THREE IRISH REBELS SHOT

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 25, 4 May 1916, Page 5

THREE IRISH REBELS SHOT

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The rebel leaders ' in the Irish rebellion received short shrift. On Monday week the first ’ step in the unfortunate and impossible movement against law and order was set in motion, aid ten days after, the three signatories to the Republican Proclamation, Pearse, Clarke, and McDonagh, occupy a felon’s grave. The British Government have an unenviable name for being slow to anger — «*.: if not of great goodness (!) —but when they move, retribution follows with unerring swiftness. Every reader will agree with the justice of the sentences ; indeed, there could be no place • •in the Empire for such traitors; and it is' hard td 'understand*the attitude df Giflnell, a member of the House of ! Commons, in openly and repeatedly ,K ' ’defying the Speaker and’ in his denunciation of the action of the authori-. . ties in inflicting the death sentence upon those who have heen worse than , murderers. His reference to the “hlunnish Government” is particularly ( insulting, and, it is a pity that some part of the law could not be iiir voked to punish any such as he. It i is -a crime against good government that is. only a matter of degree less heinous than that which meant the end of the rebels’ career. The infliction of sentences carrying penal servitude of three years is not by any ■ means: too severe under .the.:cnrcum-' :■ stances. Many people in this country express themselves as favorable to a general execution of those who have ! sinned against their innocent brethren and against the Empire, and also to the imposition of death in cases of even'slight symptoms of treachery in ,'the futil’re.

But there is no need for extreme measures of this description. Sufficient, that those who were instrumental in leading their fellows into crime should be made an example of as a warning to others. With the rank and file—all young strong men fit to handle a rifle and withstand the hardships of the trenches—a merciful Justice might do worse than allow them to join the Army, and by fighting, strive to expiate their wrong-doing. That is the set-off to the feeling as expressed before. However, the British sense of Justice may be trusted to do the right thing at the right time, but already there is some clamoring for vengeance by the people, some thirsting for the blood of the head and front of the offending, namely Sir Roger’ Casement. The manner of dealing with Casement should not be less severe or be longer delayed than in the case of hi s dupes. There are few who will not agree with the opinion that the Empire and the world at large cannot too soon bo rid of such vermin.. President Wilson’s chance of saving Casement from the righteous vengeance of the British nation, even though the appeal bo made by the traitor’s sister, would not be taken by any respectable New Zealand Ixiokie—and he takes a risk with “a moral” some times.

There is nothing new from the West ern front. The Allies are holding tin Germans in check all along the line while in places there-are signs of ofl'eii sive work on their pai't. Other frontsare silent as to the campaign and eve: the sea fails to give up any dead-se; fruit from the submarines. Englam and Scotland provide scenes for ar; other airship raid; but all we kno yet is that a Yorkshire town and som. villages in that county were visited. L the British Parliament there is a gas eral washing-up after the Irish rebel li° n , and the first to fall from gra and from his seat in the Cabinet is .V Birrell, the Chief Secretary, for whom

In the East African campaign, General Smuts is meeting with adverse conditions, besides having to contend with the enemy in fairly large numbers who are settled behind strongly entrenched positions in the KondoaIrangi district, which was recently occupied by General van der V entei s troops. This district is about 150 miles south-west of the British East African border, and nearly two-thirds of the distance between this and the “central railway” towards which the enemy is now retiring. This railway runs right across the middle of the German colony, from Dar-es-Salaarn on the coast as far up as Lake Tanganyika. General Smuts appears to be trying to drive a wedge down between the railway and Victoria Nyanza, to split the German forces into two parts, and deal with them separately. The Kondoa-Irangi success should be of some importance, for it was cabled lately that the enemy was concentrating at this point in considerable strength. Meanwhile the new railway chat General Smuts is having built as a branch from the (British! Uganda railway, as far as and across the German border, is making good progress. It has now been practically linked up with the inland terminus of the more northern of the two German railways. Possibly it may be continued farther outh, with the same object as Kit■hener built his railway of conquest town through the Soudan.

OTHERS SENTENCED TO PENAL SERVITUDE Public Thirsting for Casement's Blood Resignation of Irish Chief Secretary Cleansing of the Political Augean Stable

nevertheless, there appears to be genuine regret on the part of his colleagues at his departure from their ranks. But several othtrs will also be shown to the door.

The movement of Russians to the Western front is -fraught with the greatest possibilities for the welfare of the Allies. We learn from the cables to-day that the fourth contingent has arrived at Marseilles, where they received a great popular reception. No doubt, the first lot are already in the trenches assisting their French confreres to deal out “stoush’ to the Germans at Verdun and elsewhere t perhaps. The position is referred to interestingly by the writer of*War Notes in the New Zealand Times. Touching in yesterday’s issue on the .arrival of the third contingent of Russians • at Marseilles, ho says : “The first was, there is sointe red son to believe, ,40,000, strong, and the third having arrived,' it is not unreasonable to conclude that there are now 100,000 Russian, soldiers, ready to take part in the Western operations. It is a fair guess that there may be more on the way. jEviden fly the En tente Army Council has arranged some operation ion a great scale which is destined to make* tho. Western' front a very memorable place during the summer. Tho dearth of merchant shipping stands explained. The ships are engaged in a colossal undertaking of tho highest military significance. If the Germans are really going to wait till Witsuntide for their offensive, 1 it looks just now as if they may have to wait a good deal longer. We have guessed that these Russian reinforcements came from Manchuria. That of course, means Port Arthur, which being a belligerent port, is one or two open to the Russians, the other being Dalny. Now, the British, French and Italian Navies are very busy in European and Egyptian waters, with as much w’brk as they can do, and oiosu of the ships of Russia are ih the Baltic and the Black Sea. It follows that these transports carrying Russian troops half round the world must have been convoyed by the war vessels of Japan. The whirligig of time!”