New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-13
THE IRISH EXECUTIONS
They Are Defended as Necessary
Enforcement Of Law.
To the Editor OF The Tribune.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: There has been a great clamor IN the
press over the stupidity" of the British GOV
eminent in exacting the legal penalty IN th'
case of the leaders Of the Irish Instruction
and thus so it is supposed presenting the
Irish people with an additional list OF mar
tyrs."
In all this business, rs IN every c!rcum
stance that affects ireland. we hear greo'
deal about the Irish people, but we hear noth-
ing at all of the English people. II - a.
though the entire population of Great Britain
and Ireland consisted of the Irish people Oh
the one hand and small collection oil III
human monsters called tho English govern
ment on the other. Nevertheless, It Is tac'
that there does exist an aggregation Of indi'
viduals which can properly be described d.
the English people. and, curious az Il ma!
appear. Il is also a fact that these people have
feelings. passions, emotions, convictions, iLH
vidual and communal, just like the Irish o.
any other people. Possibly we have so iip
pressed ourselves with the parrot cry tha'
what the English people need is waking uT
that VIC take it for granted that they are nov
merely blinking somnolently at the Irish IN
surrection Such view, ! venture 10 thinH'
is inaccurate. II seems more reasonable 10
suppose that the English people are very
much alive to what has happened in Ireland
and that. engaged as they arc, IN lie ana
death struggle, their passions and also their
sense Of justice have been deeply stirred by
what they regard as tratorous and COW
ardly attempt TO stab them in the back.
II is go good telling them that the lrian
rebels only did what Carson and his prepos-
ferrous Ulsterities threatened to do Ihey
will reply, first, that anyway, Carson didn
do il, and, secondly, that Carson never IN
trigued or contemplated intriguing with Eng
lands enemies, and never received from them
money and munitions II you point out the
advantages to be derived from a policy of eN-
tremc leniency toward the rebels, they viii
retort that Birrel was extremely lenient. ina,
the whole tendency Of English policy toward
Ireland for the last twenty-five years mas
been one of Cancellation and leniency. ana
they will show you, as Exhibit a. Colonei
Lynch, condemned TO death for fighting with
England's enemies during the Boer war ana
now sitting in the House Of Commons. Ihoy
may even argue-for remember, they are eX-
tremely indgnant-that it has been a tact
assumption with the professional Irish
patriot that he might do anything he pleased
and escape the consequences on the plea that
after all he was patriot.
If these are the feelings of a considerable
proportion of the English people in regard to
the Irish instruction. it would he manliestly
impossible for the government altogether to
ignore them. II is not question OF being
swayed by popular passion or of yielding to
popular clamor for vengeance; 1t Is simply a
question of taking note of popular demand
for the enforcement of the law IN time OF
national crisis Soldiers in the trenches OF
France and Flanders have been sentenced by
court martial and shot for far less grave
offences than were committed by the leaders
of the Irish Instruction.
Whether there have been more executions
than were necessary or expedient am In no
position TO Judge. Personally, | hope most
sincerely that there will be no more, and that
the recent tragedy may not postpone for OH
hour that contamination for Ireland for which
Mr.. Redmond and other Nationalist leaders
have labored so heroically. But it appears to
me that to condemn the British government
as "stupid" and "nsensate" in imposing the
full penalty of the law on the principal lead
ers is TO ignore @ sential facts in the situa-
tion. and the chief of those facts is the Eng
lish people to whom the government is re-
.no,sibIe S. W.
New York. May 10, 1916.