c° V ° ** . I ^r ^0« V ° J* •>- A ^ < o .o \/ •: . A V V V A O. * » , i * »0 *> ^ ' ,0*" '•> ' •: O N ° ^ V " « , 1 ° ,U •/- ^ ^ ^ V •a* v\ •v -> o V V yz r«+, o V v** ** .•'• ^ *£ o V .£. r\ +mJ C ^ " o 0' THE FOUNDATION of the Republic of Ireland IN THE VOTE OF THE PEOPLE Results of the General Election of December, 1918 — a National Plebiscite held under British Law and British Supervision. EAMON DE VALERA The Republic of Ireland The Basis of Ireland's Right. Ireland is a distinct and separate nation, older than England. It is the oldest nation in Europe except Greece. The Irish people have never accepted any partnership or union with England; they have all at times resisted to the utmost every attempt of the British to rule them. The first 400 years of the attempted English occupation was prac- tically one continuous armed struggle ; the last 300 has seen insurrec- tion after insurrection against the usurping foreign power. The so-called Union with Britain was brought about by violence and by fraud. Gladstone said this "Union" was "carried by means so' indescribably foul and vile that it can have no moral title for exist- ence whatever." It has been maintained only by armed force, and by the denial of all civil liberty. It was enacted immediately following the insurrection of '98, and, since its passage, there have been already, despite the odds to be faced, no less than four other armed insurrec- tions, the last of which was the insurrection of Easter Week, 1916. The object of each of these insurrections was complete national independence. Irishmen hated British rule, and desired to get rid of it, not alone because in practice it worked out as British domination and British exploitation, but because in principle it was the rule of the foreigner. And so it is today. Those who would fully understand the attitude of Irishmen toward Britain must, therefore, remember that were British rule in Ireland as beneficent as some of the British would make it out to be — were it as clearly to the material advantage of Ireland as it is clearly to her detriment, Irishmen and Irishwomen would still just as deter- minedly claim that God-given right to rule themselves. A Republic the Desire of the People. Ever since the American colonies declared for a Republic in 1776, those who sought for Irish independence sought it in the form of an independent republic. The purpose of the leaders was in this way made clear and definite. The fact that the insurgents did not receive active support from the whole populace has lent color to the British contention that these insurrections represented simply the extremist ideals of a few fanatical malcontents. To the stranger this appears plausible enough, but everyone who knows Irish history and Ireland at first hand knows it to be false. The real reason why the insurrections since 1800 were not uprisings of the people en masse was not that the people were unsympathetic with the object in view, but that they were mostly unarmed* while many even of those who had arms were deterred by the knowledge of the magnitude of the task, and the inadequacy of the means at their disposal to complete it. Thev felt that success in a military way was almost out of the question. Only by a miracle, they knew, could their sacrifices bear material fruit. It needed a lively faith to engage in such enterprises under such circumstances, and only those who had that faith engaged mi them. The attempt of any people to win by arms their liberty from a strong external power is always opposed, not merely by those who consider the object in view to be undesirable, but also by those who consider it to be unrealizable. Why should it be thought strange that these two classes should be included in the opposition to the attempt in Ireland? The public unfortunately do not always differentiate between the two classes, and the British Government has taken care to make full use of the public's negligence in order to misrepresent the Irish "rebels," as they choose to call them, in the eyes of foreign peoples especially. The British carefully confused these classes in their repre- sentation of former Irish insurrections ; they confused them in the case of the insurrection of 1916, and they confused them again to mask the full significance of the elections of 1918. A Republic Proclaimed. The leaders of the 1916 insurrection proclaimed, on going into action, a republic. This, they were convinced, was the heart's desire of the great majority of the people of Ireland. This, too, was the equally well founded conviction of former insurgent leadeYs, but those of 1916 were fortunate in that, by a subsequent vote of the people, their conviction was put to the test and was proved beyond question to be founded on reality. It was to supply this proof that the survivors of 1916 