DA 959 SdMSBwOQEI —JhIHwL- mm ■ , 1 HI SHI • ■ 111111$ ■■il m 888888888883896 '■:v ; '-* ; 'f* 9 '^^S illliiiiis JflHBBraBBiii ■HHHBr HHHHr Bgjgjgjj > ■■ 8a§| lilMillMIIWii ■■■■■■ 111 1 H ill I n ™|^H I I :: ' nil p WflT i mm ' iS j&Z J BHy^ ; •■ mi Jw ^ * l»rtll ' iilll IB^W^K 4 111 1 ■ 1 1 $11 ■flii . ■ Hw ,1 ' iV: - : " ,,,i B >v . \^ AMERICAN OPINION ON THE IRISH QUESTION Why, then, refuse a Parliament to Ireland? Old passions and resentment may suggest an answer; peace and patriot- ism cannot. — Joseph Pulitzer to William E. Gladstone, July 9, 1887. Reprinted from The New York World 1917 JSitalB STATEMENTS OF AMERICAN LEADERS ON THE IRISH QUESTION sS^I*'*^ The World, New York, May, 1917 1>V Copyright, 1 91 7. The Press Publishing Co., (The New York World.j ■■' ^- FOREWORD To-day a question in Great Britain second only in importance to the war is the matter of self-government for Ireland. It is a question of importance likewise to enlightened public opinion throughout the world. It is a question of proper and peculiar interest to America because of the large Irish population in this country and because of the deep-rooted feeling here on the matter- Thirty years ago The World made an expression of public opinion in America when Joseph Pulitzer, in presenting a testi- monial to former Premier Gladstone, said : "In one sentiment they all unite — that is: their love of freedom; their hatred of oppression; in their belief that every civilized people is entitled to self-government; in their conviction that government must be based not upon hatred and defiance of the clearly ascertained will of the people, but upon that will itself." At this time when the situation is reaching a climax, The World again makes an expression of American opinion on the question — America having perhaps a greater right now since we have become the allies 01 Britain, France and other countries in the battle for democracy. In addition, the distinguished Editor, Lord Northcliffe, asked The World to gather an untrammelled collection of American expression on this point, regarding the time particularly apposite for the publication of these views. In this pamphlet will be found the opinions of leaders of American thought, made without suggestion as to what form they should take, and selected from widely diversified classes. They were published in the columns of The World from April 26 to May 5. CONTRIBUTORS Theodore Roosevelt William H. Taft Cardinal Gibbons James W. Gerard Samuel Gompers John Purroy Mitchel Charles W. Eliot George W. Wickersham John Quinn Alton B. Parker Archbishop Ireland William M. Calder Biin bridge Colby Martin J. Keogh N. M. Butler George Gordon Battle W. Bourke Cockran James A. O'Gorman Martin W. Littleton Edgar M. Cullen Victor J. Dowling John W. Goff Matthew P. Breen Thomas F. Smith Joseph G. Cannon Thomas W. Churchill James Byrne John D. Moore M. J. Jordan William B. Ellison George Harvey M. P. Carolan H. V. McLaughlin Robert E. Dowling John D. Crimmins Frederick James Gregg James T. Sullivan Thomas J. Kennedy Luke Stapleton William McAdoo Edward Swann John J. Fitzgerald John McCormack Victor Herbert Robert Temple Emmet Andrew D. White Meyer London G. Murray Hulbert Joseph V. Flynn James Glynn John F. Carew W. E. Mason Joseph I. Berry P. J. Conway Rev. R. H. Watson J. J. Rooney J. J. O'Connell William J. O' Sullivan William Harman Black J. T. Gallagher AMERICAN OPINION ON THE IRISH QUESTION By Theodore Roosevelt I am very glad to answer Lord 'Northcliffe's request. I speak as a friend of England, a firm well wisher to the British Empire, and a man who has ardently championed the case of the Allies and has done all in his power to bring America into the war on their side — and who will now fight beside them if his Government permits him. I most earnestly hope that full Home Rule will be given Ireland; home rule relatively to the empire such as Texas or Maine or Oregon now enjoys relatively to the National Government at Washington. Of course Ireland should remain part of the empire. I have no more sympathy with the irreconcilable extremists on one side of the question than on the other. I am sure the Canadians and Australians feel in this matter exactly as Americans do — that, both permanently and as re- gards this particular war, it would be an immense advantage to the em- pire to give Ireland Home Rule. By William H. Taft A We in the United States are hoping earnestly for a speedy settlement of the Irish Home Rule question. It would much help to solidify and hearten American public sentiment in the great cause for which the democracies of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States are fighting shoulder to shoulder and which they must and will win. By James Cardinal Gibbons An American citizen naturally feels delicately about expressing his opinion of the affairs of another country, especially upon the affairs of a country allied with his own in a great war. Because of the community of language and blood between the people of the British Isles, especially the people of Ireland and the people of this country, Americans, and especially Americans of Irish birth or blood, feel deeply interested in the settlement of that problem which has been such a sore spot in the British Empire for so many years. G AMERICAN OPINION First of all, as Americans we cannot be unmindful of the difficulties which the Irish problem presents to our Allies at a moment when we need perfect unity in order that we may use all our resources. In the second place, this interest becomes far more personal and vital to those of us living in America who were either born in or trace our ancestry to the Island of the Saints; and as yon have asked my opinion on this very important question, 1 should like to confine myself to one aspect of it — ■ namely, to what is called county option. Apparently the whole Irish question arises from the fear of the minority in Ulster that they will be coerced into a union with the rest of Ireland which will be their ruin. This feeling- in Ulster is so strong that it has hitherto prevented any just settlement of the Irish claim to self-government. All men are agreed that the present state of affairs is impossible. Nine-tenths of Ireland cannot be sacrificed to one-tenth. That seems cer- tain, considering the great number of Irishmen in the other parts of the empire, as in the United States. Nor should one part be sacrificed to the other nine. Therfore, some third way must be found between the two extremes. Supposing that each county were given its choice as to whether it would come under the Home Rule Parliament in Dublin or not; the coun^ ties which voted themselves out would be in a fearfully anomalous posi- tion. They would not belong to England. They would not belong to Ireland. They would not be large enough to set up a Home Rule Parlia ment of their own, and if they did they could only construct an artificial state, and such an artificial state cannot endure. Ulster has gained a great deal of her commercial prosperity from the fact that it is the business centre of the whole country. Belfast would very soon feel the effect of a separation from Ireland. A great deal of the Irish trade which Ulster now controls, and which it controls extremely well, would be diverted through other ports to England and the commerce of Ulster would wither if not entirely decay. I should like, if possible, to impress upon Irishmen in Ulster the les- son of our own Civil War here in America. The minority felt that they were going to be forced; that the institution of domestic slavery upon which they conceded that their prosperity depended was going to be de- stroyed by a triumphant majority, and that their rights and liberties would be taken away from them at the bidding of the Northern States. For this reason they set up a confederacy apart from the Union. Leaving apart the whole question of the long and bitter war which ensued, the com- merce of the South was ruined simply because they had erected an artifi- ON THE IRISH QUESTION cial barrier between themselves and the North which lasted long after the war had ended and which ruined every great Southern commercial centre. If the South had won its independence it would to-day be a ruined country. Only because in the end it was not able to leave the Union has it revived commercially, now that it is looked upon as an integral part of the country. No one knows more than myself how Ulstermen must feel. All my sympathies were with the South; my heart was with the South; but my head never wavered one moment from the cause of the Union. If our brethren in the South had only been willing to accept the guarantee- which Mr. Lincoln's Government was not only willing but anxious to offer them, a fearful and very sanguinary war would never have taken place and the heartbreaking commercial ruin which ensued would have- been averted. The American Civil War ought to teach all men a gr^t lesson. Separate nationalities must be recognized, but no nation can be permanently divided. Since I have been asked, then, the only way I see out of the difficulty is the way of guarantees. The present position is impossible. Ireland cannot be sacrificed to a few counties in Ulster. These few counties can- not be sacrificed to the rest of Ireland. On the part of Ulster, then, as far as I can see, their only way of safety lies in accepting a Home Rule Parliament in Dublin and of demanding, as they are in an extraordinarily good position to demand, whatever guarantees seem necessary to them for their protection; and these guarantees must be loyally accepted by the rest of Ireland and Ulster welcomed not only as an integral part of the country, but as that part which, since to a large extent it controls the financial destinies of the country, must be allowed a voice commensurate with the legitimate influence which its commercial supremacy confers upon it. By James W. Gerard Former Ambassador to Germany. I hope the English will free Ireland. Two thousand five hundred Irish soldiers were collected by the Ger- mans in Lemberg Camp. Sir Roger Casement tried to seduce them and succeeded in getting only thirty weaklings to join the Germans. The others chased that poor lunatic, Sir Roger Casement, out of the camp. The Irish have fought faithfully for England and for civilization. Perhaps I am prejudiced because my wife is half Irish. AMERICAN OPINION By Samuel Gompers President American Federation of Labor. I have read American opinion upon the Irish question as published in The New York World with the deepest interest, and I feel that The World has done and is doing a splendid work in making public American senti- ment upon this difficult problem. As a sympathizer with Ireland and Irish aspirations, I can only hope that Ireland will soon be given full Home Rule. I could not say and would not attempt to say what is practicable at this moment. I could not discuss, for instance, the Ulster question with a view to giving advice as to what methods would be best to use. For the last two years I have been so unceasingly busy with ithe affairs of labor and more lately as a member of the National