The Irish standard. [volume], February 01, 1919, Image 1

About The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920

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Vol XXXIIII. No. 10
Made Strong
Presentation
America Has Always Sympathized
With Nation's Struggle for
Freedom.
Inexorable Logic of Situation De
mands Freedom of Ireland From
British Domination.
England's Sincerity in Her Professions
During the War Will Be Measured
In Treatment of Ireland.
The World Cannot Live in Peace,
Half Slave and Half
Free.
Under the heading of "If any Sub
ject European Nation Has the Right
to Be Free, Ireland Has the Right,"
the Examiner of last Tuesday printed
the following:
In an interview printed in New
York the other day Justice Cohalan
said:
In spite of martial law and of a
large English army of occupation, and
without any bloodshed the people of
Ireland by more than a two-thirds vote
have broken down and destroyed the
old political machine which had con
trolled the country for more than a
generation and have declared more
unequivocally and decisively than did
the people of America before the Revo
lution their intention of governing
themselves without permission or hin
drance from any foreign power.
America has always sympathized
with peoples who are struggling to be
free. Never was there greater reason
for such sympathy than now, when
the making of a just and permanent
peace depends upon doing justice to
all people, and to none more than to
the people of Ireland, who have once
again so decisively and so impressively
shown their intention and determina
tion to be free.
The world is hoping and praying
for such a peace, and England will
have no greater statesman or friend
than the one who will commit her to
such a peace and turn the enmity
and hostility felt to her in so many
quarters of the world into friendship
and amity.
The Irish people have a natural and
inherent right to be free and inde
pendent.
They have a natural and inherent
right to a government which derives
its powers from the consent of the
governed.
If this is not so, then our Declara
tion of Independence is simply verbi
age and the professions with which
we went to war were unworthy pre
tenses.
If the world is not safe for the free
democracy of Ireland, then it is not
safe for any democracy which a
stronger Ration may desire to rule.
If England has the right to govern
the Irish people against their consent,
then Germany had the right to govern
the Pples against their consent, Aus
tria had the right to gpvern the Czechs
and Slovaks against their consent,
Russia had the right to govern the
Finns against their consent.
There is no escape from the inex
orable logic of these comparisons.
If the Irish people have not the
natural and inherent right to be free
and independent of a government con
ducted without their consent and
against their interest, no people has
the natural and inherent right—and
the only basis of liberty and inde
pendence is not RIGHT but MIGHT.
And there you have the doctrine of
despotism and militarism, disguise it
in whatever sophistry you will.
The hundred thousand American
men who lajd down their lives in this
war did not make that supreme sacri
fice to pull down the supremacy of
might over right in one portion of
Europe only more firmly to establish
that odious doctrine in another por
tion of Europe.
We do not see with what face our
representatives at the Peace Confer
ence could demand independence for
Bohemians, Slovaks, Jugo-Slavs and
every other small people in one part
of Europe and refuse to demand inde
pendence for the Irish people in an
other part of Europe.
The argument that the Irish people
could not defend their small nation
from the attacks of more powerful na
applies to ALL small nations
and presupposes that the old condi
tions of intrigue, aggression and wars
of conquest are to continue—and yet
we are assured day after day that
this war was fought to end such con
ditions and that the Peace Confer
ence will formulate a plan of perma
nent tranquility and permanent safety
for weak democracies.
Either the argument is.worthless or
else the promises and pledges by
which our people were led to make
their gigantic sacrifices of blood and
treasure were worthless.
If the Irish democracy cannot safely
exist in the world without the protec
tion of fleets and armies of its con
queror, then the world is NOT safe
for democracy, and all the lives and
money given by Americans to make
the world safe for democracy have
failed to accomplish their high ob
ject. We are curious to see any con
vincing denial of that' conclusion.
It is no argument at all to say that
of late years the English rule in Ire
land has been less oppressive than in
the past. The statement is not alto
gether true, as the late Sinn Fein
massacres prove, but even if the state
ment were true it does not funda
mentally alter the situation.
The English rule in Ireland is NOT
a government deriving its just powers
from the consent of the governed.
It IS a government based upon su
perior force.
It is the government of the Irish
people by the English people in the
interests of the English people.
That is the kind of government
against which Washington rebelled,
which Lincoln denounced and against
which we have just victoriously
fought.
If the British government is wise it
will abandon its rule of Ireland by
force and cultivate an allegiance based
upon gratitude, proximity, mutual wel
fare and, above all, upon the firm
foundation of justice and righteous
ness, without which foundation no
government is ever permanent, no
peace ever secure, no edifice of power
ever enduring.
By the measure of justice that is
meted out to Ireland will be measured
in large part the sincerity, the recti
tude and the results of the profes
sions and purposes of England in this
gigantic conflict.
