The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-01-24
British Have Not Acted.

Dublin. January 22.-Late this afternoon
the British government had not Vet an
SSWared the gauntlet thrown down by Ire
una yesterdaT. here was something
very unusual IT. III failure OF tn" ',.'J-
'Sh government not 10 act quickly in, his
case OF the mot fragrant scd.tlyn ever
pTac' iced within ti,-ir borders.
ireland today stands before tm- w1r,l,
Il -. .HiiC on paper = one. ShH his CNrv-
ciScd the righ,s Of -governrr.ut sa.ri-
"lcntiE 10 elect i.'r own delegates 80 nc
1C:t'r conference aud did il all U~.',T li.u
very noes Of the PritiSh military forces
Count PlUnkett, Professor Ei pavo'lcra
and Arthur Griffiths are the delegates 10
the peace conference. The latter two ave
IN Jail - IL aIND ar3 the count will havn
to 30 e. Paris aione and he will hove TO
travel on Brl,tSl. transports
An irish Parliament.
Dublin, Jan. 22.-An Irish paIlia-
ment was formally constituted at q
meeting here of % members Of the
Sim Fem society elected to the Brit
ish house of commons.
They, elected Charles Burgess,
whose Irish name is Cathal Brugha,
speaker. They also adopted decla-
ration Of independence and an address
TO the free nations of the world and
appointed a committee consisting of
Count Plunkett, Arthur GriffithS and
Prof Edward\DeValera to present the
claims of Ireland to self-determination
to the peace conference at Paris.
Two Members in Prison.
The two last named being in British
prisons, only the venerable Count
Plunkett can proceed to Paris, and
then only provided the British govern.
ment consents to give him passports.
The walls of the hall were quantity
embellished with classic statues in
plaster and coats of arms. Past lord
mayors have witnessed many more eX-
citing dramas, notably in recent years
than the conventions of the Nationalist
party, when there We're impassioned
speeches and hot party contests.
That the proceedings seemed tame
by contrast was due to the fact that
they were conducted in the dead Ian.
guage of the Irish tongue. This was
a tribute to sentiment, but it was
deadening to interest.
Few Understand Addresses.
Few Of the 1000 auditors understood
the addresses.
Oratory was killed by the process
of reading all the speeches and even
some of the delegates had trouble in
following them on their manuscripts.
The only concession to popular inter
est was the translation of the declara-
ton OF independence and the address
to the free nations in English and
French and this was a wearisome pro-
cess.
1t should not be inferred there was
any lack Of emotion or want of feel
ing Of responsibility on the part OF
the delegates. They evidently felt
themselves men pl@ying great parts
in q solemn sacrament.
Admission by Ticket.
The rotunda oS the Mansion House
where the congress met, is a dingy
old place lighted by stained glass win
dows overhead. The platform and
half the floor were fitted with tables
for officers and delegates. Tie re.
mainder of the floor and the circular
gallery were reserved for the public,
admission being by ticket.
4 large proportion Of the audience
was composed of women. The num-
Der of young priests was conspicuous.
The meeting lasted only so minutes.