Defense Council that I 'have not had the time to give to a sufficiently exhaustive study of the question for that. But I am sure that labor in the United States would be enthusiasti- cally glad if Ireland were now given Home Rule. Whether this can be done in a day or a month or six months I do not know. But if this ques- tion were settled, I believe the settlement would have a most fortunate effect upon the Allied nations. A settlement of the difficulties between England and Ireland would, if it were effected now, undoubtedly be of great advantage to England and all her Allies in the conduct of the war. Let us look forward to the near future hopefully in the belief that a satisfactory solution can be and will be found and effected. By John Purroy Mitchel Mayor of New York City. I gladly accept the invitation to express my view of the American at- titude toward the proposed qualified Home Rule measure for Ireland, which contemplates applying the principle through an option to be exer- cised by individual counties. This would appear to be a measure for the practical dismemberment of Ireland and in disregard* of the pledge of sub- stantial Home Rule given by the English Government immediately prior ^o the outbreak of the 'Europen war. Americans of Irish descent have been accustomed to regard English pledges of Irish Home Rule lightly. The impression has been very gen- eral among them that England's devotion to the principles of democracy and popular self-government has always contained the notable exception of Ireland in its practical application. It would be most unfortunate, when Great Britain and the United States are about to be closely associ- ated in the great cause of democracy and justice, if just basis were given ON THE IRISH QUESTION for the belief that England is not willing to extend to Ireland the same measure of democracy and justice that she champions for Wie rest of the world. America has demonstrated that every essential right of a minority may be protected by constitutional guarantee. America endured four years of bitter conflict to establish the principle that the wishes of a minority could not be permitted to dismember a nation. We hope, not only in the interests of Ireland and of Great Britain but in the interests of the great struggle in which the United States is now engaged, that Home Rule may be accorded in generous manner to Ireland. The whole Irish race is now included within the Allied countries, and have a right to hope that principles conducing equally to the security of Ulster and to the recognition of Irish nationality may be placed in prac- tice. If in the future democracy, tolerance and prosperity march hand in hand in Ireland, the share which the Irish are taking in this terrible con- flict will not have been in vain. By Charles W. Eliot President Emeritus Harvard University. Educated Americans think of the British Isles as a national unit, with a mixed population, chiefly English, Welsh, Scotch and Irish, ruled by a single Legislature — the National Parliament — and a Cabinet acceptable to that Legislature. The Central Parliament having enacted toleration in religion, a com- mon taric and common postal regulations, and reserved to itself power to make war or peace and to direct the national forces, Americans see no difficulty in giving Ireland a subordinate Parliament for local purposes if Ireland wants one. They are accustomed to forty-eight States Legislatures under one National Congress and to forty-eight State Governors, all of whom are ordinarily independent executives each in his own field, tout who co- operate promptly and loyally with the President of the United States in any national crisis or time of anxiety. According to American theory and practice, however, an Irish Parliament should govern as to local affairs the whole of Ireland, not a part of it. In four generations the United States, with a population racially more heterogeneous than that of Great Britain and Ireland and with many sharp local differences as regards dominant occupations and indus- tries, has experienced no serious difficulties growing out of the exist- ence of the State Legislature, except difficulties relating to interstate trans- portation and the militia, which has always been organized State by 10 AMERICAN OPINION State. These difficulties are of recent origin and are on the way to be remedied. Neither would seem likely to arise in Irelend. Americans, without distinction of race, creed or party, believe that now is the time for the National Parliament to give Home Rule to 'Ireland, in recognition of Irish unity and loyalty in the great war and in just settlement of long standing and grievous dissensions between Parliament and the great majority of the Irish people. Increase in the number and strength of self-government members of powerful national groups is one of the best outcomes of the war thus far. By George W. Wickersham Former United States Attorney General. I think it a peculiarly happy time to bring about a solution of the much vexed Irish question. It would be of immeasurable value to every- body if a solution could be found now, and it certainly ought to be pos- sible to solve the question now in a manner equitable to all parties con- cerned. Nothing could help the cause of the Allies more in the minds of Americans than to have that question settled. By John Quinn Lawyer and Authority on Irish Affairs. As one who believed that Teutonic militarism plunged the world into this war, and that, in the interest of civilization, Teutonic militarism should be crushed, I rejoiced at the entrance of the United States into the war. The day that the great news came from Russia and the day that the United States entered the war were among the most glorious days that the world has seen. As one who has been pro-Ally in sympathy and acts since the war began, it is my firm conviction that the American people as a whole cannot reconcile the conduct of England toward Ire- land with iher declaration, in favor of the rights of small nations and of sympathy with their national aspirations. Such a reconciliation can come from one act on the part of Eng- land, and one act only, and that is to grant to Ireland the fullest measure of Home Rule. I believe that public opinion in Great Britain favors an amicable settlement. Politicians should no longer be permitted to main- tain the impossible attitude which they took up before the war, or be allowed, in not merely the interests of Great Britain but in the interests of the whole Allied cause, further to insist upon the partition of Ireland. The recent momentous happenings in Russia have cleared the issue. Great Britain, France and Italy are now free from the reproach that the ON THE IRISH QUESTION II most stupid of despots is their ally. They are now free to say to the world, what for over two years and ahalf they have not dared to say, words of sympathy for Poland, Finland and the Jews. The world knows that even when Alsace and Lorraine have been restored to France, as I hope and believe they will foe, a certain portion of the population will technically be coerced, but they will not foe robbed. No state religion will be established. When Poland shall have been granted autonomy, as I hope and believe it will be, there will foe a minority of German blood or descent who will technically be coerced, but they will not be robbed or discriminated against. I have no patience with the claim! that Ulster must have guarantees. The Home Rule Act which is now upon the statute books of Great Britain guards, in explicit terms, against any possible dangers to religious liberty and to equality in a way in which probably no other Constitution does. If that act, loaded down with guarantees, as it is, does not satisfy Ulster, let guarantees be piled upon guarantees until even Ulster must admit that it is satisfied. In this country we have solved the problem of religious liberty, of the rights of property and of contract and individual rights. We have done this by constitutional guarantees. We refuse to foelieve that the problem which has been solved here cannot also foe solved in Ireland. The Home Rule question should be settled generously — magnani- mously. Home Rule should be granted to an undivided Ireland. Only in that way, only by a great and magnanimous settlement, will the imag- ination of Irishmen in the United States and all over the world be touched, and the great outstanding cause of friction between this country and England be permanently removed. If it be the fact, as has been reported, that enlistment in Canada practically caime to a standstill because of the history of the last year in Ireland; and if it be the fact, as has been stated, that conscription in Aus- tralia was defeated largely because of resentment on the part of the Irish there at the treatment of Irishmen in Ireland during the last year, it would seem that England has already paid too costly a price for failure to carry out her pledges to "Ireland. The day of generalities has passed. The day of quibbling has passed. It is in the interest of England, as well as of Ireland and of the whole Allied cause, that this question be satis- factorily settled. As a friend and supporter of the Allied cause in this war, I repeat only what English statesmen and English publicists have time after time said, that successive English Governments have wofully mishandled the Irish situation. The Irish question can no longer be regarded as a do- 12 AMERICAN OPINION mestic one. It is an international question, affecting not merely the minds of Irishmen, but or democracies, especially the British colonial democ- racies, all over the world. It is not a political teud. It is an outstanding historical wrong. At the outbreak, of the war Ireland gave, and throughout the war Ireland has given, unmistakable proof of meeting England more than half way. When the war broke out England appealed to Ireland and Ireland responded generously to the appeal. The two nations went to war to- gether. But unfortunately for England, as well as for Ireland, Ireland's efforts have not yet secured that measure of generous response by Eng- land which world events should have inspired. The American people are not misled by the statement that Ulster must not be coerced. The claim that to bring Ulster under a Home Rule Parliament with adequate constitutional guarantees would be "an out- rage on the principles of liberty and self-government" is not received with sympathy in this country. Home Rule to a divided Ireland would not meet the situation. Not for three or four counties in the north of Ireland should the rest of Ireland be continued as an armed camp and the good opinion of the world turned away from England. I believe that Home Rule in a generous measure for all Ireland would satisfy Irishmen generally in Ireland as well as in this country. No politi- cal settlement ever satisfied every one. A country should be judged not by the claims of a comparatively ftw extremists or irreconcilables, but by the pledges of its responsible representatives. I believe that the great majority of Irish-Americans and of Americans of