THE SUNDAY PEE; OMAHA, SlTTEMHEfl 10. 1022.
Michael Collins' Own
of Erin s Stra
10 A
ggle
Si
Who can tell the tory of Michael Collins, save -only
Michael Collins himself?
Michael Collins' whole life and its purpose may well be
Bummed up In tho words, "Fighrand forgive."
These two activities, one of thd combined body and
brain, the other the product of tho heart, ever ran together.
Ftehtinjr, he forgave; forgiving, he still kept up the fight.
The last moment of hi life was like every other moment
that had preceded it with the fighting blood draining
from his body, and every drop of the welling flood crying
for more fighting, the great soul of the man dominated
and his strength and life left him while his lips formed the
single word "Forgive."
On the day of his death, the first Installment of Collins
How It Happened
By 1IAYDEN TALBOT.
('H'rlhl VfW York Amrrlraa.
CHAPTER I.
I mrt Mit hurl Collin tin the bat
tli: line but it wa my own indi
vidually treated battle and, insig
nificant in itclf, it o I liorou lily
illustrate the charsrtrr of the nun
who died with "Forgive" on hi
lip, that I tell it to you.
1 wai one of the ll) newspaper
correspondent who attended the
first public srttion of the Hail Ei-
reann. I 'recognized in Collin the
most in tcre( Iiijj figure of that re
markable parliament and ecured
an appointment 'with him for an
interview. It wa for 10 that eve
ning at the Greshain lintel.
After waiting IS minute after
the appointed hour to get a mes
sage "Too busy." I fired the first
gun in my only battle with Collin
in the form of a note saying:
"Dear Mr. Collin:
"you invited me to ee you at
10 o'clock. Word is now brought
you are 'too busy.' Is this the an
swer yoti wish to send the .15,000,
IXK) readers of our publication in
America? TALBOT."
Greatness of the Man
Inexcusable made doubly im
pudent by not enclosing it in an
envelope, but sending the single
folded sheet, with "Michael Col
lins" scrawled on the outside yet
immediately Ante back' this lame
note with the following reply writ
ten in one corner:
"I thought I aid 10:30 and will
be down at 10:30. Please wait and
oblige, M. C."
I wat ashamed. To me then
came a glimmering of what later,
when I had learned to revere the
man, was to know as hi chief
characteristic; an almost sublimi
nal greatness. It was greatness in
big things that made him Ireland's
leader; it was greatness in every
little thing that enshrined him in
every Irish heart and in mine for
all time.
When be appeared I followed
him upstairs. He took the stairs
two at a time, for he was the em
bodiment of speed both mentally
and physically. Down a long corri
dor I followed him and was to learn
later that this was the headquarters
of the leaders of the present free
state government.
We passari through a room where
Arthur Griffith sat writing. He
only glanced tip, saw that Collins
was the intruder and resumed bis
writing. In tho last of the 10 com
municating rooms Collins halted.
I took note that the door to the
passageway was double bolted.
Collins said:
'Have a drink?"
At Secret Conference
Now for the first time I saw the
glint of a smile is his eyes. Collins"
himself wouldn't drink but he
listened for IS minutes while I
told him the importance of taking
the public into his confidence.
More than a dozen times during
our talk interruptions came in the
shape of grim visaged, alert youths
who stuck their heads into the
doorway; came to Collin's side at
a nod, and departed with a whis
pered word.
, I was present at the first secret
conclave of the leaders after the
signing of the treatyl In the last
hi the 10 connecting rooms I was
witnessing without knowing it at
the time, the working out of a
icheme to force an adjournment-of
ihe dail to give the leaders time to
conduct their campaign of educa
tion for the treaty. Michael Col
Jins. sitting there with me, had his
hands on the levers of the Dail
-Eireann.
, When I had finished stating my
tas Collins sat for a space, staring,
weighing, perhaps, the conse
quence of hi departing from his
established policy of silence. As
though he had reached a decision,
he sprang to the door. There he
turned and said: "Do you mind if I
brim; Mr. Gritlith in?" and without
wailing for my anwer he left, to
return a moment later with Mr.