were nomi- nated as candidates for Parliament. They wanted that question put to the Irish people so that the people themselves might answer. The people did anstver unequivocally, and History will yet record that answer, particularly if America will now act upon it, as one of the mile- stones in the evolution 'of democracy. The answer was given, first, in the bye-elections here and there, as they occurred in the years of 1917 and 1918, and then in a complete and final manner in the elections of December, 1918. The General Elections of December, 1918. These elections were general— that is, they were held in every one of the electoral districts throughout the country. They were by ballot on the basis of adult suffrage, so that practically every grown man and woman in the island could vote. They were in effect a plebiscite of the whole nation, and so it is impossible for anyone any longer to pretend that what the Irish people want is not definitely known. Leaving out of account the four university* seats, whose occupants were elected on a special, restricted and, in fact, duplicated franchise — not to be considered in a plebiscite — -Ireland is divided into electoral districts which return a total of 101 representatives. Of these repre- sentatives elected in December, 1918, seventy-two (72) belonged to *The four University seats were won by one (1) Republican, two (2) Unionists and one (1) Independent Unionist, the National University of Dub- lin returning the first and Queens of Belfast, with Trinity of Dublin, returning the Unionists. The poll gave 2,832 votes against British connection and 4,184 for it. the Sinn Fein party — that is, stood unequivocally for an Independent Irish Republic; six (6) belonged to the old Parliamentary party (these were self-determinationists and did not oppose the ideal of a republic as such, except on the ground that it was in their view un- attainable) ; twenty-one (21) belonged to the Unionist party proper; and two (2) were Independent Unionists. Reckoned, therefore, in terms of the number of representatives elected, the Republicans have a majority of practically two and one- half (2^) to one (1) over all parties, and the self-determinationists (Republicans and Parliamentarians taken together) have a majority of nearly three and one-half (3}i) to one (1) standing against the idea of union with Britain. Reckoning more directly in terms of the vote of the people, we find only 311,210 votes were cast for theUnion out of a total of 1,519,898 — that is, a bare 20 per .cent. The Issue Was Clearly Put to the People. That the issue in the elections were put fairly and squarely before the people by the Republican candidates cannot be questioned. Dur- ing the election campaign the Sinn Fein party issued a manifesto to the nation that put its program in unmistakable terms. This mani- festo proclaimed that the Republican candidates stood faithfully by the proclamation of the provisional government of the insurgents of Easter Week, 1916. It asked the Irish people to rally to the flag of the Irish Republic, the establishment of which the Sinn Fein party desired and which it proposed to secure (1) By withdrawing the Irish representation from the British Parliament, (2) By denying the right and opposing the will of the British Government or any foreign government to legislate for Ireland, and (3) By convening a national assembly of those elected from the Irish constituencies to be the supreme authority for the nation — an authority which would speak and act in the name of the Irish people, would develop Ireland socially, politi- cally, and economically, and act governmentally without favor in the interests of the whole people of Ireland. Those who voted for the Republican candidates knew then that they were voting for complete independence, for the ratification of the republic established in 1916, for the repudiation of the British Parlia- ment, and for the whole policy of active opposition to the British occupation. Decisive Results. How, then, can any fair-minded man or woman who really cares for truth fail to recognize the truth here and fail to acknowledge the de- cisiveness of the results obtained in these elections as indicating un- mistakeaby the will of the Irish people? The more these results are analyzed the more convincing is the proof they supply of the overwhelming desire of the vast majority ot the people for an independent republic and for the severance forever of the present forced political connection with Britain. Results by Provinces. Consider the results by provinces. The Province of Connaught elects thirteen (13) members. Every one elected was a Republican. The Province of Munster elects twenty-four (24) members. Every one of these, with a single exception,* was a Republican. The Province of Leinster elects twenty-seven (27), and of these, again every one was a Republican, with a single exception.f The Province of Ulster, heralded as a stronghold of British senti- ment, elects thirty-seven (37) members. Twenty (20) of these are of the official Unionists; two (2) are Independent Unionists, while fifteen (15) are opposed to the British connection. $ Ulster has nine counties. The self-determinationists polled a ma- jority in no less than five of the nine, and secured the entire represen- tation in three; while the Unionists secured a majority in four only, and were able to secure the entire representation in none. So that in every one of Ulster's nine (9) counties at least one representative! hostile to the British connection was elected. In this province of Ulster, outside of County Antrim, there werei elected as many as fourteen (14) representatives opposed to Britain to the ten (10) Unionists in favor of Britain. It was in the County Antrim alone, which includes Belfast city, that the Unionists secured anything like a homogeneous predomi- nance. Antrim, with Belfast, is given as many as thirteen (13) representa- tives. No less than twelve (12) of these returned were Unionists — thus over one-half of the total popular Unionist representation in Ire- land comes from a single county. This one county of Antrim — which elects two (2) Independent Unionists and ten (10) official Unionists — is the actual zone of the "Ulster question," in so far as there is an Ulster "question." It is in this one county alone — one (1) out of thirty-two (32) — that the conditions in any way resemble what a careful propaganda has made them appear to be throughout the whole of Ulster. Here alone is there any basis in truth for the notion popularly believed in, that the Unionists form a "homogeneous block." Even in this county *Waterford City elected John Redmond's son— a self-determinationist. fin Rathmines, a suburb of Dublin, the Unionist won by only 54 votes the combined Nationalist or self-determinationist vote. JThese last include ten (10) Republicans and five (5) of the Parliamentary party, standing for self-determination. Even London's political authorities concede that all these constituencies are now with one exception Republican. of Antrim itself the people are not homogeneously Unionist, but it is here the statement that they are comes nearest the truth.* Results by Counties. In Ireland, as stated, there are thirty-two (32) counties. In no one county was an entirely Unionist representation elected. In four only did the Unionists poll even a majority. Compare this with the Republicans, who polled a majority in no less than twenty-seven (27) counties and secured the entire represen- tation in as many as twenty-four (24). Further, not a single one of the six Irish boroughs returned an en- tirely Unionist representation, whereas four out of the six returned an entirely Republican representation. In only one of the six Irish boroughs is the Unionist representation even a majority. The Map. The accompanying map (in center), then, while it may dispel many false notions as regards the Irish political divisions, gives but a very im- perfect picture of the situation, for it indicates the local majorities only and does not show the local minorities at all. 77 helps, in fact, in a way to foster the erroneous impression that the north- east corner is a solid, homogeneous political block, which, of course, as the election results indicate, is not the casef. Those who stand for the national ideal are to be found in every part of the island, just as the Unionists also are to be found scattered through every part as are also Catholics and Protestants. Conditions Under Which the Elections Held Unfavorable to the Republicans. The results of this historic election must appear decisive even to those who but casually examine them — how very decisive only those realize who appreciate fully the conditions and circumstances under which the elections were held. To start with, one must bear in mind that these elections were all held under British law and that the whole election machinery was British, from the British nominated sheriffs to the British employed policemen. The elections were called at a time chosen by the British Prime Minister himself to suit British interests, not, of course, to suit the Irish Republicans. During the time in which the elections were being held, and for two years preceding the elections, subsequent to the insurrection of 1916, Ireland was suffering from all the rigors of British war-time regulations. It was, in fact, governed almost solely by martial law. All who stood for the Republican ideals were proscribed. Republi- can candidates were flung into jail on the flimsiest, trumped-up *The anti-Union minority in Antrim almost is relatively as large as the Union minority