If every people in the world, great
or small, strong or weak, is not safe
to live its own national life in its own
way and according to its own desire,
then the pledges which invited us into
the war and the high purposes which
animated us in the war have failed of
full realization.
To paraphrase the striking language
of President Lincoln, the world can
not live in peace half slave and half
free.
Justice cannot be weighed out in
unequal balances and be justice.
Democracy cannot serve two mas
ters.
Either we must stand-fast in sup
port of our high ideals of liberty and
independence for ALL PEOPLES who
strive to be free and independent, or
else we should regard the fate and
destiny of none.
Population Of
Onr City 415,748
Statistician Stuart Finds Minneapolis'
13 Wards Each as Great as
a City.
It would take 13 medium sized
cities combined in one to equal Min
neapolis' population of 415,748, accord
ing to H. A. Stuart, city statistician,
who today completed, a table showing
the city's estimated growth by wards,
contrasting the present population of
each ward with an American commu
nity of corresponding size. He points
out that the fourth ward the largest
in Minneapolis, with a population of
46,683, now equals in size the city of
Lexington, Ky. His comparison of
population by wards with cities of the
same size follows:
Estimated 1918 Population.
Ward Population. Cities of Same Size
1....... 22,995 Winona, Minn.
2 22,887 Alton, 111.
3 45,472 Quincy, 111.
4 46,683 Lexington, Ky.
5 38,057 Lorain, Ohio.
6 15,847 Ithaca, N. Y.
7 30,469 Burlington, Vt.
8 46,804 Joliet, I1L
9 33,253 Clinton, Iowa.
V- '—•..• :.^ -."•.•»•' .- •..• ^_ !:/.
Are you with us?
1
0 26,377 Appleton, Wis.
1
1 22,805 New London, Conn.
1
2 31,816 Fort Dodge, Iowa.
1
3 32.2S3 Wausau, Wis.
1918 estimated Minneapolis
total 41.-1,748
Total of 1910 census 301.408
Total estimated gain 114,340
Twelfth Ward Doubles.
Greatest gains in population were
made bv the twelfth and thirteenth
Former Superintendent of Minnesota
Schools Whose Hobby Was The
Extension of State Control to
the Parochial Schools,
Now in the Federal
Bureau of Educa
tion.
A Measure That Should Be Scrutin
ized With Great Care.
The Federal Bureau of Education,
proposed through the provisions of the
Smith Bill recently introduced in Con
gress, to transfer by degrees the super
vision of the local schools from the lo
cal authorities to officials at Washing
ton or, in other words, to "federalize"
them. Strangely enough this measure
has not only not been opposed by
many whose whole temper is strong
ly against any further Federal en
croachment upon our already attenu
ated local governments, but has re
ceived their unqualified support. "Cam
ouflage" is of doubtful value even in
the enemy's country, but it has no
place at all among friends. The stor
ies of illiteracy in many States, par
ticularly in the South, now circulated
in defense of the bill, very probably
have the merit of being true. But
there are wrong ways of doing the
right thing. Shall we do the right
thing by setting up a Federal Depart
ment of Education, heavily subsidized
by an annual hundred-million dollar
appropriation?
If we incline to an affirmative an
swer, we ought to know that this Bu
reau has power to marshal an army of
office-holders at Washington and
throughout the country, thereby throw
ing the schools into the unclean arena
of partisan politics. He is a simple
citizen who believes that the political
adage "to the victors belong the
spoils" is forgotten wisdom. Further
more the agents of the Bhreau are
authorized to inspect, investigate, fix
school-programs, educate teachers,
and by appropriations of money, build
up all such schools as will bow the
knee to this governmental Baal, and
incidentally, put God out of the
classroom. A Government that can
prescribe the training of teachers, as
well as the sidles to be followed by
American children, is a government
at whose feet ancient Prussia might
have humbly sat to beg further in
structions in the now completely dis
credited art of making all children
wards of the State, and all citizens
mere puppets in the hateful game of
selfish statecraft. We may now be
ready for many new things in this
country, but we are not ready for the
Do You the Cost of Publishing
a Paper?
We are positive that but few readers of The
Irish Standard realize and appreciate our effort
in giving them the best Irish paper in the United
States. Certainly, if they did, they would pay up
their subscription promptly. We need money to
enlarge the Irish Standard and every dollar re
ceived from subscriptions is used to make it big
ger and better. Please pay up your subscription
and be one of those who can point proudly to the
date opposite your name on the label and show
that you are paid in advance.
The success of the Irish Standard depends
on you. The success of Irish propaganda depends
upon The Irish Standard. The success of Irish
Independence depends upon the people of the
United States.