C.n.'Vith,
His Oicn Word Picturt
For IS minute thry Wuril
the advisability of mv Uif je 'ti"ti
for publicity. I mvlit base been
in the tteit county lor all the at
(tel;on lfiy paid me, hut at the
tiij Cidlm tore a lr jff from
h no'e book and when he had !"
i.hf.t handed t. rcuit t me. I
cherish tho.t lt .t:te -t I
tt.-vwly vnstfn stouts. TY.t were
im V nmisiew with I '!!. wfi'cii
ly h !ii!f.
If at lsv ' mwit t! aft ait u.ur
v. l!.y ' 'h. t'ik
wonf-di ' '' '"
tuiii. to'v ' !-! ...!.
a.f H ta . t S ! ' W.t I I Ol
liti 1 "! i! ItUiila fft 4"!
I h,-t I' hr luttii Hot
i,m- i, d M ha II !' " h- . !
"At U heur t tt!4 with
M ati C '"' H a ttt.stnt,
Ki '' ". t sat 1it
iim u ur it H m H
tti (! l M ; II
v v s . " I h ta'
Yt tsfa l. I vll' I ''J f t
tf.t Kit'. i i IrtUM
having a chanc of going ahead
to rebuild tht lrih nation.
"H it full of hope and buoy
ancy, and, although ha i well
aware that the treaty doea not
mean full freedom, ht itatea em
phattcalty that it doe give free
dom to ahow the Irish capable
of making their national statui
aecurc and strong.
The Practical Man
"He says he is the practical
nun, and lie look forward with
hope to the future, with confi
dence in the will and strength of
the Irih people to make them
clve a nation among the nation.
"He thinks of Ireland a a home
of freedom for the individual a
place where men and women shall
be really free."
Hack of the (cIMimned picture
created by theKe word can you
nee Washington, or Jefferson, or
Lincoln, or I-'.mmet? Or can you
fe as I do the reincarnation in a
single person of the brat of all
those long since departed patri
ot? 1 did not see Collins agaiii till
the niwht of March 4, 922, the
iiiht following: the day of bitter
est recrimination the tormy
session of the Dail Eireann had
yet produced. Charges of treason,
thick and stinging as hail 'stones,
had been showered at Collins and
Griffith. Dc Valera had denounced
references to his "Document 2"
and secured Griffith's disgusted
consent to keep it secret, when Col
lins, through hi lieutenant, Cos
grave, in the dail, by parliamen
tary maneuvering, read into the
record the oath of allegiance to the
crown as it was in "Document 2."
De Valera's Revenge
The trick enraged D Valera, be
cause it defeated his purnose and
he in turn sprung a surprise at the
end of the session by giving out
the whole of Document 2 with a
virulent attack on the treaty sup
porters. 15 ut De Valera over
reached himself. He had deleted
certain portions of the document;
had supported his contention by in
troducing a false instrument, made
false by himself.
It was my pleasure to be .the
first to advise Collins and Griffith
of this action by De Valera. They
read the statement, then Griffith
showed me a copy of the original
Document 2 and pointed out De
Valera's omissions. While he wa
doing this Collins was writing. He
interrupted us to ask Griffith to
listen to what he ha1 written and
Griffith approving it, Collins hand
ed it to me saying:
"Do what you like with it."
It was being cabled to New
York within a few moments.
I treasure that history-making
manuscript, but more I treasure the
memories of the man who all day
long had withstood the hail storm '
of treason calls and now, answer
ing a lying statement that well
might be calculated to destroy
his country's last hope for peace
and freedom, let not one drop of
bitterness or venom drip into his
reply.
It seems almost beyond human
nature that he should not then and
there have exposed De Valera's du
plicity. Yet, never a word. I think
he pitied De Valera for the twisted
conscience that justified such con
duct and pitied Ireland that she had
such a champion as De Valera' but
his whole striving then was to
unlfe Ireland not to fight anyone
who claimed to be her friend.
Collins' Message
This is the message Collins
handed to me: i
"It i likely that the treaty may
be beaten, but that does not in
any way indicate that I am with
out hope. Ireland is not going to
be depVived of her right to live
in her own way no matter who
trie to deny or to defer that right.
The Irish people have already de
cided that the treaty meets with
their approval aa being the prac
tical course to adopt at the pre
ent time.
"Tht treaty does give ua a
chancs and does give Ireland a
' chinca to work out it own fu
ture on something like fair terms.
