WAR IN EUROPE
I
The week which began on Monday, July 27th, was feverish and excited.
Formal discussion on the occurrences at Clontarf and Bachelor's Walk was
confined to the Monday; but each day had a stormy scene during
question-time arising out of it. The Amending Bill from the Lords was to
have been taken on Tuesday, but Mr. Asquith postponed it till Thursday,
to get a calmer atmosphere. When Thursday came, it was postponed again
and indefinitely. "We meet," said the Prime Minister, "under conditions
of gravity which are almost unparalleled in the experience of any one of
us." It was therefore necessary to "present a united front and be able
to speak and act with the authority of an undivided nation." To continue
the Home Rule discussion must involve the House in acute controversy in
regard to "domestic differences whose importance to ourselves no one in
any quarter of the House is disposed to disparage or belittle."
The Leader of the Opposition assented. Two sentences in his speech have
importance. The first laid it down that this postponement should not "in
any way prejudice the interests of any of the parties to the
controversy." The second indicated that he spoke not only for the
Unionist party but for Ulster.
It is very difficult now, after all that has crowded in upon us, jading
the sensitive recipient surface of memory, to reconstitute the frame of
mind in which we passed those days. One thing I clearly remember,
perhaps worth noting for its significance. In a division lobby,
probably on the Wednesday night, I came in touch with a friend, then a
subordinate member of the Government, who had been among the keenest
advocates of our cause. I asked how he thought things were going. My
question had reference to our affairs, which had been for so many months
the dominant issue; but he answered with reference to the European
situation, as if that alone existed. Looking back, it seems to me
strange that one should have been so engrossed in any preoccupation as
in reality to ignore the vast and imminent possibilities. Yet, after
all, I believe my case was typical of many. For us Irish, this was the
crucial point, the climax of a struggle which had been intense and
continuous now for a period of four years--which in its wider sense had
gone on, with ebb and flow, yet always in progress during the whole
adult lifetime of our leader and his principal colleagues. For more than
us, for scores of Labour men and Liberals, it had become almost a fixed
belief that European war was only a nightmare of the imagination. War in
the Balkans, war possibly in the East of Europe, we could think of; but
war flinging the complex organization, so potent yet so delicate, of
great and fully civilized States into the melting-pot--that we never
really believed in. Prophets of finance, prophets of the labour world,
had told us the thing was impossible. Even our most recent experience,
the irruption of armed forces into the political arena, had contributed
to fix in our minds the view that all armaments were merely _in
terrorem_, part of a gigantic game of bluff.
In a world organized as was Europe in 1914 on the basis of universal
military service, it is dangerous, not only materially but morally and
intellectually, to be as the people of these islands were, segregated
from all military experience. We were almost like children in a magazine
of explosives: we knew, of course, that there were dangerous substances
about us; but we did not realize how suddenly and irretrievably the
whole thing might go off.
I do not know how Redmond gauged the situation. But he spent the end of
the week in town, and must have been less unprepared than was one like
myself, who during the Saturday, Sunday and the Monday Bank Holiday was
away in a most peaceful country-side, remote from news. Even on the
Tuesday, the instant bearing on our own questions and our own lives of
what we read in the newspapers was not clear to me. There was to be a
debate, of course; but only when I saw the attendants setting chairs on
the floor of the House itself--a thing which had not been done since
Gladstone introduced his second Home Rule Bill--did I grasp the fact
that something wholly unusual was expected.
My strong impression is that the House as a whole was in great measure
unprepared for what it had to face. You could feel surprise in the air
as Sir Edward Grey developed his wonderful speech. Men, shaken away from
all traditional attitudes, responded from the depths of themselves to an
appeal which none of us had ever heard before.
Having failed to secure my place on the Irish benches, I was sitting on
one of the chairs close by the Sergeant at Arms, just inside the bar of
the House, so that I saw at once both sides of the assembly: there were
no parties that day. The Foreign Secretary's speech, intensely English,
with all the quality that is finest in English tradition, clearly did
not in its opening stages carry the House as a whole. Passages struck
home, here and there, to men not to parties, kindling individual
sentiments. Appeal to a common feeling for France did not elicit a
general response; but here and there in every quarter there were those
who leapt to their feet and cheered, waving the papers that were in
their hands; and the two figures that stand out most vividly in my
recollection were Willie Redmond, our leader's brother, and Arthur
Lynch. We were in a very different atmosphere already from the days of
the Boer War.
It was not until the speaker reached in his statement the outrage
committed on Belgian neutrality that feeling manifested itself
universally. Appeal was made to the sense of honour, of fair play, of
respect for pledges, by a man as well fitted to make such an appeal as
ever addressed any audience; and it was the case of Belgium that made
the House of Commons unanimous.
Later in the evening speeches from the Radical group made it clear that
unanimity was not yet definitive. Labour was hesitant; Germany had still
to complete Sir Edward Grey's work. With this disposition in England
itself, what was likely to be the feeling in Ireland? Nobody, I think,
expected that anything would be said from our benches. There had been no
consultation in our party, such as was customary and almost obligatory
on important occasions. I have said before that Redmond's position was
by understanding and agreement that of chairman, not of leader. Mr.
