The Irish standard., 1902-10-11

full aid in the critical posture of cur
affairs, it will avail us IL thing should
she attempt it hereafter"
In tle recent South African war TIN
Beers We're able to put in the field an
army which. in point of msrale and
effectiveness combined. could not be
mustered in Ireland Every Bu,r male
from childhood to Old age was pl,,c
trcl in the expert use of the rifle ,rm,
republics were independent govern
mants, and their arlnaments Were the
very best that money could purchase.
Inc theatre of tire war was far re-
moved from the sea and of great ex-
tent. The Roers we're vanuuished.
vanquiShed by tlse dead w, light OF the
overwhelming numbers that England
at enormous cost transported t. South
Africa, 10000 miles from Great Brit
ain.
Now. let us take a glance at Ire
land. Ireland is only Il few hours sail
from England. There are not i'm the
whole island sufficient arms of m dern
requirements OutSiN" OF those i'm Brit
isll hands, sufficient to equip 100 men.
Out side of those in llc service of En-
land there arA MT 1000. perhaps not
100 men, capable of making an cffec-
tive use of the rifle. Why? Because
the Irish are Il dis;,rmeh nation, ma
ton of prisoners of war, continually
under guard. The Irishman who is
known to be Il Nationalist is not per-
mitted to buy rifle The dealer in
arms must keep Il register of his sales
open to the police, and is liable to
fine and forfeiture Of his license if he
sells to Il man who ..as II Il govern
ment permit. Even if arms could h"
SrrreptitiOusly introduced into Ireland
they would only rust in their eases, as
before now they have rusted. because
no man dare use them in public. and
thus acquire a practical experience il
using them. To he efficient soldiers
men must drill but drilling is forbid
den to all but the military forces of
England.
The days of Shaun O'Farrell and
pixies and drilling in the moonlight
have passed away + rever. What was
practical Il century ago, fifty years
ago, thirty years ago, aye. perhaps
ten years ago. is implHcticable today.
War today is Il scientific. costly. and
destructive duel at n@ range when
wngod between two great powers
equally matched. War today when
wac'h between a great power and Il
nation whose troops are equipped with
antiulated weapons and unframed in
molcrn tactics. means the VIII IeStll2
slaughter Of the latter. Drawer war
rcrS than tive SOudanc:c Arabs never
faced !; foe, but tire battles. or rather
lmttucs of Akbara ami OmdurnEn.
showed how ineffective is u,MisciplinHu
bravery whe1, pitted against the mil
itary science anna armament OF great
power
Besides her regular army OF occllpa-
ton. England has in Ireland 12.00O
cnllstabulary trained in all tlr, duties
of the soldier. equipped with THE best
OF arms. and occupying veritable
block houses all over the country 81
numerous and vet 50 close to each
other that no hostile movement e uld
he na,lw,llvlt',d without immediate i'll
formation being conveyed to Dublin
Castle. Revolt in Ireland W. uld mean
the destruction Of all the growing
crops should England deem it ncces
sary. ard with her fleet mtrolling the
coasts famine would stalk Through tlr,
land and make the whole island one
vast recolucentrado camp of misery
and death. 10 the mind of amy rea-
son:hle man it is quite apparent that
without the landing of a f reign army
aS an army of liberation an insulTac-
ton in Ireland would mean the final
determination of her lolg-suffering
people. TO effect such Il landing and
to keep open communication with THE
base of operations of the invading
force, the defeat Of the English navy
would be a preliminary necessity. Such
Il thing may come to pass. but just
now it is so hidden in the bosom of
the future that the Irish people clnn +
look upon il as Il subject for serious
consideration. In the meantime Ire
land is suffering. Ireland needs re-
lief. and her opprcssor is deaf to all
appeals to reason and justice. There
are only two alternatives open to the
Irish people under these circum-
stances. resistance or SubmiSSi,n, ana
submission means the passing forever
of our grrlad old nation. We hre not
deprccatilg resistance i'm any shape or
form. but we want that resistance t,
be as effective as the means within
our grasp can make it,
We have shown, 2'e think clearly
enough, that the armed insurrection
of the Irish people is a physical impDs-