ULSTER IN ARMS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2150, 16 May 1914, Page 3

ULSTER IN ARMS

THE VOLUNTEERS AND TllKffi LEADERS

WILL ULSrER FIGHT?

tßy Malcolm fioss.l

111. :.

""""morSag". 8 ms "' clVI V «'« hero* of »k. Wh^MM*'■ st>ldi - e " J af au o;ir i'« Hay.

in which f r ° to eaß f abonfc fQ r TO^β 1I if r- e 9«otatMn of tneso lines, > ~-. spirit that animates every man and woman who havo tho cause of Ul- > Btor at heart. And whatever a visitor , naj ihmk in regard to whether or not Ulster is rirfit, ho can m,d only one juTTr? Will ktef I ! "K" l ' « iviil ho aii. emphatic affirms- ; tiyo. All tho talk about "wwdon 1 ■ g\ms,- and tiro sneers and taunts of the i ; Serais and Xatioaaiists regarding incfJscjenc,y antl want of courage and de- ! fenniiuitiofl went for naught when o«e . loolwd at nil closely into tho persOMiel . ant! orgnnisatloii of tho Ulster movement. Tto arrangements for a provi- ■ sional Uovermnont as well as for the *fi? 1B ej T ' nobil 'sat'on, and provisioning tcr and ability of the responsible men concerned cotild not fail to impress. M-cr ? 'w]iore tho dominant noto was anthusiasnt and loyalty. Hio enroJmcnt. and traaiwg of tho volunteers went on daily and hourly till at length the jimnbflra became so great tlint enlistment had to bo stopped. Tho ent-lmsiasm was as great, it not greater, in tho country than in the towns. Every facility was given mo to study tho movement in ail its bainngs, it being understood that I stisiim uso <{ur discretion about matters connected with tho stipply of anus and aminunitton. Even at that time tho authorities were abb to pick and choose and in-some districts tho men had to pass in drill, musketry, and signalling before they could get their lmdgo of prctaieney. In London I was told by some Liberal friends that the movement was not. general throughout Ulster Jjut was coafmed praoUcaliy to Belfast and its environs. X made it mv- business, tlieretore, to go right into the country and the llrst place 1 went to was Dusganaon, in Tyren© County, bc-causo ??? re .> "i. a district that is, politically, Aatronslist, I hoard of much drilling and systematic preparation. Dungannoa is interesting htstorioallv, far it was the chief seat of O'Noils from the earliest period in , Irish history. lue first direct notice of it under its present name is in a spirited letter addressed from Dmigafijion in 1323 to Popo John by Donald O'Nial—as tho aamo was then written—in lvhieh ho stvled himself "Kiiifj of Ulster and trw heir tt> the Dominion of Ireland," Ho declared that previous to the eeming; of I °h I'atncK his royal ancestors had Seen Kings of Ireland, and that from that period till the landing of Henry II in U/i, "sixty toonarehs of tho same princely tamily had': swayed the Hibernian sceptor." In 1364 O'Nial, in his . letters to Edward 111, stvkd himself innee of the Irishiy in Ulster." It is strange to note at this day that in i/8j tnero was a meeting of"defo<*ateß from 269 c-orps of Ulster .volunteers aseembletl at Dun.gaiinon, wl:kh" passed twenty resolutions declaratory of ilv iuffcpenckfico ■of the Parfumient of Ireland. Now history seems to have turn--ed topsy-tufpy. and, after years of Union, we find men drilling asid shooting to resist the proposed, new Irish Parliament.- Dungannon Iws a special ktorost fof Australasians, for there, close by tho town, is Northland House, the scat of tho Earl of Banfurlv, who tvis Governor of New Zealand, and, before that, <me of the pioneer settlers in the MiHufa .district of Victoria. Ho and his son, Lord Northland, and his cousin, Major Alexander, are among the keen- i ost of those who are, at the pteseiif, ■ moment, taking an active stand for the ■ exclusion of Ulster.

