New-York tribune., 1922-08-27
By Forrest Davis

GI Tue HSSeSstHAbtosa VI ftSA~~'
b Collins one conclusion sticks out
1t is that from now on the saliva
t;on of the Free State rests mere
largely on the people Of Ireland, who
hare said Overwhelmingly that taey
approve it.
There are two reasons for this opin.
ion. One is that the loss Of Collins
following the passing of Griffith
leaves the country bcreft Of outstand
ing leadership and that calls for more
vigorous popular activity. The other
is that, with the treaty opposition
entering the savage, underground stage
denoted by the Collins outrage, tho
power Of the government to deal with
It through its army is weakened. That
is lesson Of the Sim Fein rebellion
against Great Britain. Bodies Of so.-
diers are ineffective against gucrsillas
who are sheltered or tolerated by the
people. They may ride irregular bands
into the hills or bogs, but If the bands
break up and find sanctuary with the
residents the individuals may DEFY
capture and strike again.
If the 90 per cent Of substantial
Irishmen who stand for the Free State
md tranquility will organize their un-
doubted will 20 peace into a hard,
effective instrument they may bring it
about and preserve the fruits Of the
long rebellion, The Irish cause has
been thrust into q pocket by the re-
publican implaeahies and all signs in
dicate that it will require an cnergized
public opinion to pull it out--unless
De Valera and his associates should
cxtricate it themselves by surrender
ing.
The Ninety Per Cent
Must Unite Against the Ten
George Bernard Shaw'a counsel to
his countryrnen, delivered on the death
of Collins, showed an appreciation OF
the new phase of the Irish question.
'If the shooting of Collins doesn's
turn every sensible Irishman into a
must perish, because IL it cannot gov
ern itself no power on earth can
govern it,
But it would be necessary to extend
shaw's advice to make it effective. The
90 per cent of peaceable Irishmen, sat-
1shcd with the Free State, must con-
cert their protest against the 10 per
cent. Thousands of Shaw's indepen-
dent special constables would not do
the job. Groups Of yigilantes in each
community would. Public opinion
should be aroused so that the outlaws
shall not, be- sheltered, nor fed, non
connforted, but sought out and de,
stroyed If they persist.
The will to peace does exist. There
is no doubt Of that any more than
there is doubt that all but handful
OF the people outside of Ulster are
heart and soul committed, to the Free
State. Stability is the dearest desire
of the Irish after six years. of violence,
unsettlement and passion. The shocks
Of war with tho British and the later
civil war have frayed their nerves
The dislocation of trade and social in.
tercoursc, the insecurity and decay OF
the highways and railroads, the de-
struetion Of life and property have
contributed to a genuine will to peace
All it requires is mobilization, Per,
haps the Collins affair will be the
shock that will accomplish that.
Everywhere, literally, a traveller
hears tho same expression. I toured
Ireland last spring, covering twenty OF
the twenty-six counties of the Free
State in motor car. I'm tho lush, fat
Midlands among the cattle rrazers
with tho tillers farther south, amone
the sheep men of the Connemarss. tn,
fishermen of the Kerry coast and II
the villages, towns and cities it wa:
the same.
When Will the Fighting
Stop, They All Inquire
When will they stop the lighting y
IF they would only leave us alone ,
ireland will be all right when they
20 to work and leave OFF the murderinr
and stealing
SO 1t went. refrain in public house
manor, cottage, counting room. presby
terry, on the roadside. 1t was wistfu
expression, hope for peace rashe
than will toward it. The people the,
were passive, they felt no active obli
cation to bring about their desire
That came later, am told by NOR
recent travellers, and the press report
have indicated rising tide of stalwar
opinion as the internecine strife ha
progressed.
We are subject in America to delu
sions about Ireland. They take colo
from our bias or the source of our in
formation. Thus, on one hand is TIL
belief that ireland is country of ex
aited patriots, martyrs, supermeY
inspired ideslists. On the other is til
view that the island is the abode o
set OF cunning, malicious malcon
tens, engaged merrily in biting sh
squire's hand that fed them, the sqnir
being England.
N1,s - sAtS