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Full Title	Handbill, Irish Petition to President and Congress.
Author	Clan-na-Gael.
Date Added	11 January 2014
Language	English
Publish Date	1917
Publisher	S.l.: [Clan-na-Gael.]
Source	McGarrity Papers
Topic	United States. Congress. United States. President. Ireland > Foreign public opinion, American. Devoy, John.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR methods and to be kept up unremitting- ly until the Peace Conference shall meet to settle the issues of the war and pre- pare to make such another war impos- sible This work will require a large amount of money, and an appeal for $100,000 home filled with the purpose of raising this mone nd convincing their Am n friends and neighbors of the justice “of Treland’s claim to freedom Several notable speeches were made, among the best of them being delivered by priests, both young and old, but none He had prepared his speech and read from type-written sheets, ADDRESS OF JOHN DEVOY. a This Conference has been called for the purpose of drafting a petition to the President and Congress of the United States, and of taking counsel as to the best means of meeting the situ- ation which confronts the Irish Race to- day, both in the Old Land and in Amer- That situation is undoubtedly very serious, but not beyond the capac- ity, the courage and resourcefulness of the Race. Our race has lived through seven and a half centuries of a struggle unparaleted in the world’s history and has emerged from it intact and uncon- quered, with its high Weal untarnish- ed and its determination to be free un- broken and unbreakable. It is not a time for speech making, or phrasemongering, but for clear think- ing and planning, for calm considera- tion of actual facts and cool delineration as to the best practical means of advancing the cause which has been handed down to us by the generations that have gone before us. nd when our plans formulated, our action must be resolute, continuous and progressive. We must adhere strictly to the policy agreed upon, all acting as one man and present- ing a spectacle of unity that will im- press the world. We cannot win ou cause by independent or guerilla action, every group, clique and clan following its own course, or its own hobby, but we can and must succeed by co-ordin- ated action, every man subordinating his judgment to the collective wisdom of the majority. That is true Demac- racy. Individual or group action brings only confusion and failure. For cen turies we fought England by clans and groups of clans, or by counties and groups of counties, and for centuries we were continuously beaten. The lesson taught us by Irish history is that we must stand and fight as a united people —as a Nation—ar, be beaten again, were recorded except that of. % . \ 7 oN ae o ent 7 7 “ eee ; f e must not be beaten again. We must win, but in order to win we must irresistible force that will restore Ire land to the place that belongs to her among the free and independent nations of the world. THE LESSON TAUGHT BY FOCH. revolutionary movement that aims war who lives to-day, the truest interp- reter ot Napoleon, who was the greatest wher pleases, even if success should be at- tained thereby. INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP ACTION DANGEROUS. That is the principle by which the action of the Irish movement of to-day must be guided. If it follows it out faithfully and resolutely it will succeed: if it departs from it success will be im- majority have placed in command. They may be brave, patriotic and devoted men, but they will be none the less re- sponsible for throwing the national forces into disarray and bringing about defeat. We have, had many instances of this perverted individualism in Irisk history, the most conspicuous of whic! was Hugh O’Donnell’s precipitate ac- tion which caused the irretrievable dis- aster of Kinsale in 1602. Yet Hugh O’Donnell was on of the finest figures in Irish histo We must stand or fall together. That will keép the physical courage under absolute control. A PRACTICALLY UNITED IRELAND. The sacrifice of Easter Week was necessary to bring back the soul of Ire- land, and who will deny to- aay that it succeeded? The men who died in the streets of Dublin and those, who faced the firing squad in 1916 restored Ireland to herself and made a return to the old o completed and perpetuated by Eng- land’s folly and utter barrenness in statesmanship. e have now, thanks to the men of Europe after the war has come ‘to an en INSURRECTION NOW IMPOSSIBLE. Insurrection under present circum- r by Ireland, but the entry of the United States into the war has settled that question for the time being. To at- fighting on the side of En not alone result in useless slaughter of the manhood of Ireland, but would turn Peace Conference. It is possible she may not get that help, but an insurrec- tion during the war would make it abso- PANTASTIO FALSEHOODS TO IN- RELAwD. ae in Ireland, great or small, has decided on a policy of insur- rection since America entered the war. The published statements that a new w in- surrection was planned are deliberate falsehoods, invented for the purpose of injuring Ireland in America and of making the leaders of the: Irish people appear to be fools, incapable of plan- ning a national policy and hostile to the only country capable of helping Ire- land in the present situation. The men who fabricated these falsehoods, from Lloyd George to the minor American officials who aided him, and the Ameri- ating them, are actuated by the vile motive of discrediting and injuring the cause of Irish liberty. There is not, there never was, a scrap of genuine eviden ce to prove the charge, and the failure of the British Government to bring to trial the men and women they hold untried and unindicted in English: jails amounts to an admission that no such evidence exists. e same is true here in America. The fantastic story published by Flynn when he’ was Chief of the Secret Service the Government of the United States. DEPENDENCE WHOLLY ON AMERICA, Our policy is plain, straightforward, and above boar t is based on t Declaration made i the public meeting eld in Carnegie Hall on Easter Sun- day, April 8, 1917, and formulated in a circular issued on April 22, 1917, which aid: “It is hereby declared by the Execu- tive that, during the continuance of the > entirely to securing the National Inde- pendence of Ireland through the inter- vention of the Government of the United States; that the work of securing such intervention be carried on strictly in accordance with American law; that every Club, or group of Clubs, be form- ed into a committee for that purpose. nd clause or section of the Constitution of the Organization which may conflict with this purpose is here by suspended until the end of the war. to continue the work of assisting the people of Ireland to secure the estab- lishment of an Irish Republic.” In an explanatory statement issued on April 28, 1917, the following warning was given: “British agents are ‘more numerous than ever and are at their old work of by the acts o prejudice against us. Beware of them. to break the law is either an enemy the Irish Cause or a fool who saat have no place among us. “God save Ireland and long live the United States. “Tre EXxEcutTive.”” SPLENDID WORK OF IRISH WOMEN. That policy has been strictly adhered to ever since and much good work has been done to promote it. Other organi- zations of men and women have given us very valuable help, particularly the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Cumann ‘na mBan. For the splendid work of these devoted women the Irish Race will be grateful for all time, and the names of Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Mrs. Mary McWhorter will go down the ages among those who have shed lustre on trish womanhood. And there are many thousands of other Irish women equally devoted.