in the whole of Ireland. In so far as there is any Ulster question in the sense in which it is commonly understood, it is not an Ulster question, but an Antrim question. It might, in fact, be said to be in a final analysis purely a Belfast" city question. fHow many Americans who have been listening to the Ulster "homogene- ous" Protestant block theory, I wonder, realize that in the city of Belfast alone there are, reckoning absolutely, more who support the Nationalist ideal and who oppose the British connection that there are in the city of Cork itself? charges, and often on no charges at all. The May immediately preced- ing the election a hundred Republican leaders, men and women, were thrown into jail and kept there without trial on the general charge of supposed complicity in a supposed German plot, the existence of which Lord Wimborne, the British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland during the period, publicly called into question in a speech in the British House of Lords.* During the election campaign itself there was hardly a district in Ireland where some of the pivotal members of the local Sinn Fein election organization were not seized and thrown into jail. Three successive Directors-General of the Republican election or- ganization were seized, one after another, the last within a few weeks of the polls, and deported to English prisons without trial or charge. Every method that suggested itself for disorganizing the Sinn Fein election machinery was utilized. In some cases even the very pri- maries — the constituency meetings held to select candidates — were broken up by the soldiery and armed police. It was in the woods and out-of-the-way places that the meetings at which some of the candi- dates were selected had to be held. Only twenty-six (26) of the seventy-three (73) Sinn Fein candidates were out of prison. Even some of those at liberty were prevented by armed force from address- ing the electors. Republican newspapers were everywhere sup- pressed. The entire press of the country was subjected to British censorship. Free speech, free assemblage were everywhere denied. Republican headquarters, central and local, were constantly raided ; lists seized and pamphlets and leaflets ruthlessly destroyed every- where ; posters and handbills put up by Republicans were torn down by the military and the police. The whole power of the British Government, in fact, was used not merely to prevent a verdict favorable to the Republicans, but to se- cure a verdict favorable to Britain. From British ministry wagons and British aeroplanes pamphlets were distributed among the people warning them against voting for the Republican candidates. All who opposed the Republican candidates could speak as freely as they chose ; every facility was given them ; every opportunity was denied those who would speak in their favor. The public press, the powers of patronage and dismissal, cajolery and intimidation were all actively employed. Dismissal faced all civil officeholders who dared identify themselves with the Republican cause, and the people generally were given forcibly to understand what they might expect in the way of British repression if the ideals of the Republic triumphed at the polls. When we would weigh, then, the results of these general elections of 1918, we must remember that they were results obtained despite all this intimidation and opposition of Britain — despite the addition to the question of ideals the confusing question of the best policy to secure them ; despite, too, the natural inertia of party, which tended to keep the people still aligned behind the old Parliamentarians — the "Nationalists." Everything almost that could be conceived to operate in securing a result unfavorable to the republic was there — even to the imposition of a fine on $750 on each successful Republican candidate.f *There was no such plot. — E.d.V. tThis would be returned on taking oath of allegiance to the British King. ?. 2 Jg CO « t! U"« _) ; t< s . "* cs o bta$ u c o^s > T3 - t- f) 25 a . 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n< •t — o£ X 4) r-.