THE NEW IRISH FREE STATE

Hokitika Guardian, 3 August 1929, Page 2

THE NEW IRISH FREE STATE

NATION RULED BY THE YOUNG. CITY DICTATORS. (By Sir, Percival. Phillips in the “Daily Mail”). • Dublin; June 27. One summer morning after the Great War, I stood at the gates of Dublin-Castle and saw the beginning of the “Irish Armistice” that marked the end of revolution. Peace descended suddenly updii the distressed city, and its effect wastfan experience never to be forgotten. Yet even as one watched British soldiers and Irish civilians walking abouty freely for the first time in many 'months, without the death in the streets, a question came instinctively to mind. ’ WhaU of - the future? The ruins of Dublin, were side. The country was wear/?'4n<i exhausted by the long struggle for. self-govern- • ment. Signs of internal. dissension were already apparent. Statesmen were lacking and the gunman was supreme. wW-would rule, and how? PROGRESS. That was eight years ago. The answer is here for all to read. It is written large on all- the counties of Southern Ireland, and on the face of Dublin itself The inew Free State is moving slpwlyl .*• even painfully, but nevertheless steadily along the road of progress. The changes and Improvements brought about by. its leaders are evident to every visitor who comes here,' as I have done, for the fir# time since the first day of peace. Even the most critical visitor must admit that this is true, even though he may disagree violently in many respects with the attitude of the new Government. The eagerness of Irish patriots to remind you that you are a foreigner may seem unnecessary; even a little offensive; their delight in advertising virtues which old nations take for. granted is apt to he rather tiring. Like children, they are extremely sensitive to criticism, and perhaps unduly watchful for what they consider attempts to patronise them. : • • ••

They are extremely proud of their own coinage and their own postage stamps. They ' talk with great pride of their army. .At the moment “God Save the'King’’ is a distinctly unfashionable air. • - All - these things may tend to prejudice .the stranger who thinks of ; .jthe Free State first of all as an integral part of the British Empire. ' : : 'v, Nevertheless, if hfe looks at South- - ern Ireland calmly and. dispassionately, he will see t that the country has undergone a great awakening. It is engagied-iii “an -which deserves close consideration. It is the experiment of Youth trying to build a nation. Youth is tackling courageously the vital problems of national reconstruction and development—problems • which have broken many older and wiser men skilled in affairs of State. 'Few of the leaders engaged in this task are over forty. Many are in their early thirties. They have had no training in administration work or experience of the technicalities of government. Some have been .flung headlong, as it were, into responsible positions, bringing nothing with, them except unbounded enthusiasm, fixity of purpose, and the determination to serve their country well. It would appear that these qualities are far more valuable than mere agility in politics. Superficial evidence of the progress made during eight years can be found in the aspect of Dublin. Fine new buildings , fill the gaps caused by revolution and civil war. The principal streets have exchanged their ancient cdbble stones for a smooth and enduring surface. New and better shops, hotels, and (cinemas brighten the dingy front of the old-fashioned capital. Housing schemes have created new suburbs which are to he included in a Greater Dublin. The streets ye cleaner jthan they have been since the days of the old Parliament. Even the Liffey has been brought to a state of respectability which is almost infcredible.

RULE BY COUNCIL OF THREE. The railway services have heen tonited under one head, and are operated with greater economy and efficiency. Motor transport services link Oulblin with every important town 3n Free State. Automatic telephones already serve half the capital. The Four Courts, Custom House 'and Post Office, which were left mere battered shells by successive battles bf Dublin, are nearing completion. * ißut these dbvious proofs of progress are only skin-deep/ One must seek further in order to appreciate fully the spirit animating the makers of the Free State. Youth has plunged boldly and ruthlessly into the sacred preserves of political preference, uprooted ldng-established traditions of privilege and revolutionised the machinery of local government. Municipal and urban councils have ' been displaced in many centres by youthful dictators With the title of Commissioner. Dublin is now ruled by a Council of Three all young men. The Mansion House is empty, and the Lord Mayor’s coach is a melancholy emblem of departed splendour. . There > will be a Lord Mayor again some day, and a corporation, lor

Greater Dublin requires an ornamen-J tal background as befits her new position as one of the capitals of the world, but they will be shorn of much of their old power. The business administration has come to stay. This upheaval in municipal affairs has produced many reforms. Wherever a local council has been supplanted by a Commissioner, rates have come down. In Dublin they have fallen from 22s to 13s in the pound. There is greater efficiency in local services; improvements have been accelerated, expenditure curtailed, and unnecessary posts abolished. ‘ Political “pull” is no longer a passport to office. Local leaders can do nothing for tKeir loyal henchmen. The Commissioner, to whom all towns and all politicians look alike, views them only as units of the Free State. Even in communities where the local council still functions, posts to be filled are advertised by the Local Appointments Commission, and the names of nominees must be submitted to Dublin for approval. MODEST MR MEGHEN.' Dublin is run like any big business enterprise, with a profit and loss account, and.keen supervision of departmental heads -and subordinates. Bray and Howth, two seaside resorts, are managed by Mr P. J. Moglien, who combines the functions of mayor, town courfeil, and treasurer with success. If a suit is brought against either town, he must be named as defendant. / Mr Meghen is a typical 'specimen of the new and youthful rulers of the Free State. He is a modest young man, without previous experience of municipal matters, yet his regime as Commissioner of Bray and Howth has yielded such good results that he was recently given Ennis as an additional charge. Ennis is the backward county town of Clare, .with a population of 8,000, and is more than IQO miles distant

from Howth and Bray. , How Mr Meglien is able to control three such widely separated areas effectively, as he does, is one of the mysteries that only Youth can solve. The new system of rule-by-Commis-sioner is more autocratic than any of which the Irish complained in the days of Dublin Castle. Thqre may be justification for some of the attacks levelled against it. I do not know. You cannot make, an omelet without breaking eggs. In any case, it stands for improvement in more ways than one.