,I( th treaty is beaten I havs al
ready stated that I, as one of tht
plerupotnt,an, am absolved
from further responsibility. Th
treaty i then dead and tho who
have killed it hav of course the
position in their hands to follow
their jwhey and their poUy U un
known to me,
"A ikxumtnt hi been pre
diked as an amendment, but be
Ion that tan be honetity put a a
teal amendment th prewdent
euht to secure the signaiuies of
the Cnihah tllis n4 freeurt
tttiitioi of the new document by
t t'.n(Uii parliament,
"One tm ivxi ant tbmg mint not
be lofgottfii. If mm tn.t
J mnl Jut pn(MJ I of
it!mnt t tommii u mouily
I "atur. It puis Miit fcuaw
uw
M.
f Ij urt otae
t . an mut vt h 4 n i4
I, on l-uhmaa, and puMi
iiinuniditi tt itaa (dwntry,
not nf t
MICH A it. COLLINS-
Additional
own Btory arrived in New York. Another chapter of hia
book waa then on tho ocean coming here. The 18 chapters
were finished, except for final rewriting for correction,
and thco will he cabled no that the first installment ap
pearing in thiaSunday'a edition will be followed Sunday to
Sunday until the end.
Waa It Prescience
Waa it prescience that Induced Michael Collin, just a lit
tle time before the death of Griffith, to plan with a repre
sentative of The Omaha Dee for the publication of his life
gtory? Had the uncanny foreknowledge of the Celt told
hilt that hia days were few and that the cause for which he
was jiving his life demanded that hia followers, who were
Undertaking Big Job
It was after theie stirring inci
dents and a much closer acquaint
ance that Collin saw the force of
my argument for publicity and to
my last urging that he either write
a book himself or deputise mine
one to do it for him, he rrplicd to
me that he could not posaihly find
time to do it himself and the book
would be worthies, "except it wa
written by somebody who wa
closely associated with me in the
troublous time. I really don't
think it could be done by anybody
but yourself."
With that luggrrtioii a my
guide I prepared a erie of que
(ion covering a comprehensively
as I could the whole story of Ire
land's fight for freedom and after
reading them Collins tent for me
and said:
"I'm going to answer every one
of your question. What' more
I'm going to tell you things you
haven't asked about. You're un
dertaking a big job and it's worth
while doing it thoroughly. I'll
licln you to do just that."
And that is how Michael Collins'
book happened into being and to
he first seen by the readers of The
Omaha Bee.
Collins Life History
CHAPTER II.
The first of the written ques
tions I submitted to Collins dealt
with his family and himself. They
were last to be answered. Hut
inasmuch as there are more leg
ends about this young man in and
out of Ireland than are told even
of the mythical figures of an
cient times, it is well, perhaps, to
begin this story with the biograph
ical fdata he finally, reluctantly,
vouchsafed. .
First, however, an explanation
of the conditions existing at the
time he told me this part of the
story.
It was a rainy night early in
August, 1922, Collins, as com-maudcr-iu-chicf
of the national
troops, had been devoting almost
all of his time to conducting mili
tary operations against the rebels.
At the provisional government
headquarters he had been scarcely
seen.
During the first week of the
fighting in Dublin he had appoint
ed Liam T. Cosgrave, one of the
cabinet ministers, to act as tem
porary chairman. He had attended
none of the cabinet meetings'. To,
all intents and purposes, so far as
his associates in the government
were concerned, he was once again
"on the run." Every night found
him in a different bed.
His nominal headquarters were
in Portobello barracks, but almost
daily there were reports of his
having appeared always unex
pectedly in towns in every part
of southern Ireland.
Wherefore, it was without too
much hope of even seeing him that
I made a journey from London
to Dublin to try to obtain the in
formation from him that I still
lacked. His secretary increased
my gloom when I called and asked
if he could' arrange an appoint
ment for me.
Takes No Chances
Then, the morning of the fourth
day, came a message that Collins
Vould see me at 7:30 that evening.
I was to learn the meeting place
later by telephone. It was evi
dent that Collins was taking no un
necessary chances.
