Kentucky Irish American., 1913-10-18
Fight Is Over, No Matter What
Happens and Irelend Has
Won.
Attaches No Importance to Dan
gers of Threatened Civil
Strife.
WILL NOT INJURE OR OPPRESS


the Irish Nationalist party, review
ing the Irish situation and the
future outlook, gives out the fol-
lowing:
The fight for home rule is over
no matter what happens. Even II
the present Government were to so
out of office, Great Britain can
never go back upon decision OF
the House of Commons, twice att
fled by majorities well over 100,
after long and detailed debate, on
a measure introduced after two
general elections had been fought
large and, so far as the opposition
could manage, fought mainly on
that specific issue. Ireland has
won.
Yet for the moment, while the
fate of the bill that is still before
the country hangs undecided, we
are still concerned, and we must be
concerned lin Ireland) with the abb
stract question, whether it is nee
essary as Unionists contend that all
Irish affairs shall be referred to an
assemblage in which Irishmen are
outnumbered by nearly six to one,
and in which Irish interests are
always made a pawn in the political
game. We on our side have only to
hold the ground that is won already,
but our opponents in ireland are
making preparations which cause
astonishment to the civilized world.
Traditionally the party of .'law and
order,' they are prepared to resist
an act of Parliament, with the
Kings signature appended to it, by
open rebellion. They profess to be
armed-and it is certainly true that
they are drilling-though in very
inconsiderable numbers-but they
constantly put up the claim through
their spokesman for an immunity
from all the consequences of defying
the law. They have made all their
arrangements, it appears, to form
provisional government"
/ am perfectly certain that no
man in the majority of Irishmeu
wishes to injure or oppress our fell
low countrymen, the Unionists of
northeast Ulster. In the first place,
it is to our interest to conciliate
them. We know their value to the
community. But in the second
place and chiefly we have had ex-
perience of what oppression means.
We know how bitter spirit of re-
sistance it breeds. We know that
in the long run it does not even
profit those who exercise it. For
this reason, because ] am sure the |
interests of Unionist Ulster will re-
ceive full and generous considera- |
ton, attach no importance to the |
threatened dangers of civil strife. |
Until the bill is passed into law, |
and until the obstacle presented by |
the prejudices of a few hundred |
hereditary legislators is surmounted.
we shall be obliged to make 1t our
first care to keep the present Gov
to keep the British public informed |
of the real truth of facts.
But few more months will see
this business ended and we shall
then be able to set ourselves to the
more fruitful work of forming an
Irish administration to deal in Ire
land with the problems OF Irish life.
1t is part of our difficulty that we /
do not begin afresh, as the younger |
countries have done, at least to |
some extent, with a clean slate.
But at the same time it surely adds
to the interest and the prestige Of
our task that we shall resume an
Interrupted chapter in the worlds
history. and that the very building /
where our labors must take place /
will be associated with glorious /
names in the past history of states
manship.
We shall go on with the work that
Grattan and his contemporaries
were engaged in when Dublin was
beautified by those edifices which
for a century past have been little
more than monuemnts of departed
greatness. But we shall go there
with an advantage which was denied
TO the men of Grattan's Parliament.
Into our councils We shall call all
ireland. We shall find our strength
not only in the church of the
majority, the church in which Dan
lei O'Connell lived and died, but In
those other communions, from one
OF which came in my boyhood John
Mitchell and John Martin, and
IRON another from which issued my
own leader, the leader of all of us,
whose work we are now bringing to
Charles Stewart Par