FEDERALIZING THE SCHOOLS
wards, the increase in the twelfth be
ing 16,185, or more than doubling the
population fixed for that ward in the
1910 census. The thirteenth ward
made an estimated gain of 16,049,
nearly doubling its population of eight
years ago.
The sixth ward shows the smallest
gain of any ward in the city, its popu
lation being estimated at 15,847 per
sons, compared with 15,466 in 1910.
importation of this poison of Prussian
ism.
Finally, we Catholic citizens may as
well face the fact, of which our Luth
eran brethefn seem keenly aware, that
the passage of the Smith bill means
the gradual, but certain extinction of
the private school. It now costs
Catholics a great sum to secure for
their children schools in which/God is
neither politely ignored nor summar
ily shown the door, but if the Smith
bill ever becomes a Federal statute,
the parochial school, humanly speak
ing, will be an impossibility. How do
we intend to meet this new peril to
religion and society? If we are con
tent to sit down and wait to see what
will happen, our gloomiest pessimists
will be justified. Possibly you are un
able to stir the society of which you
are an honored member, to a collec
tive protest, but you can at least pen
a personal protest to your local Con
gressman and both your Senators. Tell
them that you are one of many
American citizens who think this an
ill time to restrict still further the
right of the community over its
schools, and a very ill time, indeed,
to force upon the country a degree of
Prussianism to which even the most
ardent disciples of Kultur did ''not at
tain.—'America,' Vol. XX, No. 12.
It is gratifying to learn that Secre
tary of the Interior Lane, in his re
port to Congress, does not recommend
federal control of education. He urges
federal cooperation with the states.
On the other hand, however, we have
the fact that Mr. C. G. Schulz, until
recently state superintendent of
"schools in Minnesota, has been en
gaged by the U. S. Bureau of Educa
tion. According to press reports of his
appointment, "the Americanization of
public schools is to be his particular
work." For years Mr. Schulz has been
preparing the way for a state monopo
ly of education in Minnesota. Under
cover of Americanizing so-called
'.'foreign language" schools he sought
to extend state supervision to paro
chial schools during the war emer
gency.
A few weeks ago Rev. Joseph M.
McMahon lectured in New York under
the auspites of the Catholic Library
Association. Dr. McMahon spoke at
some length on the efforts made to
place our educational system under
the control of the Federal Bureau of
Education .in Washington, a movement
which might lead to abolition of all
private and parochial schools. He
contended that the effort to centralize
education would have a disastrous in
fluence upon the morals of the coming
generations.
Minneapolis, Minn., Saturday, February 1, 1919 5c A« Copy
The Policy
Of Sinn Fein
Count Plunket Explains the Movement
That Has Swept Over Ireland—
Hope for Complete
Independence.
Count 4Plunkett, the Sinn Fein lead
er, who was released from prison last,
week, and who is the first of the re
publican leaders to gain liberty, has
already received a correspondent with
whom he went, over the Sinn Vein
policy. The interview, coming from
such a leader as Count I'lunkett,
makes interesting reading:
"The Irish representatives who were
recently elected in the Parliamentary
franchise." he began, "are really rep
resentatives of the Irish people, for,
although they used the machinery of
the new government, they had the ap
probation of a much wider electorate,
for the Sinn Fein movement stands
for manhood and womanhood suffrage.
Every man and every woman has the
right to vote, and the organization is
managed on that basis.
"The work for the elections was
carried on under great difficulties, as
those who actually laid the foundation
of the Sinn Fein movement are under
arrest, 100 of the [tarty leaders and
organizers have been deported, while
about another 100 of their sympathiz
ers are in Irish or English prisons.
"Since these arrests were made, the
English government's policy seems to
hrive changed, for no more arrests are
being made. A strict watch is kept,
however, on those Sinn Feiners still
at liberty, and the police are very ac
tive in carrying out their instructions.
"These repressive measures are in
tended to irritate the people, but, in
stead of demoralizing, they tend to
stimulate activity. New methods of
repression are met. by organized de
vices. The perfect discipline of the
Sinn Fein organization is founded on
the watchword of 'Faith and Father
land.' Their church and their re
ligion are dear to the Irish people, and
Sinn Fein is to them as their religion.
"The first thing that is taught in the
organization is that if his leaders tell
a man not to hit back if he is struck,
he must obey, and he thus learns to
give up his own inclination for the
good of the cause. That is how men
who are really soldiers have marched
on without a word while they have
been abused and stoned.
In Communication With America.
"The Executive Committee of the
Irish Republic," Count Plunkett. con
tinued. "has been in communication
with the United States and other gov
ernment's, but what it specially
aimB
at is to get into communication with
the people of different countries by
representation at their labor con
gresses and also by propaganda. The
censorship stops propaganda through
the press and directly interferes with
written communications.
"We have sympathy with all nation
alities which are struggling for free
dom and have much fellow-feeling
with Russian aspirations.