Irish descent have no interest in the talk about an independent Irish republic and believe, as I believe, that Ireland's best interests lie in her remaining a part, and 1 may add, always a very prominent part, of the British Empire. Impartial, liberty-loving, loyal Americans feel that Englishmen who since the beginning of the war have been proclaiming their devotion to liberal sentiments and to the rights of small nationalities, and appealing for the moral support of the world as champions of small nationalities, now have the opportunity of applying those principles and sentiments nearer home. From the point of view of enlightened public policy and self-interest, it would seem that this was a duty that Englishmen owe to themselves and, now that the United States is a virtual ally of Great Britain, a duty that they owe America. By Alton B. Parker Democratic Candidate for President 1904. Lord Northcliffe's appeal will find a warm reception in this country. How it would warm the hearts of the people of the United States to learn ON THE IRISH QUESTION 13 that Great Britain had solved the Irish problem by giving Ireland genu- ine Home Rule — Home Rule in the sense that New York and Texas and every other State in the United States has it ! Such a result would unite the people of this country in the effort to do our part in the war with our allies as nothing else would. What a glorious measure of satisfaction would be ours could we all know that the Irish question in Great Britain is to trouble us no more here at home; that henceforth throughout the war and ever after we are to be united in best wishes -for all fne people of every part of Great Britain! By John Ireland Archbishop of St. Paul. To-day America is the ally of the British Empire in one of the fiercest and most meaningful wars ever known in the history of the human race. Necessarily America takes deepest concern in conditions of the British Empire bearing upon the conduct and the outcome of this fearful conflict. Victory for the British Empire is victory for America. Defeat for the empire is defeat for America. The two nations stand or fall t )- gether, with consequences for weal or woe to both that stagger the mind in the effort to grasp the hugeness of possibilities of the one hypothesis or the other. America, for her own sake, for the sake of the British Empire, asks that Home Rule be given without further delay to Ireland. No one knowing the mind of America can mistake in this regard its wish and voice, no one the serious preoccupation in which it holds ittself lest the refusal of Home Rule to Ireland be further continued. The need of the hour to the British Empire for its strength in the vigorous prosecution of the war is internal peace and the unity of all its forces into oneness of life and effort. As things are, a valuable part of the empire is aloof from the great struggle. The men of Ireland are needed to lend aid and comfort to its army and its navy. The men of Ireland should be so treated that they will spring forward as one man in hastening alacrity to the battlefields, over which hover such terrifying possibilities. Ireland's bravery is not doubted. Let it be launched forth in its most daring impetuosity into the fray to bear aloft in victory, across every peril, the banner of St. George. With joyousness that words cannot tell would America applaud such a blessed achievement. America would see in it new strength for the British Empire, new strength too for her own self, inasmuch as the deep 14 AMERICAN OPINION sympathy for 'Ireland vibrating in the hearts of millions of her people would be brightened into burning glow of satisfaction fnat America is now the ally of an empire rising to the heights of wholesouled generosity in awarding to Ireland its coveted dream of centuries, and then with Ireland peaceful and happy there is consistency in the pleas under which the British Empire and America are waging war. Those ideals are popular freedom, the guardianship of smaller na- tions, respect and reverence for aspiration that neither time nor human power can smother and kill. The Allied nations inscribe those ideals in their proclamations and unsheath their swords to encourage and guard them. Meanwhile, what can be said in response to the taunts of enemy sovereignties who ask why Ireland is still the victim of the oppression of ages, still the complainant that her imperishable yearnings for the sun- shine of democracy upon her fields are unheard, unsatisfied ? One act of supreme generosity on the part of the British Parliament will give to Ire- land peace and joyousness and tie her in gratitude to the hopes and des- tinies of the empire. Why not at once speak forth that act ? There is, it is said, one obstacle — the unwillingness of a portion of the population of Ulster to trust the vast majority of the population of Ireland. Guarantees have been given that rights shall be safeguarded, that perils of local liberty shall find no room under the operations of the act granting Home Rule. Guarantees to this end the majority do not refuse. Perils that are feared find no foundation in the words or the doings of the majority. Is it logical that a minority, however comparatively small, should over- rule the majority, however comparatively large ? In this hypothesis there never will be possible in any land a plan of Home Rule or a regime of unsullied democracy. There should be no divided Ireland. Ireland exists in Ms entirely or does not at all exist. Some day the gaping sore of a dissatisfied Ireland will be healed. Home Rule will be granted. Why not grant it to-day when the need of heartfelt co-operation between the population of Ireland and that of England is a crying need, when the gift of Home Rule would be so gracious as to win to itself enduring gratitude? This is What Americans wish for ; this is what Americans feel. They, themselves similarly situated, would gladly do what to-day they ask the English Parliament to do. ON THE IRISH QUESTION 15 By William]M. Colder United States Senator From New York. I am deeply interested in the Irish Home Rule question at this time. I hope that in the meetings to be held there will be some way arrived at of getting this most important question settled. I would like to see given to Ireland the largest measure of Home Rule that can be given. I hope the loyalty of the Irish people to England, as demonstrated in these times, will induce the British Parliament to give them the fullest measure of liberty. By Bainbridge Colby Progressive Party Leader. There have always been enlightened Englishmen with the cour- age to concede the failure of English administration in Ireland. Glad- stone was the most notable of the last generation. It may be that Lord Northcliffe will enjoy a similar distinction among his contemporaries. Justice to Ireland does not involve hostility to England, and there are many men in this country who cheerfully concede the great contribu- tions which England has made in the past to the cause of civil liberty, and who admire the gallantry of her stand in the present war in behalf of lib- erty against autocracy, who nevertheless feel that the resentment of Eng- lish rule in Ireland is due to causes for which England is responsible and the continuance of discredited policies, unwise from the standpoint of England's interest, and unnecessary from every standpoint. Instead of the disaffected nation that it is, with a centuries old tra- dition of harsh and alien rule, Ireland, if treated by England with the self-restraint and good judgment which characterize England's relations with every other nation, would be one of the strongest members of the British Imperial system. It seems to me that England should jump at the chance to bury the recollection of her past misgovernment in Ireland under a prompt and hearty reconciliation with the gallant and indomitable people who con- stitute the Irish nation. It would release energies that could be most tellingly employed in the present world struggle, and it would bring about a moral and mate- rial reinforcement of the Allied strength which no one who does not fully appreciate the power inherent in Irish enthusiasm can fully estimate. I think thoughtful Americans sincerely deplore the Irish question. They hope to see it solved. They believe its solution would be creditable to England. They would rejoice to acclaim the courage and enlightenment 16 AMERICAN OPINION of England if it would approach the problem free from the passions of the past and the prejudices which have distorted British vision and baffled British efforts in the past. They would like to see a great population of thirty or forty millions dwelling in Ireland and growing rich and happy through the great advan- tages of soil and situation which Ireland possesses. They would like to see Ireland assured of a self-respecting measure of autonomy. They do not desire to see Great Britain's strength in the world sapped or impaired. But I think in America it is felt that England would gain and not lose strength by concessions, even sweeping concessions, and that generous conciliation would not only be just but wise from the statesman's point of view, and consistent with the truer and nobler England which every man versed in the history of civil government profoundly admires. By\Martin J.\Keogh Justice of the Supreme Court, New York State. It seems hard to believe that in August, 1914, Sir Edward Grey could have said of Ireland that it was the one bright spot on England's political horizon. Since that time Ireland's relation to England has been marked with a display of national rancor, broken faith and repression which seemed once more to have irreconcilably rent apart the two countries. By a lucky turn of fate, England is given once again a splendid opportunity to make Ireland a small amend for her historic wrongdoing. The inspiring declaration of war and of independence made by President Wilson when America's fate was joined to the Allies, when the cause for which America was going to war was stated to be independence of small nationalities, justice and liberty, makes it logical and reasonable for the Irish race to demand of England that she shall live up to her professions and grant full Home Rule to Ireland. It seems that by some untoward fate, every time Ireland was about to receive a measure of Home 'Rule the proffered gift was snatched from her hand. Now, of all times, seems most propitious for the granting of Home Rule. Free America, in which every State has absolute legislative independence, is England's ally. The opposition of a handful of intoler- ant Ulstermen is unworthy of serious discussion. The Nationalists of Ire- land, clergy and laity, have never practised the least intolerance toward their Protestant fellow-countrymen, and I know they will agree with me when I say that the least religious disability imposed on the humblest peasant in Ulster would be too dear a price to pay even for Irish legisla- tive independence. ON THE IRISH QUESTION 17 Let us hope that English statesmen will not miss this unique oppor- tunity of squaring their actions to their professions by granting