Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-07-02

inc reasons JOr It's. cTtStence are
described in a series OF three ar
ticles, of Which this is the first.
BY EDMUND GILLIGAN.
NEW YORK, July l (N.A.N.A).-
The Irish Republican army, aided by
1rishmen IN this city and in all the
countries of the world, has formally
declared war on England and is
carrying on that war with an expedi-
tionary force of secret agents in
London and other English cities, &C
cording to statements made to this
reporter by group of four men who
are engaged in raising funds in this
country for the prosecution of the
war.
One OF the men, spokesman for
the group, recently came from Ire
land, where he took part in the
training OF the volunteers who led
the invasion of England.
They declared at a meeting
secretly arranged in Bronx resi-
dence. used as a sort of headquarters,
that the war will not be closed until
the British government recognizes
the republic Of Ireland, withdraws
Its troops from Irish cities, ceases to
influence Irish politics, and sets free
all the men and women now serving
long terms in English jails because
OF their part in the recent bombings.
A. r. P. Held at Mercy of Irish.
They declared that, If one prisoner
Is sentenced to death, or dies in his
cell because of illness or during a
munger strike, the expeditionary
force, which has hiterto refrained
from taking lives, will abandon this
precautlon. 1t will then blow up
power stations, subways, post offices
and other public buildings, whether
or not EngliShmen are at work in
them. Moreover, these four men as
sert that they will soon show the
British government that its elabo-
rate air raid protection system. on
which millions of pounds have been
spent. is at the mercy of scores of
lrlshmen, members of the I. r. A.
who hold key posts in that organi-
cation.
Hundreds of thousands of Irish
men are involved in the unprece-
dented enterprise against the Brit
ism government. They assert that
the legal basis of their cause is the
TACT that the Republic of Ireland
proclaimed in 1916 and formally
ratlf1ed by the Irish people in 1919
is the only legal government and
that the free state of Fire, which
accepts the sovereignty of the King
OF England, is not the government
OF the Irish people.
The existence of the state of war.
the aims which the I. r. A. in
tends to achieve, and the extensive
nature OF the campaign of force
were revealed for the first time by
New York officers of the 1. R. A..
and OF the Clan-Na-Gael. which
joins in the work. The revelations
took place under mysterious circum-
stances. The precautions against
trlckery by British secret service
men were so elaborate that the in
tervieW took on a story book air.
Mysterious Precautions.
After mysterious and involved
maneuverings, this reporter was led
to limousine parked on a Bronx
street. He stepped into the auto
mobile and found four men seated
in it. The car started, turned rap
idly through several streets, sped
past small burial ground, and ran
into driveway between hedges.
Until then, none of the men had
spoken. When the car stopped, one
OF them said in a precise English
accent: This may seem rather a
lark, but it's quite necessary. You
are going into a house where there
are many records and great deal
of money"
His companions laughed at his
English accent. He changed it then
to the Galway tune. Later he said
that there is a training school in
Dublin which teaches volunteers
how to initiate Englishmen in voice,
dress and mannerisms. They then
go to England to join the campaign.
These men asked that the descrip-
ton OF the house should be limited.
1T isn't ours, you know said one.
The house was well furnished.
There were several cabinets against
the wall, an extensive library of
books published in Ireland, trays of
letters and small safe. The shades
were partly drawn and, although the
night was warm, the windows were
kept closed.
Saw Mother Gun Whipped.
Most of the talking was done by
the youngest of the four, lathe of
a man, in whose piercing eyes came
bitterness, anger and fanatic enthu-
siasm in turn. He was less than 30
years old. His mother had been
whipped before his eyes by the
Black and Tans, which is to say
that they beat her with a pistol be-
cause they thought she was keep
ing a secret. Next to him sat
grizzled veteran of the trouble"
The other two men had little to say
during the long hours of talk. Now
and then one of them gave a date
or corrected figure Fierce de-
termination showed in every SEN
tence. Any suggestion that they