New-York tribune., 1922-11-25
England Fears Killing of
Lieutenant Will Incite
DE Valera's Followers to
New Attack ON Republic
Free State Friends
Call Act a Blundel'
Tragic Death of Brilliant
EnglisllmanBr BringsMany
Expressions of Sorrow
By Arthur S. Draper

From The ITibune's Enropedn Bureap
f, Copyright. 1922, New York Tribune Inc
LONDON, Nov. "a. - Ireland thrust
itself into the British news to-day
| with the execution of Erskine Childers
by the Free State government even
more dramatically than on the occasion
OF Michael Collins's death.
London was shocked by the news,
partly because Childers was an Eng
iishman of honored name and partly
because opinion here had believed
ciemency would be extended to him, or
at least his execution deferred until
his appeal had been heard
Friends of Ireland generally de-
piored the shooting because of the ex-
pected further unsettlement it would
produce in the Free State. 1t is
feared by many that the reprisals
promised by De Valera for the death
of his chief lieutenant may lead to a
new and more encrimsened chapter in
the distressed island
The Liberal press, which generally
supports tbe Free State, almost united
ly called the execution a grave mis-
take this afternoon, and even the
uie-Aaau moIhiHS Iost tnlS morn
ing asserted, in anticipation of the
event, that it would be unjust to take
Childers's life on legal grounds until
his appeal for writ of habeas corpus
had been acted upon.
Esteemed as Courageous Man
Personal friends of Childers, who
were numerous in London, were espe-
claily startled at the violent end of
the brilliant Englishman, graduate Of
Cambridge, author and former patriot,
who had fought in two wars for the
empire. The processes through which
he evolved from a British imperialist
to the most extreme of Sim Feiners
have always puzzled his former associ-
ates here, and his death at the hands
of an Irish government has served to
bring his career into high relief.
Despite the fact that his recent ca
reer was filled with episodes of a
reasonable nature. Childers still VIA s.
highly esteemed here as courageous
man. And among those who had come
into conflict with him recently, as did
British and American newspaper cor
respondents during. the period when he
acted IS propagandist for the republi-
can cause, he was held in regard beyond
that usually held for men in such posi-
tions. His readiness to assist, his un-
usual literary ability, his apparent sim
cerity In the cause he had adopted,
combined to win for him something
more than respect.
"It may be significant that on the
day that De Valera.s chief aid was
put to death the Irish Free State bill
had its first reading in the British
Parliament, with all signs pointing to
It's early passage. "The Morning Post"
announced editorially this morning
that it had been assured the Free
terially. from the Anglo-Irish treaty,
which is tantamount to saying that
the "die hard" group of Unionists
INTENDS to make no real fight against
the bill. That means it will be enacted
next week, we'll within the December
time limit set by the treaty
Childers's Statement Published
Childers's last statement was made
public this evening in Dublin, and in it
he gives a sketch of his life, indicating
the changes in his political convictions
from Unionist imperialist to dominion
Home Ruler and later to irrecQacilable
republican. 10
"May God hasten the day of reunion
among us all under the flag of the re-
public!" he said. "I have been faith
ful to the trust imposed in me, nor has
any suggestion been made to the con-
trary," he wrote, referring to his work
for the republic and missions he car
ried out for Arthur Griffith and Michael
Collins.
Ten months of service in the South
African War turned him against i'm
perialism, he explained, and he fought
in the European war in the belief he
was helping the cause of the freedom
of small nations.
"The slow growth of intellectual con-
viction has brought me to where 1
stood, and it is impossible to go back.
have fought and worked for the
sacred principe of the loyalty of the
Irish nation to it's declared indepen-
dence and for the reputation Of the
voluntary surrender to conquest and
inclusion in the British Empire" he
concluded.
No particulars of the execution are
available except for the official notice
tcO~ tlnued on page fsur)
N