At the appointed place I found I
had to wait an hour before Collins
could See me. He was on hand,
right enough. I had guessed that
much when I had seen at the curb
outside the building a sporty, low
huug racingvar with a chauffeur
and recognized two of Collins' best
gunmen on the back seat. Hut Col
lins was closeted with Cosgrave.
arranging the last details of Cos
Rrave' running the government for
a period of at least two months.
This, then wa Collin' own esti
mate of the time it would take him
to "establish law and order in every
squire mile of the 24 counties." To
do it he was planning to quit Dub
lin and spend all of his time in the
fighting tones.
At length he tame striding in. a
fine figure of a soldier in hi gen
eral' uniform of gtrcn, over hi
arm a great coat, beneath the folds
of whit-ti 1 cui;lit a glunpe of a
hum rVK revolver protruding
from hi leg holtlrr.
tie wasted no tun in plt-Simma-luati,
hut etd h'iiie!i op;Hsite
me i te lg tattle an I otdrred
me to "lite av "
It only t'wk a minute K persuade
h;m l iU what b bat preuHisl
rttund U d and I hi i tht t?e
he li!,l m.
"I horn in b'1 fa'ni
i. WlWi!tiU t li'ltdlltV. ifOllrttV
tWk I he Iiuh nam ot th i!ir
an. H r t it i Vtuiwu bv
j r. s t t'aul I w
I1" )ni!'t tl V t ih'MriNt, wiiH
twtt tiM.IIH r tn I t v,u" ,k
k.niie
J A'r it rmce ot Father
M M .111 'I
'.
Ii V
. !-.
a ! ti II .
! h.
W.t t '
' I t ' t h i '. t . t
. ..th, t'j n !,(.; ii,ii4f
Chapters In Succeeding
Victim of Assassins' Shot
and Girl He Was to Marry
I ' -, -V.'
'
"Jfiick&el Collins' auC
than he. When I wasborn my
father was 75 years of ige. My
mother outlived my father by 10
years- He died in 1897.
"All my life I lived in childish
wonder of my father. Although I
was: a lad of seven when he died,
he had already inspired me with
implicit faith in his goodness, his
strength, his infallibilty.
"On my father's side there' are
records of ancestors back 4SU years,
when they were chieftains of the
tribes of Munstcr. 1'art of their
slogan runs like this:
'"Multitudinous is their gather
ing, a great host with whom it is
not fortunate to contend the
battle-trooped host of the O'Coil
eain.' "I was a reverential kid. Rev.
ereucc was not only instilled into
me by my father; it seemed a
natural trait. Great age held some
thing for me that was awesome. r I
was much fonder of the old people
in the darkness than I was of young
people. It's at night you're able
to get the value of old people. And
it was listening to the old people
that I got my ideas of Irish nation
ality.' "In the matter of schooling 1
had the education of the ordinary
farmer's son in Ireland a kind
of teaching impossible to compare
with American or English sys
tems; not even a secondary school
education as that term is under
stood in Englan'd.
"A far more valuable education
was at hand in the never ceasing
talk of Ireland's destiny, the injus
tices from which she had suffered
in the past and was still suffering.
As I grew up to young manhood
the l'arncll speech was the one
great topic of discussion. Those
were the days when every person
in Ireland was thinking in terms
of home rule. Home rule at the
early morning breakfast table,
home rule all the day, home rule
by cvisfy hearthside in the evening
on such fare did young Ireland
of my generation feed and grow
to manhood. It was this sort of
thing that made one part of the
atmosphere of nationalism.
Goes to London
' "In our own home foregathered
of an evening the people who were
leaders of thought in the communi
ty. Others might have dismissed
them as 'local politicians' for one
reason or another a contemptuous
term -but as a matter of fact they '
were very intelligent as regards the
doctrine of nationalism. And as for
localism, in the sense that it i
narrow and petty, one must regard
the circumstances of an Irish fam
ily in that time. What was local to
us in Clonakiltv wa in nowise
diffrrrnt from the immediate en
vironment rf a Calway or a Con
luueht village,
"The earlv lettteri of America
from N'iw l'ngtand to Virginia,
thought u'ong idi-ntiral line, even
thouh they did unwittingly and
without realilitinii of their cuin
itmn purpose, lint, then, their mo
live wa a smi'e une r!i-tirrsrr.
