The Irish standard., 1919-05-24
(By Martin Rowan.)

A few days ago we read in the daily
papers about the seizure of the Dub
lin Mansion House-that institution
wherein the Lord Mayor discharges
his official duties-by the British mill
tary authorities. We were told that
Sim Fein meetings had been held
there and Sim Fein business trans
acted behind it's doors. For this rea-
son the minions of British Rule in
Ireland seized building in the city
of Dublin and now hold it under mill
tary surveillance and guard.
The average American, unacquainted
with the Sim Fein movement, it's
mode of procedure or it's aspirations,
will come to the conclusion, after read
ing our sanctimonious dailies that the
Dublin Mansion House is, or has been,
a den of anarchy wherein Irish cut
throats assemble to plan dire ven
geance on representatives of law and
order. Such, perhaps, will be the i'm
preston made on the average citizen
who has not the opportunity, or whose
spirit of fair-play does not prompt him,
to learn the truth. Our daily papers
do not even go so far as to give a
logical reason for the seizure of the
Mansion House. Neither will they
define or attempt to explain what Sim
Fein stands for.
Perhaps the simplest definition of
Sim Fein would bean organization
founded in Ireland and, upheld by
four-fifths of the Irish people for the
purpose of establishing a republican
form of government wholly indepen-
dent Of and separate FROM that of any
other country, with equal civil and
religious liberty to all. In fact the
constitution of the Irish Republic has
gone even further in it's scope of
freedom than that of any other re-
public on earth and has ordained that
the women of Ireland have the same
power in the election of representa-
tives of the people, as the men of
ireland will have. The fact, however,
that the constitution of the Irish Re-
public guarantees more freedom than
that of any other such constitution
in the world is not known or under
stood by our newspaper-reading pub
lie and Lord Northcliffe probably sees
to it that his organs provided, Of
course, that there are any such in
these United States-refrain from ac-
knowledging such facts.
In 1914, England went to war to
smash German militarism-so said
English statesmen-and Of course we
are all aware that British diplomats
never lie, except when there is more
to be gained by lies than by truth. The
United States declared war on Ger
many in 1917, and the people Of this
country went to war fully intent on
giving freedom to all the, peoples on
earth. German militarism was crushed.
German ascendancy has been van
auished, but out of the ashes Of war
Iarises a greater militarism, a more
terrible militarism than the militarism
of Germany at it's worst, and the blood
and iron rule, of today is English not
| German.
While would-be idealists convene at
Versailles and talk of democracy, free
dom of small nations, and call their
assembly peace conference, what is
taking place in Ireland? In that un-
fortunate country there are today one
hundred and fifty thousand British sol
diers, all in full military equipment,
with all the most modern and scien.
tific weapons Of war; and the forces
Of these disciples Of a murderous gov.