SINN FEIN PLOTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 123, 11 February 1918, Page 6

SINN FEIN PLOTS

DISCLOSURES IN AMERICA SIDE-LIGHTS ON THE REBELLION Mr. Flynn, Chief of the United States Secret Service, has published two Sinn Fein letters which recently came into the' possession of the Secret Service. One is an official account of the Sinn Fein rising in 1916, and refers to an agreement with Germany. "If the course of the war allowed it," it says, "Germany would set up an independent Ireland." The other letter deals with 'Jhe establishment of regular communications with Sinn/Feiners operating in New York by means of a system of Transatlantic messengers. Many persons are mentioned in the documents by initials only, but a few are referred to by name. Other letters of even greater importance are said to be in Mr. Flynn's hands. One letter in part was as follows: Preparations for Revolt. "The first intimation I received that the insurrection would take place on Easter Sunday was the Thursday night previous at the Centre SO meeting. The delegate from the centre at Ballybrack stated at the meeting that he had received orders to derail the line on Easter Sunday as a preliminary to the insurrection, and asked if they, were official 1.R.8. orders. I told him' they were not, nor were th'eyV. orders, as las secretary could assure him. I asked him from whom he had received them. He replied from Pearse. I icmembered then that J. J. O'Connell that <lay sent me an urgent note, saying he was coming to Dublin and must see me at headquarters. Surmising his anxiety had reference to the proposed insurrection, I quitted the meeting and made haste to meet him. He told me he had received orders to lead the revolt in South-east Leinster on Sunday. We immediately went to M'Neill. On our way O'Connell had to call at his own lodging, where he found a man from Galway, who had come to make certain if the orders for the insurrection to take place on Sunday were quite official. I told him they were not, and to go back to Galway rind let nothing of that kind occur unless he heard further from M'Npill. Late on Friday I was requested by Tobin to attend a meeting at his house, where meetings wore often held. As soon as I got there I was immediately irrested and placed under armed guard." The writer then explains that he was under arrest until the Monday night after the insurrection had broken out. The letter continues: .

Casement's Arrest. "After Casement's death 1 got a delayed message from him, through Mrs. Green, that Casement was lying ill in a private hospital ire Bavaria when he first heard there was going to be an insurrection in Ireland. A German officer who had come from a Baltic port told him of the Auds' departure. Hβ immediately went to Berlin and learned that the military authorities there were not officially aware of the Auds' departure for Ireland. It had been arranged with German officers at the Baltic port. I am of opinion that this was arranged from America. After insistence on his part the authorities placed a submarine at the disposal of Casement. In this submarine we started for Ireland, but after one day's journey the machinery went wrong, and after hours of vain endeavour to right it we transferred to another submarine. This was of an old pattern and very slow. Besides, tho commander did not know tho coast of Ireland very well. Casement, Monteith, and Bailey, who accompanied him, landed on tho Kerry coast. Casement had been connected with the arrival of the Auds. As a matter of fact —and it is not generally known—there was a distance of not less than one hundred miles between the spot where the Auds was sunk and where Casement landed; Immediately after landing Monteith and Bailey were sent by him on an errand. Ho was arrested through tho treachery of the man on whoso around he landed. Nevertheless Casement did succeed in having word conveyed to Dublin that ho had failed to got German help and that under tho circumstances the insurrection must not take placo at that time.

Explanation of Mneil's Action. ■ "It was the knowledge of Casement's arrest that decided M'Neill to councer- ■ mand the manoeuvres, and an order appeared in the "Irish Independent" on Easter Monday. Everyone knows how events shaped after that. I never for a moment believed conscription and if such an attempt was made I was prepared to countenance resistance. I would be forced on Ireland as long as there was aff'armed force to resist it, know there was in ex.sience an agreement with Germnny that, 'if the course of the war allowed, , they would sot up an independent Ireland. Knowing this, I was willing to wait and see "would tho course of the war allow it—even wait until tho end of the war. I believe it would then have been possible to run guns on a huge scale and arm every man in Ireland. It would then no possible to demand through a party in tho House of Commons, not necessarily the Irish Nationalist Party, a Colonial Government for Ireland. With this party to voice its demands, and rifles and volunteers ready to support it, I beiieve the Government would have no recourse but to accede. While this would not be the full attainment of our ideal, it would nevertheless place us in as favourable a position as we were in 1782, and without the restrictions of our present position we would quickly further our claim and win." The other communication is an nnatfdrosscd letter wSiioh one Thomas I Welsh attempted to destroy wlion lie was arrested. The most * significant sentence appears when urging discretion in the wordinrr of eommunicutions. "The game is so high and there is too much at stake to take any risks. You must iif° extreme caution whnn writing. Always refer to Sean,foar. Os I do. and if ir-ssil'lo c ] on >t , npn . tion his. name at all." The word Soanfrar occurs numerous tiroes, as rlo also the names of William Cain, Mistress Cuman, and nerscis desiVnated under various initials. Tho Federal authorities beliVvp tint fV"nfear was the director .of all Sinn Fein onnr-ttions, nlthniiffh the letter docs not discuss his activities.