THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 27 October 1921, Page 7

THE AMERICAN COMMISSION ON CONDITIONS IN IRELAND

INTERIM REPORT (Continued from last week.) . CHAPTER VII. Political Aspect of the. Imperial British Policy in Ireland British Administration in Ireland.—ln spite of this campaign of murder, arson, terror, and destruction, /the Imperial British forces would appear to have failed to preserve British rule in Ireland. Mr. J. L. Fawsitt, Consul-General of the Irish Republic to the United States, quoted Earl Grey as saying that British government of any sort in Ireland was "non-existent," and Mr. Paul J. Furnas read the report of a committee from the Society of Friends in England estimating that the Imperial British Government had "ceased to function over at least 80 per cent, of Ireland." Lord Mayor Donal O'Callaghan, of Cork, testified that it has become almost impossible for the British to collect taxes; and the statement of Commissioner Morgan, of Thurles, that British civil authority had lapsed generally was supported by numerous witnesses. British Courts in Disuse. —It would appear that the British courts are for the most part empty even of judges; 550 magistrates were said to have resigned office. Lord Mayor O'Callaghan reported such resignations in Cork, Mrs. Michael Mohan in Queenstown, and Commissioner Morgan again in Thurles. In Thurles, said Mr. Morgan, the Government courts were practically falling into disuse altogether by reason of the fact that the people were refusing to go into them. The petty court had quit sitting, and the court house had fallen into dilapidation. People "absolutely refused" to obey a summons, and it was increasingly difficult for the Imperial British Government to secure Irish, citizens- for jury service. Lord Mayor O'Callaghan read a report, composed by the Republican Municipality of Cork, on acts committed by the Imperial British forces between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. during one month, the month of November, 1920. The list includes: "Two hundred and sixty arrests. Upwards of fifty attempted arrests. Four publicly placarded threats to the citizens of Cork. Hundreds of general outrages. Fifteen trains held up. Upwards of 200 curfew arrests. Four Sinn Fein clubs burned to the ground. One million pounds' damage by fire. Seven men shot dead. Upwards of twelve men dangerously wounded by shots. Attempted assassinations of upwards of ten men. Upwards of 500 houses of private citizens forcibly entered and searched. Much indiscriminate shooting." The primary duty of a Government to its people, the duty of preserving order, and guaranteeing to citizens security of life and property, would seem to us not to be fulfilled by the Imperial British Government of to-day in Ireland. We have had no testimony, except a report by Judge Bodkin, which would lead us to the conclusion that British officials in Ireland to-day are serving any function useful to the Irish people. Instead, they seem to us to be engaged in destruction of Irish social and . economic life. In other words, the evidence would seem to show that the campaign of the British forces in Ireland so far has failed to re-establish British authority in Ireland.

The Irish Republic

The Imperial British forces would seem to us likewise to have failed to destroy the civil administration set up by the Irish Republic. Mr. Denis Morgan, of Thurles, Miss Mary McSweeney, of Cork, Mr. Francis Hackett, of New York, and others gave evidences of the intensity ol the British campaign against independent Irish political life. This campaign has been unremitting since the election in December, 1918, which gave popular sanction to the Irish Republic. Ex-Constable Crowley testified that public meetings had been prohibited in his district since March, 1919, and Lord Mayor O’Callaghan submitted proof that every Republican organisation in Cork had been at-

