New-York tribune., 1916-04-27
THE. SINN FEM MOVEMENT
from Relatively Small Beginnings When War Broke
Nacontcnts the Dsorganzed
Methods Used o Foster Dsloyay in Ireland.

| up again in some new gusc and under some
new name. The propaganda spread even b
the schools, and one penny paper was Dc
signed entirely FOR children. This cduca-
tona campaign was by no means fruitless.
and the Sim Fen can now boast of a consid
erable number Of boy Scouts, or Fianna. as
they are called, who have been taught 20
abnor the English and TO regard all lr sh re
cruts in the British army traitors. ln "a
word, the movement was well organized, care
fully considered in every detail and carried
on with remarkable skill and great boidness.
The Irish government looked on helpless
-. Warnings came from ioyali5ts % several
parts Of the Kingdom that the volunteers
were gaining steadily in strength and that
, in many places recruiting was AT q standstili
and dsaffection had spread to a mcnscing
degree. But little or nothing Was done TO
deal with the growing danger Occasionally,
indeed. some extraordinary outrage resulted
IN the arrest Of one or two ringlcadcrs anc
a semblaucc of trial under th. Defence OF
he Rcala, Act But the ofenGel rere gem
orally let or with nominal pcua g. and
often acquitted amid applause Dr the spec
iators IN court. Recruiting mee.iuss were
broken up b. small bodies Of Sim Fciners in
uniform and no one vas called to account
Appeals to the Executive were useless. and
those who complained had to be content with
the assurance that the matter had engaged
the Serious consideration" Of the govern
ment.
In Dublin trouble had been brewing for 2
long time before the final outbreak. Il was
well known that the capital was n hotbod Of
conspiracy. Indeed. the Snn Fcners took
very little pains TO conceal their disloyaltv.
Anti-recruiting assemblies were common and
anti-recruiting posters were displayed boldly
in shop windows, with such legends as these:
"Englard's Last Ditch" "Engand's CROWN.
Hypocrisy 'The Pretence Of the Realm
Act" and Away with the Priests" The use
o. lie last as a popular appeal shows the
change that has been brought about in Irs-
land IN recent years. II indicates by the
way, the falsity Of the suggestion that the
Roman Catholic Church in ireland IS hostile
TO recruiting. In their Lenten pastorals the
bishops for the most part declared them
selves clearly and emphatically against the
German cause, expressing detestation of Ger
man methods Of warfare. and not a few Of
them urging their countrymen to rally TO the
flag That the Sim Fciners could DEFY tho
Church so openly is proof OF the confidence
they had in their power.
There were many other signs OF the crow
ING strength OF the Volunteers i'm Dublin
They seemed. indeed. to be dong their hes,
n OrotoLa l.,.
they became the more timorous were those
supposed to be IN authority. Only a Few
weeks ago trolley car was abou, 20 pass
between two companies OF Volunteers march
ing through one OF the Dublin thorough fares
when il Was held up by one OF the number
who. placing his hand on the stock OF his re-.
volyer ordered the mo,orman 70 -top. Tho
man had no choice but 10 hold his car while
tho procession went by. and no one dared TO
interfere. This is only minor incident. an.
significant, compared with many others. bu.
It shows how helpless the public in Dublin
were even before there was any serious
trouble.
The Irish Volunteers were we'll armed AM
they continued 10 procure arms and ammuni-
tion with apparent ease. Quite recently +;
was announced that 500 bayonc,s were seized
at Sheffield as they were abou, to be finished
and shipped to cutlery firm in Ireland. but
the main source OF supplies was evidently
unknown. II is difficult to believe that n
serious effort was made 60 discover the fact
or to deal with them. To the very last m,
policy of the government was one of watch
ful waiting.