The Irish standard., 1919-01-25


immense by comparison. The Times
was content to give the report of the
dinner some general appreciative
heading such as Loyal South Africa"
1t is more exigent in regard to Ire
laad. English statesmen, it is clear,
have also one standard for South AT
RIGA and another for Ireland. Mr.. Bur-
ton, we are told, related to the as
sembled guests the story of wound
ed Boer soldier who said that he
wished to get to France in order to
repay the gift of free institution to
his country. He went on to say that
the soldiers eye frightened as he adj
ded: II would not have raised one
single hand for the Empire if the EN-
pire had refused to establish in my
country that freedom which South At
RIGA now enjoys" It is said that
Mr.. Austen Chamberlain and other
representative statesmen who, were
present cheered this remarkable say
ing of the Boer soldier. BY what fatal
ity is it that they are unable to see
that 1rishmen are human beings, with
the same passions as Beers? General
BOtha wrote to Mr. Redmond to saw
that he agreed with him that South
Africa's services to the Allies were
simply the fruit of the concession of
national freedom. Yet, even without
national freedom, and as a pure act
of faith, Ireland poured her sons in
to the trenches in the most critical
days of the war and helped to hold
the line at its weakest for the worlds
freedom.
Let me say again that do not
make these comparisons in order to
belittle the services of any other ma
ton, but only to show up 1reland's
services in the war in a true light.
Most of the free nations have pub
l1shed list of their dead and wound
ed soldiers during the last week or
two. Let us have full list of the
dead and wounded Irish soldiers, so
that We may judge how great have
been the sacrifices made by Ireland.
Has Japan contributed as many dead
as Ireland? She has not Yet Japan
is praised. Has New Zealand contrib
uted as many?-She has not. Yet New
Zealand is praised. Has South Africa?
Has Canada? Canada has a greater
population than Ireland. Yet, if figures
were to be had, am confident it could
be shown that far fewer Canadian
born men than Irish-born men have
fallen in the war, Captain Esmonde,
M. p, said in the House of Commons
the other day: II have seen myself,
buried in one grave, 400 Nationalist
soldiers killed in one f1ght"-two-
thirds as many as the total number of
| the Dublin insurgents of Easter Week.
And that mournful spectacle has been
repeated not after one fight, but after
fifty during the war. In the most de-
perate days of the war-at Mons and
at the Marne-Irishmen were present
at the thickest Of the fighting, and
battalion after battalion gave itself up
to the slaughter. singing 1.-THE Bold
Fefner Men," "a Nation Once Again."
and other songs of the kind that the
police nowadays suppress with baton
charges in Ireland. At the beginning
/ n h0 1,n+f 30
Guards mutinied. 1t was because it
had been rumored that they were not
being sent to the front? The Irish
Guards, it will be remembered, had
been reprimanded at the time of the
buckingham palace conference for
cheering Mr.. Redmond on his way
down Birdcage Walk. l knew a SOL
der in the Irish Guards, now dead,
who declared that his battalion called
themselves "Redmond's own" Well,
they are dead, and so are the Red
monds, and Sir Edward Carson and
Mr.. Bonar Law have made the glor-
ious sacrifice of surviving to perpet-
u.
not surprised to hear of the National
list soldier back from the front who
said to Mr.. Dillon; "Mr. Dillon, the
worst Of it is l know that we are not
fighting for liberty, for England is 60
ing to betray u.s." England, please
God, with the help of Labor, is going
to do nothing of the sort; but Mr..
Bonar Law and Mr.. Shott, so far as
they are able, have already made the
great betrayal. Anti-Irish influences
have for the moment triumphed, and
Ireland is held up to contempt as a
I sullen shirker to all the free nations
| of Europe.
Mr.. Lloyd George admitted, in the
days following the instruction, the
malignity of the anti.Irish influences
that had been at work among the Eng
lish official classes in the early days