full Home Rule to an undivided Ireland and thus satisfy the conscience of America and make one honest effort of reparation for generations of misgovernment. BylDr. Nicholas Murray\Butler President of Columbia University. As a lover of Great Britain and of the ndble British tradition of civil and political liberty, I am, like thousands of other Americans, keenly anxious that by the granting of autonomy to Ireland the British Empire may itself be strengthened and a new example given of the healing- effect of self-government upon the oldest and most vexatious political wounds. Great Britain has had a glorious record in its dealings with weak and struggling nationalities aiming for greater freedom, as well as in its sympathy for those nationalities that have been submerged under con- quering nations. When they sorely needed friends, Great Britain be- friended Belgium, Italy and Greece. The British colonial policy in Canada, in Australia and in South Africa has been statesmanlike in high degree, and the British Empire has reaped the rich reward of its wise policies in the loyal devotion of those dominions and Common wealtns at the present moment. Every one sees that the problem of recognizing nationality in Ire- land and of granting it autonomy is gravely complicated by problems of land ownership, of violent religious antipathy and of traditional race antagonism. But the great demonstration of British national character and British national capacity which this war has called out will, I am confident, not cease until it has found a way to bind Ireland more closely than ever to the empire by granting it that autonomy which the major portion of its population so ardently desires. Until Russia turned in a night from autocracy to democracy, her place among the Allies was used in America insistently and with force as an argument to refute the contention of most of us that the war is at bottom a contest between autocracy and civil liberty. The revolution in Russia has silenced that argument and put new power behind America's particiption in the war. In similar "fashion we are taunted with the fact that while con- tending for the principle of nationality and national autonomy in Belgium, in Serbia and Poland, we are blind to the fact that autonomy has not 18 AMERICAN OPINION yet been granted to Ireland. To remove the ground of this objection would be to unite the American people a sthey have never been united before in their history, not only in friendly but in affectionate sympathy and co-operation with the British Empire and its every part. If I believed that the granting of autonomy to Ireland would weaken the British Empire or the cause of civil liberty, I could not urge it for a moment. It is because I believe it would strengthen the British Empire, both at home and throughout the world, and that it would fix yet more firmly the foundations of civil liberty, that I look with confident hope to its early accomplishment. By George Gordon Battle Lawyer, Advocate of the Allies Throughout the War. I sincerely hope that a solution of the Irish question may be reached. This war has seen the triumph of democratic principles of government in 'Russia. It has been marked by the general recognition, throughout the world, of the sanctity of all independent governments and nationalities, however small. The demand of Ireland for Home Rule is in the line of democracy. Furthermore, the desire of Ireland for a separate local government calls for the respect of those who 'believe in the rights of every race and nation to self-government in local affairs. So the action of Great Britain in conceding Home Rule to Ireland would be consonant with the spirit of this great struggle for the cause of democracy. I know the difficulties that hedge about this problem. But 1 am convinced that the present Government of Great Britain earnestly wishes to do justice to Ireland, and where there's a will there's a way. In common with all liberty loving men, I devoutly hope and pray for this consummation. By W. Bourke Cockran Former Congressman and Irish Leader. Settlement of the Irish question at this moment is of the last im- portance, not only merely to (Ireland and England, but to all the world. It will foe a contribution of incalculable value to the alliance against Germany. £y*this I do not mean that American citizens of Irish birth or blood might place any conditions whatever upon their loyalty to this Republic in this momentous period of its existence, or that their patriotism needs any stimulus to make them foremost among those who will take up arms ON THE IRISH QUESTION 19 to promote the aims of our Government and to protect our territory. The fact that our country has declared war is sufficient to make every man with Irish blood in his veins eager for an opportunity to follow the flag in whatever direction it may be unfurled. But if this question, which for eight centuries has been a running sore afflicting and disfiguring the whole body of Christian civilization, should be composed so soon after our declaration of war it would be regarded everywhere as the natural consequence of our entrance into the conflict. With such a glorious result already among its achievements, it would be apparent to all men that this war is the noblest crusade ever under- taken by all the forces of Christendom, moral and material, to defend and make secure forever the fundamentals of Christian civilization. No plan to settle the Irish question can be effective and final unless it is based on that justice Which we entered this war to make universal. Partition of Ireland would merely substitute two Irish questions for one, each more difficult and more fecund of difficulties than the present situa- tion. Proposals to divide the island are not inspired by genuine appre- hension of injury to any essential rig*ht of a minority. They are off- springs of that intolerance and bigotry which has been the main source of Irish disasters in the past, but which this war has already greatly lessened, and which, if not fed and fanned now by concessions alike un- wise and unnecessary, will be entirely obliterated in the peace which is approaching. Not for the sake of Ireland alone, but even in greater degree for the sake of England — whose moral position in the world is discredited by the dreadful consequences of her vain attempts to rule Ireland — and in the interests of the whole alliance which will be strengthened immeasurably by this proof that its success will make liberty universal and justice supreme throughout the world, every nation which is part of this mighty crusade for the improvement of human conditions and every individual who is deeply concerned in the triumph of our cause should combine to urge settlement, final, complete and immediate, of this Irish question on conditions demanded by an overwhelming majority of the Irish peopb. By James A. O' Gorman * Former United States Senator From New York. Great Britain has held for centuries a place of leadership among the •great nations of the earth, but her statesmanship may well be reproached for its series of dismal failures in attempting to solve the Irish question. Penal laws, political and religious persecution, coercion, force, confisca- tion of estates, destruction of industries and banishment have all been trie 20 AMERICAN OPINION in vain, lis it not time to approach the consideration of the subject, ani- mated by a spirit of fairness, justice and conciliation? Even recently rebels in the north of Ireland have been rewarded with seats in the Cabinet while rebels in the south have suffered instant death, some of them without trial. While no generation can place bounds upon the aspirations of a race, Americans believe that if Ireland enjoyed the same rights of self-govern- ment that have been granted to Canada and Australia, racial animosities would be obliterated and the distrust and hostility now separating the two countries would disappear and be succeeded by a new relation based upon confidence, friendship, good will and imperial solidarity. What is now England's weakness would contribute to her strength and power. The wrongs and oppressions of the past may be forgiven, but not until England's sense of justice induces her to live up to her own professions regarding the rights of small nations. An adjustment of the Irish problem on conditions demanded by the majority of the people of Ireland should not be a difficult task for states- men capable of directing the destinies of the powerful Government with which we are now in alliance in an effort to make liberty and justice su- preme throughout the world. To partition Ireland is to destroy the last hope of self-government to the Irish nation. The opinion of the average American regarding this question is clearly reflected in the memorable wav message of President Wilson, when he declared that he would fight "for the rights of nations, great and small, and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience." Great Britain must grant self-government to Ireland some day. Why not now? Such an act of reparation will be tardy justice, but it will bring happiness to the Irish people and strength to the British Empire. By Martin W. Littleton Former Representative From New York. No one likes to intrude his opinions into the affairs of another coun- try, but some things are plain to us all. Ireland is entitled to political self-government, and self-government does not simply mean some standard type which the Anglo-Saxon or Irish race has approved, but it means a continuing process of adjustment by which the rigid framework of government is adjusted to the temperament and the taste of the people themselves and by the people themselves. Theoretically this right of Ireland has not been seriously contested for many years, but some circumstance, internal or extrinsic, has always confused or postponed the settlement of the question. The right has ON THE IRISH QUESTION 21 always existed, the opportunity has been afforded frequently; but no* the occasion is acute and the demand 'mperative for her political liberty, and by the standard of civilized opinion It is hers by right. By the multiplying proofs of the capacity of her people she has established this right in the forum of public intelligence. By the supreme test of patriotism flowing in the currents of her people, wherever adven- ture has led them, she has vindicated her love for free government. By the sacrifices which she has made in the contest between predatory Prussian power and the Allied agencies of liberty and peace she has earned the immediate recognition of her rights. Beyond and above this, and as a matter of political expediency, if Ireland were entirely without any right to political self-government and the whole demand was simply an age-long accumulating sentiment which had finally crystallized in the thought of her people, her nearness to England and her century-old identity with the advancement of the human race, the disappointing and discouraging reaction which would flow from its denial would demand that she be granted this measure of political self-government. At last the people