Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-12-07

Five years of armed conflict In
ireland between the forces Of the Brit
ish crown and Sim Fein. ended in a
truce at noon5on Monday, July IL.
during the continuance of which. at a
conference in London, negotiations for
peace were undertaken by Premier
Lloyd George. representing the Brit
ish government, Sir James Craig, the
Ulster premier and Eamonn de
Valera, the Irish Republican leader. \
The term Sim Fem. which, in the
Gaelic, literally means ourselves
alone originated in 1905 hen Ar
thur Griffith and other Intellectual
Irishmen organized it ostensibly to
promote the sale of home manufac-
lures and to further national economic
enterprises.
The armistice came after W
centua les of strife between the people
of the two islands, going as far back
as the days of ~Strongbow and culmin-
ating on Easter Sunday. April 20,
1916, in the now famous dublin Re
volt" in which $50 civilians were kill
ed and 614 wounded and the subse-
quent state of war"
While the history of Ireland's strug-
gle for existence as n separate nation
reaches into the dim distance Of the
lt1Sl ~ Y " - ~~AohA
from government by the British par
lament and the setting up in Ireland
of machinery for the administration
of her own affairs, eliminating in the
decision now reached. may be said to
have assumed a definite n de-
termined form only as far back as the
time of Gladstone and Parnell.
Hopes Blasted.
Fought for years by conservatism in
England and opposed even more Bit
terly by unionism in Ulster, the Home
Rule movement headed by John Red
mond and later Irish leaders, had a
troublous time right up to the open
ing of the European war. The Lib
erals under Prime Minister Asquith
had succeeded in getting a Home Rule
bill to the passing point. 1t was ap-
proved by Redmond but on the e>e of
the great war. 1reland's hopes OF
Home Rule. were blasted by the "Ul-
ster Rebellion" when Sir Edward
Carson, al the head OF 100000 Pro-
testant volunteers, deied the British
government to put the measure into
effect. The Conservatives by their po-
1itical manoeuvreing thwarted imme-
date action on the Home Rule bill in
parliament and when Germany invad-
ed Belgium the problem was shelved,
to be drawn out seven years later
when the renewed activity of the /
Fein and the policy Of repression
adopted by the British government
forced the issue to an attempted set
Element.
During the first two years OF the
war Ireland remained relatively
quiescent and the British leaders
hoped that the Irish had decided to
let the Irish question remain in abbey
ance until the war was over under ~
promise that the Home Rule bill
would be put into effect when the
world war was ended.
This was not to be. Some. of the
Irish leaders saw in Germany a lib
orator for Ireland and Germany say
in Ireland's disaffection an opportuni-
ty to weaker Great Britain's war eff
forts. The upshot was the landing of
Sir Roger Easement in Ireland from
a German submarine. the sinking on
the Irish coast of a ship loaded with
German ammunition simultaneously
with the outbreak of the Easter Re-
bellion' in Dublin in April Is, 1915.
The British had learned of the plan
and Easement was arrested and sub
sequently executed.
The Sim Fein leaders had pro-
claimed ireland a republic and Pat
rick H. Pearse. was designated as pro-
visional president.
The fighting in Dublin lasted until
April so, and the property damage
there was estimated at 10000. 900.
Within a week there were $4,000 Brit
ish troops in Ireland.
Martial Law.
Martial law was declared in the CITY
which was overrun with troops.
Eventually many Sim Feiners sur
rendered and hundreds were captured
by the crown forces. Altogether. as a
esu of the revolt IA Sim Fem lead
executed, 79-were sent to prison and
1,7o6 were sdeported.
Subsequently Eamonn de Valera
succeeded Pearse as president of the
Irish republic. Ireland was heavily
sarrisoned with British troops for the
remainder of the war.
A notable effort to compose the diff
ferences between Great Britain and
Ireland occurred in the summer of
1917 when the famous Dublin nven
ton was held under the Craftsmanship
Of Sir Horace Plunkett. Although the
convention failed fully to attain its
purpose of formulating a plan of
peace, it did reach what Sir Horace
Plunketts called the 'basis of an agree
ment"that Ireland should have a par
lament of its own but Ulster again
blocked the way to peace. 1t would
not consent to be ruled by a parlia-
ment for all Ireland.
The growth of the Sim Fein move