East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-10-27

who publicly criticized them. A lee
ture which he was to deliver in Glas
COW, a center of labor unionism, hat
to be cancelled on account of the un
popularity his words brought upor
him.
The human aspect of the Lord May.
or's hunger shtike was the one that
! chiefly interested British people and
compelled the sympathy of even his
hardest political enemies. Mrs. Mac
Swiney and his brothers and sisters
were treated everywhere with respect
and on their side had nothing but
good to say of the jailers and police
with whom they had to deal.
Any way out of MacSwiney's i'm
prisonment except his death would
have been welcomed by the whole
public but his family were as firm
as MacSwiney in refusing to listen to
any end except release or death. There
can be no doubt the Irish republicans
believed MacSwiney nad given their
cause and most valuable service in
his power and that, like John Brown
"he will trouble you more than ever
when you have, nailed his coffin
down.
Fast Began Aug. IL
MacSwiney's hunger strike was be- |
gun on August l2i when, with ten of
his associates, he was arrested by
soldiers in Cork while attending a
session of a Sim Fein court. After
trial by courtmartial under the
Realm Act. he was found guilty of
sedition and sentenced to two years |
Imprisonment, which he was serving
in Brixton Prison in London.
MacSwiney. then. an Alderman Of
Cork, was elected Lord Mayor of the
city at a special session of the Cork
Corporation on March 80 of this
year. He wassa we'll known Sim Fein
leader and, prior to his election, had
been deported and imprisoned sew
Grad times, one of the latest notable |
instances of his confinement having |
been in 1916 in connection with the
Irish Easter revolt,
When arrested on august ~, Mac |
swiney managed to escape TO the
street from the back of the City
Hall, which soldiers had surrounded,
but was captured outside. He was
taken to the military barracks. and |
came up for trial on August 16. The |
found him guilty Of hay-
ing control of the secret police cipher, Il
Of having in his possession a docu- /
ment likely to cause disaffection, |
namely, copy Of resolution OF the |
Cork Corporation pledging allegiance |
to the Dali Eireann. the Irish Repub- |
lican Parliament, and of having made |
a seditious speech on the occasion OF |
his election.
Declares Arrest Illegal
Already weak at the trial because OF |
his refusal to take food. MacSwiney dis /
puted the jurisdiction OF the court,
saying: 1T am the lord mayor of this |
city and its chief magistrate. de-
clare this court illegal and those taxi
ing part in it liable to arrest under |
the laws of the Irish republic.
The day following his trial, LORD
Mayor MacSwiney was deported to
England aboard a destroyer, under a
heavy military escort and was lodged |
in Brixton jail. The government an- |
nounced on August 10 that he was
to two years imprisonment.
MacSwiney's hunger strike brought
numerous solicitations and protests
to the British authorizes, many of the
appeals being from sympathizers IN
the United States, ana even a threat
from the Sim Fein in ireland, that, I
in the event of his death, a general
strike and serious disturbances would
prevail throughout the island. Ant
was taken directly to the King
but this also proved unavailing.
During his Imprisonment, the LORD
Mayor received numerous messages
of encouragement and also petitions
to abandon b strike. He replied to
the latter that if he gave up his fight /
he would "give away Irish liberty
and that he would rather die than
do that"
Replying to reports that susten-
ance was being given Mayor Mac
swiney, the British Home Office de-
clared IF he is being fed we do not
know it," while members of Mac
swiney's family denied categorically /
that food had been given him.
Peter Mac-Swiney of New York,
a brother OF the Lord Mayor, is an
official of the American Commission
for Triqh Iudoncndence,