The Washington herald., 1916-11-12

posai of the Ulster leader II he asked
for them. -- - - ..
= To show. listers determination to con-
vince Britain that the rest of Ireland
is not doing its duty. another statement
by Carson will be given. Sir Edward
quotes Lord Wimberne as having said.
Since mobilization, Ulster has contrib
uted $4,000 men, OF whom 1000 were
Protestants, Leinster has contributed L.
900, Connaught 1000. Munster 1900. and
Dublin 1900" Eeinster, including Dub
lin, has thus given 81 900 men. This Is
a splendid contribution. and nothing can
detract from it,: Lord ,Wimborne said
Carson takes these figures and proves
to his own satisfaction, that II the three
Catholic counties of the province OF
Ulster be counted out, lit will be seen
that the other six Ulster counties have
contributed about as many as, the three
southern provinces together" He shows
that the percentage of men Of military
age who have been recruited during the
war is 31.S per cent in Ulster. 177 per
cent in Leinster. III per cent in Munster,
and 4.9 per cent in Connaught. and con-
cludes. 1T is, in my opinion, a great
mistake to pretend that ireland has made
splendid contribution. 1t Is not true
and 1t is an encoura cement to leave un-
finished the work so splendidly COM
menced by Irish soldiers at the front"
listers Contribution.
A liberal observer recently returned
from Ireland comments as follows on
Carson's statement: Sir Edward Carson
boasts of listers contribution to the
army. There Is really very little to
boast about. If you compare urban
Ulster with the rest of urban Ireland the
proportionate contributions are not very
dissimilar. The number of Ulster Pro-
testants who have Joined the army since
the outbreak of war is below 5000. As
Ulster has a Protestant population of
100000. such contribution works out
at less than per cent. Such a proper
tion from the province that so loudly
vaunts its loyalty is decidedly disap-
pointing. 1t is significant too. that the
recruiting campaign III Ulster last au-
tumn on behalf of the Ulster division
was a complete failure. Ulster cannot
decently chide the other provinces, ex-
cepting Connaught."
Will Ireland resist conscription? The
case for conscription has now been made
clear. Ireland Is not providing enough
recruits to keep her units up to strength;
England and Scotland are being stripped
of the last available men: as a part Of
the United Kingdom, Ireland has no right
to lag behind the others and refuse TO
make proportiOnate sacrifices. These are
the argumenets used by Tories In Eng
land, and by not few Liberals. 1t Is
unfair to raise the age limit in England
and lower the physical standards while
scores or hundreds of thousands of young
and husky 1rishmen stay at home. &C.
cording to the common view in London,
and it is more than doubtful whether
Parliament will consent to make further
calls upon the Englishmen and Scotch
men without passing an Irish conscriE-
tion bill. The government does not re-
gard Irish conscription as expedient, be-
cause it fears serious trouble in ireland
IL conscription is enforced. trouble pos
sibly so serious that the effect of Irish
conscription will be to weaken and not
strengthen the military force Of the cm-
pire. But the feeling is growing that Irish
conscription Is a matter OF simple Justice
to the men over 40 who are threatened
with compulsory service here, and a con-
stantly growing section of opinion holds
that considerations of expediency must be
given no further weight in dealing with
Ireland
Closed to NeutraIs.
1t Is my opinion, from observations in
Ireland before that country was entirely
closed by the military to all neutrals,
that conscription would be a deadly mis-
take. and would play into the hands OF
the revolutionists. whose strength is not
understood by most Englishmen. No re-
turned traveller from Ireland whom 1
have met in the last few weeks fails to
share my views; and in fact there is
in the press a continuous stream of warn
ing from Irishmen and Englishmen who
know conditions in Ireland. Irishmen
not only feel embittered at the execu-
tions of the rebel leaders and the con-
tinuance of martial law, but believe they
have been betrayed by the English in the
matter of home rule. AS result of this
feeling the influence of John Redmond
and the pro-British Nationalist members
is steadily declining. The critical II
not almost hostile attitude assumed by
the Irish members when Parliament con-
vened this week indicates that they real
ize their only chance of regaining their
hold at home is to change their tactics
And that chance seems a slim one.
Writing from Dublin. an English corre-
spondent recently declared: The mere
attempt at conscription would arouse in
Ireland a fierce, implacable spirit that
would poison the relations between the
two countries for years to come. After
conversations with all sorts of men, /
have found only two who favor conscrip-
tion. For the rest, everybody with whom
1 have spoken is utterly opposed to the
idea-Unionists and Nationalists, mug
wumps and detached inteIlectuals An
independent Nationalist expressed the
opinion that listers threatened ress
tance to Home Rule would be as nothing
to the storm that would be created by
the resistance of all ireland to conscrip-
tion. People are aghast that any re-
sponsible person could give serious con-
| sideration to such All idea. Ruling out
conscription as impossible. is there any
chance for a new recruiting campaign? ?
The one chance Is the enthusiastic CO.
operation of the Irish Parliamentary
party. That cooperation will not be
| forthcoming. The Nationalist members
are furious with the government. They
complain that before and since the re-
bellion their advice has been disregarded
that their efforts to help in the war hay.
been thwarted and discouraged, and thai
| they have been snubbed or ignored eve
| since the Coalition government came int
being. They are in no mood to embarl
on recruiting campaign. Conscriptiol.
! and voluntaryism are thus equally i'm
possible
Enlistments Drop.
While enlistments. for the Britisl
armies in Ireland have dronned 70 las