Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-12
ERIN'S HISTORY
SERIES OF CRISES
Irish Convention Climax Of Eco
nomic, Political and Racial
Collisions and Conflicts
BY SHANE LESLIE

BY SHANE LESLIE
TRELANDS norm Is crisis. Nothing would
L be more critical In her history than II she
were suddenly found to be normal. for II
would show that she was on that turn OF
tho lido for which two generations, have
waited. 1t has been crisis crisis, long as
I can remember and for a European am
rather aged some thirty odd was born
in the travail of the first Homo Rule bill.
and my earliest nursery memory Is Of the
Ulster hills ablaze with the rebel fires at
the passing In the Commons of the second
Home Rule bill. When | came to the ago
of reason or unrcason which precedes or
qualities entry into Irish politics, Redmond
had been leased the craftsmanship. rarnell
was dead and Sim Fein was word slumber-
ing in the Celtic dictionaries But II was
always crisis time.
There a crisis over Coercion. another
over Cattle-driving, another over Devoluton.
The l. beral party CAME into power and VIC
mad an education crisis another one over
the Irish language and finally Ulster pro-
ridcd the most stirring of them all. Then
came the war and in three years irish history
has moved faster than in the previous hum
dred years. The convention cannot :ontra-
dict the issue and meaning of the last three
years 1t cannot unmold ireland. but It
can provide sedatiye and Il can give ireland
back her vital heart. a soul she has ard
lungs but to bo a normal political body
and pumping healthily through her whole
system; IL other words. a responsible and
reflective Parliament. 1t IS the business OF
the convention either to become some such
Government Professionally itself or else to
provide one on the spot and never allow tho
nefarious Dublin Castle n minute of breath.
ing space to reassert an ill-omened grasp OF
affairs. Until then Ireland will show symp-
toms that Will provo equally the despair OF
the political physician and of tho military
medicinist.
The convention Is the unexpected wndup
OF a century's play. sometimes grim, son1o-
times humorous. but always critical. Tho
game was growing slower and moro and
moro sulen of late until tho outbreak OF
the war Nationalist played against Union
ist. and nation against castle. Then It
Redmond showed his hand and tho Govern
ment snatchod the cards CT Irish loyalty and
Irish enthusiasm out OF his hands, playing
them disastrousy themselves and paying tho
Home Rule stakes in deferred paper. since
then Sim Fein has been tho only practical
policy for idealists and is becoming the ideal
policy for practical men. - Is Il sentiment
as abstract as liberty or free trade but
Il is liable TO be distorted by the mediuins in
which IT. Is presented. Tho success Of tho
convention will derend on their being able
to give Sim Fcin medium CT channel which
shall turn the time spirit to constructive and
not merely ccstatic purposes
"Blood Is Trumps"
It must bo remembered that tho rising
gave the Sim fcin the Irish succession IN
irish history blood is trumps. Tho Sim
Feln have been able TO take every trick.
10 win every by.eection with the blood
stained card. II could not bo otherwise.
The Irish party has collapsed in public SEN
ument, leaving its place org .EsltOr of
scheme and medium to the convention The
convention has also taken tho worn-out
party's place a collision mat between tho
popular and the governing forces. The his
tory of Ireland since the union has been tho
natural history 9f collision mats. The con-
vent!on has to keep its back to the castle
and its hands outstretched to tho Irish peo.
pie. At present there Is nothing visible In
those hands, and until something substantial
appears to lie in them, it must he the policy
of the Sim Fein TO hold back their hand
Each is now sparring for position and each
IS bplffing a little. Each has ono eye fixed
on the other and the other eye wandering
over the Atlantic to America Sim Fein Is
looking anxiously for general American sup
port. The convention is looking greedily for
Irish-Amercan favor. Each will go as far
as II dares. tho one in eXactlng the Irish
independence theoretically and the other in
laying the lines of II practical settlement.
Each is playing for dear life. and "A slip of
n cartridge may lose one irrevocably as
a slip of the tongue may upset the other.
Mother could afford for n moment to in
dorse the other, but on the split bargain
between the two lies Ireland's peace.
Had the war not interfered the two Irish
parties, Cnionist and Nationalist, would have
endured and then subsided into the new con-
dtions on tho further side of Home Rule. 1t
Is now necessary that both shall practically
subside before autonomy is declared to be in
effect. BY the smallness OF its contingent
to the convention the Nationalist party has
acquiesced in it's fate and by even attending
the convention the Cnionist party Is con-
sentng to some kind of tinkering with tho
union. Their organizations must disappear,
leaving individuals to be caught up into new
combinations.
What are 20 be the new combinations? Let
II be granted that the huge majority of
Nationalists are Sim Feiners. This does not
mean they are pro-German or anti-Americans.
Foolish words here or an exaSperating act
there may be caught up by a passing cor
respondent or an embttered critic, but their
opinion does not mean that Irish sentiment
has been diagnosed. 1t will be found as diff.
cult to isolate Ireland from the affectionate
sympathy of America to make total
separation of Ireland from tho rest of the
British Isles. Ireland needs to cultivate re-
lations with all her neighbors-France, Eng
land, Wales and Scotland-but not at a loss
OF her sef.respect of her individuality.
They are all. TO q certain extent. the REM
nants of the old Celtic past. To German
writer's today the French are the Celts par
excellence. welsh is the old Teutonic term
for the Celt. scotch" was the medieval
name of an Irishman. and "Britanni" were
to the Romans Celtic tribe.
Hatred Must Die Down
Tho present upheaval has brought out that
there is a Celtic as well as n Latin and a
Teutonic and a Slavic group In Europe. This
leads me to the criticism of Sim Fein as
being too introspective. There is "a rgor-
ously defined duty toward Ireland. but there
is no proper adjustment of a foreign policy
The first duty of an Irish native Government
will be to come to an understanding based
on other motives than hatred with their
neighbors.
At the present moment the convention is
likely at any moment to produce a result in
(Which case the Sim Eein will no longer have