if*r*THE IRISH DISTRESS COMMITTEE.

FIRST INTERIM REPORT YALE

OF THE

IRISH DISTRESS COMMITTEE.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.

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1922.

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CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE.

Lieut. -Colonel Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt., C.M.G., M.P., Chairman.
TheRt. Hon. Sir John Anderson, K.C.B.
Mr. Mark Sturgis.
Sir Henry Wynne, LL.D.
Mr. Lionel Curtis.
Commander J. B. Adams, D.S.O.
Major F. H. Linton.
Major A. Reid Jamieson, Secretary.

TERMS OF REFERENCE.

(a) To investigate applications by or on behalf of persons ordinarily
resident in Ireland who, for reasons of personal safety, have come to
Great Britain and are represented to be in urgent need of assistance.
(6) To furnish the Irish Office with reports on the adequacy or
otherwise of their reasons for leaving their homes and so to enable
the Irish Office to make detailed representations to the Provisional
• Government to secure their return to their homes at the earliest
possible moment.
(c) To authorise the Irish Office in cases of proved necessity to
advance money sufficient for immediate necessities.
(d) To advise the Government from time to time of any further
steps which may, owing to the further development of the situation,
.be required to deal with the problem of refugees from Ireland.

The expenditure incurred in the printing and publication of this
Report amounts to £7.

The Irish Distress Committee,
9, Queen Anne's Gate,
London, S.W. 1.
October 19th, 1922.
The Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill, M.P.,
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Sir, It will be remembered that as a result of the disturbed conditions
in Ireland the number of Irish refugees in Great Britain was, six months
ago, steadily increasing. In and out of Parliament there was expressed
a widespread feeling that some measure of official relief should imme
diately be made available for such of them as were stranded here with
little or no resources at their disposal. On May 12th, therefore, the
Government set up the Irish Distress Committee with the terms of
reference that are printed upon the foregoing page, and allocated to
it the sum of £10,000 for its relief operations. The Committee was
intended to deal with a temporary emergency, and it was hoped at
the time that the course of political events would make its protracted
existence unnecessary. Unfortunately almost six months have
passed, and the state of emergency still continues. Refugees have ,
not ceased to arrive in Great Britain and the state of affairs in some
parts of Ireland makes it likely that for some time to come men and
women may be forced to fly for safety from their homes.
The original idea, therefore, that the Committee's work would be
completed within a few weeks, has not 'proved to be correct. Nor
has our task been as simple as we were led to expect. The actual
distribution of relief has raised many difficult problems. Detailed
enquiries as to the applicants have, in the nature of things, been often
impossible to make. As no two cases have been exactly the same,
it has not been easy to apply uniform principles to our decisions,
whilst the many uncertain factors in the problem have made it
impossible for us to gauge the length of time for which relief is likely
to be required.
Moreover, the more we have seen of the problem, the more firmly
have we been convinced that it is impossible to isolate the question
of relief from the bigger question of compensation for damage to
property or person. As the work progressed, it was found that large
numbers of the refugees possessed claims or decrees for compensation.
The Committee, therefore, was inevitably led on by the force of
circumstances to make loans upon adequate security and to act as
a general clearing house for information and advice upon all com
pensation questions. This extension of our work you yourself approved
in the answer that you gave to our Chairman in the House of Commons
on July 17th (Appendix I).
As a result of these developments we have been acting in three
capacities. In the first place we have been advancing money in the
(b 3-336)t a 2

