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OCR
THE VITAL ISSUE
the sympathies of neutral countries, especially the
United States. Hence the gagging of the press, the
avoidance of judicial proceedings, the endeavor as
far as possible to coerce in the dark.
The Defence of the Realm act gives the military
authorities power to refuse trial by jury to any
prisoner. This power has not been generally exer-
cised in England. In Ireland, only one prisoner was
given the benefit of trial by jury. He was brought
before three different juries, but in each case the
jury refused to convict. Then the military rulers
of Ireland decided that further jury trials would
only serve to reveal to the world how strongly pop-
ular sentiment in Ireland runs against them; so no
other prisoners got the benefit of trial by jury. .
Resort to Deportation.
Perhaps the worst feature of the English military
regime in Ireland-one which has no parallel in
England-is arbitrary deportation. Men suspected
of Nationalist sympathies are regularly ordered to
leave certain towns, counties, or districts, without
the slightest regard for their business or family in-
terests; no reason or explanation being given in any
case by the military authority which issues the or-
der. This method reached its climax in July, when
four organizers of the Irish Volunteers were or-
dered by the military to leave Ireland altogether.
They refused to go; they were then arrested, tried
by “summary jurisdiction” (without a jury), and
sentenced to three and four months’ imprisonment.
These sentences were given simply for disobeying
a military order. The original charge against them
English Purposes
The comments of English papers on the friendly
adjustment of German-American relations make in-
teresting reading. They have discovered that the
United States is “retreating” and using an “excuse”
for not continuing to serve England.
The Evening Standard remarks that if President
Wilson's “only object is to protect American lives,
he may accept Ambassador von Bernstorff’s pro-
posals; but if the mission of America is, as President
Wilson's language itself suggested, to uphold the
laws of humanity, we fail to see how he can accept
anything less than an undertaking by Germany to
abandon her submarine piracy entirely." The sneer-
ing astonishment that an American President's chief
concern should be to protect American lives and not
English property is characteristically Anglican.
The Westminster Gazette also “cannot help hop-
ing” that America will stand by “the whole doctrine
so forcibly expounded” by President Wilson; and
the reason why this hope is dearly cherished is evi-
dent from the further words of the same paper,
which says: “Our case has been admirably defined
by President Wilson, both in the note he wrote on
February 10, when Germany had given notice of her
intention to abandon legality, and in the further note
after the sinking of the Lusitania”,
This is indeed interesting to Americans. So it
was what an English paper calls “OUR case”-the
ENGLISH case-that was voiced by President Wil-
son in his threatening notes to Germany! What
13
-the ground for the issuing of the deportation or-
der-was not at any time stated.
Even the Redmondite Irish party which has
thrown in its lot with England in this war, has been
stung into protest by this last outrage, and has de-
manded through Mr. Joseph Devlin, M. P., that
these four men he released or at least that they get a.
new and fair trial, at which the original charge
against them shall be publicly stated. The latest re-
ports from Ireland show that popularly elected .
bodies all over the country are backing up this
demand.
Of course, this discrimination between Ireland
and England is no new thing; it did not originate
with the war, although the war has brought it out in
clearer relief. Irishmen were never permitted to
arm, to drill, to form volunteer corps or “Territo-
rials,” as in Great Britain; the distinction being a
confession that Ireland was a conquered and mili-
tarily held country. And when, stimulated by the
example of the Ulster Unionists’ immunity in illegal
arming and drilling, Irish Nationalists began to drill
and arm, the English Government forbade the im-
portation of any arms into Ireland-eight months
before the war. I think the editorial‘ writer on the
“Evening Post” who (on August 28) taunted Ire-
land with “poltroonery” in not having taken advan-
tage of the present situation to seize freedom, might
have borne these facts in mind.
FRANCIS SHEEHY SKEFFINGTON,
Editor of the “Irish Citizen.”
Long Island City.
and the President
has the American press to say to this charge of
treason against the President? Millions of Ameri-
can citizens have been denounced as seditious and
pro-German papers have been recommended for
suppression for less than this. But let us see just
how far the English would like to use us.
The Pall Mall Gazette boastingly avers, speaking
of the German guarantees of immunity to non-bel-
ligerents, “ ‘Don't try to escape or to offer resistance’
has few attractions for British sailors.” In'other
words, it is the English intention. that “non-bellige-
rent merchant and passenger ships shall resist and
attempt to escape on every opportunity, but they
must not, nevertheless, be shelled or torpedoedl
Now the universal maritime martial law is plain
and explicit. If a ship is to maintain its non-bellige-
rent character, it must stop on command of a war-
ship and submit to visit and search without resist-
ance. But this is the new English law: When a
German submarine hails an English ship, if the crew
of the latter open fire or stick their fingers to thgjr
noses, the German submarine must turn its tan and
$1111 away. This, and this only, will satisfy the Eng-
Immunity for English ships, whether they attempt
to sink German ships or not-that is the English
;:1ase.b Thati IS the case they say President ‘Wilson
tglsit een a vocating. And they hope he will stick
As Americans, we repudiate this insult to our
President, and we call his attention to it that he ma
realize the character of his “friends.” Y