At Duftgannam and in the adjoining districts it was that I found the mostperfect org.-umation anil tho most consistent drilling. And yet this was in a county tiiat returns a majority of . two Nationalists to Farlkmwnt. There miT6 thousands! of men drilling, and tbo feeling against Homo Rulo was vcinftrkaMy strone;. Night ate uigui I attended the drills of'different companies and battalions. There was a great hall erected by the men at'their own expense, and with their own hands, _ simply . for; drilling j n Night after night they came ami learned musketry, and sipalliiie, and the ordinary, ctnll. _The Ulster Yolraiteor movement is entirely a democratic one, and you might see on occaswijs in earl atoci a linen spinner, a lawyer and a labourer rubbing shoulders an the parade grtXind. A hugs Union Jack, and banners with nwttos snch as, "Derry, 1689." "No Suyrewier!" and "tfoyne. 1690," spoke] eloquently from the rough' walls, of tho determination of officers and men. who, after their hard day's work, had turned fA ; to pat in two or three hears at anil. Tlie labourer and tSie earl were equally Iwen to get their oafey of. efficiency. I watched the sWting. and have now itt my possession- a number of the paper targets that are a silontthough eloquent testimony to tiro accuracy af the marksmanship. And it- is worthy of note that the poorest of these Volunteers was willimgy paying for tie ammunition ho used in practice. I spoke to many of the raen. They were, keen and determined: they meant Dttsijiess "I have A wife and seven children, said.one man. " and there are three sons and myself who will die jefore we will giro in." This was in a ijpical county town reprosetited by a Nationalist meraber in Parliament! On other nights we drove over muddv roads and through winding lanes to halls and reoma in which men. wore- niphtjy drilt sng, TSio average age at tho 'Voinsiteetti seemed to be. betseon 20 and 35 years, though in the country squads the me " w «ro older- An cs-sergeant-maje'r oi the Guards was drijlmg 0110 section, and ©X'Arwy offiqers were drilling others. Paetory-otmere, manager}, and employees 'night be soca nil driHin't' together. The number enrolled in this Nationalist" county at that time— too months ago—was 8023, jiikl the tests wero still being daily added to, lhere was an intelligence department, a signalling corps, and dispatch riders, who made long .night journeys "on motor ijicycles, and would v/ake np t3ie ott-nsf' or a household, even at three o'claclt in I *B morning, ta give him a'inessago that' rau perhaps been carried all the- way tarn Defry. Ifey worked in twos »Wl threes as if the opposing forco.s were rrally at war- Nβ doubt these dwptfteh riders were of considerable use when the authorities wepetie'b&d-ly outwitted daring the toceiit Rtiti-rmmfng opfefatroiis. Thoy carried rewlvers, as they realised that in running thrdivftli sowe m the ftatsonalist villaßes In the. niglit time they might jiare to defend tliomeelves from attack, fhe dispatch xiimg had got. to stick a .stogo of perfecttoh that tltosp controlline; nffairs were : q«ito iadopcHcJent of the' Post Office, and iti the event of tlio breafciiw* out or actual hostilities, they eoold nut the wires to stop (jovcrnment message's onrt still get their ewn m-cssAgcs tlironsli. in fact, they cotrttl eaplaro the comnuiuicntions <>? tho wlmlc 'province at a moment's notice. One mijlit conio upon siicli a notvep n.< the follbwiug:— "This hi'idfro was blewn up hy ster Voluntwrs at 2,30 this morning " : Of w«rs<j tiw bridSß iv(ia not actually I Vj I?* ,, ut ' ,at ' * ,c ' l ' < ; ' win ' v, ' ar frguja__flaTo beea. One sight & nwherj