tacked at least once before the great fire in-which all of them were burned. In addition, there would appear to have been a continuous war against Republicans in office. We have already discussed the evidence proving that Imperial British forces slew for no discoverable reason other than Republicanism citizens and officials of the Irish Republic. Mr. Morgan's house in Thurles, together with the houses of four other men, was signalled' out for attack during the raid by the Imperial British forces upon the town presumably because these five were Republican members of the Council. The Lord Mayors of Cork, Mac Curtain, McSweeney, and O'Callaghan, are the most con-, spicuous instances according to the testimony of men persecuted in public: office. Lord Mayor O'Callaghan was witness by his own experience and by that of his Commissioners to the difficulties encountered—such as arrests, threats, shots, and perpetual shadowing by Imperial "police"while attempting to perform public duties. An affidavit by Seamus MacGearailt, chairman of the Queenstown Urban Council, was placed in evidence showing that he had not been able for six months to approach his own house, muck less attend to his official responsibilities. The Imperial British forces would seem to us to be intensively engaged in thwarting the efforts of the duly elected Irish officials to administer the civil government in Ireland. Failure of the Imperial British Policy in Ireland In spite of these difficulties and with the Imperial British Government ceaselessly attempting to terrorise the people and to paralyse the social and economic life of the country the Irish Republican Government appears, in the light of voluminous and consistent testimony, to be definitely holding its own and establishing its.right to be considered the only working government in Ireland outside 1 the region around Belfast. Witnesses to its strength were numerous and unequivocal before the Commission, including among their number impartial observers from the outside as well as partisan observers from within. The Women's International League of England reported through a visiting committee, "although members of the [Republican] Government are proscribed, their courts illegal, and their revenues forfeit, one can truly say that without them Ireland would be given over to sheer anarchy. The Government had the enthusiastic support of the enormous majority of the population To a degree never witnessed before by any of the women, it is possible to say that Dail Eireann governs with the consent of the people." The English Friends were convinced that "if the English garrison and armed police were to withdraw, the Sinn Fein government could and would run the country, and that at present order and safety are only found m districts from which jfche English military and police have been withdrawn." One witness, Mr. Clarke, firmly denied that the spirit of the Irish people had been broken by the Imperial British terror. There were practically no informers amongst them, and there was seldom or never any refusal to meet obligations. Lord Mayor O'Callaghan had "never heard of one case where there has been refusal by anybody to pay their rates on the ground that the bodies [urban and county councils] are Republican J' A loan floated by Dail Eireann, according to Consul-General Fawsitt, has been over-subscribed by one-half. On the whole, testified Miss Ruth Russell, of Chicago, "I think there is possibly the greatest unanimity there that has ever existed in any country of the world." Percentage of Allegiance. Estimates before the Commission of the percentage of Irish population which is , favorable to the Republican Government either by act 'of ballot or in state of mind varied a good deal, but all were high. Mr. Daniel J. Broderick, an American visitor in Ireland, thought that ninety-nine per cent, of the 100,000 people in Cork were for the Republic. Mr. Morgan, of Thurles, said that in the election of January, 1920, about ninety per cent, of the Urban Councils over Ireland as a whole went Republican. Mr. Francis Hackett, citing figures which he considered "absolutely trustworthy and very closely analysed," claimed that the Sinn Fein party secured 71.9 per cent, of the 699 seats in the County Councils. With the seats secured by Labor, which in the main is sympathetic, the total Republican strength was at least eighty per cent. The most conservative estimate of the popular allegiance, eighty per cent., was made by

the English Friends in their report read by Mr. Furnas. Taking these figures at their lowest, and even discounting '; ,them then to allow for enthusiasm and imperfect investigation, the evidence would seem to be almost conclusive that •the Irish Republican Government is the one government which is desired, by the majority of people of Ireland today. v - .'' Composition of the Republican Government. —Since April, 1919, according to Consul-General Fawsitt, there has been in operation an Irish Republic with a President and with Ministers of State for home affairs, foreign affairs, national defence, finance, local government, industries, •;,■';■-:. labor, agriculture, education, trade and commerce, fisheries, forestry, and information. The Government of the Irish Republic has consuls in the United States, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Denmark who are striving to secure . .recognition for the Republic and to consolidate its trade relations. Since 1918 the elected national representatives of Ireland have gathered in Dublin, constituting the Congress or Dail Eireann. This comprises seventy-five constituencies, all but thirty-seven of whose representatives have spent terms in jail for their membership. This Congress met openly for twelve months, but now meets secretly, under difficulties imposed by the Imperial British Govern- , ment in Ireland. Its members and its leaders, according to Mr. Fawsitt, Miss McSweeney, Miss Russell, and other witnesses who know them, are among the most brilliant of the younger men of Ireland, and they are bent upon keeping all young men of Ireland in Ireland by rigidly restricting emigration and by diverting those with political talent "from the English civil service into the Irish. The Commission was impressed by the several reports. of the composition and functioning of the Irish Republican Congress. ■••*•- Economic Programme.—lts economic programme would appear to be extensive, and to have had effect already upon the industrial organisation of the country. ConsulGeneral Fawsitt was confident that, Ireland under Irish management could support 12,000,000 people, or three times its present number. An Economic Commission is studying national conditions, according to Mr. Hackett, and from it recommendations looking toward an intensification of industry are expected. It is apparent that / much has been accomplished in establishing healthy cooperative enterprises, including cheese factories, creameries, egg societies, banks, and stores. An important Republican institution already well under way and described by Mr. Fawsitt is the Land Bank, with six branches, which aims, through assisting poor farmers to buy land, at an eventual disintegration and distribution of large rural estates, particularly in the West. Miss Bennett testified to the efficiency of the Land Courts which have arisen from the necessity to reconcile differences between cattledrivers and the owners of grazing lands. International trade also is being studied with a view to the control of harbors and steamship lines. One line to New York has already been promoted, and the important harbor of Cork is expected by Mr. Fawsitt soon to come under the direct influence of the Republican Government. Ideal Government. Since 1918, according to" Lord Mayor O'Callaghan, local governing bodies in twenty-eight out of the thirty-two Irish counties have become Republican, transferring their allegiance from the English Local Government Board to the Local Government Department of Dail Eireann. These bodies included County Councils, Rural District Councils, Urban Councils. "Then Commissions and Boards of Guardians .were moved to make, the change," says the writer of a paper read by Miss Townshend, largely because the Local Government Board, taking advantage of the "Malicious Injuries Act," was assessing against the counties the/costs of town halls, - creameries, private houses, and othgfr property destroyed • by the .Imperial British forces themselves. Whatever the motive, the transfer seems certainly to have been made, and the new bodies seem certainly to be functioning, though - under the handicaps in some localities of persistent British persecution. They have collected £5,000,000 in taxes,testified Mr. Fawsitt, and are taking over and amending the British system of control of roads, lighting, water, sanis;■'■"■; tation, health, education, and public libraries. Lord Mayor V ' 'Q'Callaghan attested the representative character of the ;V men composing these' bodies; in the County Councils there . sit holders of large farms, and in the. Town Commissions

