Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-12-19
REV. Mr.. ROSES
WAR TALK ST|RS
SOME CRITICISM
Liable to Incite Riot" Says
Secretary of lrish-American
Societies of Essex.

John c. Lennon, of 800 High street.
secretary of the American So
cieties of Essex county, has written
letter to the Board of Education,
protesting against the war lecture
delivered under the auspices of the
board at the Central High School on
the evening of December by Rev.
Henry r. Rose, rector of the Church
of the Redeemer.
Mr.. Lennon concludes thus: "The
lecturer should be looked upon as a
disturber of the peace, as his deliber-
ate misstatements are liable to In
cite people to riot"
The letter says:
81 was an interested listener to
lecture on the European war deliv-
cred by Rev. Henry r. Rose, by direc-
ton of your honorable body, at the
Central High School, Saturday eve
ming, December o.
AT the beginning the reverend
gentleman reminded his audience of
President Wilson's proclamation OF
neutrality, expressing the hope that
none of his hearers would take Of
fense at anything he sad, as he in-
tended to treat the subject with abb
solute impartiality as an American
and the son of American parents.
PRESUMABLY for the purpose of dis
arming any antagonisfn, he tod a
story, the substance of which was:
An Englishman asked an 1rishman
what he would be If he was not an
Irishman. The answer was that he
would be ashamed of himself.
"As to the lecturers impartiality,
submit the tonowlng;
After speaking of England in
glowing terms, he said 1t was a con-
s.itutional monarchy-a democratic
government, somewhat similar to that
of the United States, and tnat Ger
many was an absolute monalcny.
The former statement | submit for
your consideration; the latter l brand
as absolute fa.sehood. Germany en-
joys Universal suffrage, while In Eng
land only those who pay a Stipulated
amount of rent annually are entitled
to vote. His reference to the cause
of the war was misleading, IL it did
not pace the response Dility for the
catastrophe on Germany, Dy comm
ing himself, without comment, to a
speech in the ReichstaS by the i'm
perial chancellor, which in part was
that the invasion OF Belg .um by the
German troops was necessltated by
the conditions that confronted them,
or words to that effect, ignoring the
oft-published facts contained in
papers found in the archives OF Bel
gum which proved that an a. ree-
ment existed between france, Bel
81 m and Ene land giving France tn
right to march ner army through Bel.
g um to alta k Germany when suit
able Time alriveu.
Says ate King Was Blamed.
Ale did say, when showing q pic
ture of Edward VII. that the late
King was in a measure responsible
for the war through his activity in
bringing ABOUT an alliance with Rus
sia, which he described rs the mys-
terry of the war, but excused the al
lance In the statement that some
change must have come over Russia
since the wholesale massacre of the
Jews.
"Stereopticon views of the various
countries involved were shown
beautiful scenes and places of his
toric interest in France, England,
Wales, Scotland and photographs of
the ruins OF Belgium, the speaker
the destruction wrought by
German guns. in one particular case
he stated that the act was justihable,
had battery of artillery in action
behind the cathedral, which was de-
stroyed.
Continuing, the lecturer invited the
audience to cross the channel to the
Emerald Isie,' in which he stated a
civil war was imminent at the out
break of the present hostilities, a
statement which was without founda-
tion in fact, as the following objects
of the National Volunteers will show:
"F1rst-To secure and maintain the
rights and liberties common to all
the people of Ireland.
"Second-To train, discipline and
equip for this purpose an Irish vol
Gnteer force.
"Third-To unite In the service OF
Ireland. Irishmen of every creed
and every party and class.
1.-THE scenic beauty of Ireland Is
famed in song and story, and is the
equal OF any country in the world.
The greatest athletes In history have
been born and bred In Ireland, and
as a whole it's physical manhood has
no peer. Yet, for the benefit of the
many Irish and Irish Americans of
all ages scattered through the audi
ence. the photograph of a slovenly
figure dressed for the occasion in an
clU BiOuCn Hdls uOWIl CiOtuCS. anu
with the proverbial clap pipe. posed
in a lazy attitude, was shown as
representing their forebears. The
scene shown as typical Of Irish life
was that of a dilap'dated straw
rooted shack, in front were seated a
number of women with children, who
were described as war sufferers and
which was undoubtedly posed for.
'If the speaker intended to show
the result of British tyranny, he
could not have done better, but such
was not his intention, as no doubt,
perhaps innocently, he Is part of the
British propaganda to belittle those
who may In any way interfere with
England's viilanous aspirations.
"Such was the substance of the lee
turer's story of the war, which
proves him to be absolutely neutral.
insofar as he does not care about
the result as long as England comes
out on top. Such biased lecturers are
not of benefit to the public In general.
all of whom bear their burden of
taxation, and should not be tolerated,
but the lecturer should be looked
upon as a disturber of the peace, as
his deliberate mis-statements are
liable to incite people to riot"
"P. S.-This letter was submitted to
the representative of the German
American and Irish American So
cieties of Essex county, of which I
have the honor to be the secretary,
receiving their unanimous approval"