THE CASE FOR IRELAND

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 20, 18 October 1919, Page 5

THE CASE FOR IRELAND

Sir,—Miight I suggest to your correspondent "John Johnson" that we in tho 20th century have no time or use for people who persist in harking back in tlieir ideas to the 171!h or Ibtli century. To wcto as he has done, stating that Home Rule for Ireland is purely a domestic matter is to ignore the that principles for whi.ch, wo avowedly went to v,ur, and to ignore the fact that England is a, signatory to the League of Nations Covenant, whioh lias p.edged itself to espouse tile cauio ot all nat.ons seeking self-government. For Kngland to prescnuo for other countries and to refuse to apply that prescription in her own case, would be to nullify that Covenant from the very beginning, lour correspondent also ignores the fact that the honour of each of the nations signing the Covenant is tho honour of all. Let one :gnore any one of the conditions of the League, and it at. once becomes the affair of all, "John Johnson" also modes&'.y states, from the depths of his knowledge of the American people, that fow of them know that tho Irish enjoy as much political, civil, and religious l.borty as them-rt.i-ij. .Let me assure "Joan Johr.sun" that there is very little that tho American people do not know of Irish affairs, and it is just because of their knowledge, much greater than -.(5 tlmt of tno peoplo of this country, that, they are bringing undoubted pressure to bear upon England to-day. Public feeling is aroused in the States as it never has been before. Let him take to heart General Smuts's last .words before he left England: "It (tho Irish question) has become a chronic wound, the septic effects of which are spreading throughout our whole system; and through its influence on America it is now beginning to poison our most vital foreign relations. Unless tho Ir.sh question is sealed on the great principles for which we fought, this Empire must cease to exist."

As for stating that Ireland's ancient greatness was li "bug-a-boo," may I recommend to "John Johnson's" notice tho published researches of such men as Dr. Petrie, John O'Douovan, Dr. Joyce (president of tiho Roynt Society of Antiquarians), and other men whose i ames are of world, standing. Possibly, however, ho will still prefer liis own opinion. Will "John Johnson" state what makes n ;nabt)n? I had always thought that a common language, a common history, .a literature, customs, traditions, shared in • dornmon, constituted a nation. "John Johnson" has shown so much knowledge on other matters that no doubt he will enlighten my ignorance. That Ireland to-day has hor own language is shown by the police records, in wh.ch may bo 6een cases of Irishmen and Irishwomen, even boys and girls, having been put in prison for refusing to speak' in any language but their own. A cablegram that reached this country somo little tine ago stated that a man had been given two years in Ireland for singing a Sinn Eein song. That i 3 freedom, according to "John Johnson" Your correspondent overlooked the fact th((t when I quoted instances of tho treatment which Irish people wero receiving at the hands of the police and the soldiery I carefully stated that those instances, and- many more, wero published in papers passed by tho English censor. At that time (and probably, now) every paper in Ireland (save, I should think, tiie Ulster "Northern Whig") was subject to the censor. As for the matter of taxation, might I rofer "John Johnson" to lord Dunraven's book "The ■ Outlook in Ireland," in wh'ch, after consulting many authorities, and going deeply into the matter, he states: "The wealth of Ireland, as proved by income tax returns, by taxed salaries of officials in the employ of municipalities and public conipan-.es, by the wago-tarning capacity of the labouring classes, by the marriage and birtlilato, and by all other tests is, as comilared with the wealth of Great Brita'n "lit of proportion to the relative amount u taxation paid by the people of the .v>' islands." He also goes on 'to say: 'U'l .le in Great Britain direct and in. i i'pc • taxation are fairly evenly balanced, & T > and the poverty of the country is &• .tat that 72.2 per cent, of tho amount r aic.i she pays into tho Imperial Exchequer is raised by taxes upon 6uch commodities as are in daily use among the poorest people." "John Johnson" does not seean to know that in the fight against conscription in Ireland both Protestants' and Roman Catholics were united. Religion had nothing to do with it—it was the very eoul and life of a nation that had been attacked, and it should interest him to know that a conference of Presbyterian ministers in Belfast voted against conscription, In conclusion, I should like to state that whatever Scotland may choose to do is no criterion for what Ireiand chooses to do, If Scotland chose to submit to England's domination that was her aaffir, and no reason why Ireland should do so. Aa a matter of fact, tho latter country has never accepted the English yoke, and for that matter Scotland is stirring in the direction of sfclfgovernment, or, in other words, Sinn I'ein.—l am, etc., DJS.