WHAT SHOULD WE DO ? T HE supporters of the Government
tell us that, though we may criticize Lord French, it is positively wicked to try and make Mr. Lloyd George and the Cabinet responsible for what is going on in Ireland. They defend their leaders by dwelling upon the inherent difficul- ties of the position and by asking whether we really believe any other set of men could or would have done better. Most undoubtedly we do. Many men, many women and many children could have done better. A little courage, a little honesty and a little tenacity of pur- pose are all that is required. How are they to be supplied ? What is the principle of action that should be followed ? The essential thing to do is to make the people in Ireland realize that they have got to make their choice. They must declare themselves either on the side of the rebellion or of the British Empire. If they elect for the British Empire, they must give proofs of their loyalty. The sort of things that have been happening to Ireland can only happen when the mass of a population, who seldom want more than to live and not quarrel with those who have most power in the country, feel that power has passed from the nominal Government into other hands.
To put it quite frankly, it must be brought home to the Irish people that it is not going to pay to be a sup- porter of Sinn Fein—that, on the contrary, it is going to be very painful and dangerous indeed to lend Sinn Fein even silent sympathy, much less open support. The Sinn Feiners say that they are at war with us. We accept the declaration, and therefore it must follow that any one who supports Sinn Fein is the deadly enemy of the British Empire and will be treated accordingly. By this we do not mean, of course, that he will forthwith be shot or treated with German brutality, but that he will be made to know the difference between an enemy and a friend. There are methods of doing this which are much more effective than the Sinn Fein methods of arson and murder. There are many ways of restoring order. We will suggest one by way of illustration, though we are quite prepared to hear of a better. In any district in which there have been murders of policemen, soldiers, officials or civilians or the burning of Government property, or such out- rages as the kidnapping of officers or the disarming of soldiers, we would levy heavy fines. But clearly these fines ought not to be levied, as hitherto, upon the loyal as well as upon the disloyal. Accordingly, any man who gives proof of loyalty should be exempt from the operation of the fine, and every facility should be given him to prove his loyalty by an open declaration. But how are we going to protect the persons who are on our side and are willing to stand on our side ? They must, as in an enemy country, be protected by guards, or, if necessary, temporarily brought into concentration camps, or, again, brought over to England or Scotland, or perhaps, better still, placed temporarily in North- East Ulster, where they will be among a loyal population. They will, of course, have to be fed and housed, as well as protected by the Government. But the cost of their maintenance must clearly not fall on the loyal Irish or on the British people. It must fall on the disloyal people of the districts where the outrages were committed, and where disorder has been endorsed by the inhabitants. And in carrying out these fines for malignancy, as our Cromwellian ancestors would have called them, there must be no fears or hesitations. They must be enforced upon cardinals, bishops and priests just as much as upon the humblest labourer. Not only must no persons be exempt from being made to say whether they are on the side of the Government or on the side of the rebels, but we must not be afraid to interfere, if necessary, with even schemes so cherished and beneficial in themselves as land purchase. The owners of the land must be told that if they will not stand by the Government which enabled them to get their land on such favourable terms, but instead take the side of the murderers, they must pay the fines levied upon the districts, even if such fines end in forfeiture.
Only through the dread of some such action as we have outlined is it now possible to quieten Ireland and to make people say, and say definitely, whether they are on the side of law and order or of rebellion and murder. Remember, we are not suggesting that men should have oaths administered to them which might go against their conscience or bind them to any particular form of solution of the Irish question. Such questions as Home Rule, Dominion Government, Federation, and so forth, or even Republican institutions, should be left out entirely. Though we want stern measures, care should be taken that there should be no interference with political opinion even in its extremes. A man's politics should remain his own business so long as there was a distinct repudiation of Direct Action and a sincere promise of support to the Government in putting down the state of things which is now causing misery, not merely to the loyalists, but to the great majority of the Sinn Fein popu- lation.
Remember, the mass of Sinn Feiners no more like the present conditions than the revolutionaries in France liked the Terror, or than the people of Russia 1 ke the Soviet Government. They endure it because they must, and because they are afraid of worse things happening to them ; because they are afraid of being shot in their beds by night or from a ditch on a lonely road. For them, though they cannot say so, the day which frees them from the tyranny of their present rulers—for such we must, alas! call them—will be the happiest day of their lives. We want no ill to Ireland, but we will not see Ireland ruined and England and Scotland with her if we can help it. But we shall, never help by shrinking from the duty, however unpleasant, of letting the British people know the truth, and from reminding them that they must make it clear in Ireland who is on our side and who against us, in the war which the Sinn Feiners have wantonly brought upon their unhappy country.
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