The Washington times., 1924-02-12
IRELAND AIDED.
|. WHEN IN NEED
BY D0HENY
Fought for Recognition Be-
fore Democratic Convention.
Made Big Donations.
BY JOHN 4. LAMBERT,
COSMOPOLITAN News Service.

Cosmopolitan N0ws Service.
Friends OF Ireland throughout the
nation look with mixed emotions
upon the involvement Of ID. L.
Doheny in the Teapot Dome
scandals.
To some, he has stood out ag
symbol Of patriotism and has been
heralded as such from the public
forum. Others have branded him
as q Benedict Arnold In public
meeting. His name has brought
cheers, applause, Kisses and jeers
from the same audience.
Doheny's participation In the
worldwide campaign for Irish free
dom during the critical, desperate
days when De Valera was an out.
cast, McSwiney suffering self
torture, and Michael Collins and
Arthur Griffith hunted and bounded
by the Kings soldiers is an his
torical event known to few men the
world over.
Doheny was a delegate from
California to the Democratic ma
tional convention in San Francisco.
He served as the States member of
the resolutions committee, which
was to write the national platform.
Banned by Politicians.
The rules Of the convention pro.
vided that resolution defeated by
the committee could be brought to
the attention Of the convention
only upon motion Of q member Of
the committee.
The Irish freedom resolution,
providing for recognition Of the
revolutionary government Of Ire
land. was rejected in the secret
meetings Of the committee and
practically all those committeeman
of Irish lineage seemed to hope in
their secret hearts that 1t would
perish there.
A delegation Of men interested in
the cause determined that It must
not go by default. Among active
members Of that delegation were
Frank P. Walsh, Martin NJ. Tomas.
ney, of Massachusetts,, and John ].
Fitzgerald, the foremost lawyer Of
Rhode Island. They besought the
late Bourke COCHRAN and other
members of the Committee In vain.
The politicians would have nothing
to do with it.
Speaks for Ireland.
Finally, they met Doheny. They
asked him to present the resolution
10 the convention. For poor Ire
land?" he inquired.
YES" they said.
III do it," he replied. IT am no
speaker and I have never addressed
such an audience. But III do 1t for
Ireland"
rOoLo~,v ,no.~AoS A. -n~A..-n
and made brief speech amid
Kisses and catcalls and jeers. His
small voice could hardly be heard
ten feet away. But he went
through" when politicians failed.
The resolution was rejected, al.
though receiving more than $50
votes. That night, in San Fran
cisco. Senator James A. Reed, who
had been thrown out of the con-
ventioh to which he was elected a
delegate, addressed 10000 people in.
terested in freedom of small ma
lions at a gigantic mass meeting.
That incident showed plainly that
the Democratic nominee was FORE
doomed to overwhelming defeat.
Hammered in Markets.
Mr.. Doheny also accepted the
Presidency OF the American Asso-
citation for Recognition Of ireland
and contributed generously to It.
Within two years from the date
that he made his speech for Ire.
land in San Francisco, his Mexican
Petroleum was almost hammered
out Of the stock market. He sui.
fered enormous losses. Some Of
his friends suspect that Great
Britain, operating through Ameri.
can bankers, was paying him a re-
prisal for his then active interest
in Irish liberty.
The defeats and treachery sui.
fered over 700 years have made the
Irish mind suspicious Of even those
within its own ranks. Fear OF an
other Michael Carey always turks
near.
Because Of that feeling, Doheny
was very frequently denounced at
meetings of Irish sympathizers,
many of whom suspected that he
was using the Irish organization to
cloak his Oil dealings with the Brit
ish.
They said he was then organizing
oil corporations In Ireland and
combining employment therein to
British sympathizers.
Helped Both Parties.
In the election which followed
the San Francisco convention,
Doheny contributed to both the
Democratic and Republican parties
$4,000 to the former, $4,000 to
the latter. His contribution to the
g. o. P. was largely a full.page
advertisement in the New York
newspapers containing large photo
graphs Of the parents of Mr.. Hard
ing and Mr.. Coolidge with the as.
sertion that the sons of such fore
bears could be safely entrusted
with the affairs Of the country.
He said he was prompted to
make that contribution because Of
an adverse remark alleged to have
been made by Governor Cox, the
Democratic candidate, against the
Harding ancestry. Governor Cox's
friends do not recall that he ever
made any such reference.
protect the public interests" in the |