THE NEW POLICY IN IRELAND. [To THE EDITOR OP THE
" SPECTATOR.")
Sia,—In your article in the Spectator of May 22nd you say :
"We should like to see the cost . of the troops, and of com- pensation to the families of murdered men, and of rebuilding of burnt police barracks, &c., placed upon the districts in which the crimes were committed. A personal pledge of loyalty would be held to absolve a person from responsibility." This seems to me utterly unreasonable. You do not appear to realize the extent to which people are now terrorized. Many would be afraid, and with very good reason, to give a public pledge of loyalty. Government has proved its inability to protect loyal people. Police have been withdrawn. The more serious outrages, such as murder and destroying police barracks, are, I believe, organized from Sinn Fein head- ' quarters, and carried out mainly by men sent from a distance, a•ho arrive in motor-cars provided with rifles and bombs, and disappear when they have done their work. These men are "soldiers of the Irish Republic," and just as much the King's enemies as the Germans were. It is at present impossible to ascertain " who are the men of goodwill."
In numbers of cases men who are not Sinn Feiners have been threatened, and have had to withdraw their candidature for the election of Boards of Guardians and Rural District Councils. Loyal men have been intimidated, and, I fear, have often subscribed to the Sinn Fein loan. They say : " We are isolated; we cannot protect ourselves, and Government cannot protect us." I do not see how "a strong sense of mutual support" could be achieved among these unfortunate people. It is possible that there are only 2,000 active terrorists in Ireland, but there is not much comfort in being able to say " We are not ruled by murderers, but only by their friends."
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