The Washington herald., 1916-11-12

center" picks out nine captains. known
In the nomenclature of the !. r. b. as
BIS The center himself is an a.
rne captains appoint nine or
sergeants. who each command nine DIS,
or privates. The difiiculty Of getting at
the bottom of such a. movement is obyi-
Gus. The central council Is known only
TO the men who command groups OF
about loo men. the name of each IA Is
known only to the central council and to
his nine captains while the captains,
each OF whom commands nearly 100 men,
do not themselves know who the heads
OF the organization are, and are them
selves unknown excepting to their IA
ana TO their nine sergeants. The rank
and file, OF course, know only their I'm
mediate sergeant, in command Of nine
men only. so a betrayal at the lower end
OF the ladder might land one subordinate
eHcer In Jail, but could not seriously
harm the cause" r.
New Plotting Begins. =.
There is nothing new in this scheme;
IL mas been used ever since Fenian days.
Is not unknown in the Irish-American
groups OF America, and was partly adopt
ed by the defunct Sim Fein army, nearly
all Of whose leaders were killed, exc
cuted or Imprisoned last spring. Rumor
has y lha. certain Sim Fein chiefs who
were not in Dublin at the time Of the re-
volt and consequently escaped the drag
net are now ;akII.r a leading part in the
new plotting. small group of the II.
X. B., as is well known. actually took
part In the Dublin fighting, but the great
extent and power of the old Fenian or
2ahization came only with the practical
dissolution OF Sim Fein.
The principal object Of the IT. r. B."
In recent months. it is said, has been
TO gain control of the stores of arms
end ammunition belonging to the Irish
Volunteers and hidden all over Ireland.
Various reports are current concerning
tn success OF their efforts and the num-
ber of guns they now have in their pos
session. but in a matter of this kind,
when not even the government knows the
truth. 1t is useless to speculate or seek
Information.
The Nationalists fear the I. r. B.; they
despised Sim Fein. and they learned
their mistake. For every rebel in
ireland before the revolt, there are ten
today" a prominent Irishman told me
three months ago. What he said then
probably holds true now, for the bitter
ness has increased rather than diminished
during the interim. Conscription, IL an
attempt Is made to carry il out by force,
will give the l. r. B. their opportunity.
ana IN some parts of the south the whole
country may rise and carry on a guerilla
warfare. On the other hand, II the
British will swallow their natural anger
at 1reland's failure to provide men, and
carry out some compromise scheme that
will result in the withdrawal of Sir John
Maxwell and his troops and the cessa-
tion of martial law. at the same time pro-
Viding some measure of self-government,
they may yet win Ireland. get the men to
NIL the Irish regiments. and make the
Vaccinations of the irreconcilabIes of no
effect. Lloyd George tried and failed
last summer: but unless the attempt is
repeated until it succeeds, the future
is black indeed
Even when things look most hopeless
in the most distressful isle," the saw
ing grace Of Irish humor shines like
ray through the clouds. All Ireland
Is laughing now at the story of the Dub
lin lad. wounded and captured at Mons.
and recently sent home by the Germans
as tncapacitated for service He had
learned nothing of what had happened
in his native city since he left 1t in 1914.
As he was being driven down Sackvflle
street, between rows of ruined buildings,
he suddenly sat up on his stretcher and
smiled as his eye took in the long vista
of desolation and destruction. Sure"
he said, and 1 hadn't heard we'd got
Home Rule!'