Vo/.' 1.
Saturday,
No. 33
regeneration of Ireland, opportunity is at hand,
and
the,
The Rifle Wins.
19, 1914
Se,ptember
us our oou~r:7 and you will ho."e one OJ~' the other." As an armed force the Vol,' The Volunteers must not 00 aflowed to unteers' mission is nearer than it has beenf, reach the Ievel of impotence and the de- for generations and tho most must be madel!: from the situation, gree of stagnant ineptitude th at has characterised other organisations in Ireland . Ail dcbatin~: clubs c: political machines the Volunteers are useless and a rnenace ; I properly equipped as a rnilitary force they a-re rhe ,,,inners and the guardians of their What is the essential difference as sol. country's freedom, It, therefore, if; the diers between the Irishmen who are fight" duty of every man in the ranks to reach ing Englands battle in France to-day and the highest level of military efficiency the men in the Volunteer. movement at possible. The great true beart of Ireland horne> Are the men who join the British is responsible for the movement, and it Army superior or are they men who would 'j' .l:..et'p I, izht.. Iines ltc refused admission to the football field \111.1 1it on th e ng 1 .... Leave poli t:.<:"- t a UP~ po Iitici b Ut' 111 th 0 rar _~,.1 .ClaD'), ¥ ..\-" and the hurling ground, the wp.akiings and aim at beinÇ a soldier of Ireland ;:,nd the the decadent product of city and town con, ht' In 1it sown ti1U1o..-. ~ gcstion. We see the value that England, rest WI.'1[ aJI~come ng .... h h t a' ave no am- sets upon them as, a fightin",~ factor, and SOlllC coros t J iere arc 'W 0 " d"oecause t h'C, beli d th at th e move- if English military.. opinion is not quite uate 1ft;: ieve '-- B ritrs ' , h -ex mcnt Dll.g, h t come¥ un d er the Hal' infn lliole, it is based on the certain know-l " " I' 1 cb f Of.. lee, and t~IC roo 1::: 1 snee es 0 some- ledge that but for Irish soldiers the F.ng, 'k v e nown t 1.c lish Army wou ldj have been merely a force centlcmcn who oucht to ha e id hc ns . to excite the ridicule of nations. Hut in C0nnL."Y hett.-r di per ::IpS jri g17e a certain " J' f ,the opinion of .a certain type of political amount of colour to that be ier. nut It strap-hanger, the Irish Volunteers are no will never happen, for the Ireland that ~ 1 fi 'G -, ,. use except t ley go to ght against ,er. could! protest so 5~rongly against being A fi hti f h many, sag mg orce t ey are no use held down bv the armed force of England ',E I d b t ' G ' ~ against . ng an, u against erma.ny could never and will never join those armed tl ld a, th b tId' , h ley wou. ",e ,_ e es so iers m t e forces, \Vhat differences there are amongst world. the, Nationalists of Ireland are largely ~
A Military Organisation.
¥\:;ain a,.."I, again we pointed out that th . only weapon' of freedom is the rifle. Ireland as a whole recognised that fact, and the .inception of the Volunteers was the nations etnthod of achievink freedom through the rifle. Whether the resources of constitutionalism bad failed or not, the 1(,'!.J~:'sof the constitutional iarty swung into Iine after some delay and acquiesced in the formation of the movement. Later :his acquiescence in a state of affairs already existmg 'Dec:l.me active, and the manhood of Ireland was urged to at once joiu in. the great military movement that WClS sweeping Ireland from sea to sea. It is nonsense to pretend that this buge rpij-j:~r)' organisation grew up for any other purpose than to rid us of our ancient enemy ,to' allow us to develop own line", free from alien i nt",;'fen:,n<:e, J'\(J foreign complication can bet rid of the fact that the reason that c':\.::cd the 'l olunteers into existence is as pctcnt a reason to-day 'it it has been at any time. Waiving the truth of the say;:1:5 ibat England's difficulty is Ireland's O_i)po:,tunity, we must see to it that the purpose of the Volunteers is fulfilled, That machined differences, fanned for the pur. , poses of the English connection, and parposc is-Irel-and a Nation. 'C
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Price, l d.
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Tommies or Volunteers?
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I ! Skirmishing and Rifle Practice.
