many/phases of the struggle, /^lhe. great,, : H the amazing i confidence -you -showed, in me when you j made " me one of your delegates to the Irish Race Conference ij. '. would- have : been utterly misplaced if I could tell you ' nothing of profit at'the end of the jour nev. We all know,that it is i too critical a time for rash. judgment or rash : talking, and that those deepest in their country's ; r.oiiniw>!s are the most reluctant to speak on events which may- have to be re-considered in the light of fuller knowledge. Therefore I can only ask for your patience in presenting whatever opinions I have formaljjbn,. I saw in Paris and in Ireland. If I have gathered any truth on the Irish situation this year, it is my duty to pass it on to you, to fit in with your own knowledge if possible; to be re* jected if that cannot be done. '•■'-'./ The Conference at Paris Regarding the Paris Race Conference itself, 1 need not speak, but it is bound up with the future of Ireland,and we may well hope that what was nobly begun on lines so romantic, so faithful, and so far-reaching will be • nobly carried on in happier days. As to the tragic events of the last two months, , I am in no position to speak. You have learned the leading features of the struggle from the cables, and I have been cut off, from other sources of information since June 1, the beginning of. my return journey. Between leaving Ireland in the first week of April and leaving Britain the last days of June,' I had the guidance of Dublin papers, but unsupplemented by other authoritative testimony. It will be seen, then, that any suggestions I can offer, are those impDressions formed from personal observa- • tion in Paris and Ireland from the latter davs of January to the early days of April. To me, though they are limited in scope, they, are not impressions but convictions, not likely to be materially affected. by the wider knowledge hoped. for later on. ''.."•' /The last thing I desire to do to-night is to/press personal propaganda, or to nit invidiously against each other names of leaders beloved by the Irish people, and loved still even in the bitter extremity of political difference. If possible I would make this talk as unpolitical as may be and show how we can admire and lament where we can no longer follow or confide, if we are committed to twentieth century policies' or ideals. - / • I went to the Paris Conference a detached seeker after truth. I left it entirely convinced that Ireland's good rested with the party of peace, reconciliation, and reconstruction also that the war party was led by men and women of tremendous sincerity, who were determined .to throw their own personal wealth, comfort, and life itself on.a fantastic altar of duty they had built for themselves. Between them and the peace pafEy there was a common bond —utter contempt of vulgar place-seeking or self-seek-ing; utter devotion to an ideal of their country's welfare a bond that-finally raised all difference to a high reconciling note of mutual confidence in which the Family. of tho Gael was founded on a plane at once practical, cultural, patriotic, and non-controversial. Yet there were puzzles to carry from Paris to Ireland, puzzles that in many cases solved .themselves among the thinkers of Dublin" and . the rank and file of Southern Ireland in the months that' followed. ''• A Convincing Fact The first conviction ; that' gathered out of mental chaos was that Ireland was being destroyed by words, specious catch-words either with no meaning or a meaning not their face value. Some of these words were for use outside Ireland, some for use within. I need not dwell on the words that have wrought most mischief outside; you all know about a "Government that never governed": a " "Northern State that could never be a State," and a "peril that was no peril." And I think most of you understand that tho "freedom" so liberally thrown in. Ireland's teeth as a thing at once misused and for ever ■'• misplaced in Irish hands was a freedom never hers for one moment. Planned provocations from the North, cruel baitings from the Southern war party weakened-the hands of Dublin's high-minded, over-driven rulers, faced with complicated departmental work, the nationalising of takenover institutions, the financing of a. broken, half-ruined countrv,' the tiding over of Labor troubles, the putting down of robbery and; violence, war's aftermath (a bagatelle to the violence in another place, but vet a grave problem).; If ever there was a time for brotherlv concerted - action, or at the lowest counting, honest non-interference, it was -the time between the surrender of Dublin Castle and the long-delayed elections of last June. And -the ; war : party deluged ... Ireland with words, entangling, hair-splitting, sophistical words that - led nowhere but to ..confusion and v despair. They caught the ear, but the logic never held together,s for 'a, ; moment. For example, "equal franchise," ; "clean rolls" are phrases weighty enough- in an established democracy—-and Heaven knows ; how the T Irish ministers ; were wearing their lives away then, ouilding ■ up .':,, such , a -democracy, /building /';> it £. with the full blessing and co-operation of the Church of the Irish, people! /But what were such words in the mouths of men , who were even.then openly planning to drive the veterans,: the mothers, the mature voting power of Ireland away from . -the. polls. . The grim ironv of putting a vote in the hands ; of an/eighteen-year/old, boy and a pistol at the head of

