LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more cffectire, than those which fill treble the space.] DOES LOYALTY PAY? A SERIOUS QUESTION FOR ULSTER.
[To THE EDITOR OY THE " SPECTATOft."1 Ste,—Does loyalty pay? This is a question that is being asked throughout Ulster at the present time, and the local Unionist leaders are finding great difficulty in giving an answer which will square with the facts. The question is admittedly a serious one, and upon the answer depend far- reaching consequences not only for Ulster but for England. Loyalty is a plant of tender growth. It requires careful nurture, and once weakened or withered is hard to revive. The loyalty of Ulster is not of recent origin. It dates far back into history, and has its roots deeply embedded in the soil. The air is impregnated with loyalty—that loyalty which is not of the ephemeral kind, but steadfast and enduring—and hence the sons and daughters of Ulster grow up with a sturdy reverence and deep affection for King and country.
The people of Ulster have nearly always had trying times. Their path has never been a bed of roses. They have never been pampered with doles and bounties. Theirs has been the upward battle, the sterner task. They have had to rely on their own industry, their unflinching courage, their indomit- able perseverance. They have, had to work out their own salvation, and if they have "made good" they have them- selves alone to thank. Their shipbuilding yards are the envy of the world. Their linen productions are in demand by every civilized community, while there is nothing to compare with their ropeworks and tobacco manufactories. Through good and evil report Ulster has stood the test. Her people have never been found wanting. What of her record in the Great War? Some 75,000 Ulstermen voluntarily enlisted, over £1,000,000 was contributed to War charities, and a sum of about 2100,000,000 was invested in War Loans. The Ulster Volunteer Force, about which there has been so much talk, was raised to prevent the disruption of the Empire, to maintain the British connexion, and to keep the Union Jack flying in Ireland. Ulstermen have borne long and suffered much for the sake of their country. They have been buffeted and kicked and trampled upon. Yet they have remained loyal. But a change is coming over them—slowly, but none the less surely—and they are beginning to realize that only the disloyal, dis- contented, and clamorous receive any attention. To secure redress, or, rather, to have the most preposterous demands conceded, one has only to trample upon the lion's tail; and to hasten the concessions the tail may be mangled. Experience is teaching Ulster that loyalty is at a discount. The 1920 Act, which caused the King to open with due solemnity the Northern Parliament, has been treated as a scrap of paper, and His Majesty's plea that Southern Ireland should follow the noble example of Northern Ireland has been treated with scorn. The loyalists have now been spurned and cast aside by those who had repeatedly promised to stand by them. A day of reckoning is, however, approaching, and the people of Ulster tell those politicians who desire to retain office at the price of betrayal that whatever others may do they will never break their solemn pledges, and will never submit to a Sinn Fein Parliament in Dublin. The loyalists of Ulster never sought a Northern Parliament, but to please and satisfy a weak and vacillating Government they accepted it, and have since been responsible for administration in the Six County area. Such has always been the course of Irish history. When sacrifices have had to be made, ostensibly in the interests of peace, the law-abiding citizens have been called upon, while the agitators, murderers, and assassins have been palliated and given the place of honour.
Sinn Feiners of both schools have rejected the 1920 Act, and it is probable that they will also reject the Free State offered to them with such a flourish of trumpets. Why should they accept such a restricted form of Government? Their murder campaign has been hitherto most successful, and apparently they have only to continue it in order to achieve their goal. That goal is the subjection and downfall of Ulster and the complete and unchallenged control of all Ireland. When that time comes there will not be a vestige of British rule in the once fair Isle of Saints. Talk of freedom! All who know
what is going on in Southern Ireland to-day know that thf only freedom is oonin.ed to the gunmen and extremist minority, while the Protestants and loyalists dare not publicly express an opinion adverse to that of their tyrants. That is proved by what is taking place in Limerick, Cork, and Tipperary. What will the position be when the country is entirely in the hands of Sinn Fein, which owes no allegiance to His Majesty the King? It cannot be said by English politicians that they have not been warned. Throughout the whole of history the Roman Catholic Irish have been rebels against Britain. Down through the ages they have had their secret societies and murder organizations. Sinn Fein is the offspring of these bloodstained bodies. Its methods and atrocities are similar to those which have stained the annals of Ireland in bygone days. It was O'Donovan Rossa who said, "I hold that every Englishman who goes into Ireland for the purpose of adminis- tering English law should be slain within twenty-four hours." Has this policy not been carried out by the Sinn Feiners? All the Government Services are honeycombed with Sinn Feiners. No official telegram or telephone message can be sent without Sinn Fein headquarters being acquainted with the contents. The telephone wires are tapped and private and official con- versations overheard. Proposed raids for arms and ammuni- tion are known to Sinn Fein long before the time fixed for the military and police to act. What a travesty! Roman Catholic children have always been imbued with the anti-English spirit, and now the Roman Catholic schoolmasters, paid by the British Government, have openly declared their colours, even in Ulster. All these things have been known to the loyalists not only of Ulster but throughout Ireland. Warnings have been given time and again, but England, blind to her own interest, has refused to believe them, or believing them has refused to act.
What is the attitude of the British Labour Party? It is difficult to understand. Why do they favour those who, on every available opportunity, make it quite plain that they detest everything British except British money? The Sinn Feiners have constantly ignored the British Trade Unions, and yet they can always rely on the support of the so-called.
representatives of Labour in Great Britain. Would these Labour leaders not be much better employed in looking after the interests of those who pay them than of bolstering up those whose object is to prostrate the efforts of legitimate Trade Unionists who are trying to help the Empire? At least 80 per cent. or 85 per cent, of the Trade Unionists of Ulster are loyal to their Trade Unions as well as to the Throne and Con- stitution. They do not tolerate the gospel of Sinn Fein, Bolshevism, or Communism to be preached in their midst. As a consequence there are few, if any, strikes in Ulster, so that the funds of their Unions are not frittered away. Yet it is the members of the disloyal section who are always catered for, and for whom the fatted calf is killed. Is it any wonder that Ulster asks, "Does loyalty pay?" Has Ulster been too loyal in the past? Too loyal to those who apparently only value and appreciate her loyalty when it suits themselves. Has Ulster been too long engaged in casting pearls before swine? In view of the cold, hard facts borne in upon them by recent events, can the Ulster people be blamed if they come to the conclusion that the only loyalty that pays is loyalty to themselves ?—I am, [The men of Northern Ireland have received neither grati- tude nor sympathy; and no wonder they are sore and bitter. But they must not despair. Also they must remember that they have thousands of warm friends in England. We are certain that the end will prove these sincere and steadfast Ulstermen have saved themselvesty their own exertions, and wo have no doubt whatever that the final verdict of history will be that they saved Ireland by their example. Southern Ireland must now become responsible for her own destiny, and, that being so, the more complete the responsibility the better— provided always that proper precautions are taken to protect the loyalists and to help them to leave the South if that is their desire. The experiment, however, is doomed to failure, and at last the South of Ireland, ruined by the miseries of civil tumult, will beg for reunion with Great Britain.—ED. Spectator.]
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