"Never for one single hour since the Union was passed has Ireland been
a constitutionally governed country.... Never for one hour has the
English Government of Ireland obtained the assent or approval or
confidence of the people of Ireland.... Never for one hour since then
has the English Government of Ireland rested upon anything but =naked
force=. =No single reform, large or small, has ever been obtained by
purely constitutional means....= We submit to the English usurpation
of the government of Ireland, but we do so =only because we have no
adequate means of successful resistance=."
On 4th September, 1907, John Redmond described the Act of Union, which
gave him his seat in the English Parliament, as "a great criminal act of
usurpation carried by violence and fraud," which "no lapse of time and no
mitigation of its details can ever make binding upon our honour or our
conscience." Resistance to this Union, he continued, is "a sacred duty,
and the methods of resistance will remain for us merely a question of
expediency," physical force "would be absolutely justifiably if it were
possible."
Pretty strong, is it not? The English Government is merely an alien
usurper with no moral authority whatever, to be resisted and fought by
every effective means. Yet how did the same John Redmond take his seat at
Westminster and draw his L400 a year? By taking the following oath:--
"I, John Redmond, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true
allegiance to his Majesty, King George V., his heirs and successors,
according to law, so help me God."
And so by means of this oath of loyalty to the "unconstitutional"
usurpation of "naked force," the Irish member avails himself of that
"great criminal act of usurpation carried by violence and fraud," he takes
his seat with men from Lancashire or Bucks, he gets his cheque.
Is this playing the game? Is it honest and honourable? If the English
occupation of Ireland is immoral and tyrannical, can we swear loyalty to
it? If the Act of Union is a criminal fraud, can we accept and acknowledge
it, by going to Westminster? Let every lover of truth answer this question
with an emphatic No! Let us as a Nation answer No with an unanimous
defiant shout.
To go to Westminster is not only unpractical and futile, it is a betrayal
of the sacred cause of Irish Nationality and =it has been advertised as
such by the English Government=. The great argument for deceiving the
world with regard to Ireland is the presence of Irishmen in the English
Parliament--why we are "over-represented" there! There is, therefore, only
one way of making Ireland cease to be a "domestic" problem and of bringing
it out into the full light of international affairs; and that is by making
a full and final repudiation of the English Parliament. That would be an
unmistakeable manifesto to the whole world, a proclamation that Ireland
demands her full rights from a world which has definitely recognised the
autonomy of small nationalities.
=THE PEACE CONFERENCE.=
That is how we can appeal to the Peace Conference, by fearlessly
proclaiming our refusal to be swallowed up in England's Empire. There is
no need, thank God, of arguing that we should strive to make the most of
the Peace Conference. Even Mr. Dillon has come to admit the idea, though
he is unfortunately so intent on scoring off opponents that he has tried
to degrade the Conference into a contemptible set of unscrupulous Powers.
Sinn Fein is in no way built exclusively on the hopes of the Peace
Conference; the movement was founded by Arthur Griffith years before the
war, if indeed it is not coeval with the Irish age-long struggle for
freedom. Nor are we such sentimental fools as to rely merely on gush. We
do indeed hope for the triumph of moral principles in international
affairs, and especially we hope that democracy is coming into its rightful
inheritance. But meantime we rely primarily on ourselves and our own
determination. Still, we will see that no high-sounding principles shall
be paraded before the world unless the voice of Ireland is heard. We will
see to it that pharisaism shall be confronted by an Ireland clamouring for
independence. And we shall not be friendless. Our race has power in
America, in Australia. Ireland's freedom, too, is essential for the
American conception of the freedom of the seas.
The issue is now before us. We are in the birth-time of big changes. Let
us not lose the great chance of freedom. Let the Irish Democracy once and
for all declare that Ireland is a Nation entitled to sovereign
independence.
Mr. Dillon's attempt to degrade the Peace Conference to the level of the
Westminster Assembly, where everything is settled by party pressure,
bribes and private arrangements, is most astonishing testimony to the
corrupting and demoralising influence of London on Irish members. His mind
is still moving in the old rut of political trickery, huckstering and
chicanery; instinctively and as the result of long experience, he reduces
Ireland's claims to the condition of a man looking for a job or a vote. He
regards our case not as a question of right and justice, but as one to be
compromised and pared down in the good old Westminster fashion.
Something like real Democracy, however, is coming to stay. Great and
sacred principles have been invoked, and the workers of the world are not
going to let them be quietly buried. Nor will Ireland. We are determined
to apply the acid test to these noble professions of faith. The President
of the American Republic, who has espoused the cause even of little
Schleswig, will be confronted with the case for an Irish Republic. There
can be no League of Nations, no firm foundation of international justice,
so long as Ireland is denied that freedom which Letts, Finns, Slavs and
Poles have won.
On behalf of His Holiness, Cardinal Gasparri, Papal Secretary of State,
issued a statement (24th August, 1918) in which we read:--
"History teaches us that a form of government imposed by arms does not
and cannot live."
On 6th November, 1918, Pope Benedict XV. wrote to the Archbishop of
Warsaw:--
"Thanks be to God, the resurrection of Poland is now finally dawning.
Now that Poland has regained her Full Independence, it is our most
fervent prayer that she may once more take her place in the community
of nations and resume her career as a champion of civilisation and
Christianity."
Surely our Holy Father is looking forward to the day when he can address
similar congratulations to Ireland, the Island of Saints and Scholars.
Let every Irish man and woman who reads this vote for Ireland's
Independence.
=FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE HONOUR OF ERIN.=
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Passages in bold are indicated by =bold=.