EDITED BY EOIN MAC NEILL. Vol. 2.
No. 68 (New Series).
-llrOTES The London correspondent o~ the_ " ~ri~h Times"· reports that "a general election is ~n some quarters considered to be necessary m order that the Government may be strengthened in authority arid may not have to face considerable trouble from the people and parties who are trying to undermine that authority." He adds: "It is probable _that ~oth the Home Rule. and the Tariff quest10n ~111 be swc;illowed up m a great policy of Impenal reorg:amsat1on, and _th~~ the parties as now known will cease to ex1s~ . It is not for the purpose of crushmg Prussian militarism or libeieating Europe or avenging Belgium or preservino- the freedom of the seas, accordino- to this rep~rt from "the political clubs," . that the Government is to be strengthened. Nothing of the kind, but "in order _that the Government may' have power to deal with. afterthe· war pr-obi ems,'' including the swallowmg-up of Home Rule. -
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SATURDAY, MARCH - 25th, 1916. began to be dictatej] to them by English Ministers. Did they \ arn the people about the collapse of the "Hol'ne Rule" ministry? I warned them months in advance, but the leaders sang dumb and had to swa.llow the Coalition and : behave like good boys. .D id they warn the Irish people that ruinous ta"xation would be imposed · on them? I gave that warning months in advance, but the leaders kept silence. What sane man can expect that these leaders, though their own minds are full -of misgivings, will utter a word of honest and manly warning about the further changes that are now being prepared, and which they are powerless to prevent? * * Every warning that I have given has been • verified. At the inception of the Volunteer movement, it was evident that Mr. Redmond and his colleagues were blindly depending. on the · smooth course of British politics. The original Irish Volunteer manifesto warned the people that some great upheaval in British politics · might come to upset that sort of reliance. It came eight months later, in the shape of the w.ar, and it swept Mr . Redmond off his feet. Now I have another warning to give, or rather to repeat. If the .now adopted scheme of Imperial t axation is imposed on Ireland, it will be more ruinous to this country than a fresh conquest. It will reduce the population by onehalf. It will strangle every effort for the economic betterment of Ireland and drown ev:ery hope of Irish prosperity. It will involve Irish people of every side in politics in one common calamity. It will reduce those who are fairly well off to a . truggling condition, and those who are struggling to t"h.e ~11.dijijo:n of paupen. -It· will fill the emigrant ships, £he- poorh:-ouses, alid the lunatic asylums. The Irishman who, because he is in a political fix, or because he is blinded by faction, or because he is a partisan of English rule, gives his assent or consent to this piece of ruinous tyranny, is not fai~hful to Ireland. For the sake of our country, for the sake of all who are near and dear to us, this thing must be stopped. k
PRICE ONE PENNY. Dublin. Chairman : W. L. Cole ; Hon. Secs. ; B . J , Goff, M.A. ; J. E. Lyons; Hon.. Treasurer: Dr. Michael Davitt, B.Sc. Mr. Lyons's home· address is 14 Portland Place, Dublin. • • * I was denounced in public becaused I objected to "the son of Michael Davitt" when 1h.r. Redmond wished to nominate him to the Committee· of the Irish Volunteers. I objected to .Dr;. Davitt because I was not satisfied that he was· nominated with a view to make the Volunteer organisation effective in the service of i;ne country. But that stage is now past. I hope _ that those who heard me den,ounced will now support the son of Michael Davitt i_n the_ effort to protect Ireland from financial rum. * * * Mr. Birrell carried out t wo or three surprise raids on Irish Volunteers in Cork last week, just to illustrate Home Rule on the Statute- Book and to prove the truth of' Mr. Asquith's words that we are a free people. In these raids and the raid on Mr. Kent's house at Castlelyons, Mr. Birrell managed to steal two or three firearms and some ammunition. After all, that is a smal1 matter compared with the robbery of .c,1ght Millions per annum . But Mr. Birrell may bear in mind that in some of these raids of. his the surprise will be for him. ·we do not acknowledge· his right to burgle our houses for arms· and: ammunition. We have no doubt about our right to resist burglary. If in the resist ance, life