New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1921-06-18
Crown Forces in Ireland Called Good
Servants of Bad Government by Mrs.
Asquith's g Titled Daughter

land today $50 worth of drink
for which they refused to pay.
When she asked for whnl they
owed her the man i'm command
shouted out TO the others, "Shc
wants payment, does sheo Bring
in Il tin of patrol; we'll pay with
that" And she said no more
about it.
They rc-embarkcd after their
orgy. and three miles further
along the road they came upon
two old road-mcnders and
farmers son leading a pony and
cart. The road-mendcrs. know
ing their habits. got over the
wall and ran away. The police
fired two shots after them. See
ing their danger and conscious
of doing no harm himself. the
boy stood his ground. Six po-
liccmcn. thercupOn. got off the
lorry and set upon him. batter
ing him brutally about the head
and face with firsts and sticks.
They left him dazed and bleed
ing by the roadside.
At the next village thew
sacked the diapers shop, steal
ing a large quantity of shirts
and other goods. / saw the poor
boy who had been injured. /
don't think l have ever felt more
ashamed in my life. His fact
was a purple, swollen jelly, both
eyes almost invisible, his nose
all cut and gashed down'one side
and other lesser wounds and
scratches about his face and
head. his shirt blood-stained, his
clothes clotted with dried blood.
He was a gentle. courteous crea-
ture, and as I stood there stam-
mering out apologies hts one
idea appeared to be to put me at
my ease. Don't you bother
about it. You can't help il. We
understand that"
The only sign he gave that he
recognized the Black and Tans
as human beings was when he
said. rather pathetically, you
would thing they hadn't any
people belonging to themselves
at all" and l couldn't but WON
der what their people" in Eng
land would feel if they could
see their sons and brothers bull
lying and robbing a harmless,
helpless people on their own
countryside.
No wonder that in Kerry tho
fields by the roadside are left
unploughed, untitled, unsown.
Fear of the passing lorry is such
that no one will cultivate them.
And these are the men," as a
Galway farmer said to me, "that
England Is sending over here to
civilixe us"
l can never forget the tragic
desolation of the devastated vii
lagos, the blackened cottages in
ruins, the bcwildered, homless
people, suffering blind1y, with
out reason or redress. The first
l saw had been sacked a few
weeks before a. a rcprisal for the
shooting of a policeman. II is
extremely unlikely that any one
in the village had any part in
this crime, as the local r. /. c.
were very popular and friendly
with the people. He was shot
about nine o'clock at night. The
villagers for the most part did
not even know II had happened,
and even those who heard the
shots suspected nothing, as the
police had, they said. q "play-
ful" way Of firing of their
rifles when they went home at
night.
After Loot"
The avenging force came from
some distance of and, thanks
to q breakdown. they arrived in
the early hours Of the morning
instead of in the middle Of the
night; this merciful fact no
doubt saved many lives. They
came $50 strong ten lorry loads
most Of them drunk, yelling
and screaming, behaving like de-
mons e mep possessed" The
creamery. which had meant the
livelihood Of the little place. the
village hall. which was its pride.
and q whole street Of cottages !
and shops were burnt to the
ground and 4 + charactuistis
e the rex q any sort Of dis
cziminafion WITH which tlicsc
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