of the world have all been compelled to think at the same time about the same thing, and that is, the simple questions of freedom. These were supposed to have been settled under various forms of government and through' various agencies of civilization. Without meaning it and without intending it, Prussian conspiracy has awakened mankind to a keen appreciation of the blessings of liberty and caused an ardent renewal of their allegiance to its fundamental principles. Brandishing the sword of hate, under the impetus of the principles of force, the Prussian Government has aroused the passion for liberty hitherto pent up in various forms of government and slumbering in the bosoms of all nations, and this passion has broken loose and overflowed until now it is a war of the world, loving liberty, against Prussia, repre- senting force. In the general sweep of these influences it is not too much to hope that the mists and clouds which have so long hung about the Irish ques- tion shall be swept away and she will be revealed to the world in the full possession of those political rights which others have never denied and which she so fondly cherishes. By Edgar M. Cullen Former Chief Judge New York Court of Appeals. While I have not made a study of the details of the Irish question, like other American citizens of Irish descent, my fervent prayer is that this 22 AMERICAN OPINION long standing and vexed question will soon be settled. I am unable to make any specific suggestion as to details, but I hope thalt England as well as Ireland will see the wisdom of a settlement that will be lasting and satisfactory. Such a settlement will be hailed with satisfaction by Irish-Americans and by Americans generally. By Justice Victor J. Bowling Appellate Division, New York Supreme Court. The world is conquered more often by an ideal or a sentiment than it is by force of arms, and the victory is a more lasting one. At a time when every nation professes to be waging war for the preservation of civil- ization, the extension of democracy and the protection of small nations, what more striking proof of sincerity and righteousness could be given by a great and powerful empire than to freely restore the largest possible measure of liberty to a'brave and generous people who have persistently longed and struggled for freedom for more than 500 years? Home Rule for a united Ireland, with complete fiscal autonomy, un- restricted opportunities for commercia: and industrial expansion and ade- quate saefguards for the political, religious and financial rights of minor- ities, if speedily and willingly granted, wll send a thrill of enthusiasm around the world which will speed the hour of the return of peace, justice and honor. By John W. Goff Justice of the Supreme Court. Through The World Lord Northcliffe appeals for expression of opin- ion in the United States as an aid to those who "are struggling (in Eng- land) to arouse interest in the Irish problem." His Lordship says that "the next fourteen days will be (in his opinion) the most vital in the history of attempts to solve the Anglo-Irish problem." The solution of the "problem" is very simple, and it is the practical application of that principle which England through her responsible Min- isters heralded as the cause for her entrance into the war: "Justice to small nationalities." ' In substance that principle is reiterated by our President as one of the purposes for which America has drawn the sword. When, for such a principle, two such mighty and liberty loving nations as America and Eng- land declare war against a common enemy, its justice and soundness must be self-evident. ON THE IRISH QUESTION 23 • No question has been raised as to the appropriate application of this principle to Belgium to regain her sovereignty, or to Poland to regain her independence, or to Finland to regain her autonomy, or to France io regain her lost provinces. Even the long-stilled voice of the Ukraine is heard in demand for its rights. Was there a mental reservation in England's declaration to the world? Is Ireland an exception? Is she the only small nationality in Europe to which the principle of justice is not to be applied ? Compared to the other small nationalities, the application to her of the principle is simplicity itself. All the others, with the exception of Finland, are war torn, and will have to await the determination of the war before their status can be fixed. But England, as far as foreign foes are concerned, holds absolute sway over Ireland, and can, if she be sincere, put into practice in a very short time her lofty idealism. It is the opinion, nay more, the conviction, of American citizens of Irish blood that justice to Ireland consists in "Ireland a Nation," and the accomplishment of that end they believe the only and safe solution of the "Anglo-Irish problem." That is the practical application of the principle of justice to one "small nationality," and while its adherents in America believe in it im- plicitly, they recognize it as a duty to the people of Ireland to loyally aid them in every genuine effort and movement that will make for their welfare. Thus, if they, having freedom to act and express, determine that independence is at present impracticable, and that Home Rule, in its true sense, as it is understood in America, is the best obtainable, then adherence and co-operation will be given. But it must be genuine 'Home Rule, not a fraud and a delusion, as is the Ishmaelite that is suspended on the statute book. England is not without models. She has them in the Dominion of Canada, in the Commonwealth of Australia, and in the Union of South Africa. Let any one of them be applied to Ireland, that is to an All-Ire- land, not a mutilated Ireland, and Ireland will in a few years demonstrate, as she did during the eighteen years of "Grattan's Parliament," flourishing trade, industry and agriculture, increased population and happiness and prosperity of her people. If Lord Northcliffe with his powerful influence would aid to secure such measure, he would not only take a long stride in the direction of solving the "Anglo-Irish problem," 'but would help the Government he so well serves to escape the odium of insincerity, remove from England a standing menace and disturbance at her door, and in this world upheaval stand out as a benefactor to the land of his birth. 24 AMERICAN OPINION By Thomas F. Smith Representative from New York and Secretary of Tammany Hall. I do not pretend to be an authority on the Irish question. I assume that the people in Ireland are qualified to determine for themselves What form of government will best promote their happiness. There are many different political parties in Ireland, just as there are here, and each of them believes that if the principles it advocates were enacted into law the problem of the centuries would be solved. That England in the past has dealt cruelly and unjustly with the Emerald Isle cannot be denied. Many British statesmen have admitted it and made honest efforts to repair in some measure the injuries done, but they have failed to carry their reforms into effect because a few North of Ireland recalcitrants have constantly refused to agree to any proposal that would give the great majority of the Irish people a chance to govern themselves. Furthermore, the lords of Ireland have refused to give up their privileges and the Tory party of England has always made Ireland a political issue and opposed the Liberals, who have tried to settle the Irish question fairly. Just now, however, the great world war has clearly raised the issue of autocracy against democracy. The Allies have asserted that they were fighting for humanity, democracy and the rights of small nations. Our President also has pledged us to fight to make the world safe for democracy and to protect the rights of small nations. The Allies have pointed to the invasion of Belgium as a violation of the rights of small peoples, while, on the other hand, the Central Powers have taunted the Allies with the picture of a long suffering Ireland — a small nation whose sufferings and struggles have excited the sympathy of the world. Erin in the past has been deceived toy the many promises made to her by England. Her people in the main have hitherto relied upon the word of England; they have fought for her "from Waterloo to Egypt and Dargai." Reforms were promised the Irish people, but never made. Home Rule was promised and enacted into law, but its operation v/as withheld until the world war shall be over. Naturally the Irish spirit rebelled ; Easter Week, with its uprising, came and went, leaving a sullen and rebellious Ireland. Irishmen in Ireland have not volunteered as gen- erously as was expected by England. The Republic of France has always liked the Irish, because they too are gallant soldiers, and she, as England's ally, has 'been urging the latter to settle the Irish question. So, too, are the British colonies urging jus- tice to Ireland. Lloyd George and Lord Northcliffe are not the only prominent Englishmen who are convinced that the time has come when ON THE IRISH QUESTION 25 Ireland must be converted from a country that hopes that God or man will strike England into a nation of friends. The attitude of President Wilson and the American Congress, telling England that the hour has arrived for the Allies to set a good example to the world by giving Ireland, a small nation, her freedom, will likely hasten the day that will see the harp and the shamrock smiling over another land blessed with independence. Should England give Ireland her freedom at this time, that act would not only be evidence that the Allies intended to protect small nations, but it would inspire the men on the firing line, enthuse Americans of all races and stimulate the Irish the world over. Might not justice to Ireland have made her a greater ally to England than the latter has ever had? By Matthew P. Breen Magistrate, Member of Executive Committee, United Irish League. For years we of the United Irish League of America have been waging a fight for genuine Home Rule for Ireland. There have been times in the past when our hopes for victory were high. The hopes did not materialize, font now I can say that I believe Ireland will have this measure of justice within a year. Friends of Ireland appreciate the action of The World in making public views of prominent Americans from all parts of the country on this question, because The World helps Ireland and the cause of democracy thereby. The dissatisfaction of Ulster with Home Rule should not, and will not, I believe, be allowed to prevail. The differences are mainly commercial, not religious, and they can be reconciled. I am for Home Rule for all Ireland. Ulster is a minority and the minority should not rule the majority. We have proved in this country that majority rule can be made absolutely fair to the minority. It can be done in Ireland. By Joseph G. Cannon Representative from Illinois, for Many Years Speaker of the House of Representatives. Lord Northcliffe has asked for expressions of opinion from citizens of the United States on the Irish question. The Irish problem is a prob- lem which must be settled by the people of Great Britain. 