The Red Cloud chief., 1912-07-25

~ far off, having in MM xMN&Ee
NNA these days little to do MSMxM
NOV except to scrutinize IlISxXsNM
strangers at railway m SayAH6 Il
stations and street corners. Although Ill lNaf =
OFTEN frigid and uncommunicative to WlS "a
natives the policeman is free enough W
with strangers. and his information Is MN
apt to be reliable about the country INN
generally for. as he Is never kept WS3
long at any one place. his local knowL 0W@>W
edge is extensive It is true that he " IN
Is apt to be biased against the peas. ~ MA
antry. because. although a peasants CW
son himself his training and employ. |N
ment have made the people hate him. ~
Tor the common people have no use "a IN
Tor the "peeler." the constabulary NV
are contemptuously called by them ~
Imagine the policemen the natural protectors
OF life and property. being hated by the people.
Inat Is the condition in Ireland yet. and has been
SO almost from the beginning That does not
mean that the Irish do not want to have life and
property protected It means that they have an
long seen the policeman identified with the pro
lection OF particular kind of life, to.wit: the
landlords and bailifs. and particular kind Of
property to-wit: the landlords property in land
that they overlook his other useful public serv
Ices 1t Is most unfortunate state of things
The policeman has been made the buffer between
the English Government and the Irish people and
the etfcient instrument OF coercion OF the latter
ana between the two his lot has not been a hapnv
one. When home rule becomes an ACCOMPLISHED
fact the Royal Irish Constabulary will be dis
banded. 1t will no longer be necessary to keep
an English garrison" in Ireland.
The estrangement between the police and the
people Is indeed remarkable. In the lawless dis.
tricts OF which there still too many the people
who could give Information to the police will not
DO so. Hence. there Is a good deal of unpunished
crime In those districts. One OF the worst conn.
ties in this respect is the county of Clare the
historic constituency that first elected O'Connell
to Parliament. Here the old wounds of the agra.
rian war have never closed up. During my stay
! saw In one of the papers pastoral letter Of
the Most Rev. DR.. Fogarty Bishop Of Killaloe Civ.
ing bood-curdling description of outrages which
continued to be committed with impunity against
life and property In Glare. visited Ennis the
capital Of the county. was told that In one week
no less than three shooting outrages had been
perpetrated on unoffending men. One Of the vic.
Tins was an exsolder who was acting letter.
carrier, and who was shot in the highway In open
day. Although many people passed his wounded
body on the road, not one would comfort or re.
lieve him till the police came several hours after.
wards. These passers by doubtless felt that II
they gave any help to the victim they might meet
the same fate as himself So helpless has British
law become In the county Of Clare
Sauntering round the narrow streets ] fell In
with old man who did not object to converse
tion. He proved to be an ex-policeman. This
man did not mince matters In detailing his Views
and experiences "Clare was the most peaceable
county in Ireland" said he. when l Joined the
force, but the cursed Land League came upon US.
and since then things have been different. Most
Of the men you meet on the road are Fenians or
Ribhonmen. and many OF them are criminals"
! told him ] thought this was too strong de-
scription of his countrymen. He. however, stuck
to his opinion, and took me to an elevated spot at
tho back of the Court House. from which he
pointed out the scenes of many as seventeen
assassinations, all more less successful, but
for which only one man was ever brought to
Justice.
II 10 not alone the malcontents and the secret
society men that refuse to tell the police what
they know about outrages. Even the relatives OF
the injured persons are often known to adopt
similarly uncommunicative attitude. To give In
formation to the police Is to be branded as an
"informer." which is the most offensive epithet In
the Irshman's vocabulary, being worse than that
of "hangman." The stigma descends from father
to son. while there Ia any Of the family left to
endure It, My ex-policeman friend told me that
he himself had heard Glare mother. whose son
was shot before her eyes, make the avowal that
she would rather see all her sons lying dead be-
side her than become hated "informer." She
brought the secret to the grave with her.
asked my friend for his opinion as to why the
force was go unpopular. He laid the blame un
hesitatingly upon the English Government The
Government have employed the police almost
clushively at evictions and other such unpopular
tasks when they might have employed the regu
lar soldiers the militia. The result 10 that the