IRELAND'S PART IN THE WAR.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOE."3
Sia,—Far be it from me to make any excuse for the men in Ireland who could have gone to fight' and did not, much less for those rebels who fought against their country and for the Ger- mans; nor do I make any excuse- for a Government who have failed to give us conscription; bat I do not think it fair that the numbers of those who have not done their duty should be over- stated as has been done. It gives them a greater importance than they deserve, and is also unfair to those who have done their duty. Certain sections of the Press and many speakers have been in the habit of grossly exaggerating the numbers of men of military age available, oblivious of the fact that the total pep-o- tion is little more than two-thirds that of Greater Lonaor Both speakers and the Press have given numbers from 200,000 to 500,000. In the Spectator of January 26th " R. F." puts the number at 200,000. I have before me a Return by the Regis- trar-General of Ireland of the men of military age returned under the National Registration Act, 1915, and laid before both Houses of Parliament in October, 1916. It gives the total of men of military age in 1915 as 547,827, from which must be deducted : in- dispensables, 245,875; unfit, 107,492; and those enlisted between October, 1915, and October, 1916, 33,221; equal to 386,588; leaving then available 161,239. Since 1916 a certain number have attained military age, but about an equal number must have exceeded it, and there has been some recruiting, so that it is probable the numbers available are a little less. It appears to me probable that the Registrar-General may have underestimated the number of indispensables in Ulster-79,214—when the men employed in the shipyards of Belfast and Derry, those employed in the numerous machine-shops throughout Ulster, and the very large numbers employed in the linen trade, now an essential industry, are taken
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