8 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE November 27, 1918 Sinn Fein and the New Struggle By Eadmonn MacAlpine PRACTICALLY every generation of Irishmer class easily falls a victim to the charlatans who always claimed as the one necessity to final sucduring the past 700 years hag witnessed an lay all its misery to English rule and keeps its cess, the balance of power in the English House o armed uprising against English domination. In eyes from the economic situation at home. Commons; and the fact that Sinn Fein had deed during the first 500 years of the English The Irish Parliamentary party have long played definite program of action.
occupation the country was in a continuous state this game, ably aided whether consciously or not Sinn Fein, in the narrower sense of the words, of war some times the Irish gained the ascend, by the Unionist party of Ulster, and between means ourselves alone or by our own efforts, ency and other times the tide of battle favored them they succeeded in keeping the Irish work; but Jim Larkin, the Irish labor leader, writing in the invader. On the whole, although the English er eyes fixed on London and his hopes centered The Masses a short time after the Rebellion of did succeed in finally establishing themselves on on the coming of Home Rule. The Ulster union 1916 gives to the movement a wider interpretation a firm basis the Irish remained an unbeaten ists play their part by keeping the Ulster at the same time disavowing his belief in its ecopeople in the sense that a certain section of the workman terrorized with the prospect of Home nomic doctrines. Nitsche has spoken of the population steadfastly refused to acknowledge Rule and directing his energies to combating this ascending will of the people. he says, such a the conquest. This section was not confined to imaginary evil lest he should find an outlet for term would be a more literal translation; and yet any particular part of the island, but arose here them nearer home.
and there as opportunity presented itself.
But of recent years the Irish parliamentary the soul and meaning of such terms, it is neces Since the passing of the act of unton in 1800 party has lost prestige. They talked revolt and sary to explain right here that though the Sinn the form of resistance changed from that of a revolution for a quarter of a century without ever Fein movement from the intellectual side was appeople continually war with an alien invader coming near to action, they spoke continually of proved of by the Irish revolutionary section of to that of outbursts of rebellion against an estab the dawn of Irish freedom and squabbled among the working class, its economic basis as interlished authority but always lay the undercurrent themselves about petty reforms, they were loud preted by the political section of that movement, hood and their determination to sweep the for came more and more copies of the English upper son and others, was strongly assailed. It should eign domination out of the land for all time.
It is important that these two forces be borne reference to Ireland and supported her oppressions of political propagandists imported the political in mind that which refused to recognize Eng of other peoples. They continued in power largely and economic side of Sinn Fein from Hungary, land authority at any and all times and that by the prestige accuing from Parnell name and a bastardized translation of Liszt economic philo which recognized the union but rose in revolt the support of the older generation who like sophy. The Trish revolutionary movement, which against intolerable conditions. The latter section themselves mistook talk for action, but the young, comprised at least four fifths of the men under were the people who made the risings possible er generation wanted action, they dreamed that arms in the late rebellion, never at any time idenwhile the former were composed chiefly of a few Ireland might be free.
tified itself with the Sinn Fein position. On the middle class idealists. Irish history in dealing It was while Ireland was in this political slough contrary, we at all times exposed their ignorance with these revolts, or risings, pays nearly all its of despond that the Sinn Fein policy was propa of economics, and their lack of knowledge of the attention to the idealists and the more Irish the gated. pamphlet entitled The Resurrection of interdependance of nation with nation, but were history the more it misrepresents this point.
The people who formed the bulk of the fighters Arthur Griffiths was the herald of the new move self relianta nation in their idea of building up It in who fight in all revolutions the disposessed. young men and within the next few years the alone that the words Sinn Fein were first used.
From the period of 1740 until the signing of the movement grew to such proportions that a con One of the chief planks in the platform was the act of union the peasants the agricultural sec vention was held in Dublin in the latter part of withdrawal of the Irish representatives from the tion, and in the Ireland of that period the major 1905. It might be properly said that the Sinn British Parliament and the establishment of a nas volt under the various names of Whiteboys, Oak policy was definitely launched in 1906. The break tional council to which Irishmen should render boys and Steelboys. In all cases the revolts had down of the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1906 voluntary obedience, ignoring as far as possible their origins in the oppressive conditions governing the lives of the peasantry. Thousands of these and in a short time it had grown to such popular young Ireland like action and the movement gainpeasants were hung or jailed for life and at differ ity that a daily paper was issued under the name ed many adherents. Sinn Feiners were, however, insistent on the fact that they were not advocat ent times pitched battles took place between them Sinn Fein.
and the soldiery, yet conventional Irish history The chief reason for the growth of Sinn Fein ing physical resistance but were rather opposed gives them only a passing mention, and so it is may be fairly enumerated under two heads the to the physical force idea, urging passive resist ance as the means to accomplish the desired end.
throughout the pages of Ireland story. The failure of the Irish Parliamentary Party to achieve patriotic side is stressed and the economic the Home Rule although it had obtained, what it Their desired end was not in itselt very revolutionary they advocated the rule of Ireland by a important side is left practically untouched.
