The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1917-12-15

Z I'm - II
censor allows them to know some
facts. Lies and blunders cannot help
any cause. And Americas cause must
rest upon the known truth and upon
exact, thoroughly verified information.
(4) Similar blunders and errors
are committed by English press-agents
in reference to the Irish language.
They aim at creating the impression
that the English have been kinder to
Gaelic than the Pressians have been
to Polish The existence of the Gaelic
League in Ireland smashes that plea
Every man who knows anything about
the matter knows that the Gaelic
League has been forced to collect
funds among the Irish race every
where; first, to promote the study of
the language, and secondly, to fight
against the scarcely yelled hostility of
English officials who control Irish edu-
cation. 1t is true that after long
fighting, after the usual, inevitable
persecution and suffering, after fines
and jailings of teachers and ordinary
! citizens, a wretched pittance Of strictly
used for largely inefficient teaching of
Irish in some Irish schools But it
simply does not help Ireland or Eng
| land, or America, to state or to print
| the stupid lie that this pittance of
strictly Irish funds is generous Eng
lish gift to Ireland. It is far more
honest to face the notorious fact that
education, and all their Irish tools,
are bitterly, venomously hostile to the
Irish language, and to everything else
that might make Irish education nat
ural, wholesome, stimulating and help
Irish children to know and to be able
to help their native land. Seumas
MacManus himself was a teacher in
public school in Ireland and had to
quit owing to official hostility to
everything like real Irish schooling.
And scores have suffered the fate of
MacManus. Now it is criminal to in
clude Misrepresentation of such no.
torious facts as part of the Allied
press offensive" as part of the rea-
son why Irishmen and Americans
ought to be for England now. This
reckless and foolish lying, or this fool
ish and stupid laundering acceptance
and propagation of official English
lies, merely harms England and Amer
lea. For there are far too many men
who know the facts.
On other Irish matters similar blum
ders and lies are spread broadcast.
Men who see through them cannot
help being sceptical about things that
ought to be above and beyond contro-
versy now. To put an end to such
controversy, to prevent unhealthy
scepticism, Irishmen and Americans
ought to insist upon the exclusion
FROM all official war-propaganda Of
reckless lying and laundering about
Ireland. This is one really effective
and useful way in which we all can
put an end to sinister and dangerous
weakening of America and her Allies.
The writer of the. above lines has
tramped the roads, the fields, the bOgs
and the hillsides of Ireland, collecting
the pennies Of the Irish farmers and
workingmen for John Redmond's Unit
ed League and Irish Parliamentary
fund, and for Douglas Hyde's Gaelic
League. Since Redmond and his party
began to receive $4,000 year from
the British treasury, the money I. and
many others gave and collected for
him in Ireland and America, has been
spent in refuting the lies which the
English Oligarchy spread broadcast
about him and his party. They were
almost word for word the same kind
Of lies that are now circulated against
Sim Feiners. The only difference is
that then it was American money that
was used "to wreck the British con-
stitution and to destroy civilization"
and the money was really there, but
now it is German money and there
is no such thing. Also the American
press was not so docile, so trustful
in accepting the Oligarchy's propagan-
da of ISLANDERS and sneers as it is to-
day. In those days we helped many
American journalists to see the facts
of the Irish situation for themselves,
and they saw them and printed them,
too. And that is the right way to
help the Allies now, namely print the
facts of the Irish situation, or else be
silent about them. To misrepresent
them will always hurt America and
her Allies. America can stand the
facts-but cannot stand foolish and
stupid fiction.
AN AMERICAN DEMOCRAT.
REV EDWARD JONES, OF MORRIS,