The Irish standard., 1919-09-06
TEN THOUSAND MINNEAPOLIS FRIENDS
OF IRISH FREEDOM TO GREET
DE VALERA HERE

DE VALERA HERE.
A campaign is now on in the state of Minnesota
for large accession to the ranks of that vigorous
organization, the Friends of Irish Freedom. A spe-
cia representative has been here take charge
of the work of securing recruits for the fighting
forces and the slogan has been adopted, Ten Thou
sand Members in Minneapolis Before the Coming
of President De Valera" The national governing
body of the Friends has designated Mr.. Cornelius
d. Mahoney, young man who has seen active ser
vice in the world war, as state organizer for Min
nesota His headquarters will be in Minneapolis,
with his office in the editorial of the Stand
ard: The results of highly interesting interview.
with Mr.. Mahoney are given in news columns
and we'll worthy of perusal.
Mr.. Mahoney is graduate of Holy Cross Col
lege, Worcester Mass, of the class of 1913 and is
we'll adapted to the work to which he has BEEN
assigned He spent several months at the National
University in Dublin after his enrolment in the
American service being one of the group of 2.0ool
studeptsoldiers selected by the United States gov
eminent to take courses in the universities of Eng
land, Ireland and Scotland. Thus he was enabled
to make study at close range of conditions in Ire
land He had also the advantage Of greeting many
of the distinguished Irish leaders of the move
ment, among them being the president of the Re-
public, Eamonn De Valera. AS will be seen in the
news article above mentioned, Mr. Mahoney saw
personally and almost was part OF some OF the
incidents attending the visit of the American dele
gates to the city of Dublin in May of this year The
impressions made upon the mind of young Amer
lean by these brutal and stupid demonstrations of
TbrtlSn OVerlOrdSn1p Will De extremely interesting
to those who will attend the organization rallies.
Mr. .Mahoney is thoroughly with the spirit OF his
objective. He is thoroughly grounded in the prn-
cipes of democracy as exemplifed in the American
republic, and he is convinced that the only adequate
solution Of the Irish question lies in complete and
absolute separation from British domination. IF a
thing is right in principle" he says, lit should be
universal in application. It is conceded that self
determination is the right principle, so why should
it not be applied in the of Ireland?"
1t should not be urged valid excuse for not
joining the Friends Of Irish Freedom that al
ready may belong to one or more other organiza-
tons intended to promote the welfare of the Moth
erland, many Of which have already accomplished
vast amount of credtable work in this direction.
The answer to this objection is that there is still
plenty of work for all the forces that the Irish peo
pie can rally to their support in order that the VIC
tory may be won. There is little or danger of
duplication of effort or lost motion, inasmuch as
the several Irish organizations thor
oughy correlated in their activities that each unit
is kept informed and on the alert as to the general
course of the movement. There is no friction, no
jealousy, conflict of opinion among either the
leaders those in the ranks. The Irish race pre-
sents a united front, marshalled as never before
against the common enemy.
The Friends of Irish Freedom seek to direct dis
cipline and concentrate this tremendous force on q
single objectve-the absolute independence Of Ire
land. To this end it seeks in America the official
recognition OF the Irish republic and its duly elected
president, Eamonn De Valera All of the activities
of the. organization made subordinate and en-
trbutory to this definite and clear central PROPOSE
ton The cooperation andcounse Of other friendly
societies is of course eagerly sought for and warm
ly welcomed But it is believed that by eliminating
at least for the time being all other lines of effort
that the of the grand objective will be more
speedily secured.
The coming of the Irish president to the Twin
Cities, which is promised during the month Of DC
tober should inspire all friends Of the cause to
greater efforts than ever in their work. Unremit-
ting labor and sacrifice are required to make the
4 goal set by Mr.. Mahoney-ten thousand members in
Minneapolis before the coming Of De Valera i
should not be forgotten, however, that membership
is not restricted to those Of the Irish race, but
open to the friends of liberty and justice Of all
+ and creeds Among its membership are to be found
not only Irish men and women, but also representa-
tives Of almost every other race and creed in the
vast American melting-pot Keeping in view this
broad scope Of the movement it will be seen that
the desired goal is well within range OF achievement
In this connection it is but fair to give due credit
TO the ladies and gentlemen who have laid the foun
dations Of the Friends in Minneapolis by organizing
local branch in this city. They have taken tht
initiative IN the movement, and have already accom-
plished much the cause, notably the great public
mass meeting at the Auditorium which was ad
dressed BY Rev Mr.. Blythen, and over which Mr.
~. Lynch presided. It is around this branch a:
aail,lclcs that the efforts Of the new organizer viii
e initiated Ia this city Ward and district rallie.
~ held every part Of the city and new