The Nenana daily news., 1920-08-09
IRISH RAILROADS
 GIVE TROUBLE ID
 THE GOVERNMENT

into contest beween the govern ment and Sim Fein, and all the moves on each side are calculated from that point of view.
 If there is to be general stop page of all traffic each side is de- termined to make the other re- sponsible for it. and there will be an argument as to whether it is strike or lockout. The govern ment has been accommodating trans port, and has no difficulty in con veying any quantity of arms and
 munitions to any part of Ireland.
 It has therefore not chosen to force the pace by rendering munitions for
 the Irish goods trains, which on the refusal of the railway men to
 handle them would have meant de- priving Ireland of many of the ne- cessities of life.
 The trouble which has occurred
 has been solely on the passenger trains and has been mainly con- cerned with the carriage of small parties of policemen or of troops who are being used as supplementa- ry to the police. At first when the railwaymen refused to carry them the soldiers or police took it calmly and returned to their barracks. Later on, the government issued an order that the soldiers or police should sit tight in the railway car riages and insist on being carried. They were also directed to present .themselves at the next train start ing for their destination. Hence a series of spasmodic hold ups of trains all over the country which cannot be relieved until the
 police decide to withdraw. Wher- ever the police insist on being car
 ried the trains cease to run beyond that station, and the railwaymen responsible are dismissed But the
 passenger trains which do not stop at that station are unaffected, and run through as usual. On the Mid land line this has meant that trains from Dublin cannot get past Athen- try and Castlerea, while trains up to Dublin still run ...... ~... The driver, fireman, and guard
 starting from Dublin convey their train as far as the point where the police want to get on. They refuse
 to go any farther, and there is a regular daily list of dismissals.
 How small on the whole is the trouble so far may be estimated i from the fact that the total dis missals after three weeks or q
 months conflict is less than 60 on
 all the lines in Ireland. Business
 has suffered but slightly. The situ-
 ation may be relieved any day by decision of the government to send {, their men by motor. This would
 be hailed, however, as victory for the Sim Fein.
 The Irish judges who are now going out to hold the assizes have
 decided to travel by motor. Usually they go by train, accompanied by
 an armed guard of honor. If they
 went by train with the guard they
 would not be allowed to leave the
 terminus. If they went without the Iguard it would be acknowledging
 the Sim Fein power, and they would be liable to be held up like lany other passengers at any sta
 tion where police wanted to come
 on board. So they go by motor.
 The barristers in many cases are
 doing the same thing, and as a
 special concession to. the difficulties lof the time have obtained permis-
 sion to appear in court without
 their wigs and gowns, which are usually carried by the bar attend iants by passengers trains, now liable