THE CONDITION OF IRELAND.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Lloyd George is reported to have said on Saturday : " It is one of the things I am most proud of : we have made peace with the Irish race." The fact is that he and his friends have brought to Ireland " not peace but a sword." The present condition of the South is worse than it has been in living memory. The North, spending an immense sum on police, is comparatively peaceful and prosperous. The South has been reduced to a condition of anarchy and chaos. " Every- body is terrified." The Provisional Government is, I believe, doing its best, and its soldiers are well spoken of, but they are not strong enough and lack discipline and a sufficient number of really efficient officers. They appear unable to control the Bolshevists who have made roads and railways impassable by felling trees and blowing up bridges. For some time there has been very little railway traffic ; as soon as a bridge was repaired, the Bolshevists blew it up again.
No business is being done. Agricultural produce, except milk, is down to 1914 prices. As a farmer writes, " The out- look is gloomy in every direction." There is no regular police force. Thefts are common. All the private motor- cars in Co. Cork were taken long ago ; and now I see that the " Irregulars " have forbidden the use of any motor-cars and threaten to fire on them. Everyone who can is leaving the country. About forty of my friends have had their houses burnt, some recently. If Mr. Lloyd George would take a little tour in the South and West of Ireland, he would learn something of the condition of the country and the nature of his " peace."—I am, Sir, &c., X.
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