Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-02-04
British Navy Agreed
To Giving! Up Bases
In Ireland in 1893
Fires Hostility Made Them
Worthless, ChotfieId Soys;
People Fed Up'With Irish
Nv HELEN KIRKPATRICK

People Fed Up'With Irish
BY HELEN KIRKPATRICK,
Foreign Correspondent Of The. Star and
Chicago Daily News.
LONDON, Feb. 4-Lord Chat
field, First Lord OF the Admiralty in
1888, reveals for the first time to-
Gay that the Admiralty did not OBJ
ject to handing over the southern
Irish bases to Fire because the
growing hostility Of the Irish people
would have necessitated consider
able military force to hold the bases
In wartime.
Ever since Neville Chamberlain in
his appeasement mood handed the
bases over to Fires premier, canon
de Valera, in 1898, there has been
bitter controversy over the subject.
Associates Of the late prime minister
insist that he and Mr.. De Valera
had an unwritten gentlemen's agree
ment that II war came the ports
would be put at the disposal Of the
British navy. Mr.. De Valera en-
phatically denies that any such
agreement was ever made.
Critics Of the Chamberlain gov
eminent have long insisted that the
Prime Minister. seeking to appease
the Irish by evacuating British
forces from Fire, completely disre-
garded the advice OF the Admiralty
and OVERRIDE their objections. That,
Lord Chatfield says in q letter to
the London Times today, Is not true.
Hostility Made Bases Worthless.
Hostility in Fire to the occupa-
ton Of these ports by the United
Kingdom was increasing and 1t was
obvious that unless we were willing
and able to hold them by military
force they would be useless for naval
purposes" Lord Chatfield writes.
Furthermore, he says, 1t had been
hoped that the improved atmosphere.
and relations resulting from Brit
aims handing over of the ports
would offer the prospect that the
navy could use the ports with Fires
consent.
The Admiralty, he admits, had not
considered the possibility of Frances
collapSing and also relied on i'm
proved devices for U-boat detection
to compensate for the loss Of the
southern bases.
English People Fed Up"
Lord Chatfield apologies for
arguing the matter in public today,
but a question raised in Parliament
required his answer, he states. This
apology indicates that tremendous
moral pressure is being exerted by
the British government to prevent
any discussion of Ireland from being
raised
If the government is successful,
members of Parliament are per-
suaded not to ask questions con-
corning Ireland since the British
people are pretty thoroughly fed up
with what they consider Mr.. De
Valera's free ride attitude" Public
discussions are only likely to inflame
feelings, the government believes.
There Is no doubt that the British
people have little patience any more
for the Irish. although the people,
as distinct from the government.
formerly have been sympathetic to
the Irish cause. They see Irish I'M
employed coming over here still at
the rate of 1000 weekly and getting
highly-paid jobs while Britons are
in the fighting services They
knnu that icb ia he
same price for products as Austria
liam and Canadian farmers, although
shipping distances are many times
greater for the latter. And they
call this "Ireland's free ride"
Axis Diplomats in Fire.
The United States seemed to
think the presence of Axis diplo-
mats in South America dangerous,
and yet if we suggested that Dublin
clear Axis diplomats from there we
would be accused of brutality, in
reference and aggression.
Every one knows the borders are
wide open and the Axis in Dublin
receives all kinds of information"
Those are the views of the average
Englishman. and particularly, it
should be stressed, of those who in
the past have been the greatest
champions Of Irish independence.
American correspondents in
Northern Ireland at the time of the
United States troops arrival, and
subsequently in Dublin. can testify
to the impossibility of preventing
the knowledge of what is happening
in the north from reaching Dublin.
And in Dublin are the German and
Italian Legations and the Japanese
consulate. the latter, oddly enough,
only opened after 1899.
Ofiicial statistics show that no
Japanese ships were entering Fire
ports before or since the war. Irish
imports from Japan, amounting in
1897 to $1,000 pounds (s2,068,OOO),
declined by 200 900 pounds $780,
0OO in 1898, while Irish exports to
japan fell from 1000 pounds $4,000
in 1887 to nothing In 1898. What
the consulate does which ordinary
consulates do, Is obscure.
Copyright. 1912. By Chicago Daily News)
Four Advisers Named