Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-01-30
Defends Catholic Ifishmcn

To the Editor Of the Ercning public Lcd0er :
Sir-ContributorS to the corrcspondenCe
departments of our newspapers. who oppose
granting TO Ireland the right of self f-deter-
minaton. base their objection principally on
some imaginary injustices which the Catho-
lies or that country, being about four-flfths
or the population. would inflict on its nom
Catholic inhabitants. To students of Irish
history this objection is either a mere sub
terfuge or a form of hallucination
Dean Swift, though probably the first Sim
teiner. never expressed any particular love
for Catholics. and was up to tho day of his
death their great popular idol, so much so.
that when he was supposed to be In danger
of arrest because of his "Drapicrs Letters -
the Catholic people followed him and watched
over him as fondly as they watched over
Otonnell a century later.
The writer is convinced that tho Irish re-
pubic Will have the freest and fairest gov
ernment of all time; that every citzcn of
lister will be accorded the same freedom,
the same opportunity, the same civil and
religious liberty that will be accorded to the
citizens of Munster Leinster and ConuauGht ;
that II the non-Catholics join hands in the
effort TO establish and maintain that re-
public, the right Of separate schools, and an
equitable division of the school tax will he
freely granted to them: that the Irish re-
public, with population 90 per cent
Protestant Will have a Protestant President.
long before the United States with a Catholic
population of 20 per cent, will have Catho-
lie President | will go even further and
say that it is my firm conviction since
Catholics and Protestants become united on
this determination TO have an Irish republic.
that this 20 per cent of the population viii
never have less than % per cent of
the members of the Irish Parliament. thus
greatly surprising in point Of religious tor
erance even our own great Republic. Catho.
lies today not numbering 10 per cent of the
members of the House and Senate at Wash
ington. I will go still further and say that
a Catholic Menace in an Irish republic
would not have two subscribers in all the
land. Catholic Ireland. in its halycon days.
in the days that preceded the inVasonS of
the Danes and NOrmans. civilized, educated
and Chrstianizcd the peoples of Europe,
using only the weapons of peace apd lote
In the execution Of these noble purposes.
Much has been made of Ireland resisting
conscrption of her failure to submit to con-
sCription by a foreign Power She believed
that by yielding to this demand of England.
she would demoish her claim to national
entity; would seemingly acquicsco in the bind
ing Of the shacklcs of empire on her future.
The plain purpose on the part OF England
was to obscure from the minds of men tho
broken pledges. the hctrayals, the dishonored
words of British politicians. 1t was a hrazen
effort to place upon a people whose service
to liberty has been immeasurablc, the onus
Of refusing to come to freedoms defense in
an hour Of peril. 1t was Il trap to cnmesh
the unwary. But, actuated by their love of
liberty and by their gratitude to Belgium
and France. the young men OF Ireland volun-
teered--volunteered to an extent that gave
Ireland n larger percentage of her man
power to the great war, through which will
be inauguratcd world democracy thereby
terminating autocraCy wherever it obtains,
than even our own glorious United states
itself JOHN O'DEA
Philadelphia. January 2S.