The New York herald., 1922-04-16

Dublin use the Gaelic language. Coun-
ty Council and other advertisements
in the newspapers are in Gaelic. Kings
town Is again Dun Laoghaire. Queens
town is once more Cobb. Donegal is
Tyrconnell. Gaelic typewriters are
used in Government Offices and the
ancient language Of Erin is obligatory
in all schools. Over Dublin Castle,
that symbol Of ancient subsection, the
Sim F'ein flag flies; and in front of
the castle gates as well as in front of
the bank, which is soon again to be
the Irish Parliament House. Irish SOL
diers strut to and fro. The rebel tri-
color waves over the fortress in
Queenstown harbor and over the
Pigeon House Fort in Dublin Bay.
Irish Moderation is Amazing
When Comparisons Are Made
If, on the other hand, we compare
ex-revclutionaries who now rule in the
republics of eastern Europe, where l
have just spent over a year, We can
not help being amazed at their mod
GRAFTON. Strange as the assertion may
seem, that moderation is partly due to
the essential conservatism and re-
straint Of the Irish character; but
England constitutes, of course, pow
erful brake, and English culture had
made much more progress In Ireland
than Russian culture had made in Po-
land and the Baltic states. 1t is easy
to see why this was so. The Poles and
the Balts were more highly educated
than their Russian masters, while
tthough Mr.. de Valera would tear me
in pieces for saying sol the Irish Gaels
have in modern times been less edu-
Gated than their British masters. A
small but cultured nationality which IS
subjugated by a large. barbaric en-
pire has a much greater chance of
preserving its language and it's pc
culiar type of civilization than has a
small backward nationality subju-
gated by highly cultured, well organ
lied and comparatively liberal empire:
thus, the western races which were
conquered by the Russians and by the
Turks preserved their languages and
their civilization intact: while the Poles
and Lithuanians. who fell under the
hard and disciplined kultur of Ger
many, disappeared almost completely.
Millions of Poles in the Posen and
Danzig districts lost their religion,
their nationality and their language;
and the Lithuanian tribe of Borussians
was so completely absorbed that it has
given it's name to modern Prussia,
which is, curiously enough. far from
being a purely German organism. That
the weak and disorganized civilization
of the Irish Gael succeeded in resisting
absorption into the tremendous politi-
cal entity known as Great Britain is
one of the greatest miracles of his
tory and what makes this miracle all
the greater is the fact that England's
extreme liberalism Joined to the uni
versatility of her language and the over
whelming strength of her literature
increases prodigiously. her powers of
assimilation. Moreover the fact that
outside agencies had dragged off their
PROSTATE bodies the dead barbaric
weight of Russia, made 1t quite easy
for1the Poles and the Balts to get on
their feet again; whereas the England
Of to-day has just won the greatest
war in all her history and was never
so powerful as she is now.
| set forth all these facts in order
TO explain why the Ireland of 1922
makes such a mixed impression on
me. / am astonished that she has
gone so far; and at the same time,
coming straight from Reval and War
saw to Dublin, l am surprised that
she has not gone further. Compared
with Poland and Esthonia, Ireland has
suffered from very mild attack in
deed of that fierce nationalistic fever
which was deliberately set up seven
years ago for strictly military pur-
poses. both by England and Germany.
Lloyd George made at that time
number of magnificent declarations in
favor of the subject nationalties in
side the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
while Herr Bethmann- Hoi.weg not
only made similar declarations in
favor OF the subject nationalitics in
side the Russian and British empires,
but even sent them armed assistance.
President Wilson, of course. added the
finishing touch with his fourteen
points.