Evening star., 1920-06-15
.S|NN FE|N COURTS
PUzzL|NG PROBLEM
Government Sees Tribunals
Functioning Regularly and
Winning Popularity.
BY WILLIAM II. BRAYDEN.
ny Cable to The Star and Chicago
Daily News. Copyright, 1920.

BY WILLIAM II. BRAfDEN.
ny Cable to The Star and Chicago
Daily News. Copyright. 1920.
DUBLIN. Ireland. June 15.-The
problem of how to deal with the Sim
Fein courts is puzzlIng tho government.
Where the courts act In criminal mat
ters the men sentenced by them IN near
ly every case prefer enduring the PEN
atty imposd by the Sim Feiners to ap-
pealing for police protection one OF
them when brought before the Sim
Feiners on the charge Of theft said he
refused to recognize the Jurisdiction Of
their court. He was told that II ne
would name any court whose jurisdic-
ton he did recognize they would be
pleased to hand him over to It.
1t is becoming a recognized thing for
those who have lost property by theft
to invite the assistance Of the Sim
Feiners in recovering it. An army
colonel said that in his absence his
house in County Galway had been en-
tered and some saddles and harness
stolen from it. He thought it would be
useless to complain to the police and tn
stead wrote to the parish priest. Sim
Fein volunteers took the matter up and
in twenty -four hours the stolen property
was left at the priests door.
Another Instance Of Efficiency.
In Saturdays issue of the Chief Sim
Fein paper, which has survived suppress
sion, there is q letter from Capt. STAG
poole. son Of the well known land owner.
the Due de Stacpoolc, thanking the Sim
F'einers for hunting down the men who
had stolen valuable property from his
house in Meath, all of which the Sim
Feners had succeeded in recovering for
him when the police failed.
1t is on the civil side, in relation to
disputes about land. that the Sim Fein
courts have most shown their power.
Land owners. harassed by the agita-
ton of men who want their land. have
appealed in vain to the government for
effective protection. Then they have
sought the arbitration Of the Sim Fen
chiefs. who have held inquiries and in
many cases have decided in favor Of the
land owner and put an end to the agita-
tion. At these inquiries regular attor-
neys at law have been willing to appear.
They are officially under the control of
the high court Of justice, whose officers
they technically are. Their conduct
was brought under the notice Of parlia-
ment when the attorney general for Ire
land declared that the proper authority
to deal with them was incorporated in
the law society.
The society had summoned some Of
them to appear before it. When they
appeared they said they had been
employed by clients whose family
business they had transacted for
years and whose interests they could
not abandon. They declared they
would not have been fair to their cli-
ents had they not taken advantage of
the Sim Fein arbitration courts. The
law society and the courts could do
nothing with them and so far have
made no move to strike them off the
rolls.
Subject to Disbarment.
Barristers have been more reluctant
to recognize the Sim Fein courts.
They could readily be disbarred by
the benchers. A leading kings coun-
sci was recently offered a brief to
appear before a Sim Fein arbitra-
tion court. He did not like it, but
the fact that his employment was
contemplated shows the serious ma
ture of the interests submitted to
these bodies. What makes them so
powerful is the fact that they can
deliver the goods. The government
can send soldiers and police to en-
force land ownership, but it cannot in
the present state Of the country as
| sure the owner possession"