WHAT THE IRISH ARE DOING.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 January 1916, Page 3

WHAT THE IRISH ARE DOING.

To the Editor. Sir, —T wave spaee in your valuable paper for a few lines in reply to a lengthy article in the Taranaki Daily News of January 7, re Irish shirkers. We don't take notice of articles of tliia nature when tliey. appear in the yellow rags of New Zealand, l>ut when it appear* in a paper of sucli liigli repute for fair dealing as the Taranaki Daily News hears, it is quite a horse of another color. First of all, the Irish are raising their own quotas of troops, and the best authority (Lord Kitchener himself) has pronounced their efforts to be magnificent, which is quite true considering that they have sent close on 200,000 up till now out of a population of 4% million. I a.m quite sure that no othev part of the British Empire can show such a fine record, and that considering the War Office red tape held up revruifcing for months through denying them the justice that was conceded to all the British colonies. Taking the number of Irishmen from the other colonies and adding them to the Irish at home you have a number close on 400,000 men. I think those figures speak for themselves and give the lie to the shirker scare. Shirkers there are, but not Irish shirkers: but you will find them in the English families. There is another side to this question. There are 80,000 Irishmen who offered their services since the war began turned down as medically unfit. Is there anybody can prove that those 500 nier< did not come out of the ranks of the rejects? Of course those that are only too glad to give Ireland and Irishmen a slap in the face won't consider such a point at all. It would not answer their purpose. If it was not for British law persecuting, starving, and hunting Irish people from the land of their birth they would have 15 million instead of 4y 4 million in Ireland at present, and the proof of this is that Ireland contributed through emigration the huge number of 8 million souls in seventy years to the Cnited States of America, besides the hundreds who died at home through bad legislation. But no matter what Ireland and the Irish will do for the Empire, their reward is kicks and insult to their country and people. The result of this blind policy is that America has an Irish population of 30,000,000 which should have been in Britain if they got anything like the justice they extended to their German friends, who are treating them so generously now!—l am, etc., 'AX IRISHMAN.

■Lepperton, Jan. 14. [The article in question was taken from the London Daily News and dealt with the striking of the crew of a Cunard liner against a mmibe'r of Irish young men leaving for America to escape military obligations. It was no indictment of the Irish as a whole, who are, in point of fact, responding to the call as well as other sections of the Empire. One might as well blame Xev Zealand for the contemptible leaving of the batch of eilgibles for America the other day.—Ed.]