Evening star., 1932-03-22
Irish Group Here Says Free State May
Repeal Oath.

AASAA OAONR AANAC Oe@sS AAS~ Os@SS A'AAy
Repeal Oath.
A threatened rift between the new
De Valera administration, in Ireland,
and the British government drew O
statement yesterday from the Kevin
Barry Council Of the American Associa-
ton for the Recognition Of the Irish
Republic.
The statement was issued in reply to
the recently expressed opposition OF
Neville Chamberlain, British chancellor
Of the exchequer, to the proposal to
abolish the oath of allegiance to the
King of England, now required of Irish
office holders, and to stop payment Of
land annuities to England by Ireland.
Among the signers Of the document
Finerty, Andrew I. Hickey and Thomas
w. Lyons.
Partial Text.
The statement follows, in part:
81. As to the oath, there is nothing
in the treaty of 1921 between Ireland
and Great Britain that makes it man.
datory upon Irish citizens performing
any public service to take an oath Of
allegiance to the British King. In
the constitution of the Irish Free State
there is provision that such citizens
performing such services shall take such
an oath. But this constitution was
made by the Irish Legislature, the body
that made it has full power to change
1t at will, and all the De Valera ad-
ministration proposed is that this body
shall exercise Its unquestioned right In
this particular
%. As to the annuities, a royal COM
mission found after full investigation
that for many years Ireland had been
overtaxed. that she had paid into the
British exchequer more than a just
share of taxation. To return to her
this excess in taxation, an act of the
British Parliament in 1920 assigned to
the Irish exchequer the land annuities
collectable from the Irish farmers. The
treaty of 1921 did not in any way alter
this arrangement But the late Co.'S
grave government, Illegally and with
out constitutional right, continued these
payments. The position of the De
Valera government, is that these pay
ments, never having been authorized or
ratified by the Irish Legislature or the
British Parliament, are unjustifiable
and should be stopped. This position
has been sustained by the deliberate
opinion of the best legal minds in Ire
land. How unjust are these payments
Is shown by the fact that the annuities
have been withheld by the government
of Northern Ireland.
Votes in Affirmative.
49, These two questions, whether the
oath should be abolished and whether
the annuities should be stopped, were
before the Irish people In the recent
election. On both questions the ver-
dict of the majority was in the AFFIRM
ative. The new administration was
elected to carry out these decisions. 1t
is powerleSs to do anything else
a. The machinery to determine the
will Of the people in these respects and
all others was formed by the British
governments assistance and operated
with the British governments full
knowledge. If now the British govern
ment purposes to overturn with British
armies the result cf the balloting insti-
tuted by its machinery it will be openly
repudiating the decision of the tribunal
it helped to create and to which it had
itself appealed.
IS. If the British government has
any shadow Of right to nullify with
force a decision of the Irish electorate
that it happens not to like, then clear
ly any pretense that the Irish people
have any degree or kind of freedom is
an impudent falsehood, the very name
of the Irish Free State is a fraud and
sham, and the true purpose of Eng
land is disclosed, to treat Ireland now,
as in all the centuries gone by, as q
conquered and vaSsal province"