"The Irish Republicans," he said,
"have a majority, even in Ulster,
which is divided into three parties
first, the Unionists, who do not wish
to be separated from England second,
those 'who want Irish independence,
but still want to keep some connec
tion with England, chiefly for trade
purposes and third, Irish Republic
ans, who want complete independence
for the nation.
"We regard the Irish Unionists of
the North as our fellow countrymen,"
continued the Count, "and they are
entitled to a place in the government
and to the same freedom as we de
mand for ourselves. Some people ask
for guarantees, but asking for guar
antees implies a want of freedom.
"Unionism, we say, is not' a prin
ciple, but a simulated party contriv
ance, promoted by ministers to keep
Ireland divided, and it is also em
ployed by wealthy manufacturers to si
lenc^ an outcry which might inter
fere with their trade interests. When
anything threatened their business in
terests through labor organizations,
they beat the party drum and led their
workers out on a political plea so that
nothing might interfere with the
swelling of their dividends.
The Coming Parliament.
"The declaration of an independent
Irish republic was made in 1916. To-
ESO.
Pope Foresaw
German Kultur
English Prelate in Discussing Allied
Triumph Recalls Condemnation of
Kultur by German Bishops.
The Archbishop of Liverpool, the
Most Rev. Dr. Whiteside, in an Advent
Pastoral, dwells on the victorious end
of the war. In the Allied victory the
Archbishop sees the directing hand of
God, and ascribes the victorious con
clusion to the power of prayer.
In referring to .the much vaunted
German Kultur, the Archbishop recalls
how the German Bishops, in a joint
Pastoral, issued shortly after the be
ginning of the war, solemnly de
nounced German Kultura as hollow and
worthless, unwholesome and corrupt,
anti-Christian and impious. In sum
marizing the aims and character of
this Kultur, Archbishop Whiteside pro
ceeds
"Everything German above every
thing else. It aspires to rule the world,
by force, if possible, if not feasible,
then by peaceful penetration. It.
recognizes no right, no liberty, no con
sciousness, outside the boundaries of
the German nation. In a word, it is
the rationalism of the German philoso
phers adopted as a national creed.
"The bombastic talk, then, of the
late ruler of Germany the claim that
small nations bad no right to exist,
but should be absorbed by the super
ior Kultur of Germany the claim that
Germany must have its place in the
sun, with opportunity of spreading
Kultur abroad the references to the
God of the German nation, and to the
battles fought under the gaze of the
past heroes of Germany the total dis
regard of international law when it
suited their purpose the ignoring of
the natural and divine law all these
things are not as many thought, the
flgmentB of a diseased brain, but are
still for the greater part of the Ger
man nation outside the Catholic
Church a part of their intimate con
victions. Can it be wondered that the
Catholic Bishops of Germany have
denounced German Kultur as anti
Christian and impious? No wonder
that Kultur has found the Catholic
Church its chief antagonist. The per
secution of the Church in the seven
ties of last century was the attempt
to secure the submission of the Church
to the dictates of kultur.
"It failed, as so many similar at
tempts have failed in past centuries
and Kultur in the person of Bismarck
had to go to Canossa. And by the re
cent collapse of German Kultur the
lesson is shown to the whole world
that, 'unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it.'
"One further point needs emphasiz
ing, and it is this. The latter devel
opments of Kultur were years ago de
scribed by Pope Leo XIII. He traced
it back to the rejection of the prin
ciple of authority in religion at .the
time of the Reformation. One of the
leading writers of Germany at the
present day admits this when he tells
his fellow-countrymen that no German
statesmen must ever forget that the
German State is rooted exclusively OK
Protestantism, and that it was the
German nation, above all, which
developed the root idea of the Reform
ation, that is, the right of unrestrict
ed and unprejudiced inquiry, and
that it also holds the leadership in the
domain of free spiritual development.
The Leadership of Germany.
"The question our fellow-country
men have to face, then, is whether
they are going to be content to fol
low the leadership of Germany in the
social and moral reconstruction that
may be before us in this land. This
needs an answer in these days, when
it is proposed to teach the future citi-.
zens of this country a religion formu
lated on the principles of the Reforma
tion, by Moral Instruction Leagues and
by promoters of interdenominational
Syllabuses.
"We too, as Catholics, have our re
sponsibilities. Never perhaps in re
cent centuries have we had the same
opportunity of securing from non
Catholics a dispassionate considera
tion of the claims of the Catholic
Church. From what so many of them
have witnessed on the field of battle,
or in Catholic countries, there is a
spirit of inquiry into the doctrines of
the Church. It is for us to be in a
position to satisfy this craving. This
we can do by obtaining a fuller knowl
edge of the truths of the Church, and
by offering explanations to others as
(Continued on Page 8.J