The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-07-23
AN AMERICAN
IN IRELAND
Extends to his British Cousins Some
Much Needed Information

Much Needed Information
London, July 16.-Writing under
the signature of An American Wis
itor to Ireland man from the
United States who has just been tour
ing the Green Isle with party of
friends hits straight from the should
er in remarkable open letter address
ed to Englishmen which follows:
You English people don't seem to
look facts in the face about your
Irish troubles.
Your Asquith is not unlike our
Mr.. Wilson in that he talks a great
deal and does little, but whereas our
Mr.. Wilson's Mexican muddle can.
wait awhile, your Mr. Asquith is
getting so deep into his Irish bog
that unless he gets move on him
quickly, he and his fellow takers
will be submerged in a morass of
shame that will be all that will be re-
membered of them in English his
tory.
To travel through Ireland by au-
tomobile these lovely summer days
would be delight were it not for
the shadow that haunts our little
party of American pleasure seekers.
Not in the least concerned in your
political affairs, we do very strong
ly object that, when we have been
lured across the Atlantic by the c1ev-
er advertising of your railroad and
steamship corporations, we find our
selves in a very unexpected Ireland,
an ireland almost as certainly on the
edge of a bloody catastrophe as we
were in 1860.
We open your somewhat dull look
ing English and Irish newspapers
each morning, we read aloud to our
little party the platitudes Of your
Lansdownes, Morleys, and the rest of
them, and we cannot understand why
they and you instead of staying at
home and talking, don't come and
see for yourselves what your Empire
is heading for We have been here
two weeks, and throughout Ulster.
Leinster, Munster and Connaught
we have not, to our knowledge met
an English visitor.
We have been present at gather
ing after gathering of the rival gangs
of bloodthirsty cuthroats who are
preparing to make you Britishers
look ridiculous throughout the world
and we look in vain for any rea
presentation of this amazing state
of affairs by newspapers. We do mo-
side with Carson's army, though We
admire the way in which Kitchen
er's methods have perfected it, ant
we rather pity Redmond's unarmet
and 1eaderless rabble.
What puzzles us is the apparen
inability of your public men an6
your newspapers to look at the fact
and tell the truth. The basic rocl
OF your Irish trouble is to be fount
scrawled on every wall and fence il
your well-ordered, well-roaded, am
splendidly cultivated and solidl!
built province of Ulster-'sWe wan
no property here 1t is usual.
worded that way but often in strong
er fashion. The red flags that fly a
most protestant churches and chap
els, the orange marigolds at ever
girls bosom, the Covenanter's badg
at every mans buttonhole, all sa
that same thing-''We want no prop
erty here
And. to be frank, the Roma
Catholic Irish loathe your Protes
tants with equal intensity, and. a
soon as they find we are American.
don't hesitate to say so. Why, the
when you are on the verge of civ
strife that is almost entirely a que:
ton of Professionalism VS. Catholicisl
don't you face the facts; stop tall
ing about imperial responsibilities
the right of minorities, and othe
twaddle. and keep these religion
extremists apart?
The Roman Catholic Irish son
like your ways, which are. of cours
the Ulster ways; they don't like yoJ
hard business outlook on life; the
are a poetfcal rather than pract
cal people; they frankly prefer Il
slnms. bad roads. dirty hotels, ele