The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-16

Ab " 8A %<ARSAASAvO OAJ eAAAwSN~ A@S"S~ or q tiny sprig of shamrock, rep- resents . love of freedom to which one race has clung fiercely through many Q dark year. No matter how gloomy the picture, surely there is hope for e world of equality and justice when one considers the dauntless fight of those who have adopted St. Pat rick as Q patron.
 The Irish would be the last peO- pie to claim any mOnoply on hatred for intolerance and per- secution, but their glorious battle through the centuries should prove an inspiration to ali the ether races which ask for nothing moro than the right to govern themselves as they see fit. The coming of St. Patrick's Day so soon after emDattled little Fin land was forced to bow to the hOrdes of Etalin offers an oppor- tunity for the renewal of hope that right may yet prevail.
 Ireland has refused always to give up the fight, no matter how hopeless it seemed or how distant the goal. The fight is still not completely won, but the gains made would have been almost un- belieyable only a generation ago. Most of the Emerald Isle now has self government, under a demo- cratic system, and no one who has even glanced at the chronicle of the centuries of unyielding opposi- ton to oppression can doubt that some day, perhaps one not far dis tant, the fight will be wholly won
 A people who refuse to accept tyranny will eventually gain their Cod given rights, It may take a few years, it may take few cen turies, but they will win. The Hit Icrs and the Stalins, though they bulk large on our stage of today, hold but g moment or two of the spotlight in . world of short me- mOries. The oppressed millions of Finland, China, Austria, Poland, Czech0- Slovakia and the other nations now under the iron boot will win their way back if they keep the torch of freedom glow ing in their hearts. And if past experience is any criterion the heavier the oppression the strong CT will burn the flame of freedom.
 The sons and daughters of the Ireland whose people made unbe- lievable sacrifices for the things they held dear can understand aad sympathize with those peo- pies who have no been forced into virtual servitude because their hcmes and their lands were cov- eted by power-lustful distators. It was an Ireland converted to ! Christianity which preserved for modern world the Greek and Latin classics while Britain and the rest of Europe were in the Dark Ages. It was an Ireland proud of its independence which fought the invading legions of a neighbors many times more pow erful in earthly might.
 Here in free America it is al- most sMpossibfe Co realize the suf- fering through which a deter mined people lived for hundreds of years because they refused to surrender their beliefs-the belief that they had 8 right to make their own government, the belief that their children had a right to an education, the belief that they had a right to own their homes, the belief that they had a right to maintain the Faith which had sustained them through the dark est hours.
 Freedom of government, free dom of religion-who could speak with more authority about these than the Irish? The blood of whose ancestors crimSoned the Boyne? Whose lore tells with de- liant pride of handfuls of ill., equipped irregulars battling the mighty forces of the king? Whose fathers and mothers can recall the stories at home of the days of famine? In whose hearts are still green the martrydoms of Easter Week of 1916?
 The Irish could tell many a tale of persecution and oppres- sion. Not beyond recollection are tho days when 8 son of Ireland had to risk his life to practice his religion, when an Irish father faced death for sending his chill dren to school. Not too long ago arc the days when an Irishman
 had little hope of owning the land that he farmed, that he had
 to yield temporarily to an ab- sentee dictatorship while he kept bright his deams of the future.
 There were discouragements, there must have been days of near-despair. Yet the Irish, with their trust in God, continued to pit their puny material re- sources against the mighty power that was the British Empire. Time after time it must have seemed to
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