Dillon, by far the most important of his colleagues, was away in
Ireland. Any action that Redmond took he must take not merely in an
unusual but in a new capacity, as leader, at a great moment, acting in
his own right.
Neither had there been any consultation between him and the Government.
He knew only what the general public knew. Parts of Sir Edward Grey's
speech were to him, as to the other members of the House, a surprise at
many points. At one point it certainly was. After summing up the
situation, first in relation to France, then in relation to Belgium, the
Foreign Secretary, speaking with the utmost gravity, foretold for Great
Britain terrible suffering in this war, "whether we are in it or whether
we stand aside." He made it clear that the island safety was not
unchallengeable; there could be no pledge to send an expeditionary force
outside the kingdom. Then, with a sudden lift of his voice, he added:
"One thing I would say: the one bright spot in the very dreadful
situation is Ireland. The position in Ireland--and this I should like to
be clearly understood abroad--is not a consideration among the things we
have to take into account now."
The history of this passage is strange. All who heard assumed that the
speaker relied on definite promises. Such a promise had been given, from
one party. The Ulster leader had, with the sure instinct for Ulster's
interest which guided him throughout, conveyed to the Government through
Mr. Bonar Law an assurance that they could count on Ulster's imperial
patriotism. Ulster, so far as pledges went, was the bright spot. Where
Germany had counted on finding trouble for Great Britain, no trouble
would be found. But Sir Edward Grey at that moment of his career was
lifted perhaps beyond himself, certainly to the utmost range of his
statesmanship. He was a chief member of the Ministry which had brought
to the verge of complete statutory accomplishment the task which the
Liberal party inherited from Gladstone. He knew--his words have been
already quoted--what Ireland's gratitude to Gladstone had been even for
the unfinished effort; and now, in this crucial hour, he counted upon
Ireland. From Ulster, which had its bitter resentment, assurances were
needed: but if Ulster were contented to fall into line, then all was
well with Ireland. Speaking as one who had done his part by Ireland,
with the confidence that counts upon full comradeship he assumed the
generosity of Ireland's response. That did not fail him, sudden and
unforeseen though the challenge came--for it was an appeal and a
challenge to Ireland's generosity.
When the notable words concerning Ireland were spoken, Redmond turned to
the colleague who sat next him, one of his close personal friends, and
one of his wisest, most moderate and most courageous counsellors. He
said: "I'm thinking of saying something. Do you think I ought to?" Mr.
Hayden answered, "That depends on what you are going to say." Redmond
said: "I'm going to tell them they can take all their troops out of
Ireland and we will defend the country ourselves." "In that case," said
Mr. Hayden, "you should certainly speak." Redmond leant over to Mr. T.P.
O'Connor, who sat immediately below him, and consulted him also. Mr.
O'Connor was against it. Though the war had no more enthusiastic
supporter, he thought the risk too great. It was just a week and a day
since Redmond had moved an adjournment to consider the occasion when
Government forces were turned out to disarm Irish Volunteers, and when
troops fired without order on a Dublin crowd. Ireland was still given
over to a fury of resentment, issuing not alone in speeches but in
active warlike preparation. On Sunday, August 1st, memorial masses for
the victims were held up and down the country. In Belfast there was a
parade of four thousand Irish Volunteers; and finally, at a point on the
Wicklow coast, some ten thousand rifles were landed and distributed in
defiance of Government and its troops. Now, forty-eight hours after
these demonstrations, would the Irish leader ask his countrymen to blot
from their minds and from their hearts so recent and so terrible a
wound? Would he attempt to change the whole direction of a nation's
feeling? The boldest and the most generous might well have hesitated.
Redmond did not.
This is not to say that he spoke without full reflection. He always
thought far ahead; and in these tense days of waiting upon rumour, he
must have pondered deeply upon all the possibilities--must have had
intuition of what this opportunity, England's difficulty, might mean for
Ireland. Other minds were on the same trail. In the Dublin papers of
that morning were two letters of moment--one of them from Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
"The chief point which has divided Protestant Ulster from the rest of
Ireland," he wrote, "is that Nationalists were not loyal to the Empire."
Then, recalling briefly the extent to which Irish Nationalists had
helped in creating that Empire, he went on: "There is no possible reason
why a man should not be a loyal Irishman and a loyal Imperialist
also.... A whole-hearted declaration of loyalty to the common ideal
would at the present moment do much to allay the natural fears of Ulster
and to strengthen the position of Ireland. Such a chance is unlikely to
recur. I pray that the Irish leaders may understand its significance and
put themselves in a position to take advantage of it."
The other letter, written from a different standpoint, was signed by Mr.
M.J. Judge, a most active Irish Volunteer who had been wounded in the
scuffle on the way back from Howth. "England," he said, "might inspire
confidence by restoring it. She could bestow confidence by immediately
arming and equipping the Irish Volunteers. The Volunteers, properly
armed and equipped, could preserve Ireland from invasion, and England
would be free to utilize her 'army of occupation' for the defence of her
own shores."
