New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-05-21
From Mary MacSwinev
Protesting Against an Editorial .,
Sim Fcin Terror"

TO the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: In common justice I must =.
you to permit me space 20 No.. ast
against the tenor of the .ditori.,
your issue Of May 10, entitled ae,
Fem Terror" OHM
Why newspaper Of the United Stat.
should act as an apologist for the ~,
rageous campaign of tyrannv
atrocities carried on by Euylsn. sD
Ireland at present it would b. 49,,
for any one to understand who IRA. -.
well acquainted with the clever ;r,is}
Gus and powerful propaganda 50 ~
tinuously employed by England in ~
country. '''
Efficiently organized propsp,rs.
should mobilize the press, the ebnr.S
the stage and the cinema" saws -
NorthclifFe; and Sir Gilbert pa,ks,
one of those specially deputed T..
British propaganda in the u,,..4
States-tells how they "adviss sns
stimulate many persons to write =,
ticles." How effectively the Enov,h
point Of view is given to the Amer;..~
press and the Irish point of view snn
pressed is evidenced from the fact ths,
impartial American press men bs,.
been ordered out Of Ireland, and wb.r
court martial trials reveal the nm.
bridled violence, murder, rape ana
looting carried on by English soldier,
the press men are forbidden to ppbr,,
any details, or the courts are held !,
secret.
You say "there is a moral digeren..
between Sim Fein outrages and Byi,
ish reprisals," and you imply that II,
morality is on the side Of Britain nv
making the British punitive demon.
stration" say "Quit numbering our ma,
or we will burn down more of YOU,
houses; and the "Sinn Fem coun.s,.
reprisal," according to you, says: "ou,,
trying to suppress our campaign Of &c.
sassination or we will murder NOR.
frequently and burr your houses IN
England" This sounds more like N,
British Tory Morning Post or LIOvd
Georges Daily Chronicle than an Amer.
lean who is supposed to love a souar,
deal; and the statement that Amer.
can friends of Ireland will read with
pain more than surprise the stories Of
Sim F6in activities" is as PecksnifHan
as anything ever uttered by the nation
Of Pecksniffs.
"The active rebels in ireland ara .
small body" you tell US. tell yov
there are no rebels in ireland. One
can be a rebel only against lawfully
constituted authority, and the authority
of England in Ireland is not lawful and
has not been constituted by the Irish
people, who alone are justly entitled
to constitute authority there.
But the Irish nation is determined to
drive from it's shores the invader who
has no right there. Our guerrilla
bands" are not "out of hand" They.
and they alone, of the armed forces in
Ireland, are working in the interest Of
civilization and just government. Even
fair-minded Englishmen have acknowl-
edged that the campaign of terrorism,
which you call British reprisals, began
before ever a police spy was shot in
Ireland. Spies have been shot in every
country, and it is rather absurd for an
American who is supposed TO take pride
in the Battle of Lexington to object TO
ambushes in ireland.
But perhaps your editorial writer Is
Of the same type as one ] met in an
other part of this country, who, IN
answer to the question Are you an
Englishman or an American ?" replied
"My father was an Englishman and
never naturalized; I was born here,
but 7 think I always feel more English
than anything else" The tone of your
editorial this morning is as English IS
any Tory reactionist could desire; ss
English as the editorial writer of the
Tory observation-disclosures, who, writing
of the struggle of the American Revo-
luton on the eve of the Battle Of
Bunker Hill, said: "Never have the
annals Of the world been deformed by
so wantOn, wicked, causeless and IN
natural rebellion" 1t reads like an
invitation to the British to still greater
ferocity or as an article inspired BY
British agents to test how much more
oppression of gallant nation rightly
struggling to be free the American
people will stand unmoved.
"The truth" you say, will sooner
or later make its way. The Sim Fein
organization will be seen for Whist It
is" That is true, and for US the sooner
the better. We do not need to be afraid
of the truth. 1t is not we who are
trying to suppress it. If the war
against the Black and Tans has been
carried into England and their homes
are burned as they are burning ours
it may help to bring them to Their
senses, or to rouse to sense Of their
responsibility the English people, who
in the ultimate issue are responsible
for the deeds of their government.
have no information beyond thst
given in the American press Of what
has been done in England. It may be
strikers riots instead of summary JUS
tice inflicted on the Black and Tans
Why does not the United States reeog-