The Washington times., 1922-08-26

police force.
VI tgaohEg impossible 10 compare
with American or English systems.
not even a secondary school educa.
tion as that term is understood in
England.
Local Politicians.
"A far more valuable education
vas at hand in the never-ceasing
ak of Ireland's destiny. the in.
justices from which she had suf-
tered in the past, and was still
suffering. AS | grew up to young
manhood. the ParneIl speech was
the one great topic of discussion.
Those were the days when every
person in Ireland was thinking in
terms of home rule. Home rule at
! the early morning breakfast table.
home rule all, the day, home rule
oy every hearthside IN the evening
on such fare did the young Ire.
land OF my generation feed and
grow TO manhood. II was this
sort of thing that made me part
of the atmosphere of nationalism
''In our own home were gathered
of an evening the people who were
.aders Of thought in the community. /
others might have dismissed them as
local politicians'-for one reason Or
another. a Contemptuous term--but
as a matter of fact they were very
intelligent as regards the doctrine of
nationalism. And as for localism, in |,
the sense that 1t is narrow and pet !
ty, one must regard the Circum.
stances Of an Irish family in that
time. What was local to US in ClOna-
kitty was in nowise different from !
the immediate environment of "A Gal |
way or a Connaught village.
Hidden In London.
The early settlers of America !.
from New England TO Virginia, !
thought along identical lines, even |
though they did 80 unwittingly and |
without realization of their common ,
purpose. But, then, their motive (
was a simple e-self-preservation. i
So with us in Ireland at the begin
ming of the century. a cause, an in !
heritance and a need common to us !
all inspired us. 1t wasn't a thing |
that any man or set of men could |
govern. 1t was different from that. |
With my sixteenth birthday be-
hind me, | took the civil service eX-
aminations, like thousands of other
Irish lads of my station, and at sew
enteen went TO live in London.
Quickly | discovered ] was in u |
blind alley in the civil service. To |
be sure, I was in London with a |
Clcrkship i'm the postoffiCe that paid |
80 a year. At the end of two years ,
| resigned. Followed several years
of other Jobs, none of which satisfied |
my ideas of opportunity.
"Of course, I had had Irish friends |
in London before | arrived. and in
the intervening years | had made |
many more friends among lrishmen |
resident in London. For the most
part, we lived lives apart. We were
distinct community-a tiny eddy.
IL you like-in the great metropolis.
But we were proud of our isolation.
and maintained ii to the end.
A Real Opportunity.
when wonder is expressed, lis 1t
often is, that could have lived
eight years in London and still have
been so little known that 10000
British troops and black and tans
could not find me in four years OF
hunting me in Ireland, l can only
attribute II to that policy Of volun-
tary isolation we all observed in Lon
don And after all. Michael Col.
| lins. junior bank clerk. could hardly
! be expected to have attracted any
notice.
And then came a real opporCu
! nifty.
: "Queerly enough, it was preceded
! by another, an offer to go to Amer.
! iCa.
at was in 1914, just before I've
! deClara ton Of war, that the chance
came to take passage for New York.
| / could have gone under the most ad.
/ vantageous conditions, but when I
laid the scheme before Tom Clarke
he advised me not TO go. His rea.
! son satisfied me. He said there was
/ going to he something doing in Ire.
land within a year. | changed my
mind about going to America, and
| plodded along in my uncongenial .ob.
| Love for the Sod
! at was in May, 1915, after Sean
McDermott had been arrested and
lodged In prison TO serve four.
/ months sentence for making a.
scditious speech that went to- Tom
Clarke and told him was ready
I to go home and 10 whatever he
, wanted me TO do. But he was not
ready for me to go. ThH time was
close at hand. he told ne, but for
the present l was 10 remain IN
j London.
Before the summer OF 1915 was
ended however, | got the sum.
mons, and hurried to Dublin. with
me went fifteen Of my 'pals"-ail