Redmond could not have seen either of these letters, but those two
trains of thought were blended in his speech--which was less a speech
than a supreme action. It was the utterance of a man who has a vision
and who, acting in the light of it, seeks to embody the vision in a
living reality.
Mr. Bonar Law followed Sir Edward Grey with a few brief sentences of
whole-hearted support. Then Redmond rose, and a hush of expectation went
over the house. I can see it now, the crowded benches and the erect,
solid figure with the massive hawk-visaged head thrown back, standing
squarely at the top of the gangway. While he spoke, as during Sir Edward
Grey's speech, the cheering broke out first intermittently and scattered
over the House, then grew gradually universal. Sitting about me were
Tory members whom I did not know; I heard their ejaculations of
bewilderment, approval and delight. But in the main body of the
Unionists behind the front Opposition bench papers were being waved, and
when Redmond sat down many of these men stood up to cheer him. In five
minutes he had changed the whole atmosphere of domestic politics in
regard to the main issue of controversy.--Here is the speech:
"I hope the House will not think me impertinent to intervene in the
debate, but I am moved to do so a great deal by that sentence in the
speech of the Foreign Secretary in which he said that the one bright
spot in the situation was the changed feeling in Ireland. Sir, in past
time, when this Empire has been engaged in these terrible enterprises,
it is true that it would be the utmost affectation and folly on my part
to deny that the sympathies of Nationalist Ireland, for reasons deep
down in the centuries of history, have been estranged from this country.
But allow me to say that what has occurred in recent years has altered
the situation completely. I must not touch upon any controversial topic,
but this I may be allowed to say--that a wider knowledge of the real
facts of Irish history has altered the view of the democracy of this
country towards the Irish question, and I honestly believe that the
democracy of Ireland will turn with the utmost anxiety and sympathy to
this country in every trial and danger with which she is faced.
"There is a possibility of history repeating itself. The House will
remember that in 1778, at the end of the disastrous American War, when
it might be said that the military force of this country was almost at
its lowest ebb, the shores of Ireland were threatened with invasion.
Then a hundred thousand Irish Volunteers sprang into existence for the
purpose of defending those shores. At first, however--and how sad is the
reading of the history of those days! no Catholic was allowed to be
enrolled in that body of Volunteers; yet from the first day the
Catholics of the South and West subscribed their money and sent it for
the army of their Protestant fellow-countrymen. Ideas widened as time
went on, and finally the Catholics of the South were armed and enrolled
as brothers-in-arms with their fellow-countrymen. May history repeat
itself! To-day there are in Ireland two large bodies of Volunteers, one
of which has sprung into existence in the North and another in the
South. I say to the Government that they may to-morrow withdraw every
one of their troops from Ireland. Ireland will be defended by her armed
sons from invasion, and for that purpose the armed Catholics in the
South will be only too glad to join arms with the armed Protestant
Ulster men. Is it too much to hope that out of this situation a result
may spring which will be good, not merely for the Empire, but for the
future welfare and integrity of the Irish nation? Whilst Irishmen are in
favour of peace and would desire to save the democracy of this country
from all the horrors of war, whilst we will make any possible sacrifice
for that purpose, still, if the necessity is forced upon this country,
we offer this to the Government of the day: They may take their troops
away, and if it is allowed to us, in comradeship with our brothers in
the North, we will ourselves defend the shores of Ireland."
It needed no gift of prophecy to be certain that such a speech would be
popular in the House of Commons, and many Unionists that day were almost
aggrieved that Sir Edward Carson had not risen at once to reply to the
offer in the same spirit. They did not realize the difficulty of the
Ulster leader's position. To admit and welcome the unity of Ireland was
to give away Ulster's case. To accept the Nationalist leader's utterance
as sincere, still more to assume that Ireland as a whole would endorse
it, was to weaken, if not to give away, Ulster's best argument, and from
that hour to the end of the war Sir Edward Carson was most loyal to
Ulster's interests.
Further, it is conceivable that by some who cheered it the speech may
have been misunderstood. Yet it is not probable that many who heard
Redmond believed that in order to serve England he was flinging away
Ireland's national claim, to the successful furtherance of which his
whole life had been devoted. The Unionist party as a whole certainly
understood that to accept Redmond's offer in the spirit in which it was
made meant accepting the principle of Home Rule: and on that afternoon
in August they were not unready to accept it. They felt, for the speech
made them feel, that a great thing had happened. Yet they might well be
pardoned for some scepticism as to how the utterance might be taken in
Ireland, and how it would issue in action. A famous Nationalist said
some ten days later: "When I read the speech in the paper, I was filled
with dismay. Now I recognize that it was a great stroke of statesmanship
which I should never have had the courage to advise."