form of relief within the strict interpretation of our original terms of
reference. In the second place we have been either making loans from
the funds at our disposal or advising the Irish Office or the Treasury
to make loans from their funds against the security of claims or
decrees. Thirdly, we have been giving advice, so far as we have been
able, to any refugees who require it in connection with their position.
In each of these spheres of activity we have attempted to work in
close and friendly co-operation with the various unofficial relief
organizations and to arrange our activities so as to avoid overlapping
with theirs. In this connection it may be recalled that you asked
our Chairman to interview on August 3rd a deputation of representative
Irishmen with reference to the interlocked questions of relief and
compensation. As to the funds at our disposal it will be seen in Appendix II that
we have distributed in gifts or loans a sum considerably in excess
of the original £10,000. You will remember that you stated in the
House of Commons on July 19th that whilst the original estimate was
for £10,000, the Government would place at our disposal any further
sum that was considered necessary for the adequate discharge of
our duties. As the Provisional Government have accepted the
ultimate liability for our expenditure (Appendix III), our Chairman
has visited Dublin and discussed with the Irish Ministers various
questions that have emerged from our proceedings.
We have now been in existence for nearly six months, and you
will probably desire to have the following account of our procedure
and of any conclusions that We are able to draw therefrom.

Procedure.
From the outset we have been faced with the almost insoluble
problem of how to combine adequate checks against fraud with an
expeditious system of distributing relief. Men and women have
frequently arrived at our offices at No. 9, Queen Anne's Gate, with
nothing in their pockets. If we were to wait for the days and perhaps
weeks during which enquiries could be made in Ireland, the applicants
would be dying of starvation or begging their bread in the streets
of London. Whilst, therefore, we have been fully aware of the danger
of fraud, we have had to accept rough and ready evidence as to the
good faith of the refugees.
Such tests as are available we have, of course, attempted to employ.
Every applicant is required to fill up a form (Appendix IV) before he
is interviewed. When the case seems to be doubtful, the applicant
is specially examined by some person who is himself familiar with the
district from which the refugee alleges that he has come. If it is
judged safe or practicable the Committee communicate with the
person or persons who are given as reference. But in all cases of
immediate need or obvious destitution the Secretary is empowered
to make such temporary advances as are thought necessary pending
further enquiries or interviews. The relief is given either in the form

of weekly payments or, where the Committee thinks it preferable,
in the form of larger payments intended to maintain the refugee for a
longer period of time. Although we have had to prosecute in certain
cases of fraud, we have on the whole found the statements of the
refugees reliable.
Any other monies applicants for relief may be receiving from the
State, such as Unemployment Insurance Benefit, etc., are considered in
arriving at the assistance to be given from the funds at our disposal.
In several cases applications have been made for relief from distant
parts of Great Britain. In these cases the Committee does not insist
upon the applicant coming personally to London, but asks the Chief
Constable of the district or the representative of some social welfare
organization to interview the applicant, and, if necessary, to distribute
relief. Where the applicant requires a loan against a claim or decree
rather than temporary relief, the Committee make a recommendation
to the Irish Office and the Irish Office in consultation with the Treasury
acts upon that recommendation.
Lastly, if the refugee requires not relief but advice as to his general
position, the Committee and the staff hold themselves ready to give
whatever help and information they can. That this side of the
Committee's work is valued is shown by the fact that as many as
sixty enquiries of this kind have reached Us in a single day.
In spite of the gravity of the unemployment problem, the Com
mittee has been able to find work "for certain of the refugees and to
help those who wished to emigrate with grants towards their passage
money or their outfit.
The total number of applications dealt with in the period under
review (May 12th-October 14th) amount to 3,349, of which 2,398
were applications for immediate assistance. Of this latter number
we approved 1,873 and granted financial assistance to the total of
£6,480 10s.
It must not be overlooked that a large proportion of the applicants
were married men who had brought their wives and children with
them. It is interesting to note that 598 were Protestants and 1,063 Roman
Catholics, and that while 1,570 came from Southern Ireland, 91 came
from Northern Ireland.
The Committee has considered 127 applications for loans and
approved 67, among which the sum of £7,170 was distributed. The
sum of £3,045 has already been repaid by the applicants or repaid
from monies advanced by the Irish Office or the Treasury in respect
of decrees or claims for compensation and treated as an appropriation
in aid. As to applications for advances on decrees of compensation the
Committee has received 250 applications and have investigated 203,
of which 114 have been submitted through the clearing house to the
Irish Office with, recommendations. Of these, 68 have already been
approved and the sum of £26,805 advanced, while a considerable
number are still under consideration.

