The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-23

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 As citizen of Irish birth, I wish to warn the people of Birmingham and Ala bana from taking too seriously, and at it's face value. the propaganda of the sinn Feiners now being so sedulously disseminated in our state. went to heaf Devalera at the Jefferson Theatre Wednesday night. and after a careful study of his speech and the printed man ifesto handed out, it is clear that he dia no nake out his case. it the < 'fi
 Feiners have to depend upon misrepresen- tation to establish their cause before the American public, then their case is in- deed weak l do net wish 70 chsrEe m Devalera is deliberately dishonest; indeed am frank to say that his address made quite favorable impression as to his sincerity. 1 knew a man once who be- liewed the earth was flat and he was quite sincere. The trouble with DeVa-
 leta and the Sim F4iner is in the point of view, the unfair interpretation of fact and history, the note Of bitter hatred against England, and the unwarranted assumption that the Sim Fein movement represents all of Ireland.
 DeValera states that snere is no lib- erty in ireland. and speaks with bitter
 ness Of tho British soldiers and their equipment as an evidence of tyranny. Those British soldiers are there, and
 many of them are Irishmen, to protect law-abiding men, women and children a ga inst the assassins who have been ter rorizing the country in the name of the Sim Fein party. Does, ,DeValera. want for his followers liberty to murder police men from ambush and in cold blood 70 %antonly destroy property, to enter prl- lvate homes and shoot down public or ficials. and even kill helpless women? This is being done almost daily in Ire Hand bv the Sim Feiners It is the cuty of government to establish law and or der to etaa~tee life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. and British soldiers and the splendid men of the Irish police fierce are doing that. It can't be done with Mother Seigels soothing syrup, hence the guns, the tanks, the military equipment. Before the rise of Sim Fein, ireland was a peaceable country. I have traveled it's length and breadth and the only disorder I saw was just plain, old Fashioned drunkenness, for John Barley corn is a worse enemy of Ireland than lJehn Bull. Since the arrival of the ;:n-- Fejn there has been one long, dark night of arson and assassination.
 1 They say Ireland is an oppressed couh- | try. lived nineteen years in Ireland
 >4.-~-r expression On the con
 trary, Ireland has enjoyed the same con
 rusnts and privileges accord i ed to any other British citizens l cnai- I Jenge denial of this The recorc e l British rule In Ireland is an open book. He who runs may read. Of course if we 70 back too far we find oppression.
 That is true of every country. If We 20 back sixty years in America we hnd l human slavery. Here are the facts: l 1$Ireland enjoys full representative gov ert,,nent with more than her proportion- ate share of representatives in the Brit | ish Parliament, the greatest and most democratic parliament in the world.
 l 2 Ireland enjoys local seif-government-
 She has her county councils, her urban and district councils. She has the same i, local control over her affairs as the in babitants of England, Wales or Scotland Ireland enjoys religious liberty. The | constitution guarantees to every cstizen n the right to worship God according to the dicta es of his own c01scierce There iF scarcely country in Europe wlldcr c'..as,ss to Catholics the right to have ccnvents and other private institutions ,wuhout. inspection Or hindrance. Under