Redmond's instinct had been right. He trusted in the appeal to national
pride and to the sense of national unity. Ireland was perfectly willing,
and he knew it, to give loyal friendship to England on the basis of
freedom. But the test of freedom had now come to be the right to bear
arms, and this was a proposal that Ireland should undertake her own
defence. Ireland was sick of the talk of civil war, and this was a
proposal that Ulstermen and the rest should make common cause. It was an
appeal addressed by an instinct, which was no less subtle than it was
noble, to what was most responsive in the best qualities of Irishmen.
None the less it was a statesman's utterance addressed to a people
politically quick-minded; Ireland saw as well as Redmond himself that
what stood in the way of Ireland's national aspiration was the
opposition of one section of Irishmen. To that extent, and to that
extent only, was the speech political in its purpose. Whatever made for
common action made for unity; and whatever made for unity made for Home
Rule. That is the key to Redmond's attitude throughout the war--perhaps
also to Sir Edward Carson's.
II
The response from Nationalist Ireland had not long to be waited
for--although the inquest on the victims of the Bachelor's Walk tragedy
was in progress on the very day when Redmond's speech appeared in the
Press. Waterford Corporation instantly endorsed their member's
utterance, and throughout the week similar resolutions were passed all
over the country, Unionist members of these bodies joining in to second
the proposals. In Cork, the City Council had before it a resolution
condemning the Government for its attempt to disarm the Irish
Volunteers, and calling for stringent penalties on the offenders in the
Bachelor's Walk affair: the resolution was withdrawn and one of hearty
support to Redmond's attitude adopted.
Yet Irish opinion did not go so far as Mr. William O'Brien, who proposed
the complete dropping of the Home Rule Bill till after the war, in order
to bring about a genuine national unity. The action of the Offaly corps
of Volunteers, for instance, was typical. They agreed to offer their
services gladly on two conditions: first, that the Home Rule Bill should
go on the Statute Book; secondly, that the Volunteers should be
subsidized and equipped by Government.
But it was assumed in Ireland that no question arose about the safety of
the Bill, and people gave themselves to the new emotion. Troops were
cheered everywhere at stations and on the quays: National Volunteers and
local bands turned out to see them off. Even the battalion of King's Own
Scottish Borderers, which had been confined to barracks since the
events of July 26th, was cheered like the rest as it marched down to the
transports ready for it.[3]
This was the attitude of the general populace. Broadly speaking,
Redmond's speech pleased the people. It was welcomed by generous-minded
men in another class, who responded at once in the same spirit. Lord
Monteagle wrote: "Mr. Redmond has risen nobly to the occasion"; Lord
Bessborough, that he trusted all the Unionists in the South would at
once join the Irish Volunteers. The Marquis of Headfort, the Earls of
Fingall and of Desart, Lord Powerscourt, Lord Langford, all chimed in
with offers of help. Mr. George Taaffe wrote: "I thank God from the
bottom of my heart that to-day we stand united Ireland." In county
Wexford sixty young Protestants came in a body to join up, led by a very
Tory squire.
It should be clearly noted that while Redmond's aim was to make this
Ireland's war, in which Irishmen should serve together without
distinction of North or South, all that he asked of the land in his
speech of August 4th was that the Volunteers should undertake duties of
home defence. This was precisely what Sir Edward Carson had asked of
Ulster. On August 14th, in a letter to the Press, the commander of a
Fermanagh battalion of Ulster Volunteers wrote: "No one will be asked to
serve outside Ulster until Sir Edward Carson notifies that he is
satisfied with the attitude of the Government with regard to the Home
Rule Bill and Ulster."
Redmond neither could nor did ask any man to serve outside Ireland till
he was satisfied with the Government's attitude in regard to Home Rule.
In the first days of the war, however, the critical question for him was
to know how his offer of assistance from the Volunteers would be
accepted by the Government, and at the outset all promised favourably.
On August 8th a telegram was sent to the Lord-Lieutenant:
"His Majesty's Government recognize with deep gratitude the loyal help
which Ireland has offered in this grave hour. They hope to announce as
soon as possible arrangements by which this offer can be made use of to
the fullest possible extent."
That unquestionably represented the mind of Mr. Asquith and his civilian
colleagues. But a new power had transformed the Cabinet. Lord Kitchener,
refusing to accept the post of Commander in Chief, had insisted on
becoming Secretary of State for War.
No one is likely to underestimate Lord Kitchener's value at that hour.
But probably no one now will dispute that the political control which
this soldier obtained was excessive and was dangerous. Years of fierce
faction had shaken the public confidence in politicians, and a soldier
was traditionally above and beyond politics. But in Lord Kitchener's
case the soldier was certainly remote from and below the regions of
statesmanship. Narrow, domineering, and obstinate, he was a difficult
colleague for anyone; and for a Prime Minister with so easy a temper as
Mr. Asquith he was not a colleague but a master. He claimed to be
supreme in all matters relating to the Army, and in such a war this came
near to covering the whole field of government. It most certainly
covered the question of dealing with the Irish Volunteers and with the
Ulster Volunteers, which meant in reality the whole question of
Ireland.