Conclusions.
When we are asked for our conclusions, we find ourselves in some
difficulty, for the solution of the problem with which we are dealing
depends not upon us, but upon factors outside our activities. We
cannot say whether the refugees are likely to increase or decrease
during the winter, for the rise or fall in the number must depend upon
the progress of the restoration of law and order in Ireland. We
cannot even say whether the two Governments will be confronted
With a permanent problem of resettlement, for we have no effective
means of judging how far it will be safe in the future for certain of
the refugees to return to their homes.
We can only emphasize the importance of the central fact in the
problem as it has been presented to us, namely, that the question of
relief is only the fringe of the bigger question of compensation. Whilst
it is not our business to criticize the delays which have taken place
in the settlement of claims for damage and injury, we cannot refrain
from saying that our task, difficult in itself, has necessarily been
greatly complicated by reason of the large number of claims for
compensation in respect of which no payment has as yet been made.
Until these claims are satisfied, not only will the need of relief con
tinue to increase, but many Irish men and women will be unnecessarily
pauperized and their personal grievances left to poison the political
atmosphere of Great Britain and Ireland.
We cannot conclude this Interim Report without placing on record
our appreciation of the sympathy and ability with which Major Reid
Jamieson and his staff have helped us to set up at very short notice
an emergency organization to deal with a variety of complicated
problems and to avoid all unnecessary delay in the distribution of
relief. We are, Sir,
Your obedient Servants,
SAMUEL HOARE (Chairman).
JOHN ANDERSON.
MARK STURGIS.
HENRY A. WYNNE.
LIONEL CURTIS.
J. B. ADAMS.
F. H. LINTON.
A. Reid Jameson, Secretary.

APPENDIX I.

llth July, 1922.
X No. 29. — Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Samuel Hoare. — To ask the Prime Minister
if he will state what steps the Government propose to take for dealing comprehensively
with the Irish Refugee problem.
The Committee presided over by my honourable and gallant friend was
originally instituted for the purpose of dealing with the cases of persons compelled
temporarily to leave Ireland and, in consequence, in immediate want. Subse
quently, it appeared that another class of person should be considered, namely,
Irish refugees unable to return from England to Ireland owing to the condition
of that country. These also will be entitled to make application to the Committee,
and in order to deal with both classes of applicants the Committee has been
enlarged by the inclusion of representatives of the War Office and the Ministry
of Labour, the secretariat of the Committee by the addition of an Assistant to
the Secretary, and any further addition to the clerical staff which may be found
necessary will be made. It is proposed that the Committee thus reconstituted and
strengthened should act in the first instance as » clearing house for refugees and
compensation questions, and a statement is being issued to the Press accordingly,
in order that full publicity may be obtained. Cases outside the scope of the
Committee will be referred by it to the appropriate departments, and every
effort will be made to secure prompt payment, where payment is due, from
British funds. These arrangements are, of course, entirely without prejudice
to the responsibility of compensation which rests on the Provisional or Free
State Government. His Majesty's Government do not, and will not, forego
their right and their duty to ensure that proper compensation is paid in due
course by them. The situation has, however, altered and become more compli
cated during the last few weeks. When the present compensation arrangements
were discussed with the Provisional Government last January, it was hoped
that the damage and hardship inflicted in the post-Truce period would be small
and attention was, therefore, concentrated almost exclusively on the pre-Truce
damage. Now, however, the damage done in the post-Truce period is evidently
going to be very extensive, and I have addressed a communication to the
Provisional Government upon the subject. This communication will be laid
upon the table of the House as soon as it is in the hands of the Provisional
Government.

APPENDIX II.

DISTRESS COMMITTEE.

Date.

