THE
EDITED 8 Y EOIN MAC N_EILL. Vol. 2.
I
No,
26 (New Series.)
NOTES.
I
The re 1:; daily iucre<Lsing evidence u f actiYity , ou the part uf those who are enthusi astic for militari:;m, to fo rce some fom1 of comp ulsory military serYice on the p ublic, and they base a good deal of hope on the fact that the L~beral Home Rule Gm·ernment has ;given place to a U nioni st-Liberal admini tra;t ion . It is hardl y likely that this sai11ple uf '" Pruss ian method:; ·: will be introduced in a :general way as practised on the Continent. We may rather expect the thin end of the wedg to be tried first, in the form of rai:;ing a limited number of men by compulsory levy . If this could be managed, the process coul d be repeated, or even a bolde r measure of conscription adopted, until the last available man would be held at the tli:;posal of the Go,·crnment .
*
*
Some of the leading adrncates of conscription or comp ulsory military service a re rather timid, and are afraid of arousing popul a r opposition. They show this by dodging the right name of the thing and calling it by a .s1reetening sort of name, "national sen ·ice. " Jt'rom this we may reckon that full discussion a nd fo ll preparation of the p ublic mind wil I .also be dodged and avoided! as far as pos ible, . :a nd that the thin end of the wedge will be . p ushed forward, if possible, in some sudden ancli secret manner, so that protests, when they come , may come too late. In a case of thi s kine!, there is a special force in sayi ng that "silence gives consent. "
SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1915. OlJ[JOS ite of what is said. " A free gift ,. means that there 1rill be no compu lsion, and " a free people" means ·a people acting for itself without outs ide interference . Mr. Asciuith's declaration, in fact, is identical in meaning with the 1rnrds contained in the statement of policy of the Iri sh Vol un teer Com ention: 3.- T o resist any attemp t to force the men of Ireland into Military Service under any Government until a free National Government is empowered by the Irish people themselves to deal with it .
*
·X·
question. If an attempt was made to enforce compulsory service on any one of them, the attempt would be evaded if possible and resisted if res i s t~nce became inevitable . This is all implied in the agreement not to recognise the proposed law . But His Majesty's Attorney General for England _goes much farther than this, ancli lays down that, in a case of this kind, the opponents of the proposed measure should arm, train, a.nd organise tbemse!Yes in military form beforehand.
*
l(·
Tbe op inion of the ·Attorney General of England, chief law adviser of the Imperial Government, comes next in order. Sir Echrnrd Carson, being a lawyer, cannot be expected to deal with a law that does not yet exist as if it were alread y in force . H e has no objection, howeYer, to laying down 1i·hat can be and ought to be done to defeat a future law which, if e1iacted, would bring about a fundamental change in the relat ions between a large body of citizens and the existing Sta te, and which 1rnultl be gravely obnoxious ancl repulsive to the fee lings and comictions of the said large body of citi zens. Sir Edward Carson has bad no hes itation· in statin g and recommending the attitude which the citi zens ought to take up lo1rn rds such a la"-. ._, They ought, in bis opinion , to bind thc1rnelves together by n. solemn underslancling, which may be ca lled n. Covenant. Their first poiut of ag reemen t :;hould be tbat , when the obnoxiou~ measure becomes Jaw, if it ever becomes law , they will refuse to recognise it. -:\-
Let us see what exactly thi s would mean in the case of a law of conscription, or of partial For the benefit of the J ri~h 1~ublic, tl1e con ·cription, of compulsory military sen·ice op inions of leading men in the new Govern- imposed on any number .of citizens, large or ment have been asce rtained . The first to be small. It would mea n that none .of those who consulted was natuqLll y the P rime Minister , agreed in thei r opposition to comp ulsory serYice "·oulcl gi1·e any assistance whatsoever to ~fr. Asquith . Mr. Asquith's advice is that military service in Ireland sho\.1ld be " the free carry the law into effect. They would bebaYe in all circumstances as if the law were null and ~ift of a free people. " This pronouncement vo id. They ·1rnuld a nS\\'eI no questions, fi\l up leav~s nothina to be desi red except , what is • 0 nn returns, offer or di sclO:se no i.n fonnation that ~1lways to be de. ired in ministe rial pronou ncements, that 11·hat is done may turn out th<' ex;1.-;L wa~ requi red for . the: purposes of the b1Y i11 -X·
Price One Penny.
·Ji:-
These riew:; of Sir Edw ard Carso n haYe the hearty concurrence of Hi s Mn.jesty's Solicitor General for EI)gland, Mr. F. E. Smith. They are also understood to haYe the support of Mr. Ba lfour, First )~ord of the Admiralty, Mr. Bonn.r Law, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Lansdowne, Cabinet Minister -,~ without 0{9rtfolio, and various other members. of the Government. Any contrary op1mons ascribed to " Liberal " members of the present Government must not, Sir Edward Carso~1 thinks, be taken qui te ~P,riousty. Sir Edward reminds us that a certain performance of his own, when he put these views of bis in action, was described by the Premier, 1fr. Asquith, as "a grave and unprecedented outrage." H e on his part declared Mr. Asquith's attitude to be "a hypocritical sham," but the use of these high dictionary explosiYes has not at any time ", impa ired mutual good relations, which at this moment are better than eyer. -x-
·X·
Kot to n1ake the list Loo long, and omitting X, Y, Z, we shall take the next last letter, W . Lord Wimborne, the Liberal Horne Rule Lord Lieutenant and Lieutenant GoYernor of Ireland, appears equally impressed with tbe soundness of Sir Edward Carson's position. H aving graciously interviewed as many as po5sible of Si~ Ed1rard's leading adherents in this particular programme, · the Viceroy bas taken occasion to declare publ icly several times that . what bas most impressed him in this ottitudc of theirs is its "loyalty," which Mr. -Birrell , Chief Secre tary for Ireland, :ilso assures us, " h:b nOL been c;i.llcd io questkm . ...