£ rt W TJoTJ «j The Government cf the Republic is the De Jure Government of Ireland Bear in mind all the circumstances then ; look at the map ; study the figures of this election, and deny, if you can, that the Republic of Ireland has been established with and by the consent of the Irish peo- ple. Deny that the conviction of those who offered up their lives in 1916 to found the republic, believing a republic to be the desire of the people, was well founded. Deny that the Republican representa- tives represent the people. Deny that the government of the republic is the government of the people — is the legitimate government of Ireland. APPENDIX For those who wish to study the results in detail the following is appended : Outside of the four (4) University seats, Ireland at the last election returned one hundred and one (101) representatives: Republican (supporting an Irish Republic) 72 Nationalist (demanding self-determination) 6 Unionists favoring union with England official 21 Independent 2 Rep. Nat. Un. Ind. Un. 1,644 813 .... REPUBLICAN 118 1,487 .... UNIONIST 257 1,904 793 UNIONISTand IN.UNIONIST 101 University Seats. National (Dublin, Cork, Galway, etc.) Queen's (Belfast Dublin (Trinity) Total 1,762 1,070 3,391 793 Details of Popular Electoral Returns. The following figures are the official returns of the vote polled in the different constituencies in Ireland, by counties, boroughs and provinces. These statistics, as compiled and published by both Irish and British authorities, are identical. Province of Leinster. Rep. Nat. Louth County 10,770 10,515 REPUBLICAN Meath, North 6,982 3,758 REPUBLICAN South 6,371 2,680 REPUBLICAN Meath County 13,353 6,438 Province of Leinster Dublin, North .... South .... Pembroke Rathmines Rep. 9,138 5,133 6,114 5,566 Dublin County seats 25,951 Wicklow, W«st 6,239 East 5,916 Wicklow County 12,155 Wexford, North 10,162 South 8,729 Wexford County Kilkenny, North South . 18,891 16,113 8,685 Kilkenny County 24,798 King's County 25,702 Queen's County 13,452 Westmeath County . 12,435 Longford County 11,122 Kildare, North 5,979 South 7,104 Kildare County Carlow County Dublin, Clontarf College Grn. Harbour St. James' . . St. Michan's . , Stephen's Gn. St. Patrick's . 13,083 16,135 5,974 9,662 7,708 6,256 7,553 8,461 7,835 Total for Leinster 251,296 Percentage 63.6 Nat. 4,428 3,819 2,629 1,780 12,656 1,370 2,466 3,836 7,189 8,211 15,400 1,855 1,855 6,480 4,061 4,173 3,722 1,545 4,267 3,228 2,853 5,386 1,556 3,996 2,902 4,064 Un. Total for Dublin City 53,449 23,985 93,666 25.57 4,354 4,138 7,400 15,892 2,600 2,600 2,755 2,755 21,247 5.8 Province of Connaught. Galway, Connemara North East . South 11,754 8,896 17,777 10,621 Galway County 49,048 Mayo, North 7,429 West 10,195 South 21,567 East 8,975 3,482 3,999 1,744 9,225 1,761 7,568 4,514 REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN UNIONIST REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN Mayo County 48.166 13,843 Province of Connaught — Continued Un. Sligo, North South Rep. 9,030 9,113 Sligo County 18,143 Leitrim County 17,711 Roscommon, North 21,258 South 10,685 Roscommon County 31,943 Total for Connaught 165,011 Percentage , 81.8 Nat. 4,242 1,988 REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN 6,230 3,096 4,323 REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN 4,323 36,717 18.2 Nil REPUBLICAN Province of Munster. Waterford County Cork, North Northeast . . Mid East West South Southeast . . 12,890 17,949 18,239 16,632 19,022 16,659 17,593 17,419 Cork County seats 123,513 Kerry, North 17,600 West 18,853 South 16,835 East 17,222 Limerick County 35,312 Clare, East 23,511 West 21,674 Clare County 45,185 Tipperary, North 16,455 Mid 17,458 South 8,744 East 7,487 Tipperary County 50,144 Limerick City 17,121 Cork City 41,307 Waterford City 4,431 Total for boroughs 62,859 Total for Munster 400,413 Percentage 91.0 4,217 Kerry County 70,510 Limerick, West 22,562 East 12,750 3,608 3,608 2,701 4,794 7,495 '14,642 4,915 19,557 34,877 8.0 4,773 REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN (2 members) NATIONALIST 4,773 4,773 1.0 Province of Ulster. In Ulster, in eight seats, an arrangement was come to between. Sinn Fein and the Parliamentary party to prevent seats falling to the Unionists on a minority vote. These seats are indicated thus §. The column headed "Self-determination Vote" is the total of the Sinn Fein and so-called Nationalist vote. Cavan, W. E. S.D. Rep. Nat. Vote 22,270 22,270 21,148 21,148 Un. hid. Un. Cavan County Donegal, No. S. .. W. . E.§ . 43,418 7,003 5,787 6,712 40 Donegal County. 19,452 Monaghan, N 6,842 S 7,524 3,075 4,752 4,116 7,596 19,539 2,709 4,413 Monaghan Co. Tyrone, N E§ NW.§ S. ... 14,366 7,122 56 11,605 10,442 5,437 2,602 Tyrone County Fermanagh, N. S.§ Fermanagh Co. Armagh, N. . Mid. S.§ Armagh Co. Derry, N. . . S. ., Derry Co. Down, N. seats. 15,935 6,236 6,673 12,909 2,860 5,688 79 8,627 3,951 3,425 14,207 132 132 4,345 4,345 3,981 43,418 10,078 10,539 10,828 7,636 39,081 9,551 11,937 21,488 11,661 10,442 8,039 30,142 6,236 6,805 13,041 2,860 5,688 4,424 12,972 3,951 7,406 W. Mid. E.§ S.§ Down Co. . . Antrim, N. . Mid. E. . S. . Antrim Co. 1,725 707 3,876 33 6,344 2,673 2,791 861 2,318 8,643 4,312 8,756 13,068 1,725 707 8,188 8,789 19,409 2,673 2,791 861 2,318 REPUBLICAN. REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN 4,797 NATIONALIST 4,797 4,497 REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN 4,497 6,681 NATIONALIST 7,696 REPUBLICAN 10,616 UNIONIST 24,993 6,768 UNIONIST 4,524 REPUBLICAN 11,292 10,239 UNIONIST 8,431 UNIONIST NATIONALIST 18,670 10,530 UNIONIST 8,942 UNIONIST 7,376 3,981 11,357 19,472 9,200 10,559 10,639 6,007 5,573 2,153 UNIONIST ... UNIONIST ... UNIONIST ... UNIONIST 436 NATIONALIST 41,978 9,621 10,711 15,206 13,270 2,589 UNIONIST UNIONIST UNIONIST UNIONIST 8,643 48,808 Province of Ulster — Continued Boroughs Rep. elfast, Cromac . . 