Total number
of applications
received for
assistance
and advice.

Number of
new cases
included in (a).

Number of
applications
for immediate
monetary
assistance.

Number
approved.

Amountgranted.

Applications
for immediate loans.

Number
approved.

Amount loaned.

Loans repaid
and credited
as Appro-
priation- in-Aid.

(a)

(6)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(/)

(9)

(h)

(i)

Prom 12th

^

£ -s. d.
£
£
May t o
14th Oct.,
L 3,349
1,661
2,398
1,873
6,480 10 0
127
67
7,170
3,045
1922
oo
APPENDIX III.

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN"
HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
AND THE
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OP IRELAND
RELATING TO THE
LIABILITY FOR THE RELIEF OF IRISH REFUGEES.

No. 1.
LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO TBE PROVISIONAL GOVERN
MENT OP IRELAND COMMITTEE OP THE CABINET TO THE
SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. Downing Street.
13th May, 1922.
Sir, I am directed by Mr. Churchill to request you to lay the following considerations
before the Provisional Government of Ireland.
2. During the past few weeks there has arrived in this country a large and
increasing number of persons who have been driven from their homes in Ireland
by intimidation, or even by actual violence, at the hands of men acting openly
in defiance of the authority of the Provisional Government. These refugees,
robbed of their property, evicted from their homes, and in many cases actually
penniless, on arrival in England appeal for assistance to His Majesty's Govern
ment ; and it will be readily appreciated that they find but little immediate
satisfaction in the assurance that the Provisional Government has accepted the
responsibility for restoring them to their homes and compensating them for the
losses which they may have sustained.
3. Moved by the urgency of this state of affairs, and by the effect upon
Parliament and public opinion, which could not fail to be influenced in a sense
prejudicial to the Provisional Government by the spectacle of a number of
homeless and destitute refugees to whom no means of immediate succour
appeared to be available, His Majesty's Government has established machinery
for affording pecuniary relief, after full and careful investigation, to the more
pressing cases, and has allotted a sum of money for this purpose ; thereby
temporarily assuming a liability which properly pertains to the Provisional
Government. 4. Mr. Churchill feels sure that the Provisional Government will recognize the
necessity for the measures which have been taken ; and he will be glad to receive
their assurance that they admit the immediate financial liability which is being
incurred, as well as the ultimate responsibility for the restoration of these people
to their homes, and for compensation in respect of loss or damage to their
properties. I am, etc., L. Curtis, Secretary to the Provisional Government
of Ireland Committee of the Cabinet.
The Secretary,
Provisional Government of Ireland.

