Letter from William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin

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LETTER FROM HIS GRACE THE MOST REV. DR. WALSH, ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, TO HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL O'CONNELL OF AMERICA Archbishop's House, Dublin, 10th November, 1919. My dear Lord Cardinal, I wish to contribute a hundred guineas (£105 sterling) to the Irish National Fund inaugurated under the auspices of the elected body known as Dail Eireann, our Irish Parliament. I cannot but think that, as far as our people of Irish race are concerned, their knowledge of the fact that I have subscribed to the Fund would be of at least as much help as any money subscription of mine could be. But as matters now stand in Ireland, none of our newspapers dare publish the fact that I have subscribed. We are living under martial law, and amongst the numerous devices to which our present government has had recourse in its foolish attempts to crush the national spirit of our people is the issuing of sundry military orders. In one of these they have given notice to the editors or managers of our popular newspapers to the effect that the fate of any newspaper venturing to publish the names of contributors to the Fund, or the amounts contributed, will be immediate suppression. I am, of course, well aware of the deep personal interest that your Eminence takes in our Irish national affairs, and of the powerful help that you have given to our people in their effort to secure their rightful control of the government of their own country. I trust that your Eminence will not consider it a misplaced confidence on my part that I feel assured of your willingness to come to my aid by helping me to make known in America the fact of my subscription to the Dail Eireann Fund. Freedom of the Press, the right of rublic meeting, the right of personal liberty, even the right of trial by jury, no longer exist in this country, except so far as they can exist subject to the absolutely uncontrolled discretion of some military ruler technically designated the "competent military authority." All this has had its natural effect—the driving of disaffection under ground—with the no less natural result that disaffection, driven under ground, finds an outlet in crime. The "competent military authorities" do not seem to realise that there is no possible remedy for this lamentable state of things so long as the source of all the evil—the present system of military rule in Ireland—is maintained. Apologising for this intrusion, I have the honour to remain, your Eminence's devoted servant in Christ. * WILLIAM J. WALSH, Archbishop of Dublin.