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Drill, Arm and Prepare. Xo doubt there were some who from the
verj'
Rifle Teams and the G.Aá A. I should
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'cinema
The Kerry County Board G.lL"'. bas done excellent work i n :nrt:ler:np; the idea of rifle competitions under the auspices of the Gaellc Athletic Association, and we trust that the characteris.Jcally patriotic attitude of the Central authority will do everything possible to make the new move 1 S:J.C~(~<;, Th at they C~L:l do '-.0 is certain au-I th a: th~j' will co so is almost equally ccrtar,i. But in some quarters the question i.; sligntly misunderstood, inasmuch as an 't'..te!npt1S ~l:~n.:;made in {:;...!nnllt the G.A.A to a line of p.rtion with n-_'[~:trd to some á)f rnc.r own rn les, which is certain to give rise to sharp differences of opinion, While we l.old strong views upon tl. .Is natter .it h no way clashes with the separave proposal of affiliated rifle teams, cud the latter project should be treated entirely on its own merits, Anyhow, I(:.!rry, true to i ts traditions, hns made a ~:x>d S';l,'t, :J.::1d has indicated the proper Cr}.ordination 'of the Volunteers with Ire-
start :heJjeved that
the
movement
have been conducted as a huge show, and that bluff wouId carry
Ireland along the path to freedom. This is a foolish and a ~2ngewm; doctrine to hold, and already ~t has led to trouble that may at any moment 'become apparent in a new direction, The man who beá lievcs that in fighting quafities the descendants of the best soldiers of the world are deficient, and that of all the white nations the Ir isbman alone is unfit to bear arms to defend ~l he holds dear, should never have gI~e:rrhis sanction to the movememo nut the great major ity of the Trish people were and ere of a different opiThey belie\'e that what the Belgian rucn. has done yesterday the Irishman could do and do better to-morrow, and that the on lv qucg.~ion to be considered is the qucsion of hew best to drill, arm and equip lrel':md's army. Already much of the dril!ing has been done, and there is no reason why tn,e arming should not be done ,,:,;0, and doue immediately. It is the plain duty .of eyer)' Ir ishrnan to drill, lands ::\atio'10.1 pastimes. It was, of arm and prepare now just 3S it was his course, j;!cyitable that sooner or later the Cl.H.Y three ~onth3 41g0. C; ,,\,A. should p1.:1Y a o:msp:cuous part,
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fanned so cunningly that the operators /., arc unseen; but at heart Ireland IS sound, and the Volunteer movement will solidify the councry into an irresistible unit before which the opposition' to our Iegitimate demands will be futile,
'With one-third of the opportunities of the regulars, the Irish Volunteers would hold Ireland against any Power in Europe, .provided the requisite arms were placed in their hands. They are capable of being made one (JI the finest defence forces in the world, and they will become such a force in a short time, Elementary drill, should be learned before now, and thel~ minds of the men ooncentrated upon field practice and rifle shooting. These are the two elements that have really a decisive It is time for plain speaking, The value, and :toth should be engaged in Irishman who tries diplomacy against Enguntil the highest possible efficiency has land is losing his time, England has ~b.e been obtained, methods of diplomacy ingrained into her statesmen and all the diplomatic channels at her command, }~ngJish diplomacy 'Ve h.rve received very rnnny inquiries is tr iurnpa ant in the Irish Press at 'the present moment and every lever that could cs to (he possibi lity of procuring Arneri. tu rn pu')lic opinion from the side of lire. can officers as instructcrs, and there does land is used freely; Cold ,is her weapon noz seem any reason why they should notl more thuu lend , anrl we must not choose be forthcoming. There must be \'ery~ the weapon most Iavourable to en: adver- many Irishmen in the American army whol, 53.;')', And ,En~bnd is our :\.(háerg.:ll'~á, else would ,be' dclig htcd to train Ireland's solan our leaders for gener:;.tions past have I d iers and who possess the necessary quali. been Iiars and our m2'n~~'rsfools. There fic-uions. The hurrying of the reservesf is no use in m:).king promises to En:;land from Ireland at the first noise of war and in her hour of trial and having a mental the subsequent appointment of the drill reservation to square the account with our sergeants th.rt remained to the position of sergeants has hampered thÛ" consciences and our Mothers, Let us say recrumnoVoluntee~s i.n m').ny districts, 'w- Ieel (rankly to Eng::lnd: !lyou warrt our help, sure chat !;ood American officers could faili!'~ that you ,,-ant our neutrality t ginl be procured without difficulty.
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Plain Speaking.
.~ American Officers.