997 Duncairn 271 Falls .... 3,245 Ormeau . 338 Pottinger 393 St. Anne's 1,341 Shankill . 534 Woodvale 1,247 Victoria . 395 otal 8.761 Nat. 2,449 Self-Det. Vote 997 2,720 11,733 338 393 1,341 Un. Ind. Un. Seat won by 11,459 2,508 UNIONIST 11,637 UNIONIST NATIONALIST UNIONIST UNIONIST UNIONIST IND. UNION. 7,460 4,833 8,574 3,172 9,155 1,752 534 15,514 1,247 12,232 UNIONIST 395 12,778 IND. UNION 10,937 19,698 60,517 40,557 Derry City § 7,335 120 7,455 7,020 REPUBLICAN Total for Ulster.. 153,253 73,451 226,704 242,044 43,146 The percentage of votes in Ulster follows : Cavan Donegal . . Monaghan Tyrone . . . Fermanagh Armagn . . Derry Down Antrim . . . Self-Det. Vote Un. Total 100 100 90 10 100 83 17 100 55 45 100 54 46 100 41 59 100 ?>7 63 100 30 70 100 15 85 100 Summary. The percentages of votes throughout Ireland follow: Self-Det. Rep. Nat. Vote Un. For Leinster 68.6 25.57 94.17 5.8 For Connaught 81.8 18.2 100.0 0.0 For Munster 91.0 8.0 99.0 1.0 For Ulster 30.0 14.3 44.3 47.3 FOR ALL IRELAND 63.6 15.7 79.3 17.8 Ind. Un. Total 0.0 100 0.0 100 0.0 100 8.4 100 2.9 100 Total Votes for All Ireland. Self-Det. Rep. Nat. Vote Un. Including Universities.. . 971,735 239,781 1,211,516 271,455 Excluding Universities. . 969,973 238,711 1,208,684 268,064 Ind. Un. Total 43,939 1,526,910 43,146 1,519,894 SOME POINTS FROM SPEECHES 1. If the Irish question did not exist, it would be well for the world at this time to invent it. 2. It is fortunate that the question of Ireland's recognition arises. It is doubly fortunate that America is strong enough to decide this question boldly, without fear, in the way its conscience prompts. 3. Ireland's cause is not Ireland's cause only — it is the cause of the world. It is the cause of right and of justice, and of true democracy everywhere. 4. If I were an American, I would make it the supreme object of my life on earth to win for my country the distinction of securing now for mankind, in peace, what millions have so far died for, vainly, in war — justice as the basis of international right, and self-determination of nations a principle in practice. Ireland's claim furnishes America the opportunity. 5. This question of recognition is distinctly an American question. The decision is yours, and yours only — yours to say whether you shall continue to recognize the government of might in Ireland, or begin now to recognize the government of right. 6. We are not asking the American Government to begin "meddling" in this dispute between Ireland and Britain. If you use that word — you have meddled. You are meddling. You are at this moment according official recog- nition to England's government in Ireland. You are denying it to Ireland's government in Ireland. You are refusing to recognize the government of right. You are recognizing the government of might, and even supporting it. The monies borrowed from you maintain England's army of occupation in Ireland. 7. The Irish Republic exists. Its shackles serve but to make its reality the more concrete. It is not destroyed when individuals or nations plunge their heads into the sand and say they cannot see it. It is there — recognized or not, and it can be destroyed only by the power that brought it into being — the will of the Irish people. 8. When we say England we mean the British Government — the English ruling classes. 9. The Irish do not hate England or the English. They hate rule by the foreigner, good or bad — most bitterly the bad. Why not? 10. The Irish desire peace with England, as with the rest of the world. If England desired peace she would cease her usurpation in Ireland. 11. It is not the Irish who are wilfully disturbing the world's peace. It is not they who are the aggressors — it is the British. 12. The British can end this question in an hour by withdrawing their troops. The Irish on their side can end it only by sacrificing their nationhood and their national rights to self-determination and freedom. Which ought to yield? 13. Ireland would have to give up what is hers — her own — her very life. England would only have to give up that which is not hers to keep — that which she got by robbery, and that which she persists in retaining only because of her selfishness and her greed. 