26 AMERICAN OPINION By Thomas W. Churchill Former President of the Board of Education. I personally can see no two sides to the Irish question or its proper settlement. Ireland deserves the fullest measure of self-government— Home Rule as an integer— and if Lloyd George, already a great man, succeeds in giving her this he will add many cubits to his stature. Insead of hostility and disunion between England and Ireland, there should now be the widest spirit of friendship and unity — a utility of sym- pathy. England's attitude should be one of open-handed, open-hearted welcome and friendliness to the Irish people, who during the present war have shed their blood without stint or measure in the trenches for Eng- land. Ireland, through the sacrifices she has made in this war — that alone is sufficient reason — should be given the full measure of Home 'Rule and given it immediately. She is entitled to everything that can be given her, tout I believe in her obtaining her rights by evolution rather than revolution. As for the opposition in Ulster — once give Ireland Home Rule with- out partition and Ulster and the rest of Ireland will, like little children, soon forget their difficulties and be playing together in closest friendship and accord. There would never have been much trouble about Ulster had it not been for the difficulties fomented by the self-seeking absentees. Of course, the Ulster trouble is not going to be eliminated as long as England takes a man like Sir Edward Carson, a traitor, a rebel, and honors and pets him, promoting him to a position of trust and honor in her Cabinet while she lines others accused of treason and rebellion who happen to come from another part of Ireland, up against walls before her firing squads. But let Ireland alone with Home Rule and you will find that the discordant and contending elements will soon coalesce. Irishmen the world over have proved their ability to govern. Surely, if given the opportunity, they would have governed so many other peoples well will demonstrate their ability to govern themselves. There cannot be great enthusiasm for England as the defender of Belgium so long as this England has at her own right hand in Ireland another Belgium. But let England prove her good faith and her good will toward Irelend bv giving her, gladly and freely, Home Rule, which I believe would be the toest solution for the present, and watch the iesponse. The Irish will respond to the slightest touch of kindness, the slightest evidence of sympathy. That is one of their most manifest characteristics. ON THE IRISH QUESTION 27 American ideas and ideals are the most potent forces for democracy in the world to-day, and there are forces at work which should make us assume that the time is close at hand when Home 'Rule will become a reality for Ireland. By James Byrne Regent of the University of New York. As one who believes my country has done right in entering into the war, and that she should carry it on not merely as an associate but as the most intimate ally of the nations who are fighting the battle of democracy, and who wishes that Great Britain should so act as 'to make these beliefs the beliefs of every American, may I be permitted, to say that the American people as a whole would hail the grant to Ireland ot the fullest measure of Home Rule as a magnanimous as well as a just act, full of good omen for the future of Ireland and of England and for the cause of the Allies? Recent events in Russia make it impossible that the unhappy rela- tions of England and Ireland should continue. The demand by Nationalist Irishmen that Ireland shall not be divided is based on a sentiment of nationality that America understands. The United States is composed of a North and a South that a little over half a century ago fought one another for. four years. The South did not wish to be one Nation with the North. But the South and the North to- day believe that it was worth all the lives that were spent to keep them one Nation. When the Civil War was over, the South was in a minority. But she has not been overtaxed, her people have not been robbed, they have not been without their share of influence in the National Government. The declaration of our Congress that a state of war exists between Ger- many and the United States was moved in the Senate by a Senator from Virginia and in the House by a Representative of Virginia, and the Presi- dent who sent the message to Congress asking that such declaration should be made was born, and during the war between the States lived in, Virginia, the greatest State in the Confederacy of the South, the State of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The people of the United States believe that the majority should rule, and do not believe that When that majority is the majority of a people who are in essence a nation the rule of a majority means the oppression of 'the minority. 28 AMERICAN OPINION By John D. Moore National Secretary Friends of Irish Freedom. The Irish people demand complete freedom and nothing short of it. No one knows that better than Lord Northcliffe, an Irishman born, who realizes perfectly that "reconciliation of Ireland" is an iridescent dream. Premier Lloyd George admitted as much on March 7 when he told the House of Commons that "Ireland is no more reconciled to British rule than in Cromwell's day." The Friends of Irish Freedom have already asked President Wilson and the Congress to urge upon the British Government Ireland's un- answerable claim to independence, Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed in Ireland as much as in the United States or Russia. Ireland is known by those who know her best to have been always democratic at heart and in all the vital habits of her thought. The United States is fighting for the rights of nations, great and small, and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience. The Irish are in this category. They have resisted Brit- ish rule for 700 years, because they realize that only free people can hold their purpose and their honor to a common end, and they will con- tinue this resistance until Ireland takes its place among the really free and self-governed peoples of the world. By M, J. Jordan National Secretary United Irish League. The Irish problem should be settled by the people who are most interested in it, the Nationalist Party, that has worked for two genera- tions and brought many reforms to Erin, and the people who have upheld them by returning them to Parliament. It should have been settled by giving Ireland Home Rule some time ago when Mr. Redmond foresaw trouble. Then there would have been no rebellion. , "" If the Parliamentary Party decides that a few counties in Ulster should be allowed to vote themselves out for a few years no one should object to that, for the. latter would soon return to enjoy the benefits of a real government for Ireland. There should be no permanent exclusion, and there never will be, from all accounts of what has taken place there recently. By William B. Ellison Former Corporation Counsel New York City. Home Rule should be granted to Ireland and the counties of Ulster should not be partitioned from the rest of Ireland. The dispute between ON THE IRISH QUESTION 29 Ulster and the south of Ireland seems to me to be founded mainly on a difference in religious views, and the world has outgrown the stage when religion should enter into politics. I am a Protestant, but I believe in majority rule, and the majority in Ireland want Home Rule. Ireland should be allowed to work out its destiny as a unit. As a Protestant I would welcome Home Rule, and I be- lieve that other Protestants who are American citizens of Irish extraction share my views. ByjGeorge Harvey Editor North American Review. There is an obstacle to the unhampered movement of American pro-Ally sympathies. Our British friends will not take it amiss if we tell them frankly what it is. tl is the Irish question. Par beyond the circle of the professional Irish-American politician there is a deep desire on the part of the American people to see the Irish question settled in the only way in which they believe it ever can be settled — namely by the estab- lishment of a Home Rule Parliament in Dublin. That desire is mixed up with extraordinary ignorance of Irish realities. Very few Americans have grasped even the elementary fact that the opposition to Home Rule comes to-day not from the British people or the British Government, but from Ireland herself. Still fewer have really envisaged the Ulster problem or realize how strong, how almost over- whelming, is the case for the separate treatment of the northern province. 'Nor are there many Americans — there are, indeed, regrettably few — who are aware how zealously in the past forty years the British Govern- ment has sought to ameliorate Irish conditions and to remove old griev- ances and injustice, or with what splendid generosity and true statesman- like instinct it has created an Irish peasant proprietary. The fables that British rule in Ireland is oppressive, that Ireland is unfairly taxed and dis- criminated against to her own hurt and to England's benefit, still domi- nate American opinion. How to reconcile the claims of the Protestant and highly industrial- ized Province of Ulster, which is perfectly content with its present po- sition and only asks to be let alone and not be driven out of the union or placed under the control of an Irish Parliament that will necessarily be governed by Catholic and agricultural votes — how to reconcile these claims with the demand of the Nationalists that Ireland shall not be partitioned and that an Irish Parliament shall exercise authority over the entire country — this is a problem which, we admit at once, the ordinary American does not pretend to be able to solve. None the less, his instincts on the main question are sound and un- 30 AMERICAN OPINION changeable. He believes that Ireland should be self-governing, and if sell- governing would be as contented as Canada, Australia or any other part of the British Empire. There is nothing we desire more heartily than that the co-operation between the British and American Governments should be shared in by the British and American peoples. But we warn our British friends that this is not likely to happen so long as the Irish question remains unsettled. There could be no happier stroke of British policy than to get this old cause of estrangement, not only between England and Ireland but between England and America, out of the way at once. It damages the British cause. It damages the Allied cause. By M. P. Carolan Treasurer Ancient Order of Hibernians. We do not want a piecemeal proposition by any means, but Home Rule in its broadest sense. Since 29 of the 32 Irish counties have openly declared for Home Rule, why should the three sway the sentimnet of the majority of the Irish people? We appeal to America, which we consider the greatest Ireland of the present age, to help us to settle the Irish Home Rule question. By Dr. H. V. McLaughlin President Boston Branch United Irish League. Ireland's problem is no longer a domestic one with Great Britain, and so it should be solved in the only logical way to satisfy majority rule. There is a Home Rule Bill on the statute books, passed 'by the majority vote of Great Britain three successive times. And 85 of 103 members of Parliament from Ireland are Nationalists, even 17 of 32 from Ulster are Nationalists. So the majority of the Irish people want Home Rule, and it should be given to them now, as long as the Dublin Castle autocracy has broken down. No country has a more glorious history for tolerance than Ireland and the people in the northeast corner are not afraid of any Home Rule Parliament, it being a case of playing upon their religious beliefs by those who wanted to climb into high positions. 