i& lost on either side, Mr. Birrell will be the murderer. My advice is Parnell's advice: " Keep a firm grip on your homesteads." During the Land War, the armed forces of -the Crown came with their legal warra.nts to break into Irishmen's houses, and . in spite of their legality, which after all was merely armed force , what some call Prussianism, Iri8hmen defended their homes. -What Mr. Birrell, the pledged Home Ruler, wants is to have Ireland, like Mr: Redmond, at the mercy of his Government . We are resolved, with the help of God, that, so far a'S we can effect, Ireland will never again be at the . mercy. of any such Government. * * *· I don't pretend to know whether Mr. Birrelt indulges in " Prussiansim " because he has a taste for it, or wh,ether it is just typical Liberal' cowardice, under the influence of demands made· in the "Times," the "Globe," and other organs. of liberty. There. is nothing surprising in hisgame of surprise. He is an Englishman, ap~ pointed by Englishmen to rule Ireland. I am · more concerned for the police, ~rho are Irishmen. I certainly feel it would be a miserable thing to have to kill or wound an Irishman on Mr. Birrell's account. I had difficulty in ~me quarters, in the days before the war, in per-· suading some people that the Ulster Orangemen and the Ulster Volunteers were not what we had' to fight, unless we absolutely could not help it. Now the people who were hard to persuade are ·telling us that it is a gloriou ~ thing for Irish Nationalists and Irish Unionists to join hand& in defence . of the Empire or of Belgium or whatever it is. That makes it easier for me to say that it would be a miserable thing for us to· have to use our arms against Irish Unionists or· against Irish policemen. '
That _things would shape this way, I pointe~ out in the early stages of the war, when ~Ir. Redmond adopted the grand policy of throwmg Ireland on the mercy of the British Democracy and atoning for hoer. disloya~ and ungrateful past. This war ·was certam to brmg consequences that had not been calculated by those who were preparing Europe for it, from the Caspian Sea to the Bay of Biscay, for years past. Ther are now beo-innino- to get uneasy about other thmgs than Pr~ssian"' militarism. They have brought about a state of things for which history has np_ ~re cedent and for which experience has no gu1dmg light. Mr. Justice Pim, in his addre_ss to ._the Antrim Grand Jury the other day, said plamly that,- g1'eat a_s wer~ the _difficulties of the '_Var, still more senous difficulties after the war m~ght be expected. Yes it is going to be an anxious time for the o-randees generally, so they are beginning to plbt and plan in their political clubs, not merely the clubs of one party, but the <:lubs * * * of the whole Olio-.archy, how to handle the situaAlready the public representative bodies have tion. In pia~n ~ords, this means h9~ to estab- begun to move in the matter. It is cert ainly not lish an effective control of the pnv1leged feiy too soon. They cannot be accused of hasty over the mass of the people. There will be. no action. Wh·e never the question is raised, the gi:ave differences. ?n that. point betwe~n lea~1~g usual formula of faction is brought forward by Liberals and leadmg Tones. · They will all . iom somebody who thinks more of the advanta~e of hands and help each other to snaffie and sactdle a party than of his duty to the country-perhaps their dear old pack-mUle, Mr. Redmond's. hope it is his own private interest that is troubling and joy, the ~ritish Demo<:rac,~. " Parties a~ . him. The watchword of faction is that such now known will cease to exist. In return fo1 matters should be left to the Irish Party to deal the Liberals swallowing up Home .Rule, tJ:ie _ with. We did not hear this faction cry last Unionists will graciously consent to let Tanff year when Lloyd George proposed a particular Reform fall into abeyance until the " after-war tax, and the Irish Party under Mr. Redmond's problems" are disposed of. orders-as Mr .. Field, M .P., stated in public at * * * the Phrenix Park meeting-consented to the So the wise men of pi:i vilege have com~ to -the tax. The traders immediately affected, the conclusion - they were sure to come to it, that licensed traClers, at once organised their opposinow that they ha.ve the Press under control and tion. They appealed to the local councils. They everybody's mind filled· with the truth about the appealed to the whole public. They held a war, now is the time to take out a new lease on meeting in the Phrenix Park . 