The Irish standard., 1916-07-08

threat in order to force recruiting in
Ireland. Mr.. Redmond threw all his
cards on the table, but failed to place
his pistol beside them. 81 am con-
fident," says Colonel Moore. that the
weeks elapsing between the passing of
the bill and it's signature by the king,
coupled with the demand for recruits,
estranged the people of Ireland as
much as the bill itself had conciliated
them. When at last the bill was
signed the enthusiasm was gone, and
the fact that it was not to be put in
force till after the war, with the
threat of an underlined amending bill,
left the uncertainty as great as ever.
Nobody believed in it,"
So accustomed, however, have the
Irish people grown to British methods,
so patient under wrong, so ready to
forgive and forget, that even now
proposal on the part of Colonel Moore
to affiliate the volunteers with the
regular army was received favorably
by the Provisional Committee. They
deputed him to approach the authori-
ties on the subject, but his proposals
were CURLY rejected. about three
months before the war;" he states, II
went to see the Secretary of State for
War Colonel Seely) and discussed
with him the possibility of this pro-
pOsal. He agreed that it was an ex-
cellent idea, but made no proposal
the usual thing. Soon after l went to
see the officer in charge of the Terri
torial Force" Finally he went to Lord
Kitchener; but the latter refused
even to discuss the Incorporation of
the Volunteers, and the proposal was
abandoned want to lay stress on
the fact that the leaders of the Irish
Volunteers, and among them members
closely connected with this late re-
bellion were at that time willing to
join in the defense of the Empire, but
were refused by the government. No
thing could be more disastrous than
the treatment meted out to the Volun-
teers; every advance we made was
rejected with contempt"
This is plain speaking. The
man who in the light of these
statements. still clings to the belief
that the entire responsibility for the
rising belongs to the Sim Feiners, is
impervious to any kind of proof. In
deed, it is becoming increasingly evil
dent that the government actually TO-
mented the insurrection. Not confin-
ing themselves to mere contempt. they
proceeded to course of action that
might indeed, be tolerated in India or
Egypt, but could not be tolerated in
Ireland. First, they passed their De-
Tense Of the Realm Act, which enabled
the London Times to sneer ireland
is now under martial law" and then
they began to imprison and deport
men "without even a crime being al
legged against them." says Colonel
Moore, "but merely on the information
of policeman and the warrant of the
authorities, the advice was often pref
udiced or ignorant" For instance, "A
was fined and sent to prison
for answering policeman in Gaelic
IN a Gaelic speaking district, though
he was well known to be inoffen-
sive; this seems an astonishing piece
of folly and bigotry, we'll calculated to
raise the anger and Indignation of the
people. who have very strong senti-
ments on this subject" Folly and
bigotry to Colonel Moore, but we'll cal
culated in the eyes of the authorities,
to accomplish their aims. The Colonel
continues: II went to headquarters
and warned the intelligence officer
that this act alone would treble the
of Sim Feiners. He did not
agree with me; many of these people
have no conception of the force of the
movement in Ireland, or
indeed, anywhere; they have narrow
views of life, and are a great impedi.
ment to the government of the coun.
try"
The conclusions to be drawn from
the above extracts are obvious. Either
England. after seven centuries of trial.
is really incapable of ruling ireland
on principles of justice. or her whole
policy is deliberately founded on. and
inspired by religious rancor and race
hatred. In either case her rule stands
and any serious attempt,
whether by sword, or voice, or pen, to
overturn and annihilate it. deserves
the sympathy, the applause. the active
cooperation of every member of the
far-flung Gaelic tribes.
M. J. C.
st. Paul, Mimi, June 20, 1916.
Articles of Incorporation
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