Immediately on Lord Kitchener's appointment Redmond had an interview
with him. Redmond's report was that he had been most friendly--and most
limited in his expectations. "Get me five thousand men, and I will say
'Thank you,'" he had said. "Get me ten thousand, and I will take off my
hat to you." Yet the very smallness of the estimate should have been a
note of warning to us; it indicated a cynical view of Ireland's response
to Redmond's public declaration.
On the question of the Volunteers he made friendly promises. As the
Sirdar in Egypt he had been used to giving fair words to native chiefs.
There is not the least reason to suppose that Lord Kitchener would have
felt bound to show Redmond his real mind.
The truth was that Lord Kitchener held in respect to Ireland the
traditional opinions of the British Army. Nobody could blame the
professional soldier for dislike and distrust of Irish Nationalist
politicians generally; but when at such a crisis a professional soldier,
by no means conspicuous for breadth of mind, came to hold such a
position as Lord Kitchener seized, the result was certain to be
disastrous for Irish policy unless Liberal statesmanship exercised a
strong control over him. Neither Mr. Asquith nor Mr. Birrell was likely
to do this.
Two views were taken of the proposal to encourage and utilize the Irish
Volunteers. The first view was that Volunteers of any kind were a
superfluous encumbrance at a moment when the supreme need was for men in
the actual fighting-line; that encouragement of Volunteers gave an
excuse for shirking war; and further, that Volunteers outside the
State's control were a danger; that the danger was increased when there
were two rival Volunteer forces which might fly at each other's throats;
and that it was a matter for satisfaction that one of these forces
should be very greatly inferior to the other in point of arms and
equipment, so that considerations of prudence would lessen the chance of
collision. This satisfaction was greatly heightened by the reflection
that the armed force was thoroughly loyal to the Empire and could be
trusted to assist troops in the case of any attack upon the Empire begun
by the other--a contingency which should always be taken into account.
This line of thought was certainly Lord Kitchener's. He had no distrust
of Irish soldiers in ordinary regiments; no professional soldier ever
had. But he had a deep distrust of a purely Irish military organization
under Irish control. At the back of Lord Kitchener's mind was the
determination "I will not arm enemies." This was the very negation and
the antithesis of the second view, which was Redmond's.
Redmond's aim was to win the war, no less than Lord Kitchener's. But if
Lord Kitchener realized more clearly than other men in power how
far-reaching would be the need for troops, Redmond realized also far
more than the men in power how vital would be the need for America. He
saw from the first, knowing the English-speaking world far more widely
than perhaps any member of the Government, that the Irish trouble could
not limit its influence to Ireland only. Greater forces could be
conciliated for war purposes by reconciliation with Ireland--by bringing
Ireland heart and soul into the war--than the equivalent of many
regiments. Yet even from the narrower aspect of finding men, he regarded
the same policy as essential. He assumed that recruiting in Ireland must
always be voluntary--at any rate a matter for Ireland's own decision:
the question was how to get most troops. Knowing Ireland, he recognized
how complete was the estrangement of its population from the idea of
ordinary enlistment. The bulk of the population were on the land, and in
Ireland, as in Great Britain, "gone for a soldier" was a word of
disgrace for a farmer's son. More than that, the political organization
of which he was head had inculcated an attitude of aloofness from the
Army because it was the Army which held Ireland by force. Enlistment
had been discouraged, on the principle that from a military point of
view Ireland was regarded as a conquered country. A test case had arisen
over the Territorial Act, which was not extended to Ireland, any more
than the Volunteer Acts had been. We had voted against Lord Haldane's
Bill on the express ground that it put Ireland into this status of
inferiority and withheld from Irishmen that right to arm and drill which
was pressed upon Englishmen as a patriotic duty. We had explicitly
declared then in 1907 that our influence should and must be used against
enlistment.
These facts of history had not merely produced in Ireland an attitude of
mind hostile to the idea, so to say, of the British Army as an
institution, though the individual soldier had always been at least as
popular as anyone else. They had produced a population extraordinarily
unfamiliar with the idea of armament. The old Volunteers and the
Territorials had at least conveyed to all ranks of society in Great
Britain the possibility of joining a military organization while
remaining an ordinary citizen. In the imagination of Ireland, either you
were a soldier or you were not; and if you were a soldier, you belonged
to an exceptional class, remote from ordinary existence. To cross that
line was a far greater step to contemplate with us than in England.
Redmond reckoned, and reckoned rightly, that to bring Irishmen together
in military formations, learning the art of war, was the best way to
combat this disinclination to enter the Army--this feeling that
enlistment meant doing something "out of the way," something contrary to
usage and tradition. He reckoned that the attitude of Nationalist
Ireland would alter towards a Government which put arms in their hands
on their own terms; and that with a great war on foot a temper of
adventure and emulation would very soon draw young men flocking to the
ranks in which they could see the reality of war. That was Redmond's
policy and it was the statesman's. Nationalist Ireland was perfectly
ready to adopt the ideals which moved the British Empire at home and
overseas in the war: but first the British Empire must show that it
respected the ideals of Nationalist Ireland. The Empire's statesmen did
so: the British democracy did so: but Lord Kitchener stood in the way.