his peace-loving father and;,mother! ; : ; The grim irony of calling that • a "Republican /Army'-- which- should ..rather have been called an armed kindergarten. They could hot put a vote in those children's hands, but they could, and. did put rifles, in their hands. And 'no man alive can quite realise the horror of such a Moloch-Sacrifice, such a desecration of the soul of youth, as the. mother-heart of Ireland : realised it. ' ■ "■■.-; ':,' ■'■-' '■;'[ ; ; ■',; ;.': _ c ■•.'•■':. : . . . Later Developments .Of : other misused words I will cite but one more. I have spoken of the war party not the Republican party, because there Was no Republican party while I wan in Ireland, nor after. . Such a party there had recently' been a party of which the names and ideals will thrill Ireland to. her latest; day, a party which indeed stood for all : that, makes a true republic a high and- holy thing. But all that was now left of that party was too busy translating the • gist and, earnest of a Republic into living reality to trouble about the name of it. : But nothing could well have been further from. a republic than the Government Contemplated by the seceders, even, as far back as January, when-'l.heard one leader driven, to the private confession that if the people recorded a choice unpleasing to the ."soul'' of ■ an" anti-English oligarchy, the people would be forced to think again. The war party did not juggle with the. word in the' sense that they had ho- . Republic. to deliver;,-'that Ireland might choose 'famine; and sword'at this time, -'but would not 'be granted separation.' They went oh -saying "Republic" when they meant "oligarchy'?' bureaucracy, or frank despotism. The awful conditions of spreading revolt in latter April and on to the Battle of. the Four Courts, were the . earnest of the kind of "liberation" a successful war with the British Empire would have .■ brought Ireland. ' When Rory O'Connor, bluntly and nnrebuked, issued the.manifesto of an "armed -dictatorship" all. Ireland shuddered from the Boyne to the. Bandon, but: the. . cloud:.' of vain, twisted words lifted and the. mask fell, from, the -face of armed tyranny. ,':■'.■ ' ~",,--;: ; "Yet," it may be said, "Ireland had a right,''to choose ruin and death if she wished." But she did not wish it. It was not alone that Dublin from'.the highest. to the lowest declared .openly, eagerly for peace-and re-building in those days. ; It was when I went'through Southern Ireland in March that I learned the full strength of the peace party. : . Down the east coast to Wexford, alon"through Waterford, Dungannon, and the park-like'country of the South, back again from the West of Kerry to Dublin, I mingled with the people on the way. All was peaceful then, kind, beautiful, as if one had gone through a- garden. But 'the. people were .' shy , and ' cautious: they were even then afraid of hidden forces. Yet when a friendly word unlocked their ready confidence, there was but -one story— hatred of blood-shed and force, their love or home and country, and their passionate desire to embrace Ireland's new freedom and make her strong , sate, happy, and honored among nations. "It was one .voice that was heard, from men and women of culture and ugh education, from practical, civic-minded men of affairs, from ex I.R.A. men who had shed their blood for a true republic, from hardy men and women of the soil, strong in _ then—patient folk-wisdom, from mothers, thinkers^ priests. Believe me, I do but tell you what I saw and ' heard; and a great and proud experience it was to see the heart of a long and deeply wronged people thus open to the i sun of a hew hope and a lasting good-will. Mark me well; there was not one trace of servility, bowing to material advantage, or the subservience of a beaten, people Everywhere there was seen the dignity, of a young State : ™W. an honorable peace, not ■' for, a moment deceived by the contention that in so doing they bound themselves IS children to T any formula that would hinder the ultimate destiny of Ireland. That lovable citv. that fair garden-land, each was drenched in blood later, but never think it was the will of their people; it was forced upon -, - .'■ . The War Party ■■ '-, ■■''+i; a And yet I have said it is ■ possible to admire and lament tholeaders of the w-party.-Itf Was/the. puzzle of. Paris ■ : t,l Jt£ -f Gd in Dublin,. No ; fialanced''mirid . could doubt the sincerity of them, the" ascetic strictness of their lives the lofty devotion to:an abstraction for which thev gladlv threw away fortune, ambition, life itself."• Their love for was great,..though- their hatred of England was greater, and who : that knows what some of them had ..suffered dare judge them for. that? But how to "Shcile. ■prnJ f S -i- lth ' jKV° ken faith -.the. under-workings, the r •rue baitings that have ended in leaving Ireland shamed '. V.- bleeding, and leaderless this day? irtiana shamed, I^-fIS! hink + it a.foolisii thing, the. answer/found / on -the. spot, bv a twentieth-century seeker after truth 0 We are not, all souls of: a single: age, oh a single Sue with .one common rule of life and conduct; ..One did hot ( ; talk long with.-. any of these People without comin- up against an inrnenptrohio v ,«u T f it ™- Q c V i £ :■;• " ."•. jt "»§ no r t nick or learning; ' r SJUT- k °/ ,ovo :, it- ™* ' "ot .lack ofTmnov.- But y- it as..tl,e,. impossibility; of touching. them with.anv ; .modern .-application of' learning, love: and; honor -When ~ With : /thai>--wider,' deeoer unde.rstandine'be JS T l \ 'J.™ f 0 ?™ 111 * to- the ; world, - this . truth will f& be told about de Valera and his 'fellow ; war-leaders. They

