The Washington times., 1922-09-03
By HAYDEN TALBOT.
Chapter VII.

I
By HAYDEN TALBOT.
Chapter VII.
Rebellion, like any other potent
remedy, indulged too often, can be-
come q habit-a body and soul de-
stroying habit. II Is not Inaccurate
to say that the campaign now being
waged by the men who have chosen
to follow De Valera and other 'un-
compromising republicans Is Q
direct consequences of the rising VI
Easter week. It is the old story
in Irish history-the story Of men
taking such means to gain their
end"
The Consequences.
Michael Collins, In this fashion. ap'
proached the subject OF the conse'
quences of the 1916 rebellion, and he
continued:
THE immediate consequences may
be divided into two parts-the conse'
quences abroad.
THE result at home was that, al
though not only did the British have
|
had taken part in the fighting, but
also in the political activities from
nearly every part Of the country,
neverth eless the national spirit was
reawakened with marvellous prompt.
tude.
Popular feeling went entirely In
favor Of the insurgents, and 1t was
thus possible for reorganization to
| haQin Mt an earlv date
| Large and ever-increasing num-
bers gave their adherence to the
cause that espoused Easter Week;
more and more Irish eyes turned
from the futility of representation In
the British Parliament at Westmin.
ster and of agitation there, to the
fut tity Of the organization at home
and reliance on their own efforts at
home.
Abroad, the insurrection made 1t
clear before peoples minds that the
Irish question had still to be settled
and had the effect Of showing up
Britain's claim to be the incorrupti.
BILE champion of small nations.
I'm my own estimation, the rising
It's subsequent revival in Ireland,
and the importance of the rising in
it's international character, were all
inseparable from the thought and
hope Of German victory.
| 1--WE were not pro-German during
the war, any more than We were
pro Bulgarian, pro.Turk, or anti.
| French. We were anti.British,
pursuing our age-long policy against
the common enemy.
ION the whole, think II would
be difficult to name any incident be-
tween April and December, 1916, as
the high spot of the campaign, but
the low spot was the agreement Of
the northern convention National.
lists favoring partition.
Aside from this one isolated in
cident, the Irish people responded
well. A certain amount Of reorgan-
ization was effected throughout the
country and the revival Of national
spirit was very marked.
| Just before Christmas that year
there occurred probably the most
important event of the whole period.
| This was the release of all interned
prisoners. Their release enabled us
to make a really long stride in the
reorga nization Of our campaign.
Undoubtedly those of us that
had the wonderful inspiration that
came from intimate association
with such mighty Fenians as Tom
Clark and Sean McDermott were
more grimly determined to win the
fight that they had died to win than
the peaceably inclined folk who
lacked that inspiriting association.
yet the results Of the first eight
months following the rising were
all that could have been expected.
THE first important event of 1917
was the parliamentary election for
the North Roscommon division.
Here was the opportunity to meas
ure the extent to which national
spirit had been revived. We should
have seized the opportunity and
! contested this election against the
old Irish Parliamentary Party.
Election Campaign.
But let not the present-day
Stalwarts forget the curious in,
! structive nature of that election
campaign. 1t was fought only five
years ago, but our candidate en-
that occasion did not even make
abstention from Westminster part
Of his prediction platform.
Prominent workers studiously
avoided mentlOn OF tnls SuDJeCt,
and as for the Irish republic, as
far as that campaign was con.
cerned, II ceased to exist. It Ia
well to face the facts in matters
of this kind and tell the truth,
however unpalatable the truth may
be now.
Therefore let 1t be recorded that
the greatest amount Of support for
our candidate came from the Irish
National League, which did not
approve abstention from West
minister.
"Fo the rest. our supporters were
chiefly persons who had become en-.
tirely dissatisfied with the policy
Of the Irish Parliamentary party.
So much had the Republic Of Eas.
ter Week been forgotten, so little
had it's teachings yet penetrated
the minds Of the people, that al
though our candidate was Count
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