From Ulster, it was clear that immediate cordial co-operation could not
be anticipated. Yet Redmond had implicit faith in the ultimate effect of
comradeship in danger, and here we know he was right. He was to pay a
heavy price in blood for the seal set upon that bond; but in the end the
seal was set. For the moment, Ulster as a whole was sullen and
distrustful. Feeling that to admit the good faith of Nationalists
jeopardized their own political cause, they belittled what in the
interests of the common weal it would have been wise even to over-value.
At the outset "An Ulster Volunteer" wrote to the papers "Let us all
unite as a solid nation"; but such an utterance was exceptional. Hardly
less exceptional was the line taken by "An Officer of National
Volunteers" who wrote, "If the necessity arose to-morrow and the word
went out from Headquarters, the National Volunteers would be prepared to
fight to the very death in defending the homes and liberties of France
and England." "For Ireland Only" was a motto much inculcated in those
days among the Irish Volunteers. Suspicion on the one side bred
estrangement on the other; and every hour lost increased the mischief.
Moreover, in spite of the generous action taken by outstanding
individuals, the general mass of Unionist opinion was grudging and
uncordial. A friend who was then closely in touch with it described to
me the attitude of Dublin clubs: "They were almost sorry Redmond had
done the right thing." Such men were part of Ireland, and all Ireland
was remote from war. For them, now as always, Home Rule was the
paramount consideration, and none could deny that the prospects for
Home Rule were immensely improved by Redmond's action. In these days,
when an end of the conflict was expected in three months, when every
check to the Germans was magnified out of all reason, there was no sense
of the relative value of issues. Everywhere in Unionist society and in
the Irish Unionist Press there was ungenerous and unfriendly criticism
which did much harm.
Two things could have checked these forces for evil. The first would
have been an immediate decision to make Home Rule law. This would have
put an end to the pestilent growth of suspicion among Nationalists, and
it would have enabled Redmond to launch at once his appeal for soldiers.
The other would have been a decision to make good the pledge contained
in the Government's message to Lord Aberdeen and to accept in some
practical way the offered service of the Volunteers.
The latter of these courses involved no controversy with Ulster, and to
it Redmond first addressed himself. He made constant appeals in private
to Ministers; he was angry and disappointed over the delay: and after a
week he thought it necessary to raise the matter in the House. He asked
the Prime Minister whether British Territorials were to be sent to
Ireland to replace the troops which had been withdrawn--a step which
would have been equivalent to a rejection of his offer. On this point he
received satisfaction; Territorials would not be sent. He asked then if
the Prime Minister could not say at once what steps would be taken to
arm and equip the Volunteers. Mr. Asquith's reply emphasized the great
difficulty which stood in the way. "I do not say," he added, "that it is
insuperable." The first part was the voice of Lord Kitchener; the
second, the voice of the Government which had sent the telegram of
August 8th.
In the War Office the desire to give the National Volunteers as far as
possible what they wanted did not exist, and the Government, who had
that desire, had not the determination to enforce it. Such a position
can never be for long concealed. Let it be remembered, too, that all
through these days there was proceeding in Dublin a public inquiry into
the events of the Howth gun-running and the affray at Bachelor's Walk,
and some measure of Redmond's difficulties may be obtained.
Nevertheless, his policy was winning: and when Parliament rose for an
adjournment, he spent his first Sunday in Ireland motoring to
Maryborough, where he inspected a great muster of Volunteers, and was
able to speak to them with gladness of the response to his appeal.
"From every part of Ireland I have had assurances from the Irish
Volunteers that they are ready to fulfil this duty: and from every
part--perhaps better and happier still--evidences of a desire on the
part of men who in the past have been divided from us to come in at this
hour of danger."
He told his audience how a battalion of that famous regiment, the
Inniskilling Fusiliers, had been escorted through the town of
Enniskillen, in which Orange and Green have always been equally and
sharply divided, by combined bodies of the Irish and Ulster Volunteer
Forces. Then turning to the question of equipment, and reminding them
that the proclamation against importing arms had been withdrawn, he
announced that he had secured several thousand rifles to distribute.[4]
He went on then to pledge himself--it must be said with characteristic
overconfidence--as to the intentions of the Government: "The
Government--which has withdrawn its troops from Ireland and which has
refused to send English Territorials to take their place--is about to
arm, equip and drill a large number of Irish Volunteers." Very soon, he
told them, every man in the force would have a rifle--and this involved
a grave responsibility, and the need for discipline in the work which
was laid upon them.
"I wish them God-speed with their work. It is the holiest work that men
can undertake, to maintain the freedom and the rights and to uphold the
peace, the order and safety of their own nation. You ought to be
proud--you, the sons and the grandsons of men who were shot down for
daring to arm themselves--you ought to be proud that you have lived to
see the day when with the good will of the democracy of England you are
arming yourselves in the light of heaven."