were people of the Middle Ages, never people of the twentieth -....‘century at ' all. ■ There were - heroes, scholars, and saints in the' Middle Ages. But they • were' of their time; things that horrify us did not horrify them; the safeguards we have reared - round - life were unknown to them; the sacredness of life, as we, at least in theory, regard it; was little to them; our slowly evolved charters, statutes, and constitutions- would have been nothing to them. Read of . life- in the Middle Ages, the raids, the insurrections, the civil wars, the repressions, the fights about words and abstractions, the daring, the contempt of death, the pushing about of the common people as - pawns on some feudal chess-board. Read of all this, and you have the key to the lawlessness, the contempt of human rights, the light dealing in blood and death that has made Ireland a land of sorrow- to-day. It is not that these , untimely-born ■ souls are not among ourselves in the newer, countries; but we, in happier circumstances, have- tied their, hands by those very "safeguards the war party set out to destroy. The Statecraft of Ireland’s Leaders It was a strange experience to realise that ■ one was speaking to people four hundred years behind our time, and, quite unconsciously, resolved to bring back a sixteenth century' State among the nations, such a State'as Poland now is, with her 1 freedom on paper, and her substance, at' the mercy of ; the ■ war-mongering Powers': about •• her: It was ■ a beautiful -experience to watch yet another age at work; the twenty-first century men who were toiling to shape, Ireland’s new nationhood. Not to-day and not to- • morrow will the world understand what,Arthur Griffith, -Michael Col|ins, and the noble men who shared their vision and their burden were shaping in those days, a new State, and . more than that, a- new Statecraft that would have been. (may. it yet be!) the admiration of all nations. Read the. Constitution •.that they framed, a Constitution from which coming' generations will draw the -sanctions, the safeguards, the , opportunities pertaining to a twentyfirst century State. And though the' r were never free one hour from , perils, conspiracies, provocations from outer North and inner.. South, what cl in fliev not accomplish? • Your, enemies would bid you walk with heads, bent, as belonging to a factious people, unfit for' freedom. No! walk proudly with heads erect in honor of that newest and proudest of Commonwealths that the heirs of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffiths, will yet found, not again to bo shaken. These men worked day in. day out, bard official drudgery of which every step was a. precedent, every experiment a lean, in the dark. They composed Labor differences in a day where the entrusted ministers of older States failed, after months. They, living themselves on the salaries, of common clerks so handled the business of a half-beggared country as to hand over an honest surplus on the day of reckoning. They had to relieve distress, to allay jealousies, to guard ■ the people, to hold the balance calmly, justly, evenly against encroachments and back-dealings, yet never to let the flag -of their country be lowered, or let the natural resentment of honest men lose them one inch of ground to their enemies. Last triumph of. all, when the very ground was . dissolving in rebellion and anarchy under their feet, they secured the seemingly, impossible opportunity for Ireland to justify herself at -the polls—an answer that none can twist or turn against her. Did they make mistakes? Perhaps; thev were but hnmah, yet demi-nods could not have steered a ; clearer, straighten course on the terrible way they • were • doomed to travel. And now their greatest two lie dead, dying without .. tear- and without reproach as they had lived — Ireland. In- vain It cannot- be. Die fair promise of six months ago must return, for God is just.' Our Duty to Ireland A vl mt can w.e do here to. strengthen Ireland’s, hands? One tiling, we can and must do, never to cease standing ' shoulder to . -shoulder, one in aim, one in spirit, willing noth ipg and .asking, nothing;, that Ireland, in her fuller . knowledge does not will .and ask for herself. It is our watchword.; “Charity and union;.... union and charity!” Overseas, they fought ’for, something each believed' right. Union there could not fie in the days T saw, but a wonderful, .an amazing charity there was,- a charity, Britain could never understanda charity-. that showed, itself later in. that handshake of victors and-vanquished when the -Four Courts rendered—a charity, -last, that rose to sublimity in ftp dying words of Michael Collins. : . i -nm; * , In union, in charity only. can the children of Ireland, wherever, they he, give the lie to, centuries of, slander. In union and in charity, with the faction born of a mournful history behind us. and. freedom before us, we shall at last realise the beautiful motto that do Valera found for the FamiL- of the- Gael'.' ... “Eye has - not , seen. nor. the mind- of man conceived. the greatness of the destiny God has in His mind for ■ Ireland.”. ." v ') r ; v-.-.-i:-';;;': v. :/,,v