The Irish standard., 1918-09-07

l read not long ago, in a Boston
paper which has never been re-
markably fair to the Irish people,
that they were the only ones who had
not been over anxious to put the full
strength of their man power into the
struggle for Democracy, says John
]. O'Connor of the Suffolk Bar in the
Boston Republic.
Let us see if this statement is cor
rect? The Irish regiments in the
British army went into the struggle
from the first in that gallant COM
pany, which was characterized by the
Kaiser as "England's contemplate
little army" They have been known
since in the jargon of the camps as
the "Old Contemptibles." They were
composed of regiments that have won
their spurs in the service of Eng
land, on many a bloody field. The
feats of arms of the 1nniskillin regt-
ment the Connaught Rangers, the
Dublin Fusileers, the Munster Fusi-
leers, the Irish Guards, the Royal
Irish Rifles, and some new OrganiZa
lions that have been sent over seas
since the war started are known to
every student of current history. But
the bigot never sees anything but the
false, and the story is always garbled.
Mr.. T. P. O'Connor, before his re-
cent departure from these shores
for his native land, gave the lie very
effectively to the SANDER that Ire
lands sons were not doing their bit.
Not alone in Ireland, but in England,
have whole regiments of Irishmen
gone to the front, notably the Liver
pool Irish, the London Irish, and
many others. In actual numbers they
have given more than their share to
the cause they love so we'll. For to
the glory of the lrishman he has from
time immemorial been found in every
battlefield where a fight was being
made for freedom. Their bones
whiten the shores of Gallipoli, where
in common with the Australians they
were sent in to try and make up by
valor what they lacked in numbers.
Side by side with the Highlanders
and the Tommies, they made Fritz
pay dearly for every step he. made
in Flanders, and they bore their
share of the brunt during those days
of stress before America ever con-
templated coming into the struggle.
What shall we say of the personnel
of the gallant army of Australia,
where the Irish race has made such
an imprint on the history of that
country? 1t is needless to so over
the names of officers and men whose
blood is the blood Of the Celt, be
they born under the Southern Cross,
or on the plains Of Tipperary.
What of the army of America? Are
the Irish Americans doing their BIT?
Read the names of the muster ROLL
and decide for yourself Whatever
the bigot may say of the Irishman,
God knows no one but dolt and an
ignoramus ever accused him of being
a coward, for, through the long cen
turtles of oppression, faced by force
and power out of all proportion to
their own resources, the Irish have
never bent the craven knee and
never abated one jot, title or iota of
their national demands, and to the
honor of the race, be it said, they
have ever had the browning glory
on their heads of being the men
whose courage could be relied upon
in the moment of danger.
Hence the futile folly of promul-
eating at this late day any such state
ment as this to which l have re-
ferred. 1t stands branded as false,
and without a fragment of argument,
to bolster up such monstrous fig
ment of the imagination.
Recent events recall the fact that
this present battle ground in France
is nothing new to Irishmen. l Won
der if the learned scribe ever heard
of Fontenoy, mentioned in dispatches
very often recently. On that field,
where the bloody Duke of Cumber-
land had almost annihilated the
French troops in command of King
Louis in person, Lord Clare with his
Irish troops turned the tide of bat
tie, and inflicted a terrible defeat on
the soldiers of England There was
no question of Irish valor on that
afternoon, when the French Marshal
smiled as he watched the fierce on
slaught of the exiles of Erin. They
paid back some of the debt they then
owed to England.
Who that knows history would
stultify himself by any such asinine
statement as the one l am consider