it volunteers were dispatched as if to ay mines in the fords of the Boyne, nifil-o William crossed. IVv duly oariciUiit the undertaking ami, to'show ■nut they had accomplished their long nitlutghl journey, they placed a flag oti ■ho monument, and, beneath it nn nscrijitian: "Tiiis flag was hoisted at ..lo a.m. by the Ulster Volunteer ''Oreo, It may be pulled down by Rebel lands; but tho lion hearts of Ulster will jev-er bo conquered 1" They left the lag there, and were-back at "their work imiiy. miles away next morning. ■AJio police were watching tho drilling ind oilier.operations with «i vinw to resorting to t'ho .Government, One night t sergeant and threo constables were ouml crawling along in tho grass to i-et n closer view of a company that iivis drilling in a field; Mif, they might is well liavo como iwldly- up and had ;!ieir look, for tho Ulster volunteers unko no secret of ■ drilling with their ivoodwi guns. The real guns swo stow--3d away in small parcels of five each, ind therefore no raid that tho Government could make would be in the least jcgroe successful. I boVβ noticed in iomo -colonial journals that support Homo Rule, suggestions tliat Mr. Asjuith should havo used tho forces a< l»s command; but tho people who gist such advice can have no conception M the actual position. No on© knovi better than Mr. Asquith—and Mr. Red mend knows it too—that any attempt U use force at tho present' junctqreBvcn if_ the force were prepared to ant lylueh is .dolrbtfttl— would not succeed And, if it did fsuefceed k uwiarthim » maehiiie-gtin or a few rifles' am founds of ammimition, it would prols noly bo found, in more than one in stance, that the most innocent aw unsuspected, persons would bo impli oated. Ono «wld toll eome amusuij tales of tho smuggling in,of arms &u< ho manner in which they are some times stored. It might even be asotf tamed that an ardent Home Ruler bat unwittingly becomo partialis crimmis In© box of a humble governess landing from Liverpool lias had a' rifld (aroel' reposing oinoljgst its lingerie, while tii> inw» of an upright grand havo beei aentod with, the heavy pre.ss of 3D; lmmunitiott! For .monthe past mote sarsj with armed escorts s havo ieci snaking midnight journeys cnrrvinj irms and ammunition from tho feorts tJifferent ports of tho country. '■ Pfon luidnight till throe o'clock ono mora ing'the library of si highly respecta Jitiisen was a perfect arsenal! ' Onlsome flvo or sis men knew, how man ; rides there are available. "The Times'" limitary correspojiclsnl j n M ar ch last liintcd at a supply of 80,000; but ' Mljftvo thero could not at that tiav , i?-,n bcel L , ! Inih<?coullt^,1 n ih< ? coullt^, I!] °k> thai 30,000 or 60,000 rifles. Enrollment ha, proceeded at a greater paee than th< -icqipition of arins, and hence, n> loubt, the neces'Sfty for tho recent "tin rnantng—an csploit that, surely, is on n %ho most astute and daring in th. jiials of prov-Hitifi armament iinde stress. Many of "the volunteers have bouah ?f £1 that is-allowa in eucl inste-n'ce TOtn ©wiisands— boU i. rotcstoiits and Nationalists—are nrm m with -revolvers, while ordinary qn.ji >nd buck-shot are, in 50hlQ instances «pt handy in cam of maH. Early ji Uaroh there were no fewer than IIiJ'OOI 'G uuteers olsrolled, and, if civil wa ict-iially broko out, this number woqli ;ms Margplj- aapmented from England Scotland, Canada, Australia, an/ov" Now /Zealand. Tho «r K anf as tien is tot "jtoria and tftere arc. 05 battalions, tiv of winch vary from 400 to 2000 UHtfo j$ only eno mounted regiment ■'u» ihore are mounted men nnd cj-disfe JW'ps with each . division. ' V a ] *fttjuls-.,havo, ;.besn-f.-,worfced out ii •e-sftrd' to ■ .transport and sup h< vmm am .particularly km, ilal-Js and houses Have been set aside- i< f " s « i! , as hosiritals for tho s.tok mi, Mundnd. ind there is. ft full.equijMwjn >t beds and bedding, linen and band jges, ami anaosthotics alreasjv pm-ided there are Bβ longer any "bridge" after loons or cyeiiiuas-t!t6 vofisen m a! iiisy learning first aid and uursiii" toe Walk ni npofi- wljgt you imagii" ■o Ifo.-au afternooM-tea party. Till ■«i is there, eertainfy; b-ut t-horo is alsi l doctor present, showing the IMm » c 1 wintlagroiS n wound w steiDpin* s ■iced.HK artery. There is a grim* do! ■nrminatwii about thq-ss wsttiai that ai rwst st-asg<-.rs ono unused to such > ciise atmosphere, and yet . sends i hi-ill ot admiratwn through one' irain, for, though, to,daj-, they an ifiiwaßinjr sound limbs, to-morrow '} ftav be tho bleudiup forms of their o\Vi r.ved oncs—lmslmna, koijier.or sonbat they will be dfiftling with. It woufd tate too imich space to He. t-ribe oiie-tontli of what eno saw it ) later. Jvijrlit after »i g ht ive wowh iij out to distant halls, where meft tverInHinft. In a big worn of an oM linoi fltll I saw iarmers aiid -formers' sons ind miH-haiids drilling by the dim Hg.li it Icerosene lamps, and ontside thre. -■oniparaes were at work with tliei »-ooden guns wider jiastily-iniprovisei llaro lights. Here it Was that, I sav m old gwy-bearfod pai'son «me v» an. net his badfi© as a member of tie Illste Volunteer Force from the liitiids af ; .ve-miE colonel who had-been in -th Guards. And thero was a lo.sk of d(

