The Washington times., 1922-09-04

HIUtUDI lnl1H
UNDERWORLD
Dublin Castle Paid sInformers
To Betray cUuntrymen,
Michael Collins Claimed.
' In the following instalIment Of
Michael Collins OiOn Story,"
s0ritten In collaboration Nth Hay
den Talbot for The Washington
Times, Collins reviews the fatefM
year. of 1918 i1t ireland before and
after the tOorld toGr drntisttce.
By HAYDEN TALBOT
CHAPTER 8.
Section /.
consideration of the events in
ireland during 1918, in order to be
comprehensive, must embrace two
entirely distinct and different de-
veiopments-one purely political,
and the other wholly militant" said
Michael Collins in q statement to
me at the outset Of one OF our mass
meetings In Dublin. ...
'.But before I begin my story"
he continued, II want to take this
opportunity of correcting the mis-
apprehension that exists widely re-
Earding the part Lloyd George
played in Irish affairs at that
time. E,s
at is generally supposed that
the English premier was respon-
sible for instituting the Black and
Tan reign Of terror as well as the
provocative acts Of terrorism which
preceded the coming Of the Black
and Tans.
I'm those days Lloyd George
had no time for Ireland-his whole
attention was absorbed by the
world war.
"The British governments Irish
policy so far as the military was
concerned, was conceived and ex.
ecuted by ministers to whom Lloyd
George had given a free hand.
Premier Delegated Power.
"Unhappily. during the years
that followed the armistice, he con-
tinued to allow others to attempt
to find a solution Of their ques-
ton, counting 1t Of less importance
to England after the war than the
settlement of the European prob
lem.
"For what happened then, in
nominal responsibility. empha-
size this fact because 1t Is high
time that we who know the truth
should disseminate 1t and In so
doing help to remove causes OF
hatred and bitterness largely based
upon ignorance. .
Taking the political events of
191s," Collins continued, the first
most important incident was the
South Armagh election. In this
election we were at the outset
confident Of success and we put
up as our candidate Doctor Mac
Carton, who was the representa-
tive of the Irish Republic at Wash
ington. For the second time we
were defeated-and unquestionably
the result Of that election was a
~serieus setback to our policy -. 4.
"Second-At this time, February
and March, there was much talk
VI thC olANAoh ~NA~@-F
ton act to Ireland and arrange
ments were being made for resist
ance in every possible way.
"Third-The arrest of the chler
leaders of Sim Fein. There were
Just some half dozen throughout
the country marked down for ar
rest who escaped the net. This,
however, must not be taken as
meaning that the backbone of the
movement was gone. The political
organization was continued, not
withstanding suppression, and the
military organization was continued,
always without interference.
Sim Fein's Victory.
"The enemy activity up to this
period really had not been very
serious. And enemy activity after
what Is now called the 'Neerman
Plot Arrests was mainly directed
toward the prevention Of public
meetings, tracking down and ar
resting public suspects. stopping
parades. drills. training, etc., or
volunteers.
"Fourth-Toward the end Of the
Y8