The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-13
Threats of Civil War In Ireland
By F. I. MONKS

..,rhere comes d time when ! thing Is due to happen and it is better 1t shoalo happen then than later" said |rince Az bert. better known as Prince Consort ana husband of Queen Victoria. The time mas evidently come for certain noisy, roWoS' insignificant element in Ireland 10 ne taught a much needed lesson, and it seems most likely they are going to get that les son. England has herself to thank fol this unpleasant duty, but there's one thing about England, when she has duty tc perform she does it; and even thoush this nsubordlnate element Is the result of having petted and pamperei dnd pro tected Iittlo gang of plate ichers ana r.laee hunters she will not tolerate tie illustration of her plans and policy ps their threats of creating disorder II u'e British government were to yield 10 tne pot valiant fustian that Is believed rom platforms, and even from pulpits Tn some churches. then the end of tte British nation is not far off. but there's as little fear of the one as there is likeljhood Of the other.
 Very few people, comparativciY speak ing, know what all this talk about clNii war in Ireland really means, pr what II amounts to- Well. to make 1t plain, 1t IS all hot air" It Is possible. ard not al all unlikely, that there will be certa'h amount of cioting and disorder m rev places in Ireland, notably in Belfast put beyond the breaking of windows and probably a head or two there will be ....i,tou Joc.rx,;py tho mama of civil war, As matter of fact the fire department could handle the whole situation and no one be a bit the worse except TOT the wetting he got Civil war, indeed. It little they know of civil war who talb so glibly about it, and if they nave to be taught what it means they will learn il to their sorrow.
 Nothing is more misleading than all this sensational stuff about Ulster and ora nse- men and civil war which unlonists news agencies senl out from London. Irue, there is an Ulster and there are oranss', men in Ulster. and some ot these orange mon live in Belfast. Belfast 2 city of 4oo oo hayi.s; the usual rabbic to lc found in all cities, and this raboie IS ever ready to riot and pillage and wreck saloon or two and drink up the contents All that this rabble wants IS the leader to organize them into a mob, then the r,ot ;s on. Those who organize a mob are ike those who raise the Tevil-they must find work for him, and ne would just as readily build church as pull one down. Belfast Is a fine place to raise this mob, so it Is to be expected that Beifast ,;,n he the storm center of tiie disturb- ance.
 Now word about Ulster. Away back hundreds of years ago, when Ireland was a free and independent nation, the country was divided into four provinces. namely I.einster, Ulster, Munster and Connaugnt. later the county was divided into g coun- ties and the nine northern counties con- sttute the province of Ulster. Armagh is one of the northern counties and Bel fast is the chief town in that county Belfast is in Ulster, but Belfast is not Ulster no more than Birmingham is Ala bama Of the nine counties in Ulster five are decidedly Catholic in their popula- ton and the other four are almost half Catholics Ulster sends 31 members to parliament, of whom 15 are home rulers To speak of Ulster as being opposed to home rule is to mislead. When the union-
 sts offered an amendment to the home rule bill seeking the exclusion of the Orange districts from it's effects, they
 
 mentioned only four counties. and Red- mond showed that even these four coun- ties would return home rule members un- der better registration. It is rank injustice to Ulster to put her down in the ranks of opposition to home rule.
 Belfast Lough is one of the finest har- bors in the world and very suitable for shipbuilding. Among the industries crushed out of existence in Ireland by English laws was shipbuildng, and so it remained until the industry was revived in Belfast by Scotchnien who came from Glasgow These were followed by other English and Scotch manufacturers who became what is known as the English garrison in Ireland and. In return for their loyalty to England. were shown all sorts of favor and affection. They dif- fered from the native Irish in every re- spect. especially in religion, and in that also they were the favored and protected by England. In fact, 1t was England's policy to establish and maintain an anti