THE ORGY OF MURDER. D ESPERATE acts imply desperate needs. Months
after Mr. Lloyd George told us that the Govern- ment had " got murder by the throat " the catalogue of crime has suddenly become so terribly increased that even people whose senses have been numbed by these recent years of 'horror, suspense, and anxiety find themselves capable of feeling acutely after all. They are appalled. They guess that the Irish murderers must have some special motive for putting on a spurt. What is it ? We will come to that presently, but meanwhile let us say that part of the explanation of the growth of horror here is the fact that the campaign has spread from Ireland to England. To take Ireland first—no fewer than 33 innocent persons were murdered within two days. It makes one sick to read the details of the cold and cruel premeditation with which these crimes were committed. Women were no more exempt than men. Husbands were shot down in the presence of their wives, wives in the presence of their husbands. The crimes were as brutal in kind as those on that Red Sunday when the assassins ransacked the hotels in Dublin and pulled officers out of bed and shot them like dogs ; and they were worse in that they were more numerous. A few (lays ago a very old man was killed in order that his body might be used as a decoy. The murderers sent a message that the man's body was lying on the road and then they watched in ambush for the rescuers. The Irish murderers stop at nothing. To put human ground-bait upon a road and then to shoot down those w‘ho come on an errand of mercy—and on the top of all probably to produce some spicy effort in propaganda representing those who lost their lives in an act of humanity as blood-thirsty oppressors—is a refinement in the business of assassina- tion which might not have occurred to some of the most notorious practitioners of the art of " disposing " of one's enemies even in mediaeval times.
All this happens, or has its source, in a country the greater part of which is dominated by the Roman Catholic Church—a Church which continually prides itself on the fact that crime in the ordinary sense is less in Ireland than in most countries, and where the standard of " morality " is high. What, then, is this sort of crime at which the English onlooker, in spite of his weariness and numbness, looks aghast ? It is said, of course, to be " political " crime. But let us make no mistake about it. It is not political crime. Nothing can be gained by it which could not be gained by other means, and on the other hand a great deal will certainly be lost by it that might otherwise have been gained. It arises from the fact that a very large number of the Southern Irish are uncivilized and depraved. Though they may offer a kind of super- stitious reverence to the priests, they are untouched in essentials by civilization ;4, they hold human life in very low esteem ; they have none of the average man's horror of murder as a crime apart from all other crimes ; they almost love killing for killing's sake. But if the priests have real influence, why do they not intervene ? Why do they not get together as a body, speaking with one voice, and say that this terrible thing shall cease ? Why do they not say that there can be no such thing as con- donation of what is called political murder—that there is only one kind of murder, and that is murder pure and simple ? Surely the Hierarchy and all the priests in Ireland cannot be afraid to do this. Priests are hardly ever murdered, and they could not possibly be murdered in a body. There is no doubt that if some heterodox theological book were having a vogue in Ireland the priests with one accord would denounce it. They would- not spare either their bodies or their brains in a mighty effort to track down and end the evil. Why, then, is there no regular attempt to put an end to a very much greater evil ? We cannot give an answer. We can only vaguely hope, without deriving encouragement from the past, that the priests in Ireland may yet do their bare duty.
But to return to the immediate motive of the murderers. We imagine that the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who work in secret even as they kill in secret, are alarmed by all the rumours of peace that are in the air. They do not want peace, they want human life. Probably they think that if they can make a great show of murder they may yet avert an arrangement which would be stained by some marks of rationality and goodwill. Moreover, as they have decided upon terrorism as their weapon they want to call more terrorism to their aid lest their weapon should fail them after all. Though many have been intimidated, there are yet Irishmen who may be convinced by a few more winning shots of the pistol. But if that be true of Ireland it certainly is very untrue of England. There is no possibility of intimidation here. There are no priests ready to make excuses under the guise of a rebuke. There is no poisonous distinction between murder and political murder. The only result of the spilling of more innocent blood in England in cir- cumstances of revolting callousness and brutality will be to turn English people against the idea of giving any kind of power or authority to a race which has shown itself utterly unworthy to bear responsibility. The one bright spot in Ireland is in Ulster, where pre- parations for the opening of the Northern Parliament are going forward in a perfectly calm, orderly and business- like way. If an English county with a high standard of efficiency and marked by great industrial progress, such as Lancashire or Yorkshire, were suddenly told that it was necessary for political reasons to separate itself from the rest of England and to set up its own Parliament, it would behave just in the way in which North-East i Ulster is behaving now. That is to pay North-East Ulster a great compliment. It could not be doing better. In contrast we see the whole of Southern Ireland, with the exception of Trinity College, Dublin, committed to the cause of Sinn Fein. No questions are asked ; no elections are fought. Those who are nominated are returned automatically. Intimidation is complete. And what is the programme upon which this unanimous election has been recorded ? It is a programme of murder. Although the assassinations are being organized by the interior and secret body within Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, no declaration to this effect has ever been made by the known Sinn Fein leaders. The results of murder, such as they are and if there are any, are accepted. Assassination for reasons of politics, of religion, of land- hunger—on any and every pretext—are good enough so long as murder be committed. Nevertheless, we hold that Sir James Craig is right to put himself in the position of being able to say on behalf of North-East Ulster that he has never refused any offer or opportunity of peace. He is right not to refuse to parley with any representative of Sinn Fein whose own hands are not known to have been dipped in blood. Meanwhile, though he may have little hope that the ferocious fanatics of Sinn Fein will permit a settlement, he means to do all that is reasonable and possible in the circumstances. He means to show that the Home Rule Act is by no means an empty farce, but a generous measure of self-government, and that it provides a point of junction for the two rival parties into which Ireland is divided. Finally, he means to set such an example of good and orderly government that the rest of Ireland will learn from it whether the process be long or short.
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