The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-02
The Age-Herald's Ireland
Correspondent Replies
to Mr.. Monks
SAID HIS FRIENDSHIP
is "CLOVEN FOOTED
But Mr.. Cullen Vigorously Defends
Himself and Gives Aspect of Irish
Situation Which Will Be
Read With Interest

People read The Age Herald all over
the world and clashes of opinion re-
vertebrate all the way from Hong Kong
TO Birmingham and from Dublin to
Birmingham.
on April The Age Herald published
letter from r. l. Monks, one of Bir-
rninghams best known Irish-American
citizens, In which he took exception to
certain assertions made by The Age
Heralds regular Dublin correspondent,
f. X cullen. Mr.. Cullen, under date of
April %, replies to Mr. Monks crit
icism that "Mr Monks deals with
an uncontroversial article in a con-
trcversial spirit"
MIR. Monks Criticism
AS there is always great interest in
Birmingham in matters pertaining to
ireland portions of Mr.. Monks letter
which was headed "Cloven- Footed
Friendship" are here given as fol-
lows:
Passing over with contempt the sly
and stealthy stab this Mr.. Cullen makes
at the two distinguished and respected
clerics. both of whom 1 have the honor
to know, the cloven hoof of the writer
rrotrudes at full length when he says
the clergy of Ireland frown on the
merrlment of the people and look the
other way when real vice is encount-
cred AS the exact contrary of that
statement is the truth it is not neces-
sary to say what the statement itself
is Then again, this veracious Mr.. Gull
Zen tells us that The Irish Times is
carrying on a campaign for the pur!-
fication of the city of Dublin, but he
makes no mention of The Freeman )
Journal which started the campaign,
nor of The Irish Independent nor
the several weekly papers devoted to
the same purpose, nor does Mr.. Cullen
presided over by the lord mayor in the
mansion house and by the archbishop,
the bishops and priests, protesting
against the invasion of Ireland by the
filthy and obscene literature emanating
from the slums of Liverpool and Lon
con.
"Mr. Cullen has a sneer for the lee
ture hall and appreciation for the dance
hall; again the cloven hoof. II Mr. Cul-
len would take the time to look
through the reports of vice commissions
he would find that the public dance
hall comes in for special mention as
a recruiting station for service in the
ranks of his satanic majesty The duh
lecture on some moral subject does
rot find favor with Mr.. Cullen, especial
ly when these lectures are delivered by
the clergymen against whom he di-
rects his stub pen point"
Mr.. Cullen's Reply
Mr.. Cullens reply from Dublin. received
by The Age-Herald yesterday, is as fol-
lows:
Dublin, April %. 1918.
MIR. Monks letter deals with an un-
controversial article in a controversial
spirit.
Il was particularly careful to refer to
some of the Irish clergy-of all demons
nations as frowning on merriment Such
clergymen are to be found in all coun-
tries.
This campaign referred to for the puri-
fication of the Dublin streets was con-
Quoted only by the Irish Times and not
mentioned by the Freeman or Independ-
ent. The other campaign against vicious
literature has been fully dealt with by
me in previous letters.
There was no sneer for the lecture
hall and no appreciation for the dance
hall in the sense meant by Mr.. Monks
Village dances are very different things.
In letters from Dublin for your serv-
ice | have always tried to steer clear
of controversial subjects. but in a coun-
try where politics and religion enter so
closely into every activity of the people,
1t is difficult to avoid sometimes unn-
tentionally giving offense. With all due
respect to Mr.. Monks, | think | can
claim, being on the spot, to know some
thing about what is going on In Ireland
Yours sincerely, f. Y. CULLEN"