are to be-found university professors and prominent mer- X-.i chants, while there is a liberal proportion of Labor leaders , T in each. In view of the importance of local government - •> in the administration of any country,, the Commission finds significant the testimony of various witnesses to the effect that local governing bodies in Ireland almost universally have Republican majorities. Republican Courts. —One recommendation of the new Republican courts seems to be that they are free from British red tape. They are bent upon performing their duties with despatch and common- sense. Despite the fact that they are forced to lead an underground existence, Miss McSweeney testified that ninety-one per cent, of Ireland was making use of these courts, being attracted by their fairness as well as by their expedition. Mr. Broderick in Abbeyfeale, Mr. Morgan in Thurles, the Friends and Lord Mayor O'Callaghan in Cork, and Mrs. Mohan in Queenstown claimed personal contact with them, and reported concerning their success. Mr. Broderick testified that the two cases he investigated in Abbeyfeale had been settled satisfactorily in one week, although they had been hanging fire in the British courts for two years. No lawyers were '"""■ employed either there or in Queenstown in the court visited by Mrs. Mohan. The English Friends, in the report read by Mr. Furnas, found proceedings in Cork to be "conducted in.a quiet and business-like manner." Perhaps the most convincing testimony to the efficiency of the Republican courts presented before the Commission, however, was that of Miss Bennett, which showed Unionists to be resorting to them for justice. It also seems, significant that a conservative British firm, -the Prudential Insurance Company, of England, "had a case in the Cork District Court not so long ago." Republican Police. Preservation of order in Ireland would seem more complete on the part of Republican than , on the part of Imperial forces. "It is generally admitted by moderate people, including many Unionists," reads the report of fh<_English Friends, "that the only protection they enjoy is from the Sinn Fein police. Their meetings are protected from interruption, stolen goods are. found and returned, writers of threatening letters are dealt with and stopped, laws controlling the sale of intoxicating drinks are vigorously enforced. All this when it is a. penal offence, for a Sinn Fein volunteer policeman to act as such." One reason for the superior effectiveness of the Irish Republican police, said Lord Mayor O'Callaghan, was that they were answerable to the local governing bodies, whereas the British police had never been so answerable, but in a definite sense had had the character of foreign, occupying troops. Such, the Lord Mayor was also of opinion, was the difference between the Irish Republican army and the Imperial British army. One, being domestic in its origin, had only order to preserve; the other, being foreign and imperial in its origin, had only respect to command, terror to strike, or revenge to take. In thus summarising the evidence concerning the Irish Republican Government presented to it with surprising unanimity by Irish, English, and American witnesses the Commission has no wish to extend the bounds set for it by the terms of the understanding on which it was created. In passing we would only note that British bodies which have investigated the situation, such as the Friends Committee, the English Women's International League, and the Imperial British Labor Party, make the end of the "terror" and the withdrawal of British forces the cornerstone of their constructive proposals. On the other hand Irish Republican leaders have repeatedly expressed willingness to come to an understanding with Britain as to foreign affairs which would- conserve every reasonable British interest. However, while refraining from recommendations on the political situation, the Commission •is constrained as a result, of its inquiry, to state its solemn conviction that behind the tragedy in Ireland lies the determination of the Imperial British Government to hold Ireland in its grip even at the cost of substituting for the orderly government of the people's choice,, fairly established in the face of opposition, a system which can only be called organised / anarchy. The answe*r to this attempt, as events make increasingly plain, is violence and yet more violence. The continuance of such a situation menaces not only the \ happiness and well-being of Ireland and England, but i also of our own. land, which is united to both. In the .< % establishment and maintenance of friendship between the

peoples of our three countries may lie the .realisation of the hope of plain people everywhere that international problems shall be solved by orderly and friendly processes in a world of peace. Note. —The above Interim Report was signed by the whole of the Commission at Washington on March 5, 1921.

(To be continued.)