termination in his wrinkled face, relieved by a grim smile, as, after saluting the officer, lift stepped toek and pinned the little badge with the wpraM mm of Ulster on his coat. In tho mils, some 17-5- mites away ■from Tyrone, m a places sarromidod by Nationalists' a curate of the Church of Ireland had a company of 90 men drilling under niln. In airothef company there tt-as a Presbyterian minister in the ranljs, and isi vet another a rector owr whoso Srostcd head seventy winters had passed was drilling as a MI private under his curate 1 And the cufaie, I may re* mark, was a fine specimen of muscular humanity, and a Rpkudic] homer. finally, before leaving the county districts, I went one dark, cold, winter's- flight to o place where 'thews was ttot even , ri. t-iliafic—only a few scattered cottages. And ftero a fine sturdy-looking lot of young num wefe drilling, by hwteiii light til the uneven fields, they wore per, j form ing evolutions in open order, the rantoni-beafers Jnarclimg with the Wmpaaies. How they ever managed to : Keep tkeir positions in tho dim, uncertain light Was % marvel to me,, but they matched and wheeled, and came up at the double m fins style, and at the end : of tho iiifttit's work gave rousing eJvoors for the Kina and tlirir cainiuajiner, a.iid sang the National Aiithotn. SttHidinc tbew in the ftolfl in tbo shelter of' a hedeco and listening to that vohiwo <al strand coming from the tliro&ts of tlio ■shadowy battalion, with the" lanteras dimly buraiiig, one was impress&l with tno Rrim flarnesiiiess and reality of it all. They wouW bo tough mrstcmiirs iheso. oven for the JB.riij.sh Army ta meet in a Jiight attack k t.h«r own ■pountty, every tree a,nd hedge ai.d burn of which they know sa well, ".wo other are impressed upon m memory-the great nieetjng in Ulster Hall, siul the review qf six b.atteheiis of ..the Belfast Vohffijtesra hy f)tr Edward Carson, One then began to realise the K .fim ' detortninatioft of thDse men. of tlio Govonanter Mood 'bred among the Basalt of Antrim/' There was no manner of stotik about it: they were prfejjarecl—AiicV tJiey would .fasht, man and lyoy, to.iho death, with Hieir women ..folk urging them on, .1 ■, went through tme of the U K shtfthiMniß yards a«d talked lo the men there— hftVißfl; first olitiiiiwjcl pei'misstan to do w>. Group after yron.j* expressed a defmn£ ,ft , tlOn trt Sm tlle tJIi "P: tllKHUth. 1 II fight to the kst drop of m.y blood." said « iiiifklSu-itgMl man who wbs hautlliHC laiw simnts flf ifosi for n hfe ship That was buihiint:. i»nrl his mates agreed that tlmy wouW do -ihp ssiiic. I hav-K said that this (i«nstioii mirfit S; £'; oW( l '", ttij;-iHirraitUve out of the «««% of m NntiotiiilMa Iliamtelvw. A lrett-JototfU Home R:ulcr aad a- fo-rmer

Natiotetist member of 'Pitt jjameht, writing to Mr. Asquith k Pecwnifr hsi, tells Wm tlrnt if ho understoad the roai position, of affairs ho vwjujcj edopt a different attitude. "No real lover oj: the British Ejhpire," l).o adds, "donires to see Horns Rule eiFectpd in a deluge of blood, which will divMe.lfislmictt for ages., and -destroy not wily j*ui' Govcrn.me.ut, which tas. effected m many useful reforms, but the tiberal Party and ttlo test interests of Ireland, and the Empi.lo as well," He geps en warn Mr. Asquitii of tlio real foci tli»t tlio .Nortlt of Ireland is like a.n arifled cmap, and that if he pursues his pfesojit .course he "will undoubtedly create ij civil war whieh it will-require tho whoto strength of tho British Army to etepspress, evoii supposing the British Arniy rt-sclf wre to remain loyal and trustworthy," Now, tjesij aro Hot the words of a bigoted TJUtewnaft; they rtrg tho fford* or one'-of tho bcst-laiown surge»M hi Llst-w, wl» ivas for five yetlrs a Nationalist ttember of Parlianiont, sitting on the .same side of the Souse 'as Mr. Asquith iiimself. And it is -only after "deep and an ngmy o'f mind beyond description" of what k in stow for his cßuntry tliiit l-o has v<!iituriied to approach Mr. Asijtttth Mid imptorb him to listen.to reason and attomb to, setHo tho Irish question on Jirottcrate and lines. Bioso wljo havo been urging Jfr AsTOith to use forco snrtfy <!o not realise what the toßsfiqiifinccs ef.stioli a tcrnbte reality would U. In !g§G, wlien Mr.> Gladstone's first Bill was throwii ovit, it iook n thwisaiid jmKog and eel' diets sis wetfos in qudl a .oauple of tlidM ? pn.d:;.riptws. Hw fong wffl it taJto oven tho British Amy, m> that sectmij «)t it that »s prepared ia rmhrlmtet a civil-religious witr—to tonquef a km* clwd thtftisand lUtitcrmen, trained aud mil armed, uiifjcr oompetont leader* ;ship.- Such action on the part of any ■Goverwmeiit is Uα drefldfu} to coiitoii- . J'Mie, for not enly woald tlm red blsiid flow 111 Ulster, hut dJsseiitron anci -strif*. tvoutu spread throiidroiit tlm £«ipi>e Even Mr. HccfmoiKl himself, nppaMiitlv' is ijogmnißg to realise tins, a»d lia-S re' coiuly bean counselling the Vtlmo tor against the use <rf force, t : ho»»ii there is dear erdijeneo nosy that the uso of force was csntetii.jiktod., and even planned, by tho militant section of the Cabinet.