sitinn, ?- with us in Ireland at
tht beginning f the century. A
ranse, an inherit met n l tie.-d
C in!ti..rt m til inspired U. ll
sMin'1 a th "g any man r t
ml tnt f:MiU g'SYfrn. It v dii-
ft rtnt OM1 th it
'With my fuh hiithd) behind
nif. I wl usil i'im eui
im!'.'is. lie tV'in !! of !i
mS HI rf ni 'it'nn, I at I?
vs. M lit I s i" I
"On .-l!y I t! tdnrnd I va i
h'.nl '! v S it 'd i-fK To
ha mrt it ih Ii'bKki .'h
'rrls'i t in t p.xtr.Mt hat t !
?t -,uii ' a Si i'. f
i vt t 'M.d. t ': t
ill titlt I ' I-1 ..
it i ,i H I n ( ti
f o. i Art I v,
: . u , f St I m I . i.H t.
(t j.i- ' . i f ( f . f ia I i
tSt i tii )' t ! ic !
l;VsJ ( 1
i f o (
Issues of The Omaha Sunday Ilec.
to carry on the work, should know every hope and aspira
tion and expectation, and the way to them, that had actuat
ed their leader?
He talked to one man only, the Ixmdon representative of
The Omaha Dec. Ho talked of himself, yet thought not
of himself nor hia life. Talked of himself not because the
subject Interested him, Jjut because, with the light of vie
tory coming in Erin'a dawn, he would have the men and
women and children who had followed him so blindly know
more fully the thing they fought for.
Always "On the Run."
"On the run" from the Black and Tana; then "On the
run" from Irishmen who put personal feelings above the
1 "".. YV 1 -V
I
many more friends among Irishmen
resident in London. For the most
part we lived lives apart. Wc were
a distinct community a tiny eddy,
if you like, in the great metropolis.
But we were proud of our isola
tion, and maintained it to the end.
Opportunity. Comes
"When wonder is expressed, as
it often is, that I could have lived
eight years in Condon, and still
have been so l;ttle known that
120,000 Uritihh troops and Black
and Tans could not find me in four
years of hunting me in Ireland, I
can only attribute it to that policy
of voluntary isolation we alj ob
served in London. And, ater all.
Michael Collins, junior bank clerk,
could hardly be expected lo have
attracted any notice.
"And then came a real oppor
tunity, "Quecrly enough, it was preced
ed by another, an offer to go to
America.
"It was in 1914, just before the
declaration of war, that t e chance
came to take passage fcr New
York. I could have gone under the
most advantageous conditions, but
when I laid the scheme befoie Tom
Clarke he advised .ne net to go.
His reason satisfied me. He said
there was going to oe aomething
doing in Ireland wit'.un a year. I
changed my mind about going to
America, and plodded along in my
uncongenial job.
"It was in May, 1915, after Sea'.
McDcrmott hid been n rested and
lodged in prison to serve a four
months' sentence fo' making a se
ditious speech, that I went to Tom
Clarke and told him I waj ready
to go hom'j and do whatever he
wanted me to do. Uut he was not
icady for me to go. The time was
close at hand, he told me. but for
the present i was to rur.ain in
London.
"lieiore the summer of i 91 S was
ended, however, 1 got the sum
mons, and huiriedto Dubbn. Wit:
me went IS rt my pals all of ui
with years of London living behind
us. Out of ili.il I'ltle group six
were killed in the rivug ol banter
week, Wlo. One of these was my
brother-:n-law. .
Only One Leaves
"It may be worth tcliini at this
time to point out a somewhtt un
usual fact of a purely personal na
ture. It is jnuau.il. certainly, when
ent stop to consider tht in 44
year Ireland ha last glniot half
hr population throuith tm.grttioil,
Out ul mv family ol '!,t, only ont,
my brother, 1'atrivit, voluntarily
let i Inland My titur, llcUn, not
i btcamt a nun and u in t con.
Mitt in Yoii.4-.ir. And thtrt it
my stay in I union, but cthtrw;
t havt U e.'tkttd to rtnum ht
out ewit touti'iy
I tf.l h-ivs mifirstej Kiw.sfd
t ' . r a h in IS s t h n,H 1 1
' t--ant h- tsi.t-;al!tf mt
t V I h i i- .'. U-l t r! t
iNv , -n t.iii-t whet tl,M
sm:4 a'i' l Hi ilo: its. ((..