'lhey did not conthe most advantageous terms, and to secure sult the P arty or wait for the P arty to take powers that woul d n<!t be granted at :i:ny other -action . They used all the public support they time powers extendmg over the ' penod after could command to force the P arty, and they the {var. It would be dangerous to wait till tne succeeded. Mr. Redmond, having ordered the war fever had died out and people were no longer Party to s.u bmit, r ffersed his ' order, returned .. * * ready to swallow any so1·t of humbug _dished _u p to London, and opposed the t axation . . The reFrom time to time I have shown up the effort& for them. So, on the pretence of " a great pohcy sult was announced by Lloyd George himself in of the Castle to create fiction in Ireland for the of Imperial reorganisation '.' the gran? muleteers these words: "The· House of Commons quailed benefit of liberty and religion and civilisatiorn of both parties are to coml:ime, and with the help before an enraged mob of Irish brewers and and small nationalities. If these tactics have' of the wealthy acnd that great free institution publicans." The Government also quailed, and failed, that does not say they will be abandoned. the Press and a:ll the power they can gather the taxes were withdrawn. The taxes now pro- In C.ork, Galway and Tipperary, the Volunteers; into their'hands, ·they hope to ride out of their posed are, perhaps, ·a hundred times as neavy of both sections joined in the St . Patrick's Day difficulties. Of course, while these trifles are as the taxes then successfully resisted . There- celebrations . The National Volunteers · in Cork being transacted, Mr. Redmond's Brit~sh Demo- fore the man who will now try to prevent action adopted a special device to show that many of' cracy will have nothing else troublmg them by the factious cry, "Leave it to the Party," their comrades were in the European war, and I except how to show their gratitude to Ire~and convicts himself of dishonest factionism, and am glad to note that this remarkable incident· by ·g ranting her the rig~t to col~ect some eig~_t makes himself an .aider and abettor of the led to no unpleasantness. These men accept the or ten millions of Impenal taxation and hand it oppression and robbery of the people. view that the ~uropean war is " Ireland's war •r over. Bv the time the rest of Ireland is swept and that their absent comrades are in "Ireland's * * * as bare • of population as the rich plains of Where it is not freely taken up, this question army." · Many Irishmen hold that view in good Meath it will be a suitable planting ground for should be deliberately brought before every faith . Those who -differ from them will lose the su~plus popullatien of England; public body in Ireland. If the elected represen- nothing by respecting their liberty of opinion. • * • tatives do not ·bring it forward, any ratepayer It is years since I publicly expressed the hope, So far as ordinary sanity and commonsense can can write to a local Board on the subject. _Every at the Ulster Feis in Toome, t,h at we might li~e foretell what Irel~nd will secure after the war man who owes his position to the votes of to see Ulstermen joining to celebrate the will depend on the strength in the hands and electors should be challenged to give his own memqries of the Defence of Derry as well as of the Battle of Benburb . . It suits the policy of hearts of Irishm1en. The Jl).an who advises the_ voice an.cl vote. • D'!J,blin Castle, the Contin_uity policy; to blood u& * * lrish people to llook ~or gratitude. ~nd to. put Last week I gave from memory the address uf up against each other. 'l'hitt w;ts the object of their trust in the meltmg-pot of British politics, the most charita.ble thing that can be said of one of the secretaries of the Financial Relations their wicked invention of incitements to murder him is that he is suffering from softening of the Committee formed at a public meeting in the Mr. Redmond. They have got their answer in brain. I ask t_b.e mo.st pig-heade_d _factio!list to Mansion House to look after this matter of Cork. Just as in the Crossmaglen Conspiracy, taxation. I now give the official address: Irish · they selecte.d l}elfast ·as the venue for tryin~ consider how his advisers have advised · him and of disgra<)ing Belhow his leaders have led him since their policy · Financial Relations Committee, Mansion House, Irish Volunteers in the hope .,,
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