10
APPENDIX III— continued.
No. 2.
LETTER PROM THE SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERN
MENT TO THE SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
OP IRELAND' COMMITTEE OP THE CABINET. Baile Atha Cliath,
18th May, 1922.
Sir, The Provisional Government of Ireland have given careful consideration to
your letter of the 13th instant in which you intimate that His Majesty's Govern
ment has established machinery for affording pecuniary relief to a number of
persons who have arrived in Great Britain, having been driven from their homes
in Ireland by intimidation or by actual violence at the hands of disaffected
persons, and in which you ask that the Provisional Government will admit the
immediate financial liability which is thus being incurred as well as the ultimate
responsibility for the restoration of these people to their homes and for compen
sation for loss or damage to their property.
My Government regret that a certain small number of law-abiding citizens
have recently been obliged to flee from their homes in this country under threat
of violence, and they are aware that some of these people have left for England.
In so far as these persons are concerned, the Provisional Government fully
realize the necessity of making provision to relieve their pecuniary distress, and
they appreciate the prompt action of His Majesty's Government to that end.
They have no hesitation in giving the desired assurance that they accept liability
for the expenditure incurred in providing such relief in bona fide cases.
The Provisional Government, however, are aware that, apart from cases
where people have left Ireland owing to intimidation or violence, there is an
organized movement amongst a certain element of the population in both
countries which has for its purpose and political object the discrediting of the
Provisional Government in Ireland and of His Majesty's Government in Great
Britain, and it is a matter of common knowledge that in accordance with the
settled policy of that movement a considerable number of persons have left
Ireland on the plea of compulsion without any justification whatever for that
plea. I am, therefore, to ask that you will convey to Mr. Churchill that the
Provisional Government are particularly anxious that this aspect of the matter
should not be lost sight of, and that the greatest care should be taken to have
the bona fides of each individual applicant for relief established before any
assistance is given.
My Government are desirous of being supplied as soon as possible with
particulars as to the amount of the financial liability which is likely to be
incurred in connection with this matter. They anticipate that normal conditions
will be re-established in Ireland in the course of the next two months, and that
it will then be possible for these people to return in safety to their homes. The
Chairman of the Provisional Government assured a Deputation from the Church
of Ireland Synod on the 12th instant that the Government would protect its
citizens, would ensure civil and religious liberty in Ireland, and that spoliation
and confiscation would be discountenanced by the Irish Government. Pursuant
to this policy the Government will regard it as one of its immediate duties to
secure the restoration of their homes and property to any persons who have
been deprived of them by violence or intimidation at the hands of a lawless
section of the community.
My Government has further directed me to place before you for Mr. Churchill's
consideration a matter which, while it does not directly concern the subject of
your letter under reply, is nevertheless on a parallel with the situation therein
referred to, and is not altogether unconnected therewith. Por many months
an organized campaign of violence and intimidation has been pursued against
the Catholic inhabitants of Belfast and the surrounding counties of North-East
Ulster, with the result that many thousands of persons have been driven from

11
their employment and from their homes, their property destroyed and looted,
and in many cases the breadwinners of families murdered. In consequence it
has fallen upon the people all over the rest of Ireland to provide relief for the
starving and destitute sufferei's, a very large number of whom have been forced
to flee for safety from the area under the jurisdiction of the Northern Parliament.
This drain upon the financial resources of our people is rendered especially
severe by the general economic depression which at present obtains in Ireland
in common with the other countries of Europe, and the Provisional Government
feel that His Majesty's Government cannot in equity dissociate themselves from
responsibility for the condition of affairs in Belfast and the surrounding counties
which has been the occasion of this call upon their citizens. My Government
feel assured that upon Mr. Churchill's representations His Majesty's Government
will accept financial liability for the provision of relief to the Catholic inhabitants
of an area for the Government of which the Imperial Parliament is immediately
responsible, and will allocate the necessary sum for this purpose.
It is also the earnest hope of the Provisional Government that His Majesty's
¦Government will take immediate steps to ensure that adequate protection is
afforded to the Catholic inhabitants of that area, and that it will arrange for
the speedy return of their homes and property to those refugees who have been
driven therefrom. The effect of such an action on the part of the Government
would be of incalculable assistance in promoting peace and harmony in Ireland.
It would remove one of the principal causes of dissension in those counties where
Catholics are in a minority, and would facilitate the task before the Provisional
Government of securing a prosperous, law-abiding, and united Ireland.
I am, etc.,
DlARMIUD 6 llElGCEARTUIGH,
Secretary to the Provisional Government.
The Secretary,
Provisional Government of Ireland
Committee of the Cabinet.

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12
APPENDIX IV. I.D.C. PI.

The Information given on this Form will be treated as Confidential, but
Inquiries will in all probability be made from references given.

Name 
Age  Religion  Occupation.

Address in Great Britain.

Name and Address of
Relatives in Great Britain.

Address in Ireland.

Name and Address of two
persons in Ireland to
whom reference can be
made (Ministers of Reli
gion, Bank Managers, .
Justices of Peace)

Full Statement of Means.

Whether Married or Single....
Reasons for leaving Ireland.

Date of last leaving Ireland 
I, certify that the above particulars are correct.
(Signed) 
Date  1922.

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