The Irish standard., 1917-01-06
Pros peets Grow Darker
For ireland Each \ Month
Oy
Mrs. Frances Sheehy Skeftington.
Irish Press News Service.

AiloA ASS0 A\CWo SCA NlNC.
With quiet earnestness and a con-
vincing array of facts Mrs. Sheehy
Skeftington, widow Of the gentle and
scholarly writer who was so brutally
killed in Dublin last Spring thus out.
lined the immediate future prospects
of Ireland.
The hostile attitude of the Irish
people and the strong resurgence of
national feeling following the revolu-
tion Of last Spring have created con-
ditions antagonistic to Imperial in
terests and constant menace to the
safety of the Empire
The contrast between the two
countries is really remarkable" she
added. In Great Britain where
Travelled extensively during the sum-
mer and autumn. was forcibly struck
by-and as a feminist greatly interest
ed--the extent to which women have
supplanted men III all fields of en-
deavor. On tramcars, breadvans, gro
Gerry wagons, on milk-carts as in the
munition shops, they appeared equally
at ease and quite capable of retaining
their positions in the face of male
rivalry, which must OF necessity be-
come acute at the termination of hos.
tilities. The absence of able-bodied
men of military age is the outstanding
feature of life in Great Britain. In
Ireland it is so different. Not even in
loyal Belfast is there single woman
tramcar conductor. The percentage of
lrishmen available for military serv-
ice, which previous to the war was
far below that of Great Britain-ow-
ing to the abnormal emigration from
Ireland-is now reversed and Ireland's
percentage is far above that of her
neighbors"
England remembers Wellington's
campaigns, when Ireland furnished rs
per cent of her soldiers and even the
late Boer War saw $4,000 Irislhmen
fighting under her standard, forming
57h per cent of her total forces in
the field. Based on these figures Eng
lish calculations Of Irish aid in the
present war have been sadly disap-
pointed. The maximum Irish enlist
ments claimed by Government officials
do not exceed 100000, or 3 per cent of
"Kitchener's Army" In the early
days Of the present war lrishmcn were
regarded as ordinary "slackcrs' but
when the pacifist campaign OF Mr..
Sheehy SkellingtOn against recruiting
came to their attention it aroused all
the Englshman's old race antagonism
against lrishmen. 1t then became ap-
parent that the Sim Fein Partys anti
enlisting propaganda of the past 10
years had borne fruit and a wave of
anti-lrish hatred passed over Great
Britain, making the lot of lrishmen
resident there Il very unpleasant one,
and eliminating in the mObbing of
| Irish farm laborers and emigrants in
| Liverpool, Manchester and other Eng-
lish towns.
After these scenes of violence race
feeling had already reached the pro
portions of frenzy when the Irish re-
volt of last spring broke out and today
the English attitude towards Irish
men is summed up in the words, IF
they won't fight for us, kill them any
how" So the Irish are to starve in
Ireland or be killed in France. What
a pleasant prospect cOnfrOnts this
small nation" in the New Year!
For conscription is scheduled to
come into operation in Ireland, and
much sooner than many people expect.
Since the failure of his plan to settle
the Irish problem last summer, on a
partial IIome.RuleParti basis,
Lloyd George has been negotiating
with the Irish party for a compromise,
Martial law has failed to terrorize or
subdue the Irish people, and "diplo-
macy" is to be tried again. Appoint
ment of Catholic, Sir Bryan MahOn,
as Commander of the forces in 1Ee,
land, was calculated to alleviate public
feeling, but the Irish people ignored
the exchange of dictatOrs. Martial
law is no less martial because admin
istered by a Catholic. Now the in
termed Irish prisoners are to be re-
leased from the dsease-breeding de-
tention camps and Ireland is expected
to forget Easter week in parOxysm
Make a Man of Your Boy
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