Evening star., 1921-04-13
Editorial Digest
Mixing in Ireland.

Mixing In Ireland.
The majority of American news
papers seem to agree that Mr.. Willard s
committee OF one hundred organized to
investigate conditions in ireland was
TOO far away from the scene Of action
to render fair Judgment. Many at
| tack the personnel Of the committee
on the grounds Of personal or politi-
cal bias, and some are bitter in their
attack on the motives OF these
"Americans." Moderate opinion. how
ever, while not overlooking the Eek
parte" nature of the investigation, re-
grets the rather "one-sided" nature of
the testimony. and considers the in
vestigators sincere. II i'll equipped. A
few criticise the British embassy's 8
disclaimer. and praise the efforts Of
the committee of one hundred.
The Lynchburg News (democratic)
thinks the report is utterly unre-
liable: THE indictment which the
report draws against British methods
and British crime in Ireland is so
sweeping, so drastic and in some cases
so repulsively hideous in import that
those who take it seriously may we'll
wonder whether the English people
have fallen from the status OF civil
lied human beings to an absolutely
barbarous and british level. Bus in
good sense there is no room for such
a conjecture. 1t IS nrn2cscerous
Whatever the self-cons:;t COM
mission may say atoG+ = will n1t be
believable by dsrassiG21te ohs.;'"-
ers."
The fact that III. "orcu,iar o-es .;9a-
ton was got tosrtt,a- fv thr Nation ~
in he onir.*,r u: 'he h.:ri,'; ?'r."-rana
(ndcprns!enn. suf1ic.=rt to d':,t'r"G:. ~"
fndinSs IT,, committee. !; &nAs. vas
made Ut oi ;.:--.,. Glasses. coup he
or. obviously chsrnpiors Of tho !:is',
cause. rerson@ ,r:ose activities dITin;
the war were ia.cra.,,.. 20 Germany and
tl,e radical c''it"nt. ~" naturally il
c'jnn'1 in HI ;'.m" ';ira:tion.' While
Other writer's crs 10. SO bitter il. ,c;r
| attacks On the ,-.orr.ei of - rn-' nit
tee. the ma ic-t! as",> that +; : wee
partisan. "H>st O, them. NO. a''ri-"ed
| ty prejudice" comments the E1ffa!o
News republican). ARE OF pronounced
| independently Of the Same city thinks
that the report "pIll attract very little
public attention either here or abroad
because it is admittedly report based
! (N. C) News (democratic) declares that
the vcrnct r"r'!ered was agreed upon
before ttt sitting began: Ireland is all
rirht an! England is all wong"
einian Pilot Gndependert dcmocratic).
! ton" concerning the probity Of the wit
rnss"s. and agree :hat "?roh!ty Is not
eno>gh.'' The FirginianFi'ot remarks
Unfortunately, not even the great
committee Of one hundred can overcome
the margin Of error in judgment rem
T, de-ea 1000 miles away from the scene
of the conflict. on the testimony Of wit
nesses directly or indirectly implicated
as rartisans on me side Of Ireland"
The Grand Rapids Press Gndepend-
; ent feels that the report will be read
/ with interest as a spirited presenta-
tion of Ireland's side" but can hardly
help the Irish cause. for cit can in no
wise be regarded as document founded
| on the full case" Because Of this
! fact the Chicago Post independent)
sees no result except promotion OF
| bad feeling"
British embassy denial of tho ffndin"s.
! and the New York Tribune Crepub-
| lican) is quick to defend the English
| against the charge that Ireland has
! been made another Belgium" 1t
carefully calls attention to the al,eRa-
| ton that ninety-two British police
men were killed before any reprisals
! were taken.
on the other hand. while the Balti-
more Sun independent democratic,
| makes no effort to condemn either
! side on the evidence presented and
|
| ly biased" it asserts that 1t is not
| wholly misleading" as the embassy
| declared it to be. for actual condi-
| tions" in Ireland "lie somewhere be-
tween the extremes described by ad-
| vocates and opponents Of British
rule" The Buffalo Expr"ss Gndr-
pendent republican,. too. declares that
| Sir Auckland's disclaimer" would be
accepted with more faith were 1t
not that the Lloyd George government
| does not dare, apparently. to make
public the report on the burning Of
Cork" The Fort Wayne Journal
Gazette democratiel: ignoring the
| question of the Willard report, at
| tacks the official British statement:
Nothing more impudent has ever
! emanated from an embassy in Wash
ington than the hypocritical and false
statement given out discrediting the
necessity for Irish relief and advanc-
ing the utterly untrue theory that
the Irish people have never been more
prosperous"
The answer issued in such haste
from the embassy" says the Buffalo
Times (democratic) is damaging ad-
mission" rather than disproof of the
committees findings, which are not
different from that Of a large sec
ton Of the British body polite -
The report is valuable" and must
command attention" in the opinion
of the Akron Beacon Journal (repub-
Iican). and the New York Globe Nn-
dependent) thinks 1t presents an
, effective ex parte case against the
Irish policy OF the British government" !"