A correspondent has sent us a statement which was recently
issued by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy of Ireland after a meeting at Maynooth. Although the statement fills nearly two and a-half columns in small typo of an ordinary newspaper, there is a complete ignoring of the essential question : Who hit first ? Moreover, with the exception of a mild sentence of thirteen words, there is an entire absence of any condemnation of the brutal campaign of murdering policemen. The general impression that we derive from the statement is that the Hier- archy have made a point of excusing crime except when it is crime attributed to British officers and officials. The statement persistently speaks of provocation and brutality, but those, in the views of the Hierarchy, are to be found on the side of the soldiers and the police. As though undisciplined reprisals were not an answer, oven though they be admitted to be an atrocious one, to a stealthy sneaking campaign of murder which has reached a degree of abomination hitherto unmatched !
