IN IRELAND

Hokitika Guardian, 27 December 1919, Page 2

IN IRELAND

(By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) HOME RULE DEBATE . LONDON, Dec. 22. hollowing Mr Lloyd George in the House of Commons, Sir Donald McLean (Liberal) welcomed the absence of any suggestion of further coercion and • repression, or any idea of vengeance. He believed that Ireland would willingly join the Empire sisterhood if the horrors of her sad past wei'e brushed aside. He urged a settlement along the lines adopted in South Africa. Sir Edward Carson (Unionist), said that he regretted that the Constitutional Nationalists were absent. He was still as firmly convinced as ever that a united Parliament was best for the United Kingdom and Ireland. He believed that Britain would make a mistake in the eyes of- foreign nations if she proceeded as if Ireland possessed no political freedom. The Irish electors had equal rights with the British, and, indeed even greater rights. Sir Edward Carson appealed to the Government to retain Ulster in a United Parliament. Mr Arthur Henderson (Labour) said that the greater the delay in reaching a settlement, the greater would be the danger in the Commons .

VOICE OF THE CHURCHES . & OUTRAGE CONDEMNED. _ EONDON, Dec 21. The Very Rev. J. H. Walsh, Dean of Dublin (Anglican) says: “The attempted asassination of the Viceroy, which has startled and shocked the city, calls for the melancholy protest of every Irish man who loves his country, and who hopes to sea the present rule by coercive government brought to its final close.”

He continues: “Is there any rational man capable of deluding himself into the belief that such a method of seek-"" ing redress for the misgovernment' of Ireland to likfely to help the efforts of righteous men who are working earnestly with the single purpose of re-estab-lishing in the country the reign of liberty and justice? Many amongst us are old enough to remember the feeling with which, nearly forty years ago, all Ireland heard of the murders at Phoenix Park. It was the vain hope of tire actors in that awful tragedy that they were making the future government of Ireland an impossibility. The result of the wrong course taken forty years ago, was that the prospect of reform, such as it then was, became far dimmer instead of brighter, and Ireland was brought under a system of coercion, the like of which-we must all hope and pray we will never bb condemned to again.”

The Dublin correspondent of the “Daily News” states that Ireland is shocked at the attempt to assassinate the Viceroy. As usual, the comment is: “I told you so.” The worst feature of the situation is the blunting of the nation’s moral sense. The letter of Dr Walsh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, was read in the churches. It says, in effect: Murder is murder, and therefore a mortal sin, but this must not be denounced too rigorously, for fear that the denunciations be understood in a political sense. There is therefore little hope of catching the assassins. Ninety-nine out of a hundred Nationalist Irishmen would harbour them and assist them to escape. While Archbishop Walsh’s letter condemning the outrage on Lord French was being read in the Roman Cat-hplic Churches, copies of flip Archbishop’s letter subscribing £lO5 to the Npw York Irish National Fund were beipg distributed outside.

ULSTER STIRRED. LONDON, Dee.. 23. Ulster is profoundly stirred by the outrage on Lord French. Leading Unionists say that nothing will now indude the loyalists to place themselves under the doHiinatipn qf men guilty of such horrors. There is no truth in the story that Lord French fired upon his attackers, NEWSPAPER OFFICE WRECKED. LONDON, Dec. 22. The newspaper “Irish Independent,” the office of which was wrecked, called the attack on Lord French, a deplorable outrage, immoral, and unchristian, and abhorrent to the community,” and added: “It was a deliberate murder, which reflects discredit upon the country.” The raiders, however, informed the editor of the “Irish Independent” that Savage was “a liigh-souled youth, who had given his life to rid Ireland of the chief representative -of British tyranny.”

The newspaper was going to pregs wlin a party of eight civilians pilfered. The caretaker first thought them friends of the staff, hut wps disabused of this idea when revolvers were produced. Other Sinn Feiners hold the doors, and held up the workers in all departments, including the sub-editors, while their comrades carried out their work of destruction of the plant, and the paper’s private telegraph wire to London.

A FARMER ROBBED. , LONDON, Dec. 22. Four masked mien held up a market cart at Castletown apd robbed the farmer of -£2lO. THE JURY’S VERDICT. LONDON, Dec. 22, Lord French, in replying to congratulations from the townspeople of Wattage says: “You may rest assured that this band of assassins who are bringing disgrace on my native land will not deter me from the work of restoring law and order, which are the elementary essentials of true democracy.” The jury at the Dublin inquest found that Savage died as the result of being hit by the military escort’s bullet, and added: “Wc beg to tender our sympathy with the deceased’s relatives.”