The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-04

they were not bound TO respect Niscount
French's authority. the Sim Fein tried
TO assassinate him at the end of 1919.
killings Began Suddenly.
But toward the military and the police
the people of Ireland went on as usual
in easy, happy tolerance. until the
police, under instructions from Dublin
Castle, began actively to trail down Sim
Fem leaders 1t was then that the
real killings began. Justifying these
killings. the Sim Fein declared that
each man killed had either framed or
got evidence which had been fataI TO
Sim Fein government plans. The Irish
role, II not sympathetic, at least under
stood this viewpoint, and some of them
who persisted in doing their duty We're
killed, while others did not attempt to
do their duty. AS a result OF this the
Sim Fein gradually extended their
power. They established arbitration,
land. civil and criminal courts and their
own police, and after attacking barraks
and driving out the Royal Irish Con-
stabulary, they showed not only their
own ability to maintain ordinary ORDER
but made scores of British courts idle
while many of their tribunals functioned
busily. At the same time the Sim Fem
! agricultural and commercial reforms. OF
course, all this was in open and loud
defiance of the Crown.
An these proceedings were accompa-
MED. by the declaration that there could
be no settlement of the Irish situation
until Ireland was free agent and could
deal with Great Britain as an equal
The correspondent of THE HERALD has
the best authority for reiterating the
! A.. - 1nff IT, 1,th1f f,
from De Valera in which he admits he
would accept a sound Dominion home
rule If the Irish people wanted 1t and he
could be sure that the British statesmen
who had so often deceived Ireland could
oe trusted to carry out their promises.
Nevertheless, Premier Lloyd George
and the representatives of the Irish ma
jority never met on the same bridge, and
facing this open defiance the Govern
ment had to try repression.
There Is no doubt that the Irish people
are terrorized by the police killings and
by the killing and disappearance OF per-
sons who aided the police az well as by
the boycott of all persons connected with
the police. Hence it is impossible to OBJ
tain juries to try men whom the police
know killed their comrades, or to induce
witnesses to appear before juries IL they
obtained the juries. This situation, with
| the broken morale of the Royal Irish
Constabulary, has led to the sending of
regiment after regiment to occupy bar
racks at strategic places that police
could not hold the establishment Of
what Is tantamount to martial law wher-
ever II is necessary and the recruiting
IN England OF the BLACK and Tans" to
take up the real police work which the
Royal Irish Constabulary could not do.
Meanwhile. the actual lighting be-
came more and more intense with the
first whisper Of reprisals, when District
Inspector Smyth was accused Of telling
the Listowel garrison to Ego the limit"
Inspector Smyth paid for this with his
| life in a Cork club, and Belfast famed
out with a nasty sectarian strife. which
was fed with the fuel Of religious
bigotry unequalled in darkest Tibet or
! any other place in the world.
| Belfast became place where a mans
| life may depend at any moment upon
declaration of faith. either way.
At this juncture. Parliament adj
journed.
| Promises Ten Deaths to One.
For months the police heads have
known for certainty that Sim Fem
adherents were killing their comrades
1t was authoritatively stated that when
| they round tney mao among lHe BIRCH
and Tans game birds" in one time Of
i ficers and soldiers who had not been
absorbed into civil life after demobliza-
ton OF the army. they sent word 10 the
I Sim Fein leaders: "Ai right go on
with the killings if you want 10. but
we know who is doing the killing. de-
spite the fact we can't prove It before
the courts which you have broken W.
We have our own evidence. For every
one you kill we win kill ten
II was even stated that the secret
service heard report that Burke was
TO be killed when he was promoted
whercupon they served the Sim Feir
with a list of ten Sim Feiners they
would Kill upon Burke's death This
was reported to have been the genesis