Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-11-19

IRISH PROPAGANDA
II rKD1n1C ]. MAgKM.
Especial Corrsspoidsnce Of The Aryus).
NsN, Yqk, NOT. ls.eow that Ireland Il
prevented b marital Inv from bsins habitually
vocal. New YORK has become IT. eloquent
mouthpfecs Mach Of the revolutionary utsrar
tursI suppressed y the British govsEnmsnt
has bssh seprintsd andais beng distzibutsd
ovsr hsrA Many II ~ sscsst nsstinss, barred
~ tAs British army u occupation. have besn
transferred to tho east side. Broadway and
the Bronx. Thoss speeches Of inaisnst3cn.
prohibited IN Cork and Dublin. IRE beeng nade
about the streets Of New York.
There Il no escaping the Irish question
herA It follows you everywhere. Pause ever
90 briefly on . street corner. and some one ID
certain to come along, climb upon soap box
and BEGIN pouring violent denunciatious of
Lloyd Gsorys and Sir Ndward Carson n your
sAf. Go to the theatre, and you ass aameee
always ssatsd in the vicinity Of some Irish
nationalist. Who does not lst ne play intsffees
with his explanation 70 Z noighbor Of why Ire
land now refuses home rule Go to reception
or ,tsa, and you will hnd iadies wearing green
smocks, exchanging signals IN Gaelic. audsable
to talk about nothing more OF less important
than lrtsh freedom.
But Irish propaganda IL not confined to
New York It y strewn. in the form Of cirgs-
country, with an Irish national bureau III
Warrington to GET the Irish question hefors
congress and Irish promoters Of IN Irish re-
public in Ill Of bur big Irish-American con-
stttuencies. The slogan, mo moro American
money to kill liberty in Ireland" is being
played up in large type throughout the United
States. America To tolerant and takes no Of
a. - hat vvNA0
Specifically, no moro money for any political
party which opposes Irish freedom.
According to the leaders Of the irish move.
ment here, every effort is being made to throw
the Irish American vote to the Republican
party. Whether or not the Republicans wiz
do anything more for the Irish than the Demo-
crats have done remains to DO seen, Of course.
They have made no promises. But. by de-
feating the Democrats, the Irish hope to estab-
lish . grim precedent which should instill in
the Republican party wholesome respect for
the Irish question.
The hub from which all these spokes Of
|propaSanda are shot forth ID the Irish Pro-
gressive isssns. which has its small but pic
turesque headquarters here over laundry just
below Thrift Fourth street, on Lexington ave-
nue.. The Irish evidently do not believe in
wasting much money ON luxurious appoint
ments. They have only one long room, con-
tanning rows Of kitchen chairs for the benefit
LOT frequent lecture audiences: several small
tables bearing heavy quantities Of IRISH propa-
ganda literature, and the rest Of the furnish
lnes consist of vivid mural decorations.
Stretched across the entire length Of one vall
are two hags-hrst, the stars and stripes, and
next to it the Irish nag Of green. white and
orange stripes. Close to these are several
wooden pickets with large cardboard signs
bearing complimentary references to Ireland
and caustic remarks concerning it, enemies,
There is also an easel portrait Of our own great
Democrat, Thomas Jefferson, and beneath II
what he said in regard to lreland-"May she
soon burst her letters and take her rank among
the free republics Of the EARTH
In charge Of the bureau Ii Mr.. Golden, On
Ifish-Ameftcan from Cork, slight, weli-built
man; with strong but sensitive face and long
ish hair that supports with dignity froci
coat and IN artists tie as
! "Our league" says Mr.. Golden, "is a sdu.
cational organization. At present It ID carry.
ing on its campaign on the streets, meetings
being held under its auspices every night on
some corner, where Thousands Of leaflets deal.
Ing with ireland are given away. During THU
winter we are going to have lectures ever
Sunday night on the Irish question, and, ole,
q course in Irish literature We may sver
put on z series of Irish plays. since Cathlser
in Houlihan was such . great success hsr(
last yeoA We are also conducting classes Il
Gaelic"
At one time practically dead language
Gaelic is now rapidly regaining its lost popu
larity throughout ireland, and even here Il
America According. to Mr.. Golden, It is /
great language to pray in. swear in and max,
Hove in, which 10 enough to make any languag,
popular.
Irish propaganda, - distributed by th,
Irish Progressive league, consists Of two type
praise and censure. Naturally, the praise i
for ireland, and the censure for Great Britain
ireland 10 shown as q naturally Independent
nation. with splendid natural resources, sepa
rate and distinct racial characteristics, an,
quite ~ many facilities for taking care Of 1t
lself Is Serbia, Greece. Norway, Roumania, o
any Of the other small nations Of Europe. Ire
land is about TWICE the size Of Belgium, Hob
land. Denmark o. Switzerland. It has twic
as many people ~ Norway, and its annual vol
ume Of trade is almost twice ~ great Is tina
OF any OF the other small European nations.
Judged BY any standard you may select,
lsays the league ireland II admirably ftte
for freedom. She Is large enough, populou
: fenough and rich enough. For the money v
lpaid England last year. We could run the gov
eminent business of Bulgaria, Switzerland
Norway and Denmark, paying for all their Do
lice, soldiers. ships end guns. Is not Irelan
fooled spd robbed long enough!'