The Irish standard., 1900-02-24

upon the freedom of the militia from
everything except service in Ireland
and Great Britain and some special
garrisons. "The militia are liable to
service in any part of the United King
dom. Voluntary offers of militia bat
talions to serve in the Channel Islands,
the Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar
may be accepted by the Sovereign"
This is what the North Corks were
told to get them out of Ireland 1--WE
never volunteered for the Cape. We
were told that we were wanted for NAL
ia or the Channel Islands," the en-
trapped men cried to the Cork report
ers on the quay at Queenstown, while
the brutal Staffordshires and the Royal
hirelings were driving back their faith
ers and mothers and wailing wives and
children.
Though the license to expend the
militia in foreign wars was slipped into
the militia act in 1898, it will be seen
that the whole conduct of the military
authorities towards the North Corks,
and now threatened towards tine Dub
Inns, Wexfords, Mayos and other corps,
is almost equally illegal and inhuman.
have before me the last edition of the
official Manual OF Military Law" is
sued by the war office. At page SI2,
which contains the main provisions on
this subject, we find it expressly stated
() that the militia cannot be taken out
OF the home district without the volun-
tary offer of such militia; and (o) that
every militiaman must have the fact
that his offer must be entirely volun-
tary explained to him by the command
ing officer previous to any acceptance
of such offer by the sovereign Here
are the precise words of the act: "a
commanding officer shall not certify
any voluntary offer previously to his
having explained to every person Of
fering so to serve that the offer is a
purely voluntary one on his part" Did
every commanding officer OF every
Irish militia regiment explain to every
individual militiaman that he was want
ed to make war in South Africa, and
that he must voluntarily express his
readiness to make war in South Africa,
before he could be accepted by the mil
itary authorities? That is the question.
Where are the proofs? Every law
abiding man-and we are all supposed
to be that in the absence OF accusation
to the contrary-and esnecially every
relative, every member 81 parliament
of whom the militiaman is a constitu-
ent, has a right to be assured by duly
attested proofs that every Cork or
Dublin militiaman who has been, or
who may be, shut up i'll barracks and
carried under armed escort to South
African transportation, has made de-
liberate and voluntary offer of his life
and blood in foreign war for Mcssrs.
Rhodes and Chamberlain. Where are
the proofs? Show them to the entire
satisfaction of the country, if they ex-
ist. If they do not exist, man-stcaling
is felony, even when committed by
the military authorities and shoneen Of
ficers of the Irish militia
Are the Dublin militia, were the
North Cork, given "threc months" to
expose all possible error? Were they
attested before magistrate? Where
are the witnesses? Where are the rec
ords? Who has seen them? Who may
see them? Were the North Cork or
the Dublin allowed to reconsider
their decision"? Why were they i'm
prisoned in barracks? Why were they
locked into railway carriages? Why
were they denied speech or touch with
family and friends? Why were they
hustled by Staffordshires and Royal
hirelings on board the transportation
ship without even being allowed to look
at the weeping crowd OF women and
children till "after the gangways had
been drawn on board" too? Why
have the Wexfords been spirited away
to Aldershot? Why the Mayos to
Chatham? To prevent them getting
aid from their friends. To prevent
them exposing the "error" of their at
testation? To prevent them "reconsid-
cring their decision"? To prevent them
receiving, as English troops are al
lowed to receive, the last partings of all
whom they love and are about to lose? a?
Why this monstrous inhumanity
Why this glaring and rcpulsive illegal
ity and iniquity? Why this infamous
violation of the commoncst rights OF
the commonest outcasts, of the very
principles of human nature itself? Arc
we Irish less than dogs, that we are
expected to tolerate such outrages from
government of tyrants and financial
thieves? But enough has been said.
And now to action. The invcteratc
coalitions of invcteratc incapacity,
which strive even to exclude from the
South Africa struggle the man who led
the Twenty-six Hours Debate, shall
not stop my action here either. The
time for courage always comes in Ire
land. True men, guard from shameful
wrong the poor Irishmen, who put on