Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1921-07-12
A SON OF OLD ERIN
DISAPPOINTED

Neorge "A. birmingham Is the
name, real or fictitious, of the rev.
erend gentleman who writes so many
of the delightfully."- humorous novels
of Irish life. He is Protestant
clergyman of the Church of Ireland
a Belfast man, who has lived in the
stony fields of Mayo and the pleasant
pastures of Kildare
In his more serious work, v "An
Irishman Looks at His World" his
humor has not deserted him. 1t was,
1t is true, written two years ago, be-
fore the most distressful country had
reached the blacklist of her days.
The political situation even then,
however, was threatening enough to
make any friend of the country, not
to speak of one who claims to love
every seed in it,, fear for the fu-
ture. To have achieved so compre-
hensive, so self-contanied, and as
far as an outsider may judge, so fair
a survey of the conditions, is to have
done very noteworthy work.
The book begins with an eminent
ly readable sketch of the older poll
tical parties. "The most striking fea-
ture of Irish politics is the stability
of parties" There is no chance of
persuading voters by speeches or per-
sonal solicitation. Elections in the
two or three doubtful constituencies
are decided months beforehand in the
court sof the revising barristers. The
question is how to exclude from the
register those who are sure to SUM- !!
port the unwanted candidates. (Only
the other day in Belfast. as a matter
of fact, it is said that the large vot-
ing list collected from the grave
yards who had always carried Devlin ,
to victory was used, fifteen minutes
before his friends arrived at the .
polls, by the other side.) There is
consequently no public discussion of
politics. The ordinary voter does :
not know that there is ever anything .
to be said for his opponents. This
stability, curiously enough, has ex-
listed ever since the Irishman has !;
been a free voter. He made up his
mind once for all, and has stuck to it =
The beginning of Sim Fem dates
from 1880, when Arthur Griffith pub =,
Iisaed st".e articles on the fight for "
freedom f the Hungarian Magvars "
and suggested similar policy for e ,I
ireland. The country was at that ~: =,
time marked by profound apathy. A - -
few responded, recognized England is
as the enemy, and chose the name,
Ourselves, to show their feeling that
Ireland should depsbd, not on aid u
from outside, but upon her own high e
merits OF self-government, self-help,
culture and sacrifice. The society has
hardly lived up to them. 1t has VI
fuFhai It's eyes on Germany, Russia, ~
America. For ten years it languished
then things began to come It's way. T
The Gaelic League, which has started W
out to revive the national language,
revived at least national conscious
ness. Deep discomfort at the con- g
tinual rostponement of Home Rule !"
stirred the masses. Then the Vol
unteers, not originally connected with !
it, "driffteed into the hospitab!e arms
of Sim Fem" Irish labor approached
it, because it was Irish.
The instruction of 1916 Is hard to
understand. 1t never had the ghost
of chance of succeeding. The heads {
of Sim Fein tried to prevent it, but
werel rushed into it by Connolly and
Pearse. Why? Were they dreamers
who believed that in the streets of
Dublin a fire might be kindled that
would leap from city to city, con-
suming capital, destroying WARP"
The result was that Sim Fem leap
ed into the position of a great ma
tional party. Ireland made up its
mind. The party of political idealists
gained the driving force of popular
support. Except in Belfast, labor was
with them.
Even in 1918 one feature was the
outbreak of sporadic crime. In 1919 !,
Birmingham looked to the future with
doubtful eyes. He could not imagine
that labor might overcome national
lists. Ireland" he says philo- D
sophically, sis the land of Dreams" ii
At present it may be called land n
Of Nightmares.
His whole view of the country is
! disappointed one. In separate ar n
icles he taos up the questions of w