The note of exultation in this passage rings again and again through his
utterances. He saw, or thought he saw, the symbol of achieved liberty in
the muster of young men, ready to take up the sword, and no longer
branded with the name of felons for so doing. Nor was he alone in his
rejoicing. The host at that meeting was a great Irish landlord, Colonel
Sir Hutcheson Poe. He, upon reading Redmond's speech of August 4th had
written to the Press saying that since he was too old to serve he was
taking steps to arm and equip a hundred National Volunteers. Now, in
Redmond's presence, addressing a body of the Volunteers, he told them
what he thought of Redmond's action.
"That five minutes' speech did more to compose our differences, to unite
all Irishmen in a bond of friendship and good will, than could have been
accomplished by years of agitation or by a conference, however
well-intentioned it might be."
That was a notable tribute from one of the eight men who formed the
historic Land Conference of 1902; and Sir Hutcheson Poe was not the man
to rest on complimentary expressions. He set to work at once to promote
a memorial praying for joint action between Ulster and the Irish
Volunteers and for settlement of the political question which alone
prevented such action.
Unhappily, this was not easy of accomplishment. When the House
reassembled after its adjournment of a fortnight, negotiations were
resumed, with the result that on August 31st the Prime Minister asked
for a fresh adjournment for ten days, at the end of which time the
Government hoped to be able to produce satisfactory proposals as to the
Irish and Welsh Bills. Redmond felt himself obliged to enter a protest.
It had been agreed that the circumstances of the war should not be
allowed to inflict political injury on any party in the House; and he
would give the friendliest consideration to any proposal for giving to
the Opposition what they might have gained by a discussion on the
Amending Bill.
"But we must emphatically say that any proposal which would have the
effect of depriving us of the enactment of the Irish measure--and I
presume I may say the same with reference to the Welsh measure--an
enactment to which we were entitled practically automatically when the
circumstances of the war arose, would do infinite mischief, and would be
warmly resented by us.
"Just let me say one word more. There has arisen in Ireland the greatest
opportunity that has ever arisen in the history of the connection
between the two countries for a thorough reconciliation between the
people of Ireland and the people of this country. There is to-day, I
venture to say, a feeling of friendliness to this country, and a desire
to join hands in supporting the interests of this country such as were
never to be found in the past; and I do say with all respect, that it
would be not only a folly, but a crime, if that opportunity were in any
degree marred or wasted by any action which this country might take. I
ask this House--and I ask all sections of the House--to take such a
course as will enable me to go back to Ireland to translate into
vigorous action the spirit of the words I used here a few days ago."
An angry scene followed. Mr. Balfour asked whether "it was possible
decently to introduce subjects of acute discussion in present
circumstances"--in other words, whether all mention of Home Rule must
not be postponed till after the war. This provoked hot debate, checked
only by a strong appeal from the Prime Minister. But the general effect
was not reassuring to Ireland. The contrast with the Tsar's prompt grant
of autonomy to Poland was sharply drawn. Nobody rated high the chances
of an amicable agreement. On September 4th Sir Edward Carson outlined
his views in Belfast. Home Rule "will never be law in our country." But
"in the interests of the State and of the Empire we will postpone active
measures." This indicated sufficiently that in his judgment the Bill
might become law, and that they would not be encouraged to set up
immediate resistance. The Prime Minister, as chief Minister of the
nation, must be supported in the war at all costs.
Next day, renewing at Coleraine his appeal for recruits, he said:
"We are not going to abate one jot or tittle of our opposition to Home
Rule, and when you come back from serving your country you will be just
as determined as you will find us at home."
This was the answer to Redmond's proposal of fraternization. Clearly Sir
Edward Carson had made up his mind that he could not prevent the passage
of the Bill, and he decided upon the strongest course, which was to
advocate unlimited support to the war. Any other course would have been
ruinous to his cause, which depended always upon a profession of the
extremest loyalty. Yet only a strong man, confident in his leadership,
could have taken this line at a moment when Ulstermen were about to feel
that all their preparations were wasted and that the game had been won
against them by a paralysing chance.
Before the House reassembled there was a meeting at the Carlton Club; a
report communicated to the Press attributed these words to Sir Edward
Carson--they are typical of the tone of the time:
"We asked for no terms and we got none. We did not object to go under
the War Office. We did not make speeches calculated to humbug or
deceive while we meant to do nothing."
On September 15th Government announced its intentions. Both Bills were
to be placed on the Statute Book, but their operation deferred till the
end of twelve months, or, if the war were not then over, till the end of
the war. During the suspensory period Government would introduce an
Amending Bill. Mr. Asquith made a flattering reference to Sir Edward
Carson's action in appealing to his organization for recruits, and
admitted that "it might be said that the Ulstermen had been put at a
disadvantage by the loyal and patriotic action which they had
undertaken."--This meant that their preparations for resistance to Mr.
Asquith's Government were disorganized.--He proceeded to promise that
they should never have need of such preparations; they should get all
the preparations aimed at without having to use them.