1 would put the Home Rule Act into operation as soon as the Nationalist Party requested it. By Robert E. Dowling President City Investing Company. Without presuming to dictate to our English friends what course they should follow, I am confident that Americans generally feel that— not merely in the interest of Ireland or in the interest of Great Britain, but ON THE IRISH QUESTION 31 in the interest of the great struggle in which the United States has now joined — England and Ireland should both realize that it is to the best in- terests of what has now become our common cause to end ( Irish dis- satisfaction. If our Ulster friends feel that under Home 'Rule they would lose some rights, I answer from American experience that we have demon- strated in this country that a minority is in no danger if there are proper guarantees of religious liberty and political equality and of contract and property rights. We do not admit the principle that minorities can either coerce or be coerced. If the Home Rule Bill, which is now the law, but whose enforcement has been unhappily suspended, does not contain sufficient guarantees, then the most abundant guarantees should be provided, and with such guarantees Home Rule should be conferred upon a united Ireland and should be given a fair trial. The American people do not doubt that the response to such a generous bestowal of Home Rule would be in- stantaneous both in this country and in the colonies. By John D. Crimmins Business Man, Officer of Irish Organizations. For centuries the misunderstanding between Ireland and England has been running. Then came the period of agitation for Home Rule. Recon- ciliation was in evidence among the large majority of the people at home and abroad. To the surprise of a great majority of people in both coun- tries a discontented and rebellious part of the people in Northeast Ulster began preparation for secession. Then came the war, and I can say that after John Redmond's patriotic speech 90 per cent, of the Irish people favored sustaining England. At the same moment Edward Carson, leader of the rebels and re- bellion, stated that the Irish question might rest for the time being to be taken up after hostilities. He was listened to and encouraged. Then people of the Jrish race, wherever located, began to lose confidence in England's faith and their sympathy fell off. They were willing and are willing to forgive when justice is done— not promised justice, but justice in fact. Ireland is at the door, we may say, of England. With self-government a new life will come to Ireland With such conditions as now exist there can be no compelte harmony between Ireland and England. England has prided herself on her ability to govern colonies. Here at her doors is a nation over which she has jurisdiction which is left in chaos by the English people who permit Carson and his clique to dictate 32 AMERICAN OPINION England's policy. I say shame upon England for permitting it. Give them Home Rule and quickly and see them respond heartily and with a will. By Frederick James Gregg Writer. As an American citizen, belonging to an Ulster Protestant family that has supplied three Bishops and one Archbishop to what is technically known as the Irish Church, before and after Disestablishment, I wish to state that I am in favor of an immediate settlement of the Home Rule question. Let Ulster and the rest of John Bull's other island come to an agreement, and then let Mr. Lloyd George end an intolerable situation —which can't be understood by Canada, South Africa and Australia, to say nothing of the United States— by getting Parliament to put the law in operation. I have not patience with the Irish patriots who forget what Ulster did for Ireland and America. At the time of the American Revolution there was not a Protestant in Ulster who did not drink to the toast: "Success to American colonists!" The Ulster Volunteers, organized at Dungannan in 1782, made Grat- tan's Parliament a Parliament indeed. Ulsterites opposed the Union to a man, remembering that it was the Protestants of Ulster who started the rebellion of '98. That proud badge, the bloody hand of Ulster, must never be taken off the coat of arms of Ireland. It means too much historically. In a word, I am in favor of Home Rule for an individual Ireland, because I believe that the rest of Ireland 1 is as necessary for Ulster as Ulster is for the rest of Ireland. By James T. Sullivan Editor. The Irish question should be settled upon the basis outlined by the Parliamentary Party headed by John Redmond. If Ulster wished a ref- erendum it would be worth while letring that province have one so that it would show the world that out of its nine counties less than four, or not 40 per cent, of the province, favored exclusion. It would show that there might be but two of the counties voting that way, and that two should not overrule the other thirty counties in Erin. Under present conditions, if Belfast and Londonderry, the two central places where the people were led into rebellious acts and statements •through self-elected leaders, voted to stay out of a Home Rule Parliament, many business houses there would go bankrupt if the Nationalist people ON THE IRISH QUESTION 33 withdrew their trade. In all big reforms there have been threats of what Ulster would do, such as "kicking the Queen's crown into the Boyne," &c, but when the people there sat down and faced the real facts they acted with good judgment. They will do the same now, if the Tory aristocracy allows the Irish people to settle the matter. By William McAdoo Chief Magistrate New York City. I have always been in favor of Home Rule for Ireland, this in spite of the fact that I am a Protestant and an Ulster man by birth. I think that Home Rule would heal the factional and religious biterness which has existed for so long between the North and the South of Ireland, and that in a short time we would find both sections working in complete harmony. A home parliament would also be of great educational value to the Irish people, as it would stimulate their interest in important national and international questions and encourage them to inform themselves concerning such matters. By Thomas J. Kennedy President Irish Collegiate Club. I have followed your correspondence with a deep interest, if with some disappointment (1) at your evident determination to limit it to the expression of one set of views, and (2) at the eagerness with which most of your correspondents presumed to set a limit to the just as- pirations of a people. The real America has long since expressed herself on the Irish question in a document which has been one of the greatst moral factors in the history of the world : We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien- able rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- erned. That whenever any form of government becomes destruc- tive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. President Wilson, in successive utterances, has scarcely dess eloquently declared his unalterable adherence to the principle that just government can proceed only from the governed. Is it not time that tinkering with the liberties of other peoples should cease? The world is paying a fearful price for Austria's tinkering with the liberties of the Balkan peoples. 34 AMERICAN OPINION American statesmen have to-day a golden opportunity to perform an incalculable service to mankind. Individual liberty and equality hav< v proved to be the basis of civil peace. Let them declare for the liberty and equality of all nations, and the foundation of international peace will have been no less surely laid. Then let England do the noble thing for once and square her record with her professions. To dole out liberty with miserly hand, instead of winning gratitude, only perpetuates disaffection. By Luke Stapleton Justice Appellate Court, Second Division.. Lord Northcliffe has asked for the expression of views and convic- tions of American citizens upon the Anglo-British question. I believe the Irish people should look to their representatives in Parliament of the Nationalist Party to solve the problem of the Irish question. These leaders must know far more 'about it than it is possible for the average person to know. The Nationalist Party leaders should be depended upon in this crisis. That is my sincere belief, and beyond that I cannot go, because I have no first hand information to guide me to con- clusions. By Edward Swann District Attorney New York County. I sincerely hope that Ireland's hour has come and that the door of op- portunity is now open to the attainment of complete justice for that country. The United States has declared its interest in the weaker countries which have been oppressed, and we should use our good offices with Great Britain to secure for Ireland and the Irish people the measure 01 Home Rule to which she is entitled Dy every consideration of right and justice. By John J. Fitzgerald Former Mayor of Boston. If the British Government 'has an idea of the eternal fitness of things it will grant Home Rule to Ireland immediately. To be joined with America in democratizing the world and to deny democracy to one of its own is an exhibition of asininity that some Britons may be capable of but not the British people, who are in reality the British Government. Ninety per cent, of Americans, including President Wilson and for- mer Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, who have expressed themselves so to me, and every statesman that I have met in American politics, want Ire- land free and would say so if given the chance. During my six years as ON THE IRISH QUESTION 35 i Mayor of Boston men and women of all races joined in the passage of resolutions to this effect at public meetings over which I presided. Recent developments have accentuated this feeling, and I know I ex- press the conviction of a great majority of the people of New England when 1 say that unless Great Britain grants Ireland immediate Home Rule a fatal as well as a wanton blunder will : be committed. By John McCormack Noted Irish Tenor. I feel sure that if the President would only express the wish that Ireland be given Home Rule, Ulster would fall in line, because the men there are sane and the question is not a religious one. I am dead against partition. You