The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1919-08-16
CHURCH CALENDAR.
Week August 1923.


sPoL1ATIoN OF sHANTUNG-AND
IRELAND.
In reply to a correspondent who signs himself
"Jack Smith, the Minneapolis Tribune of Aug. IL
INDUCES in comment on the Irish question that
in Pharisaism and hypocrisy is worthy of the Lon
don Times, but which is surely out of place in
any modern, well-informed American newspaper.
The gist of the correspondents structure respecting
the inconsistency of the attitude of the Tribune in
protesting against the seizure of the Chinese prov
ince by the Japanese Empire while acquiescng in
British msrule in Ireland, is contained in the fol-
lowing paragraph:
"And why has Great Britain any more right to
govern Ireland than Japan has to take Shantung?
You surely acted like man on that question and
speaking up for what is right. You say Amer-
should not butt into anything pertaining to
freedom for Ireland when the whole Senate went
on record as favorng it, but we should butt in
and demand that China gets fair deal. Why not
Ireland?"
And this is the reply of the Tribune:
"The cases, however, have not come before the
public or before the government in the same way.
We have been asked, and unfortunately our Pres-
dent has consented, to indorse an outrage by one
nation against another, part of the peace treaty
The question of Ireands independence does not
come up in that way. We are not required to deal
with it feature of the treaty. Unfortunately,
the Irish claim to independence for autonomy is
made difficult of realization because of the attitude
of the Irish people themselves. Ireland is not unit
for independence, or even for home rule. If the
principle of selfdetermination applied, Ireland
would have to be divided, and that way only, ap
parenty lies the road to satisfaction of either the
contention for independence or home rule"
Thus the Tribune aligns itself with the Carson
contingent in Ulster representing at the utmost not
more than twenty per cent of the total population
Of Ireland Is the Tribune SO poorly informed on
Irish affairs that it does not know that at the
general election in December of last year wherein
the issue was squarey drawn between independence
on the one side and all opposed thereto the other
that the Sim Fem party won for INDEPENDENCE ~
parliamentary seats out of the total of 105 And of
the 26 seats remaining to the Unionists consider
able number are those assigned to the colleges and
other government institutions wherein the body Of
the electorate had no opportunity to exercise the
franchise.
And yet the Tribune has the temerity to say that
ireland is not a unit for independence or even
home rule" Since when and in what political juris-
diction has unanirnity been required to decide a
civil or political question:? Is this the Trbunes
conception of democratic government? The Ameri-
coonists not unit for independence at the
time of our Revolutionary war, but if the
Tribune's argument is sound with regard to Ireland
the American Revolutionists were not justified in
going into the struggle for freedom because of the
existence of a small Tory group of recalcitrants in
the community.
1t is absurd, and perhaps unfattering to the in
teligence of their readers, that American news
papers, taking their cues from London, should con-
tinue to repeat such buncombe as this which has
been SO often refuted that even school children
ought by this time to be cognlZant OF Its hollow
ness and fallacy. But Mr.. De Valera himself has
6 covered the point thoroughly and exclusively
that we beg the indulgence of our readers in repro.
ducing it here, as follows:
"The degree of unanimity obtained in ireland or
this issue (independence) is higher than that
claimed by the American Colonies when they de-
clared their independence and decided that they
would no longer allow themselves to be exploited
by England in the interests of her imperialism YOU
d had your Tories and your Loyalists' to whom
81 Washington very properly sent the ultimatum that
. if they preferred the interests and protection o.
Britain to the freedom and happiness of their owr
4 country they might forthwith withdraw themselve:
u and their families within the enemy lines.
The degree of unanimity obtained in Ireland i
D higher, too, than that by which your gloriou:
Union and Constitution were established. Had com
piete unanimity been insisted upon as a preceden
B Is your independence, some people pretend t
believe il should be insisted upon in the recogni
tion Of ours, then you would not be today as 20,
are united Nation, the greatest the earth, will
unified territory that is continent and popula
ton and prosperity that the envy of the rest
world but merely Is miserable disunited colo
with your people kept permanently divided b,
of English statecraft into opposing ant
b attending groups. It was the hope of establish
such condition amongst you, and not for an,
10 III the southerners, that was the inspiring
1ejy 81 and object Of England in aiding the Sout1
riiihans writer betrays ) gro