Republican farmer., 1920-03-26
FRANCE SHOWS FRIENDSHIP FOR
 IRISH PEOPLE
Censorship of Former Day Is Being Slowly
 Raised.

The press of France during the war suffered from official strangu-
 lation at the hands of a censorship
 severe beyond comparison with our
 voluntary methods in America
 Even during the days when all
 doors of the Peace Conference, the
 continental editions of American
 and English newspapers were read
 in preference to those in the French
 language.
 Consequently, when the claim of
 Ireland to be recognized at the
 Conference was already figuring large in the American press, French
 publications were forced, for req
 sons of state, to maintain a dis | erect silence. In some few official
 quarters this veil of obscurity per sists. But with the passing of natural and historic sympathy of the French people for Ireland has i begun to manifest itself.
 1 The traditions of Celtic culture l in France have persisted from the 1 middle ages in the sympathetic at : titude of the Republic to expatri- 1 ated Irishmen of several genera i tions. From the days of Sarsfeld ard the Wild Geese the Irish | Brigade in France perpetuated
 the spirit of devotion tc the cause l of liberty. In the American Revo- i lution Lafayette brought to this l country Dillons and Wa-sh's regi- | ments of chiva1ric Irishmen. France
 also inspired those republican
 impulses in Ireland which led Theobald Wolfe Tone to organize l the United Irishmen of '9S under
 the tricolor which has become to- | day the symbol of Irish national
 aspiration.
 And now, again, with the return
 to comparatively normal existence
 the periodicals which serve as : forums for public debate in France, such as Le Journal des Debats, LInformation, Etudes, and Le Correspondent, are pub fishing reviews of the Irish situa-
 tion, covering in detail the devel- , opments which have occurred dur ing the period of compulsory sil- ence for the press. The existence of an Irish Republic established by
 popular vote is regarded very gen era1ly in the French press today as an international problem Even , such semi official organs of the French Government as the Paris . Temps, urge a final and definite solution which will conform with
 the ideals of international justice In French publications of every t kind there is & growing inclination = to include the demands of Ireland ] among those which must be giver 8 thoughtful attention by the world before a, lasting peace can be estab- lAhed.
 DisintereSted friendship betveer T nations, untranIneled by poIitica @ expediency, is perhaps not to be ex- I pected; but it is a striking fact tha = sympathies and friendships, ofter e deep-rooted and abiding do exis
 between races and peoples Tht t recrudescence Of this sympathy be = tween the French and Irish today tt is of particular interest, since it ha. 6 long been an open secret that the d Franco British alliance is one O. }. 1 convenience alone. The oppor $ tunity may yet present itself fol S France to foster the legiimatt e national aspirations of an old frienC 2 and at the same time to end for r ever the fear of the ~encroachmenti r of a neighbor. It will be interest l. ing to watch the development O e French popular sympathy anG e French national policy in regard tC e Ireland.