The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-05
Irish Urge Inquiry
 Into Home Conditions
COMPLETE REPORT OF ACTION TAKEN BY COMMITTEE TO SECURE IRELAND'S
 FREEDOM

Representatives. He said that MT Lloyd George had agreed to the visit of the American Commission to Ire land. hoping upon their return that he could press upon them the Eng fish point of view,'' to be used as pro- paganda in America.
 The Lord Chancellor, officially re- plying to the same questions in the House of Lords, likewise denied, on behalf of the Prime Minister, that there was ever any intention to grant safe conducts to Messrs. De Valera, 1t was the purpose of the Prime Min ister to have present at his interview with the American Commission upon their return from Ireland, all of the American newspaper correspondents, so that he (the Prime Minister) might make a statement of England's s attitude on the Irish Problem, which would tend to allay the growing pre- Judice against England in the United States.
 When the passports were handed to the American Commissioners on the morning of their departure for Ire land, Sir William Wiseman stated that MT. Lloyd George wished the Commission to go to all parts of Ire land, if possible, and 1t was his spe- cial request that they should visit Belfast.
 Upon repeating Sir William Wise mans request to Messrs O'Ceallaigh and Gavan Duffy, the Irish Envoy's s at Paris, they joined In the request that we should make a close investi- gation of conditions in Ireland. and especially urged that we should visit the Jails, particularly those in the larger cities, where they asserted, hundreds of men and women were confined under circumstances of the most shocking nature.
 Crossing the Irish Sea from Holy head to Dunleary we came upon the first evidence of the military occupa- ton of Ireland The vessel and wharves swarmed with soldiers, fully equipped for the field, going to and coming from Ireland.
 When we arrived in Ireland we found soldiers everywhere. A care full investigation, made on the day before we left Ireland, showed that the Army of Occupation numbered considerably over one hundred thous- and men, to which additions are be- ing made daily. The troops are equipped with lorries ,armored cars, tanks, machine guns, bombing planes, light and heavy artillery; and in fact | all of the engines of war lately em- ! ployed against the Central Powers. In addition to this, there are ap- | proximately 5000 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The con- | stabulary is a branch of the military | forces. They are armed with rifles as well as small side arms, engage in | regular drills and field manouvres. They are never residents of the dis tricts which they occupy, and have | quarters in regular government bar | racks.
 | After our arrival in Ireland we | conferred with President De Valera as to the prisons which we should visit, and Mountjoy Jail, in the | city of Dublin, was selected, for the | reason that it contained a large num- | of political prisoners, many of them | men of the highest character and standing MouEttoy, so far as physical l equipment and brutality of conduct goes, is not bad as many. of the | other jails in Ireland
 We made our demand for permis- | sion to visit this jail through the municipal authorities of the city of Dublin The governor of the prison a resident of England, who has been in office but a few weeks, refused us admission. It was then explained
 
 Visiting Justices of Mountjoy Prison | that the Commission was travelins on diplomatic passports and was in- vestigating conditions in Ireland
 partly at the solicitation of the Prime Minister. With this explanation, Sir
 John Irwin, who is in supreme au-
 thority of the jail. overru1ed the de-
 cision of the governor, and we were
 admitted to Mountjoy.
 l When we appeared at the gate w5
 were ushered into the office of the
 governor. where we found Sir John
 Irwin. The governor told us tha,
 we were to be admitted to the prison
 but with the understanding that we
 should not speak 10 any prisoner. nor
 seek to fix the identity of any prison.
 CT exhibited
 Although Mountjoy is called a fail
 II is, as matter of fact, a combina-
 ton of jail and penitentiary It i.
 surrounded by a stone wall twenty
 feet in height, and is larger than an, | of the mid-western American peniten.
 tiaries such as Jefferson City or Joliet
 ana almost as large as Sing Sing. I has immense cell houses, built to ac commodate approximately 900 pris oners. It Is equipped with work shops. where men convicted of seriou! crimes are confined at hard labor. I is also used for the confinement O. persons awaiting trial, as well as rnis demeanants serving sentences fo , petty offenses.
 . Exclusive of the political prisoners . there were but twelve persons in con : fnement, all of them undergoing sen tences for petty infractions of law. : One of the men who accompante, us upon the visit was an official O the city of Dublin. well acquainte, 1 with all of the political prisoners: s. 3 that we had no difficulty in identify ing them. They were confined fo the most part in groups. the majorit, l of them being locked up in stee cages. built in the yards of the pris } on, entirely outside of the building proper. These cages are exact dupli : cates of those used for wild animal in the larger Geological gardens, sucl l as Lincoln Park and the Bronx, i,
 the United States
 3 Statements had been made tha 3 unspeakable outrages were beinj l committed against the persons O 3 these men. and the most barbarou 3 cruelties inflicted upon them. Tha 3 they had been starved. beaten. con