The Washington herald., 1921-12-25
OATH NCIDENTAL;
ERIN IS FREE, SAYS
BERNARD SHAW
Appeals for Reason in
Discussion of the
Treaty.
Continued from Page One.

Continued from Page One.
driving wheel II he refuses 1t is
because he either doubts his abil-
ity to drive or has his reasons for
waiting. 1t is never the oath that
stops him.
slaves or Ideas.
Unfortunately practical states
men are scarce in ireland and the
sentimental patriots are slaves of
fixed ideas and phrases which they
have not examined. Such words as
''The Republic" Independence"
and THE memory OF the dead" can
bring a lump into the throat of
most Irishmen, but really modern
problems cannot be solved by
Jumps in the throat.
Such attempts have always ended
in the problem being aggravated
instead of solved and the lump
being corrected by the external ap-
plication of the moose. Let us ex-
anime these appeals to the thyroid
scientifically.
Memory Of Dead.
The memory of the dead may
be dismissed at once because there
are so many dead on both sides
that II we were to be bound by
the ideas they died for we will
never get on at all. The Irish re-
publican army has taken good care
that Lloyd George has a good
many dead men to go back on and
be denounced therefore by the
British imperialists accordingly.
and II he stands for the living
while the Irish stand for the dead,
then God help Ireland.
If the dead are to have their
say. what about the dead prophet
who told us to let the dead bury
their dead? A prophet nearer
home, Saint Terence Macswiney. the
martyr, left us some very sacred
canons of conduct as to choosing
public servants of Ireland.
l venture to prophesy that Saint
Terence will turn in his grave
when the spoils of Irish victory are
divided up. So much for that popu-
lar claptrap.
Then The Republic" What is
the republic? Is it the republic of
San Salvador or Andorra? Or of
the United States of America? or
France with its IS per cent of sub
jugated aliens? Or the Irish re-
public of Pearse and de Valera?
Obviously not bit of it.
Idea of Republic.
The republic idea for which the
best men have striven in all ages is
the civitatis Del from which no
man can be excluded because he is
English. I repeat that there are
more republicans in England today
than in Ireland and a severance
between them and the republicans
of Ireland may or may not be ex-
pedient on other grounds. but 1t is
anti-republican.
1t would force thousands of
Irishmen to go through the repul-
sive mummery of becoming nat
uralized Englishmen" simply be-
cause the world won't work now
adays in nation-tight compart-
ments.
The republic idea is not to de-
tach your country from its neigh
bors as much as possible, but on
the contrary to establish as much
organic connection with them as
is compatible with their full and
free activities in cleaning their
own doorsteps.
Depend on Each Other.
Independence is a fine shibboleth
for slave: but the moment he is
free he discovers that we are mem-
bers, one with another. and that in
dependence is an egocentric dream.
England calls herself independent,
but why has she been afraid to let
Ireland go until she was ignomin-
iously forced to. Admittedly II Is
because she is so dependent on Ire
land. She has tried to plumber Ger
many only to find that she is de-
pendent on Germany. She has help
ed to ruin Russia only to find her
streets filled with millions IF starv-
ing Englishmen clamoring to be al
lowed to work for Russia in order
to live.
Look at it from the Irish end. How
can Ireland be independent of Eng
land. In war England would march
into Ireland with as little ceremony
as she marched into Belgium anG
Greece. Cut off the Anglo-Irish-or
IL you prefer IT the Iro-English-
trade; and both parties will pres
emily find out by the slacknes OF
'HN DSieS nv" uepeuutHt lHtN are
on one another.
Money or Troops.
Why. the proposed evacuation OF
Ireland by the British Army has al
ready produced protests on the
ground that Ireland will lose thirty
million dollars yearly spent by
these open handed warriors mainly
in her public houses.
The truth Is that Ireland indie
pendent Is ireland as conceived by
Arran villagers and by villagers on
the mainland who are just as in
sular. They might just as well live
in Juan Fernandez, which did once
have an independent population
whose realm there was none to
dispute.
ireland is NOT like that and never
will be. 1t is, for it's size. the CEN
ter of extraordinary activity. in
tellectual and practical. 1t is
quite possible that 1t may become
predominant partner in connec-
ton with Britain. 1t Is as certain
as anything human can be that il
Will never be independent of the
European complex.
Independence for savages.
Such independence is for savages,
not for super-civilized communities
like the Irish. The English resist
civilization with remarkable
stubbornness-they still confront IL