The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-13
Sim Fein Prisoners Released
 The Right Thing Done in the Wrong Way
By MAJOR BRYAN COOPER
 Irish Ex-M. F.

time to time few of them were released on parole either because they were In h, health, or for family or bushes reasons. Among those who gained conditional llo- erty in this manner were Count Plunkett. Darrell Figgis the poet Mrs. Clarke, and
 Madame Mcbride. It is well known that De Valera and two compan-
 ions succeeded in escaping from Lincoln iail early in February, but in spite of | escapes and releases there were stlll
 nearly 70 Sim Feiners imprisoned in Eng land at the beginning of March, 1919. For the last six months of 1913 Sim F'ein did not, to outward appear ance. worry much about the prisoners. The energy of all those still at liberty was devoted to organization for the general election so as to prove the right of their party to speak for Ire land But once the general election was over, and the nationalist party had been defeated (many of the inn prisoned men being among the suc- cessfu1 Sim Fein candidates) an aSi- tation for the release of the prison CTS began in Ireland It is believed that the viceroy of Ireland, Viscount French, urged the war cabinet to ac- cede to this demand on the ground that the armistice had been signed and that therefore, there was no longer any military necessity for holding men in prison without trial Lloyd George was, however, absent in Paris, and in his absence the cabinet hesitated to take such a step. It is believed that
 the chief factor in this reluctance was the attitude of the home secretary, MT Shortt, who had formerly been sec retary for Irlenad, and was thought to be on bad terms with Lord French. In any case, however, when Lloyd Georges driving force is removed, the h. l.. ,ort ho n h. ably would have failed to reach de- cision. At the beginning of February Lloyd George returned and Lord French hurried over from Dublin to see him, only to fall seriously i'll with bronchitis as soon as he reached Lon- don.
 Meanwhile the agitation in Ireland had increased, and 1t was decided by Sim Fein to stop fox-hunting until the prisoners were released. Though many farmers opposed this step, riots took place at several meets and many masters of hounds gave up the sport, and removed to England. Anxiety for the health of the prisoners added fuel to the flames. for the influenza epi- demic was raging in England and the prisoners were not immune from it's attacks. Sim Fein had a good cry and made the most of it.
 At last Lord French recovered his health sufficiently to place the case before Lloyd George On the one hand the premiers Irish advisers urged re- lease mainly on the ground that with the bulk of the more responsible lead CTS of Sim Fein in prison or fugitives, the party was being thrown into the hands of the advocates of violence; on the other, English ministers appear to have suggested that 1eniency to Irish political offenders would weaken the hands of the government in dealing with labor unrest in England. On such
 points Lloyd George is a good judge He rightly considered it of enormous importance to allay the unrest in Ire land. and on March 6 it was announced
 that the Sim Fein prisoners would be released internationally.
 If this was intended as a concession
 it may have come too late. What would in January have been regarded