cannot divide Ireland any more than you can America. And I hold, with Parnell, that if people should say to us, "Is that all you want, a Parliament in Dublin?" we should say in reply, "One cannot set any bounds to the ambitions of a nation, and we have every right to be a nation." By Victor Herbert President of the Sons of Irish Freedom. In answering Lord Northcliffe's communication made to The New York World, I would say: The American people have always stood by Ireland's claim for liberty. If the rights of small nations are to be es- tablished by this world war, as England claims, let her restore to Ireland her national independent rights. That is the only solution the Irish race will be satisfied with. I am sure that the American people will see that Ireland's cause is just and will give the proper answer to Lord Northcliffe. By Robert Temple Emmet Colonel U. S. Army, Retired. Nothing, in my opinion, would be more popular among Americans, with their undoubted sympathy for Ireland's aspirations for autonomy, than the passage now of a real measure of 'Home Rule — not the county option plan suggested, but one uniting all Ireland. It would arouse enthusiasm and allay much latent prejudice not only among those here of Irish 'birth and descent but among a large majority of our people who, having enjoyed themselves a full measure of local government, desire it for the Irish nation. We cannot believe that all the rights of a minority, religious, political and financial, cannot be as absolutely safeguarded in Ireland as they are here. 36 AMERICAN OPINION By Andrew D. White Former Ambassador to Russia. I have no opinion of real value regarding the Irish question. 1 have never thought it wise for Americans to volunteer advice to foreign na- tions in regard to the solution of their social and political problems. The ill-success of British and other foreign efforts to give advice in our American questions previous to our Civil War proved to me that such questions are best left to the discussion and decision of the parties directly involved. By Meyer JLondon Socialist Representative in Congress from New York. 1 hope to see the Irish question solved before the war comes to an end and the Irish people given a full measure of freedom. I will predict that before this war is over not only the Irish people but people of sev- eral other countries will have a greater personal freedom. This war will witness the arousing of democracy and personal free- dom all over the world. By G. Murray Uulbert Representative from New York. I am a firm believer in the principle enunciated by President Wilson in his message delivered to the Senate recently regarding the opportu- nity given to small nations to govern their own affairs. Our entrance into the European conflict is justified on the ground that it is a holy war, de- signed to extend the doctrines of democracy universally, supplanting autocracy. The rule of Great Britain in Ireland is the essence of autocracy, and to make common cause as our ally she should purge herself by proclaim- ing the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness to the Irish people, which is the same principle for which she claims she is fighting. By Joseph V. Flynn Representative from Brooklyn. The time is ripe for the consummation of the aspirations of the Irish people. Granting of Home Rule by the English Government at once — and by Home Rule I mean genuine 'Home Rule by the entire people of Ireland — will do more than anything else to convince the world that the British Government is sincere in its claims as one of the cham- pions of down-trodden people. The granting of full Home Rule to Ireland will arouse a feeling of ON THE IRISH QUESTION 37 enthusiasm among a certain element in this country that has doubted Eng- land's sincerity. By James Glynn Representative from Connecticut. There is undoubtedly a sentiment of suspicion and antagonism in this country against England because of the Irish question. Much of the pro-German and anti-English feeling in the United States is brought about by the failure of England to give the Irish people a government satisfactory to them. Should England find it possible now to settle this old, old question it will have a genuinely beneficial effect in bringing support to England from sources in the United States which now regard her with some sus- picion for preaching democracy while holding Ireland in subjection. By John F. Carew Representative from New York. I am heartily in sympathy with the movement to give the Irish peo- ple a greater measure of political freedom. It will do much good in many ways. It will please many people in this country who have an affection for the land from which their ancestors came. It will prove the good faith of the Allies in their statement that they are fighting for the cause of democracy against autocracy, and will give full proof that they intend to extend it into Germany. By Joseph I. Berry Lawyer; Authority on Irish Affairs. I would enforce Home Rule all over Ireland. If the Ulster Irishmen do not wish to participate in their country's Government, the better way would be for the Ulstermen to elect their own representatives to a United Irish Parliament. I do not believe the English Government is sincere in the hope she is holding out to the Irish people that they will get self-government. By P. «/. Conway President Irish-American A. C. Ireland should have a Home Rule Law that will mean Home Rule. Let there be no separation. Three dissenting counties should not be per- mitted to thwart the will of the majority who favor Home Rule. 38 AMERICAN OPINION By the Rev. R. H. Watson Pastor Scotch Presbyterian Church. My idea of the solution of the Irish question is to make Great Britain a republic. The time is opportune for the development of a sentiment throughout the empire favoring such a movement. If this were done Ireland would settle her own internal troubles. She could be divided into three or more sections, each section 'having a Home Rule within its own borders. I would not say I favor Home Rule in Ire- land under existing conditions. There is too much danger that a majority rule would result which would not be fair to the minority. By J. J. Rooney Chairman Municipal Council of Friends of Irish Freedom, Greater New York Ireland is a distinct nation. Northcliffe was the principal backer of Carson's rebellion against the Home Rule bill. He now sees the entire Irish race has determined to establish once for all Ireland's national rights. The American Irish will stand by the United States to a man. As American citizens they expect that our Government will not forget Ire- land, that has fought 700 years for the principles of small nations. If Northcliffe and his friends have suffered a change of 'heart, let them show it by deeds. I am in close touch with the Irish national movement. We are or- ganized in every city in the United States. There has never been since the days of 'Parnell such a spirit of determination in this country, Aus- tralia and Canada to have the cause of Ireland settled right. By J. J. O'Connell Member of Many Irish Societies. I was opposed to the Dublin insurrection because I believed in trying for Home Rule by peaceable methods. I was opposed to the so-called Irish Race Convention here because it was dominated by those opposed to Home Rule and men who made a living on the Irish question. I believe that Home Rule is the only solution, but it ought to be Home Rule for all Ireland. There should be no partition. By W. E. Mason Representative from Illinois. The article appearing in The New York World Saturday -morning in regard to a greater measure of freedom for Ireland is most encouraging. But we are chilled 'by the statement, which appears to be authoritative, ON THE IRISH QUESTION 39 that President Wilson will recognize the well known rule of diplomacy in this matter, which is not to embarrass another nation, especially an ally, by suggesting changes in her domestic affairs. If Great Britain would let her women vote, give Ireland Home Rule and ease up a bit in India and South Africa, lots of American people who are willingly paying taxes to support the Allies would feel very much better, especially the Irish-Americans. But the despatch which many of us signed Saturday to be sent to Premier Lloyd George in behalf of Ireland may toe considered presumptu- ous and impertinent, although very respectful in tone. I hope some good will come out of this war, and if real democracy will spread into Ireland it will be on.e of the blessings that will come out of the conflict. By Dr. William J. O' Sullivan Prominent in Irish Affairs Here. There is such an inherent difference between the Celtic and Saxon temperaments that they are hopelessly irreconcilable, and the only solution is for the Irish to make laws for themselves. The whole of the Ulster opposition was created in London. The Ulster counties should be allowed to vote on whether they come in or stay out on the Home Rule plan. Home Rule Ireland will be so prosperous that Ulster, if it votes to stay out, will soon want to come in. By William Harman Black Former Chairman Democratic County Committee. I spoke for the first time for 'the complete freedom of Ireland at the Union League Club in Philadelphia in 1895. I have seen the movement for emancipation go forward from year to year until finally Ireland be- came so strong in Parliament that she was able to cast the deciding votes on almost every big question. It has frequently been said that John Redmond and his followers were' the 'balance of power. But until now they have been unable to se- cure to Ireland that measure of independence to which "her people are entitled. Now that Ireland has shown her loyalty to England by sending men to the front, her patriotism should be rewarded 'by giving her what she so long has prayed for. If the people of the United States could feel that this would be done, partly because we have entered the conflict on the side of the Allies, we would be well repaid. Nothing that England could do would come closer to the hearts of our citizens than to see her give her full and complete justice to Ireland. 40 AMERICAN OPINION By Dr. J. T. Gallagher Speaker on Irish Topics. 1 would set up a Home Rule Parliament in Dublin right away and start things moving there, so that the Dublin Castle regime and its hire- lings, who are drawing thousands of pounds yearly from poor Ireland and angering the people instead of doing anything for them, could go back to England to find something else to do. The act of the Union was such a brazenly corrupt bargain, and one in which the Irish people had no voice, that it is surprising that in this enlightened day there is any one who dares uphold it, particularly when 85 per cent, of the population of Ireland, and the majority of the English people, have repeatedly voted against it. Put John Redmond in charge of a Dublin Parliament and let Ire- land work out 'her destiny in her own way and in a few years Erin will again stand among the leaders in prosperity. H 219 75 569 : ♦*- ^ w?^. «*"■*. -™r/ & % °»y, < * W» "V. ^cr r oK * ^ I* **i *^0' r oV"