Ixird Wolsley—whose ojiiufea should I be oiio ivfirtJl having—when Commander-1 uivUnef iii Ireland, said fhsit if ever) ott!' troops were brought iiit.o enlftion with tUe loyalists of Ulster, and bfood Was shed, it would sh-afej y, 0 w i io j o ■ foundations upon which our Army rusts to such an extent that te felt flic Army wghkJ never tie the saffio again. X true pi-oiActi he jtoiutod out—and tiial; was m 1893—that niaiiy offices svnultl resign ia join Ulster, awl that tli.ero w©uM be sheli .1 host of retired ofileeM ■■ in the Ulster ranks that men Vljo , would stand bs> tlm. Government no i)»attoi> wliJit- it did woiild i-,s> we.rso tfatn half-nrartal in all they did, No Army lie added, conM stand such a st-raki upon it. Bu?ii in -England. Scotjaiid, and Ireland list year oho Mad mmji'p. , woof that Lord Wolsctoy's tt-eril? «- fl uid come ta-ue, and the Britisli GiWci-iimcUt has sineo been able to ga'tigo lj.ow P-liqiib they were. And it is cortvti'j also, that if it wero tiro Jfatioiiniisis of Ulster, .instead, of tho Protestants, that tho officers ir-ero told to niarcii against, they would, iiavo resigned all. , ' the same. :

And iiov.', whatever ooncksvaft ' tk reader may como.-co.in regard to tlio auestiouof whetlicr or not t'lster is : right, lio 't'aanot elmt Uls. ■dyos ui i-lio fact thai; pister is prcfarqd. Neither nan. li*> blink the .fact that, Klster is dctc.rm.incd. And if quo rightly .estiHiates tho etroHßth of the rod blood that flows in tho veins .p| theso CcrvsfcantorSi, oiio mast ftlsp icalteo that Vlshcr will never bo compelled to yield to farce ttlrnt sho \sill net yteM to rons-oi). For the sake of Ulster, "far tho salic of EiiElaad, for tho nak-o of the Empire'; '. Jot iis pray to Gael that civil war—this ! cnosb horrftlo of sll liuaan wirflfets— : Way yet bo averted, oven tiifiiigh tho ! bareaiii made for a brief term flf' politi-. oal power b'o broken,

One ■oamtofc do better, perfcijis, than close tin's'presentment of certain facts by a,a Expression of oprmtm from. tho two greatest poets and patriots ef our ago ;— Tennyson, years ago, in a letter to Q.uceii Victoria,.'wrote :•*- "Since Your Majesty t<mslie's Upon the disasirtrtis policy of tho day, I may say that I wish I liva.v be in my grave, beyond sight afid Imaging wliclt an English Army fiwss tipoit ttlstor." ' ■And. R.iidyanl Kipliii.g—whdj liord Roberts, Ijas signed tjlio British co\ r eimifc"rc(!ewt)y writfl:— "Sifieve, we dare sjpt bbast, Bfllievo, 'we do not Wo Etaiid /to i>ay the cosfc ; '. In alj that man bolcii dear. What njistfer f»m the North p Oao law, ono land, oiio thrpnei If JEiifsialtd dike Us forth. Wo shall not fall akno. ;