The Irish standard., 1919-01-04
Phi|ade| phia hibernians
Enter Protest
Ancient Order Denounces Effort to In
duce Peace Conference to Ignore
Ireland.

| AI special meeting OF the County
Board of the Ancient Order of Hiber-
mans of Philadelphia, a body COM
posed of the five officers of each of the
100 divisions of that order, in this
=; city, yesterday afternoon, in the A. O..
H. Club House, 1906 N. Broad Street,
former State President Patrick DON
oboe presiding, John O'Dea, state Sec
retary, offered the following resolu-
tions:
| We have read with unfeigned as
tonishment that an organization Of
this city, calling itself the Philadel-
phia Protestant Association, and claim
ing to represent 100000 members at
its December meeting, (no date or
place given) protested against any
reference being made at the Peace
| Conference to the question of Home
Rule, Self Government or political
freedom for Ireland by any represen-
tative of the United States, express
ing the fear that it would tend to in
terfere in the Internal Affairs of a
co-belligerent.
| We, Representatives of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians of Philadelphia,
unhesitatingly brand the foregoing as
unworthy of American citizens. Amer
ica went into the War against autoc.
racy; went into the Titantic struggle
to make the world safe for democracy,
and we are convinced that President
Wilson expressed the true sentiments
of our country when he declared that
"every nation should be left free to
determine it's own policy, it's own de-
| velopment, unhindered, unthreatened
and unafraid"-a declaration that has
found responsive echo among the
lovers of freedom and justice in every
land.
We, all citizens of the United States
our Constitution declaring that no
member shall be eligible to hold Office
in the Order who is not an American
citizen, affirm our boundless conf
dence in the sincerity of our country's
great spokesman; in him who has
again and again declared that our OBJ
ject in entering the world war was
not territorial aggrandizement, but for
the purpose of extending the right of
self-determination to all the nations
Of the earth and thus establish peace
that will not ingeminate more war.
We beg to remind those who object
to Ireland having the right to deter
mine for herself by majority vote of
her adult population, the form of gov
ernment under which her people shall
live (providing always, that every citi-
zen shall be guaranteed full, complete
and equal civil and religious liberty),
that Ireland's claim to self-determina-
tion is not of yesterday, that it reaches
back to the dawn of history, that be-
fore the Saxons landed in England,
Ireland had Parliament, laws and
social and political institutions; that
from the seventh to the ninth Gen.
turies the schools of Ireland sent forth
Missionaries, Teachers and Philos-
ophers, men whose achievements are
written in the annals of every nation
of northern and western Europe
We. deeply regret the un-American
spirit of intolerance which prompted
the adoption of those P. P. A. resolu-
tions at its December (somewhat in
Definitely meeting, as it indicates be.
lief on the part of its members that
the religion of majority of the peo-
pie of Ireland should initiate against
that country's right to self-determina-
ton; indicates belief on their part,
preposterous though it be, that Ire
lands dissenting minority should be
permitted to forever bar her way to
sumably because the wars of Ireland