IV, ( . v ht U .l I'. i.k
I' It l iit at I I I'll ..( ' I l
I.U.. that 'l It tliMifii a' H.tl
.vr I t Ih: s: p.- i, ! ! 1- at
t . a ' ' t- s . . . '
V . I I s 1 1 i , ti ("..!
IS. M I . ., . . I., M . t
" t 1 .J . .. . !
! I I h.us ! It i. j H s i
what he had to ay when firtt I
iihmiited in v written question.
"Never mind my family or me.
Ireland's fight for freedom Is I
much bigger subject than any man
or any group of men. And it is
the fight -the true truth about it
that matters."
Hut having said tliii much lie had
made a constructive suggestion. In
hi opinion I could make no better
sl.irt than by hunting out Kotn
MarN'ril, profensor of early and
mediaeval Irish history in the Na- a
tioiul university, one of the fotin
iler of the Gaelic league, president
of the Irish volunteers, and now
ki'iu'ol.i (speaker) of dail eireann.
And o it wa; a few day later,
I hired a jaunting car and rt forth,
for Hl.ickrock, where a surprise
awaited me in the home of Loin
MacNeilll
The Easter Rising
CHAPTER III.
"There need be no doubt about
it whatever. I did everything in
my power to prevent the Eater
, week uprising."
This was Professor Eoin Mac
Xeill's answer to the question
Michael Collins had suggested I
put to him.. And the speaker of
dail eireann gave it with a degree '
of patent sincerity that made doubt
indeed impossible. It wa as if he
were glad of the opportunity to go
on record in a matter which he
knows has been widely discussed in
every home in Ireland for tight
years. Incidentally, Lirut.-Col. Sir
Matthew Nathan, under secretary
for Ireland at the time of the rising,
and Sir Mackenzie Dalzell CHalni-'
ers, K. C. U., one of the three mem
bers of the Hardinge commission
which inquired into the causes of
. the rebellion, have at last their
"Why I did what I did." Pro
fessor MacNeill continued, "has
never been told. But now that the
opportunity has come to make all
the facts known I am glad to- take
advantage of it.
On Black List
, "As president and chief of staff
of the Irish volunteers I was
dedicated heart and sou! to the
achieving of real independence by
the Irish nation. As one of the
founders of the Gaelic league 1
had done all in my power to
awaken the people to a conscious
ness of nationality. , When, in
1914, the sinn fein section broke
away from the general body of
the volunteers, I became leader of
the seceding body. At the same
time Ij took over the editorship of
the Irish Volunteer, the official or
gan of the army.
, "It must be borne in mind that
conditions in Ireland in the spring,
of 1916 made conferences exceed
ingly difficult for those of us on
the black list at Dublin Castle. In
my case it was exceptionally diffi
cult, living as I was out in the
country and away from my col-,
leagues. Much was going forward
that I knew nothing of determined
upon at secret meetings at which
1 was not present. Not until
after it was all over did I come
to learn the momentous decision
reached by the seven men who
signed and published the declara
tion of the Irish republic.
"Had I known their grim pur
post I might havt acted different
ly. I might have subscribed to it.
And yet I am not sure. Not even
they could have dreamed that Eng-
lifh stupidity would transform
their forlorn hope from ignomini
ous failure into Jirilliant success!
Irish Needed Arms
"England saw us drilling, knew
of our continuous recruiting, had
definite information as to our con
stantly increasing numbers and
let us do it without real interfer
ence. England wanted us to com
mit a blunder! Thus should we
ourselves have settled the Irish
question from England's view
point for generations to come.
We should have been soundly
trounced in the field by Carson's
army backed up by whatever
British support might ba necessary
and at the lame time ruined all
hopes of a united Ireland. Be
cause England believed wt were
planning to do the one thing that
would vindicstt her Ulster policy
our army was allowed to grow.
"In the spring of Ivies sse had
the men ami we had the discipline
ill plenty br our pinpos. It is
Innr that mie fit Us were Imping
that Sr Koer l'ruteut would
turned in in!ii inn' ti nnai ohivert
In tome tt IrvljnJ in Kite us lb
benrlil til their ttperinict, but !l
that ssa tenuity lo-mtei upn ssa
shipiin ui i. tiilin it-lit no aiol
ammunition
' I his t'sioulv mil a Vital ntd.
