The Columbia evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-20
IRISHQUESTION
Is A COMPLEX
Movement Involves Many
Things but Is Domin-
antly Economic.
By CLYDE A. BEALs.

tUWted PresS SidT Correspondents,
DUBLIN. Sept. 2o.-tBy Mail)-Th'
Irish movement is complex mass o
ambitions. desires and needs. The onl,
persons who understand it TO their owT
satisfaction are those who are 50 vital
" interested and have their eyes so glued
to the goal that they can moi see whal
is pushing them.
Some say the issue is clear-that it j:
a matter Of driving out of the country
the invading English.
Many Englishmen and many Americans
say the issue is religious, that in the
south the Catholic combine against the
Protestants. and that in Ulster the Pro-
,estants combine against the Catholics.
Some say the issue is economic-that
Ireland wishes TO have more control
over her trade than she has at present
and more opportunities Of developing
her industries 10 support the population
that she is capable Of supporting.
Some say it is purely poliiical-that
ireland abhors the humiliation Of hav.
ing her laws made by a body in which
she can have only small representation.
Some will say that the movement is
nationalistic-that ireland feels the surge
+, Of national consciousness and wants TO
be free 10 foster it.
Some. finally. will say that the move.
ment is a labor one-ihat il is lreland's
participation in the socialistic and other
movements that are taking place in DIFF
ferent forms in other countries.
Actually, ii is no one Of these, least
Of all religious. Ii is like chameleon on
a grandmother quilt.
Certainly. i, has the aspect of driv-
ing out the invader. The English got
their hold on Ireland just as they got
their hold on Britain. They were asked
to take hand in a local dispute, and,
like the proverbial camel, when they
got their nose in. they just squatted all
over the lot. But that was some seven
hundred years ago.
The movement has been religious, but
outgrown it. Two members of the pres
cnt cabinet and fair sprinkiing Of
members Of the Dali Eireann are not
Catholics. The constitution Of Sim
Fein says: Membership shall be open to
all adults Of Irish birth or parentage
irrespective Of sex, class or creed, who
accept the constitution OF Sim Fein, save
that no member of the British armed
forces, nor pcnsioner thereof, nor any
person who has taken the oath Of ale
gience to the British government shall be
eligible so long as he retains the Office
CT position involving that oath"
The movement today is probably DOM
inantly economic. But the era is indus
trial and economic and i, seems likely
that the Irish movement has taken on
that aspect because Of the era and does
not arise from economic motives. One
Irish leader wrote: "The Irish have
shown by three hopeless rebcllions in
every century how loathsome to them
is the character which British statesmen
would mould them" So the movement
cannot be said to be purely economic
Yet ii has that aspect. One hears tha,
ireland needs lower tariffs than England
collects because her workmen receive
usually half the pay Of an English work.
man. One hears that Irish foreign trade
is undeveloped because England puts
obstacles in the way Of ships visiting
the harbors. The movement has a very
definite economic side.
The movement has a political aspect,
but it is not only political. Irishmen
are too well known in America for it to
be necessary TO point out their political
nature. They object to having their
laws made al Westminster. They believe
that Parliament considers chiefly Eng
lish Interests, and De Valera has said:
An Irish right can never give way to an
English interest"
The nationalist aspiration has prob.
ably been largely responsible for keep.
ing the movement alive for so long. The
Irish point out that their civilization is
one of the Oldest in the world. The surge
of this national feeling is like slow
pulse, rising now and again. to win the
freedom OF expressing the Gaelic civil.
zstion unhampered by the imposed per.
sonality OF another race.
The labor phase is expressed in the
Irish cooperative movement The co.
operatives have made deal. or will
shortly, with the Dali Eireann BY which
in return for their support the Dali will
see that in bidding for public or private |
undertakings they will have an opportun. /
iiy equal TO that Of individual enter. |
prise.
To appraise such influence is prac. |
tically impossible. In the aggregate
they arc powerful. Their power lies in |
The devotion each inspires in its propon. |
enis for the whole movement.
III