THE IRISH NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS. [To nos EDIT°. OF THE "Sracr.tros."]
SIR,—In your issue of the 6th inst. you refer to a statement made by a prominent official of the Irish National Volunteers to the effect that they are non-political and non-sectarian, and will remain so. It is quite true that a sufficient number of such statements has been made to look well in English Radical journals, but beyond that there has been no attempt made in Ireland to conceal the real object for which the force is being formed. For instance, at the great meeting held at the Mansion House, Dublin, on May 2nd to inaugurate the movement, Mr. Padraic Colum said that without one hundred thousand armed men behind the first Irish Parliament it would be a very ineffective thing, but if it had that force Ireland would become a free nation in ten years. Thus, when Home Rule has been established there will be in Ireland a large army, under the patronage of the Nationalist Government, but probably financially supported by Americans and other foreigners, pledged to do their utmost for the separation of Ireland from England. And the only people who might have opposed them will have been shot down by British troops or driven into exile. How long any connexion with England can be maintained in such circumstances is a matter for the Radical Party to consider.—I am, Sir, &c., AN InzsastAlt.
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