With., ut e (U jUiii iJ sse mill I d-i
llOlluilrf tint h.ii st Ut W'T-I
tail; I t il !' si. i-u ii's ssie t
tht tv I as'r oi ! iv ssa I-sr I
a IH si st t r iii fit !ino ut
Kl,lL I fl !ll s -,nt,l Ms HI
i'ic sai ' iMat i ( lh anus a" I
anooniM,tti.
t Itatt. is wa t it Uivlsi
s'-iii-Sna A i. I IS tt ti ts sHit I
s. i. id cf r! I ' t I. ! ko l' l
t -U'it .i. o't .n!t !s-!fi
a u,-.-i'j sso a t-t ol !
',.. ', ! m iii l 'in lor
ii, i ' . iti, (mt ss ; itis.t
a ti it s..-o'i.
principle ef freedom. "On the run" pursuing enemies In
the field and "on the run" mentally In the dail to meet par
liamentary tricks, Michael Collina had few leisure moments
to write his biography or to tell of hia aspirations for
Ireland.
His book, could he have written it, would have been
worth thousands of dollars to him; but in this, as In all
things, he had no thought of self, only for Ireland, and he
said to the correspondent:
"I'll tell it to you. You write it for Ireland and so it
Is that "Michael Collins Own Hook" comes to the readers
of The Omaha Hee.
There are 20 chapters to Michael Collins book. They
deal with every phase of the Irish situation and Its great
leaders and its great enemies and tell at last of the future
of Ireland, that he lived and died for.
Casement Arrested
"The world knows f( Case
jpent's arrett. It happened on Good
Friday. It is not o generally
known that the tame day a German
ship tarrying 2(1,0(10 rille and a
million round of ammunition wat
cuttlrd and sunk by lirr com
mander in Tialre Hay to escape
rature by the Hritish. Word of
both disaster readied me Saturday
afternoon. At the same lime a
' message from Casement liitntelf
advised me that he wa absolutely
opposed to our making any move
which, in the circumstance, must
he foredoomed to failure. I wisted
no time in trying lo prevent what
seemed certain to be a ludicrous
fiasco.
"Hy word of mouth, in lustily
written dispatches', and a formal
order which 1 inserted in the Sun
day Independent, I forbade any
movement of Ihe volunteers to take
place.
"And all this I did without the
slightest knowledge of the real
plans' of my colleagues!. Easter
Monday came as more terrible
shock to me thsn perhaps to any
other Irishman in Ireland. Seven
of our finest and our bravest
leaders had put their names to
the declaration of the Irish re
public, had seised the postoffice,
had fired the first thots of the re
bellion!. Of course, without
those German arms and ammuni
tion, they must have failed in
any event had I not issued the
countermanding orders but in
the resultant confusion, with our
forces in all. parts of the coun
try (notably Cork) remaining
passive, it seemed that this act
of desperation by a mere handful
of men poorly equipped and
with no support to depend on
would constitute the most la
mentable, futile gesture in the
annals of Ireland's history. Un
doubtedly this would have been
the case had it not been for Eng
land's stupidity.
"Jf England had only used the
Dublin police force instead of
high explosive shells and all the
paraphernalia of war, arrested the
leaders ott a charge of disturbing
the peace or, perhaps, trespass
the cause of Irish freedom
might have been set back a gen
eration. Every Irishman must
thank God that England made the
lni.slakc of treating it seriously,
thereby giving it a dignity with
which nothing else could have in
vested' It 1
"The seven martvrs went to
martyrs' deaths! Their fondest
dreams were exceeded! .Ireland's
freedom was at last in sight.
"I referred to the reason Eng
land permitted us to build" up the
Irish volunteers," Prof. McNeill
continued. "She hoped wc would
use that body to make war upon
Ulster. Now sir years have come
and gone and the truth, about
Ulster seems still to'be as little
understood as it was then. It is
time the truth were told. I feel
peculiarly we,l! fitted to tell it.
For I am a native of County An
trim and was educated at St.
Malachy college in Belfast.
"J speak bs an Ulsterman, if you
please, but that makes me no less
an Irishman .for that.
