The Royal Commission inquiring into the circumstances of the Irish
revolt began its sittings in London on Thursday week. The members of the Commission are Lord Hardinge (Chairman), Mr. Justice Shoarman, and Sir Mackenzie Chalmers. Sir Matthew Nathan said that the Irish, or Sinn Fein, Volunteers were estimated to number fifteen thousand two hundred at the outbreak of the rebellion. American money had been used for the purchase of arms, for the printing of seditious papers, and for the Sinn Fein organization in general. The authorities had done little more than suppress newspapers (some of which reappeared under new names), deport two leaders, and try to check the importation of arms. The arrest of Sir Roger Casement was followed by a con- sultation at the Viceregal Lodge, when it was decided to arrest certain persons. When the matter was being further discussed on Easter Monday firing was suddenly heard. It was too late to stop the rebellion. Sir Matthew Nathan's defence for the policy pursued was that any attempt to disarm the Irish Volunteers would have provoked bloodshed. A rising had all along been regarded as improbable. In answer to Lord Hardinge, who asked whether he did not regard a mimic attack upon Dublin Castle as an extra- ordinary thing, he said that it was an " undesirable development," but " they were accustomed to all sorts of operations in Ireland.°-
Previous page
