The Omaha morning bee. [volume] (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927, 1923-05-29
Ireland Is
On Road to
Stability
Old Erin, Weary of War, Stag.
ing Comeback" With
Peaceful Pursuits, De.
spite Rebel Leaders.
Scars of Strife Healing
BY MARK SULLIVAN.


turned squarely and safely toward
stability. 1t has done so in largely
the snme way and for the same rea
son that most of the rest Of Europe
is turning toward tability-namely
in spite of the leaders and statesmen
rathee than through them.
In the south of Ireland the peasant
farmer and the elements of the popu
lation close to the farmer just plainly
got tired of the discomforts of wal
and ceased to see either romance OF
material benefit in the fighters and
the leaders of the fighters.
Spring was at hand and the farmer
Ionged for the plow-handle and the
feel of the earth. Also he was moved
to make a little money. Due to de
struction Of the railroads the farmers
had been without markets and the
towns without sufficient supplies. One
LAY last month man in southwest
Ireland who had to get a sack of flour
from 30 miles away was compelled 20
pay the equivalent of 81 for the trans
portation village in the west saw
a sick man die because of the delay
and hardship in getting him to hos
pital 80 miles away.
Air of Finality Prevails.
Almost over night the heart went
out of the fighting. The people want
ed their railroads running and their
markets back. In the towns the la
borers with families got tired Of idle.
ness and wanted an end to the paraly-
sis that fighting had brought upon
trade. Within a week railroads that
had been idle for more than a year
began to run on schedule. Bridges
that had been down and roads that
had been barricaded were mended and
travellers went their way as II the
fighting had never been. These
things were characterized by an air
of unmistakable finality.
AS one passed along the roads and
through the villages which "a hours
before had been barricaded, one knew
the fighting was over. 1t was a psy-
Geological about-face. The people
ceased to take an interest in fighters
and rival aspirants for power and
wanted to get back to work and trade
and normalcy. Many who shared this
psychological experience believed and
~ III believe, that De Valera and his
factions were in the right Never.
theless for the present they are
through with fighting about 1t. or
with tolerating the discomforts of let
ting others fight about 1t. Many of
those who were actually fighting
stopped; others withdrew their sym
pathy in ways that made further
fighting impossible.
Some of them say they will fight
again in 10 years or % years. but for
the present they want to plan a crop
and get a little fat on the bones Of
their cows and hogs. BY 10 years or
25 years. of course, more will be
known about the issues; or the chief
issue-that of the oath of loyalty 70
the British crown-will have been
settled in more orderly ways. or other
issues will have arisen.
Spasmodic Trouble to Come.
The present article aims merely to
record the fact, very apparent to one
who sees Ireland with fresh eyes,
that the fighting is over and the free
state is on the way to stability. So
brief a dispatch necessarily lacks
space to expand on several qualifica-
tions. One which most needs to be
made emphatic is the admission by
many of the free state partisans that
the body of irregular fighters in.
cluded some of the best, most sincere
and most selfsacrificing Irish pa.
triots-farmers' sons. school teachers
and women-who took up arms i'm
pulsively under unwise leadership or
gave sympathy and support to it,
Another qualification Is that though
the heart is out Of the fighting there
still Will be a good deal OF spasmodic
trouble from detached young men
who for several years have had no
occupation but arms and now find il
difficult to adapt themselves 10 more
humdrum pursuits, or. indeed, to
flpd jobs at all. Add to this that
some of the personal bitterness
aroused through the civil war may
express itself in violent reprisals on
individuals.
Still another qualification is that
though the new free state govern
ment now is going to be free of the
harassments of civil war and has
clearly turned the corner toward sta
bility. 1t has ahead of it a body OF
stern problems-economic, diplomatic
and political--which the writer will
'ry to cover in a future article.
All Europe Coming Back"
A final observation. appropriate
here. is that what has happened in
ireland is what Is happening hope
fully in the rest OF Europe. Europe
is. In our phrase, slowly coming
back" and coming back chiefly
through the aggregate of the efforts
of the peasant farmers, who have
ceased to look TO governments and
statesmen, or 10 think about them:
but have gone TO work. adding a COW
or two TO their herds, and a few
sheep to their hocks. buying a better
plow, and otherwise, In the mass,
restoring the real economic wealth Of
Europe, in ways so clear that they
would be perceptible from day to day
II we did not make the mistake OF FIX
ing our eyes on statesmen and gov.
ernments instead OF on the real pro.