"I say, speaking again on behalf of the Government, that in our view,
under the conditions which now exist--we must all recognize the
atmosphere which this great patriotic spirit has created in the
country--the employment of force, any kind of force, for what you call
the coercion of Ulster, is an absolutely unthinkable thing. So far as I
am concerned, and so far as my colleagues are concerned--I speak for
them, for I know their unanimous feeling--that is a thing we would never
countenance or consent to."
This utterance has dominated the situation from that day to this. Ulster
had organized to rebel, sooner than come under an Irish Parliament; and
had refrained from rebellion because the Great War was in progress. For
this reason Ulster should never be coerced, no matter what might happen.
Sir Edward Carson's line of action had secured an enormous concession:
he might have gone back to his people and said, "We have won." But he
was strong enough to represent it as a new outrage, which they for the
sake of loyalty must in the hour of common danger submit to endure. By
this course, risky for himself, he vastly improved their position in all
future negotiation.--After a violent speech from Mr. Bonar Law the Tory
party walked out of the House in a body.
Redmond rose at once. He denounced the view that Ireland had gained an
advantage, or desired to gain one. The Prime Minister had at every stage
assured him that the Bill would be put on the Statute Book in that
session, and therefore it was unjust to say that his loyalty was only
conditional; he had asked for nothing that was not won in advance. Now,
instead of an Act to become immediately operative, Ireland received one
with at least a year's delay. Yet this moratorium did not seem to him
unreasonable.
"When everybody is preoccupied by the war and when everyone is
endeavouring--and the endeavour will be made as enthusiastically in
Ireland as anywhere else in the United Kingdom--to bring about the
creation of an Army, the idea is absurd that under these circumstances a
new Government and a new Parliament could be erected in Ireland."
Further, it gave time for healing work. The two things that he cared for
most "in this world of politics" were: first, that "not a single sod of
Irish soil and not a single citizen of the Irish nation" should be
excluded from the operation of Irish self-government; secondly, that no
coercion should be applied to any single county in Ireland to force
their submission.
The latter of these ideals was cast up to him by many in Ireland, first
in private grumblings, afterwards with public iteration. He saw and
admitted, what these critics urged, that the one aspiration made the
other impossible of fulfilment, for the moment. Would it be so, he
asked, after an interval in which Ulstermen and other Irishmen,
Nationalist and Unionist, would be found fighting and dying side by side
on the battlefield on the Continent, and at home, as he hoped and
believed, drilling shoulder to shoulder for the defence of the shores of
their own country?
On that hint he renewed his appeal to the Ulster Volunteers for
co-operation and regretted that he had got no response from them. More
than that, he urged that his appeal to Government had got no response.
"If they had done something to arm, equip and drill a certain number at
any rate of the National Volunteers the recruiting probably would have
been faster than it had been." Alluding to the taunts at Ireland's
shirking which had been bandied about in interruptions during the
debate, he recalled the stories which already had come back from France
of Irish valour; of the Munster Fusiliers who stood by their guns all
day and in the end dragged them back to their lines themselves; the
story told by wounded French soldiers who had seen the Irish Guards
charge three German regiments with the bayonet, singing a strange song
that the Frenchmen had never heard before--"something about God saving
Ireland."
"I saw these men," said Redmond, "marching through London on their way
to the station; they marched here past this building singing 'God save
Ireland!'"
But he could not rest his claim, and had no intention of resting it,
merely on the prowess of the Irish regulars already in the army.
"Speaking personally for myself, I do not think it is an exaggeration to
say that on hundreds of platforms in this country during the last few
years I have publicly promised, not only for myself, but in the name of
my country, that when the rights of Ireland were admitted by the
democracy of England, Ireland would become the strongest arm in the
defence of the Empire. The test has come sooner than I, or anyone,
expected. I tell the Prime Minister that this test will be honourably
met. I say for myself that I would feel myself personally dishonoured
if I did not say to my fellow-countrymen as I say to them here to-day,
and as I will say from the public platform when I go back to Ireland,
that it is their duty, and should be their honour, to take their place
in the fighting-line in this contest."
That was a clear pledge. The Home Rule Bill received the Royal Assent on
September 18th. But before the seal was affixed Redmond's manifesto to
the Irish people was in all the newspapers. It was his call to arms.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: This fact was verified for me oddly enough. When the 16th
Division went to France, it was put through the usual period of
apprenticeship with trained troops, and our brigade was attached for
training to the Scottish Fifteenth Division. Two companies of our
battalion of the 6th Connaught Rangers were attached to the 8th and 9th
K.O.S.B. I met two officers who had been in Dublin on July 26th, and it
was one of these who told me of the cheering. Perhaps I may add that the
relations between our Connaught Rangers and the Scots were most
friendly, and that we found probably a hundred Irish Catholics in that
battalion--Irishmen living in the North of England who had at once
rushed to enlist in the nearest corps available.]
[Footnote 4: Bought in Belgium by John O'Connor M.P., and T.M. Kettle,
after the Germans had entered Brussels.]