Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1918-12-21
PROFOUNDLY NATION THAT CLINICS TO THE LAWS OF GOD

he who fancies that heeause the
great war is over universal peace
will APPEAR on scheduled time has
a great disillusion ahead of him.
No, unless now that the war 10
over, justice beginb her rightful
reign over the whole earth there
may be momentary llll. but en-
during peace will not be attained.
1t was justice that humanity
fought, and humani<y will still be
ready to go on with even fiercer
wars until justice holds fu11 sway.
Be not deceived by false prophets.
Diplomacy which failed 50 utterly
to preserve the peace 0f the world
will not succeed alone Ia bringing L
back. Underneath the smooth and
cool phrases and barren formulas
of diplomacy which has forgotten
its own purposes. we can even now
hear the mysterious stirring OF ele-
mental forces striving urgently to
burst through the cryptic formular-
les of decadent system. striving to
get into articulafe speech what
suffering humanity wants to say.
striving with the impatience of
agonizing multitude8 TO stop the
babble of bribed effIcialdom that
honest men may be heard, striving
to articulate In all the dialects Of
the world the word. which heeded.
will help the stagsefing earth to
recover itself; UNDECIDED, viii plunge
the whole totterin9 world into uni
versal anarchy.
America is far away from the
real theater of nsShty changes.
But even America win not easily
escape movement 50 universal as
now nov! Is visible ~ ,vsfy horizon.
pentup longing in the hearts of a
dozen nations for the right to rule
themselves. The doom of autocracy
has already sounded. The silent
millions of Russia, patient for CEN
turtles, have rushed madly into the
vortex of revolution. Even in Ger
many, which seemed so content
with itself, new force is pushing
out the older forms. Obviously
therefore we are at the end of a
period, and new one is beginning.
1t is strange that when Poland and
Servia and the Czechs and the
Slovaks and the Serbs and the
Ukrainians are clamoring for ma
tional rights and national recogni-
ton that Ireland, for full seven
centuries dominated by foreign
rule acquired only by force, and
even today exercised by force,
should now more than ever call
upon the world, but most of all
upon America, as the bountiful
mother of true freedom, to help her
regain the treasure stolen from
her and reinstate her in full pos
session of her complete liberty. II
In the blaze which the great war
enkindled, various tribes and fam
flies of the human race beheld as
with new light their claim to
separate consideration Is 1t any
wonder that the people of Ireland,
too, had even a clearer and a
stronger vision of their age-iong in
heritance?
"Ireland's position as nation is
nothing new which the war has
Just succeeded in creating. Never
since the day her crown was stolen
has she ceased to claim it back. In
every century for 700 years by pro-
test, by appeal, by Parliament, by
arms, when other means seemed
futile, but in any event by one
means or another as she found 1t in
her power to use them, Ireland has
never failed to keep alive her own
sense of distinct nationhood. and
impress it as palpably as conditions
would allow upon listening world.
AS a profoundly Christian nation
she has chung to the law of God in
all these demonstrations of her 10y
atty to herself. Rarely. very rarely
indeed. has she permitted even
cruelty to goad her into forget
ting it. But ever and always every
method she adopted, every leader
who spoke her cause, every victory
won, every defeat suffered, every
weapon used, every strategy de-
signed, ever and ever and ever the
same ultimate purpose Is clearly
visible, and that purpose is the
vindication of Ireland's right to
government only by consent of the
governed. That is the principle
which ultimately won Americas
freedom. and 1t Is because America
understands that principle that Ire
land today relies upon America to
echo II throughout the world for
Treland's liberty. Is it the Bolshe-
Wiki only who are to be acknowl-
edged as free? Is 1t because, being
Catholic. the Irish people repudiatc
Bolshevism that they are now to be
repudiated and their Just claim for
gotten and neglected? Let them
beware In time who encourage by
their actions and words today be-
fore the court of the world such
DANGEROUS conclusions as these.
SIS It really true that the blood
of millions has heen shed that
right alone should rule the world,
and that the monster of brute
force. might, which in many places
besides Germany has dominated the