LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE OUTLOOK IN SOUTHERN IRELAND.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—The enclosed letter, which I have just received from a friend in Cork, illustrates the unhappy state of Southern
" It is very difficult to take a hopeful view of events in Ireland. The Free State seems to be gaining the upper hand, but the process
is a slow one, and much as we all long for a settlement, I fear the end of the trouble is still afar off, and the country is going down the road to ruin rapidly. A Budget of £40,000,000 to be paid by 3,000,000 people. How many can pay, and how many will pay, reduces the number able and willing to pay by a large percentage. The Free State troops are moving through the country. They are rounding up the enemy, and some of the leaders are surrendering. This is a good sign, and beyond doubt the outlook is brighter ; but we have troubles ahead from Labour. The trade unions rule, and if the Government win out in the present struggle they will have to light and break the power that now rules the land. If they attempt to do so, Labour will be the power in the next Dail. The farmer and trader to-day cannot, as a whole, make a profit on capital. That means no taxes for the Government, and they want more money than they can collect. Labour says no more dividends unless share- holders work to make them. Salaries and wages alone are 800 per cent. more in Cork to-day than in 1914. In fact, they are more than the entire expenses of many firms in pre-War times, and together exceed the gross profits for the year. No employer can reduce staff, no farmer can get rid of his labourers, and, as yet, we have no protection and we are helpless. How can a country prosper under such conditions I In time we may get relief, but the end is bankruptcy. The new Customs and taxes also will, I fear, have the effect of turning a large number of votes from the men in power to-day, and no man can tell what class of Government will emerge from the ballot' boxes at the General Election.
Mr. had his house burned before Easter. He employed labour to relieve distress in his district. He had to reduce expenses. He explained his position to his men ; he dismissed three of them ; be lost his house and farmstock, and had to sell his livestock, as all his hay and other feeding stuffs were destroyed. How long will It take to remedy such a state of things ? And we cannot forget that it is the rising generation who are urged on by men who are sore because the sweets of office, and the salaries, have not fallen to them. The men who have not use the gun and petrol cans to make it impossible for the men who have to carry on. Our letters are raided every week. Postmen are robbed, and the contents of their bags destroyed. Upon every side we have loss and anxiety, but we still hope that the dawn of peace may break, and that we shall have at least security in the midst of financial ruin.
Look at the other side of the picture. At the steeplechases there were motorcars in larger numbers than were ever seen at a country meeting in past years. Traps, waggonettes, farmers' carts, and farmers on horseback, crowds much larger than usual, with armoured ears and Free State troops to remind people of the troubles lurking all around. Good racing and a day of peace. Ireland is the land of contradictions."
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