SINN FEIN PLANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1916, Page 6

SINN FEIN PLANS.

TWO MONTHS AGO. MOCK ATTACK ON CASTEE. WARNING IN THE TIMES. On March 4 {lie London Times printed from a correspondent in Ireland the following warning article:— In the House of Commons at the beginning of last December, Mr. Birrell said that the Trish Volunteers "have endeavored to obstruct recruiting and to foment disloyalty in Ireland." On Tuesday, December 7, the Times published an article on this text, in which I described tlie anti-recruiting work of these Irish Volunteers. It was admitted that the problem was a difficult one, and that there was something to be said for the Irish Government's policy of "vigilant inactivity." During the past three months that policy has been maintained, with results which seem to me to diminish the validity of the arguments in its defence. I was reluctant then, and am still reluctant, to embarrass tlie Government, but it is even more desirable now than it was in December that the British public should know some of the things which are happening in Ireland. It ought to be in a position to judge for itself the wisdom or unwisdom of the Government's attitude to the influences which are injuring recruiting in this country.

RESSLTS OF "LAISSEZ FAIRE." The policy of laissez faire is still maintained, and the activities of tho Sinn Fein movement are certainly more obvious than they were three months ago. Perhaps the Irish Executive regards this fact as an advantage. Indeed, nobody can complain that many, at least, of the operations of the Sinn Fein movement are not perfectly open to tlie day. Its newspapers are sold in every small general shop in Dublin and throughout the country. Although the importation of arms into Ireland has been strictly prohibited, the Volunteers declare publicly that they are' getting all the arms that they need. Under "Notes from Headquarters'," in its issue of February 26, the Irish Volun : teer say 3 :— "Since the Howth landing there has never been a moment at which Headquarters was not in a position to supply guns for money down." There is no doubt about the continuous growth of the Sinn Fein movement. It is still drawing recruits from the official Volunteers, especially since renewed pressure to join the colors has been put upon the farmers' sons. It has a substantial following in Dublin. It is strong in the counties of Wexford, Cork, and Kerry. It has many adherents on the western ahd north-western sea-board, where the recruiting statistics are the lowest in Ireland. ■ On Sunday, February 27, a recruiting meeting was held at Moycullen, County Galway, and the band of the Connaugh't Rangers was in attendance. A body of about 00 Sinn Fein Volunteers interrupted the meeting, and, though warned more than once by the few'policemen who were present, insisted on marching through it. Some time ago in another part_ of Galway, the carts of a local magistrate who was active in recruiting were upset on the roadside. Nobody was" brought to book for either of these incidents. Tt is not surprising that in country districts where the Sinn Feiners are strong recruiting has come almost to a standstill.

ANTICS IN DUBLIN. In Dublin the Volunteers are beginning to indulge in military experiments, at which a man with Mr. Birrell's keen sense of humor (if Mr. Birrell were ever in Dublin) might be disposed to smile. In people who live in Dublin, however, and have sons and brothers at tnofront, surgit amari aliqnid. On the night of Saturday. February 5. a large body of City Volunteers decided to practise street fighting. They gathered with rifles and bayonets at 11 o'clock in Blackball Place, an open space near the Liffey, and for a couple of hours they engaged in strenuous exercises. Here is another story which lias not appeared in print, and is now given as true on excellent authority. Some -weeks ago a number of armed men appeared about midnight outside Dublin Castle. The officer in charge posted one body of troops at the Upper, and another at the Lower gate. A third body 'was sent round. to hold the exits at the rear. After these dispositions had been made to the officer's satisfaction, he inspected and dismissed his troop. Dublin Castle had been taken—in theory. Such affairs may, perhaps, be regarded as "playacting"—a symptom of the impish tendencies of the Celtic character. On tho other hand, they may have a serious side.

THE DISLOYAL PRESS. In any back street in Dublin you may collect within ten minutes copies of at least a dozen weekly newspapers which are devoted'to the propagation of Sinn Fein principles. Some of them are fairly substantial papers and are sold at a penny; other slender broadsheets are sold at ■■ inlf-penny. It is not easy to discover the circulation of these newspapers, but it ranges probably from 2000 to SOOO a week. One penny monthly, called Fianna, is, •or was, devoted—a have not seen a copy since the January number—to the edification of boys and girls. Its motto was Wordsworth's line, "The child is father to the man." In January this paper told Irish schoolboys and schoolgirls that: — "The British Army of occupation with all its camp followers, its soupers, and its Castle hacks, its climbers, and its moneymakers, are busy entrapping men into the British Army." All these papers discourage recruiting, some rather insidiously, and some with the most vehement rhetoric. As I have said, Mr. Eedmond is just now the special object of their displeasure. In the Spark for Sunday, February 27, one reads:— "If Redmond's visit to the trendies was stage-managed, and if he was only shown the bright side, of trench life, I can but pity the man for the deception of which he was the victim. But if, on the other .hand, he knows the truth about the conditions in ihe trenches, I say then it is his crowning act of infamy that he sees to entice more Irishmen to share those conditions. Prior to the engagements, the men are doped with rum, and between rum and tho excitement and roar of bursting shells, they become callous of danger and charge like infuriated gorillas." No doubt this article was read in hundred of country cottages .there any sort of printed page has still a Certain sanctity. The Irish peasant still clinches a statement by telling you that he saw it "in the paper." This Spark is printed for the proprietors by the Gaelic Press, 30, Upper Liffey Street, and published at 4, Findlater Place, Dublin.