King, Lords and Commons, even going so far as to James Connolly, whose martyr death is being The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring suggest that if the King of England would accept misrepresented by the Irish bourgeoisie today, Continued from page six says of these same forces in his work Labour in officers of the All Russian army arrested four words they wanted a dual monarchy after the the Irish throne they would be satisfied; in Irish History. members of the All Russian government and as style of Austria Hungary. Hence the spokesmen of the middle class, in a result the government was dissolved. The emerAbout the time that Sinn Fein came promithe press and on the platform, have consistently gency calling forth the man, Admiral Kolchak, in sought the emasculation of the Irish National full dress uniform, appeared on the scene the Labor movement showed signs of activity, in fact nently before the public, the Irish Socialist and movement, the distortion of Irish history, and, All Russian dictator. All Russia for the All Rus the Irish Labor movement might be said to have above all, the denial of all relation between the sians was the motto inscribed on his banner had its birth at this time. It was with social rights of the Irish toilers and the political which, in deference to Mayor Hylan well known the return of Larkin to Ireland that the Labor rights of the Irish nation. It was hoped and in views on color schemes, had been changed from movement became a factor in the life of the tended by this means to create term flaming red to a delicate shade of pink. He country. It is true that labor unions existed in real National movement e. a movement in appointed several generals and admirals to lucwhich each class would recognize the rights of the rative positions in the All Russian army and fleet several large cities for a considerable time prior other classes and laying aside their contentions and as a result has these gentlemen as his strong least paralyzed, limbs of the British movement.
a lax manner in which he found common enemy England. Needless to say, the the matter of appointments, such as for instance the Irish branches of the English unions admin.
only class deceived by such phrases was the work General Semenoff of Vladivostok fame, refuse to istered Larkin organized the Irish Transport and ing class. When questions of class interests are recognize his authority and prepare to set up gov General Workers Union and from the moment of eliminated from public controversy a victory is ernments of their own.
its inception it became a vital and revivifying inthereby gained for the possessing, conservative All are, however, in complete agreement that fluence in the life of the working class of the class, whose only hope of security lies in such the Bolshevik forces must be crushed; it is on the country.
elimination. Like a fraudulent trustee, the bour: question of the division of the spoils resulting geois dreads nothing so much as an impartial from the crushing that the various dictators of Consequent upon the activity of the labor moveand rigid inquiry into the validity of his title ment the real measure of the Sinn Fein, and parAll Russia are split.
deeds. Hence the bourgeois press and politicians liamentary movements became apparent and then When stability finally develops the great powers began the struggle between the two ideas; the old incessantly strive to inflame the working class will, doubtless, immediately accord recognition to mind to fever heat upon questions outside the and the new the conception of Irish liberty as a the proper authorities with all the correct honors; petty bourgeois freedom resultant from the cre.
range of their own class interests. War, religion, bands, military reviews, flag raisings, salutes ation gay splashes of color marking the presence of conception of liberty as an industrial democracy apart from whatever intrinsic merits they may the wives and relatives of the functionaries. resultant from the establishment of a proletarian possess all serve in the hands of the possessing inaugural addresses and proclamations about li industrial republic, the rise to power of a class class as counter irritants, whose function it is to berty. freedom. democracy. stability avert the catastrophe of social revolution by en quite a lot about stability.
conscious proletariat and the consequent breaking of the shackles of both political and economic gendering heat in such parts of the body politic While Admiral Kolchak musters his Al Rus slavery. The class struggle clear cut and definite as are farthest removed from the seat of ecosian army, All Russian navy and stabilizes his nomic enquiry, and consequently of class conAll Russian All Siberian All Dictator democracy bold relief, unclouded by the bourgeois patriotism entered the field throwing the real issue into sciousness on the part of the proletariat.
the Bolsheviki, besides controlling the affairs of that had so long cast its baleful shadow on the life From this brief outline it can be seen that due the country at large, are devoting their spare time of the Irish working class. In this struggle, which to their ignorance of their own real history, due to unstabilizing Germany, Austria, Holland, and developed into open warfare in the Dublin strike to the fact that all, or practically all, Irish prose, Switzerland as well as causing many sleepless of 1912 13, the forces lined up in their historic poetry and song is heavy with the story of un nights to the kings of the Italian, Spanish and order the Irish and English bourgeoisie and equal fights, disastrous defeats and the ensuing British democracies.
capitalists on one side and the Irish working class, reigns of Terror, and due to the living reality of Isn it a pity that the Bolsheviki are so unsupported by their English, Welsh and Scotch capitalistic misrule in Ireland, the Irish working stable. brethern, on the other.
other a