14. Ireland cannot will her own annihilation. It has cost her 750 years of blood and tears to hold on to her individual existence and she will not relinquish it now. 15. Empires die. Nations that have not willed their own destruction live. Ireland will be free if we have to await the end of the British Empire for it. 16. The Irish nation is one nation, not two, as homogeneous as any nation upon the earth; but under England's influence the elements of Irish life are made to appear to repel each other. 17. Ireland's domestic differences are differences of divergent political / ideals — the one national, the other imperial. 18. Religion is involved only as a rack on the pegs of which England exhibits Ireland's political differences before the world. 19. Religion is no more really at the bottom of the Irish struggle than it is at the bottom of the Egyptian, of the Indian, or of the Korean struggle. The basis of all these is the same — it is nationalism versus imperialism. 20. A' religious fight — what nonsense! Catholic Ireland fought Catholic England. Protestant Ireland fought Protestant England. Tht English Catho- lic Norfolks have been the bitterest opponents of the Catholic Irish. The* Norfolks stood on Carson's platforms and gave him material support. They worked at Rome for British Imperialism against Irish Nationalism, and won a measure of success, too, as history shows. 21. Almost every outstanding leader of note in the nineteenth century era has been Protestant, Republican and Nationalist — Wolfe Tone, Russell, McCracken, Orr, Lord Edward FitzGerald, Robert Emmet, John Mitchell, Thomas Davis, Smith O'Brien, Butt, Parnell. If the Irish cause were a religious cause— a Catholic cause — would the leaders of it have been chosen from the opposing creed? Protestants and Catholics alike have suffered death for Irish liberty. It is a monstrous imposition on human credulity, this pretence that the Irish struggle against England is a religious one or a Roman one. 22. If it be that a motive for the struggle is sought, why will people blind themselves to the obvious? What inspired Washington and Jefferson, Hofer and Tell, and national patriots in every land from the dawn of history to the recent war? If the liberty of their country was sufficient motive for their struggles, why should it not be considered sufficient for ours? 23. Every nation striving for its independence from foreign rule had to combat a minority of "Tories" and "Loyalists" such as Washington had to combat in his day and we in Ireland have to combat in ours. There is nothing peculiar in Ireland's having its minority. 24. When the word "Ulster" occurs to the average American there springs immediately to his mind the concept of an Irish province with fixed, well- defined historical boundaries, within which resides a people forming a solid, homogenous block, differing in race, religion and political outlook from the other inhabitants of the island. There is no such Ulster in Ireland. 25. There is in Ireland nowhere any area of size in which there is a solid, homogeneous, political or religious block such as this "Ulster" which British propaganda has suggested to Americans. There is no such racial block. This Ulster is a thing of the mind only, non-existent in the world of reality. Those who believed it existed must have received a shock when they dis- covered that this vivid entity of their thought, whose territorial outline on a map of Ireland they believed they themselves could trace in a few minutes, could not be determined by the British Prime Minister. 26. Lloyd George could find no boundaries when he wanted them for his bill in the British Parliament. He could not and cannot find other than purely arbitrary boundaries because no definite fixed boundaries exist. That area in Ulster where the Unionists dominate, because they are in a majority there, changes in size from election to election in accordance with the fortunes of their political party. Moreover, that area has within it, and within every part of it, a minority just as strongly opposed to union with Britain as the Unionists are in favor of it — a relatively much larger minority, too, than the Unionists in the whole. Hence the cutting off of this part of Ireland from the rest, even if it were otherwise unobjectionable, would not solve the problem of minorities. It would simply create two minority questions instead of one. Of course, the problems of minorities is one inseparable from democracy. If the people are to rule the majority must govern, and in a final contest neither the desires nor even in the interests of the minority can be allowed to stand in the way of those of the majority. Minorities may fairly claim, and are entitled to justice; they cannot claim a veto. 5.0 I •0," i <• o *f> 0^ o •A ■\ ^ K^ 4q -<. O % % ~ c „ r£> I^W .> O ,<^ V , * a ^ ^ ■4? . A 9. .* A V / » o *v v» ;i' >**\ • O H ,0 A * ^ *£ cy r- **. ° v: COBBS BROS. LIBRARY BINDING <" 5 A° * * • - SEP 69 ST. AUGUSTINE ,f «5 °^ : SI. «UOUOIIHt ,* < ,f > O jR^/LA.