Trouble in Ulster
'Let an Ulster Outlander speak
for that part of Ireland from
which he comes. Here in Dublin
there appears to be no question
that 1 am an Irishman. Am I,
then, an Outlander wheif I am
among my kith and kin in- the
northeast? Or, if my own claim
to be Irish is graciously conceded,
must I believe that my father and
mother, my brothers and sisters
down in the north arc not of my
nationality?
"The truth is simple. England
has done her utmost to keep flam
ing the hatred conceived by big
otry and falsehood at the tune of
the plantation of three centuries
ago. To Irishmen in the south.
England's emissaries have preached
the lie that Ulster unionists are
aliens. How many centuries, one
may ask, does it take to make an
Irishman of an alien? What special
force is at work in Ulster to pie
vent the immigrant there from
ever absorbing the characteristics
of Irish nationalism?
"It is not a fact of race, but
an illusion of rate, that makes
Ulster unionist and pro-British
and ami-Irish. But it i tn illusion
that Lutjland ha cr.ittily created
and cartiiillv fostrrrd!
Bight Wau to Govern
"Th (oterin of iftitfiuu ftuds
in Ireland by rngUu-l i Himh
a pail i tb (s lid tn irtffrtgaMe
favt ti history Hut t siiins.iig
l-i Itii.J it itt uimrrstily ino.
i l lh lath.. !u ii rule
tuts h ti !, t4tlv ls sst'k intu
fit nai, tht t't'Si'lic tiit.lt h!'Hil'
!!v trt-tv to (day im.i tht hand nf
th s!h;m: man p i'tl"!
"lit! is t' ert n.i it'litr t I cy lo
tsa'd l lsii-t tin ti, s.i l
I ttsile ti tl sotsn Knti u(s
(.,- sst tiaiomli.'s t.t"n hv ul-
!, flit .'ll !-..-,(.t tit sttd.!-, tV
i a f . :i . ur it. ' ).-
' tio i 111411 ssH m aii
1 ' - s : t iif if ui any ss a t oi-
rll,it SSilh 'l'll.' ll.mlll
't'H ., ,1 l!. SS 'll S,
I I ki i n-tit's i i ' "i vi-
I t i-s s - s i I t-i.t i it H , i ii
a, ! t ,:'i l.i a K is .it I iHt
past we resolve to abstain from all
act and words of an exasperating
kind in the future? What if we per
form thrte preliminary ablution?
It mutt interest friends of Ire
land the world over to know that'
ever one of thrte queation has
been akd AND ANSWERED
THE KIGHT WAY BY THE
NEW GOVERNMENT OF
SOUTHERN IRELAND!
"Under normal condition there
are 1(1 commercial traveler front
Belfast house going through Ire
land for one going through (in at
Urilaiii. On Ireland, and not on
ilrilain, doc DelUst depend for
ihe use of her vast credit resource.
The Ulster bank, the Northern
bank, the i:clfat bank know where
their businrt is done. And Ulster
it a land of businrt mrnl Once the
iruth i known by Irishmen once
England' snare are recognized
and o avoided once Belfast and
Dublin together er the light
that our whole problrm i in fact
an economic problem when thi.
the real issue, i knit. I am confi
dent that the kindly southerner
will be glad to have by their boul
der the cold and harsh-tongued
men of the north."
Much more than thi Prof. Mae
N'eill told me before I finally took
my leave of him and darted bark
to Dublin aboard Jhe jaunting car.
Casement Tragedy.
CHAPTER IV-SF.CTION 1.
"Casement wa absolutely op
posed to the Easter week rising.
Oi this I have abundant proof. I
know he made a trip from Ger
many Irelandward for the sole pur
pose of stopping the rebellious.
I have his own statement to this
effect."
So Collins corroborated that part
of John MarN'eil's tory wherein
the speaker of Dail Eireann told of
Casement having advised against
the use of armed force at that time.
This unequivocal declaration's pe
culiar significance is that it is a flat
contradiction of the official state
ment issued by the British govern
ment following Casement's execu
tion. Part of that statement was as
follows:
"He was convicted and punished
for treachery of the worst kind
toward the empire he bad served
and was a willing agent for Ger
many. In addition, though him
self many years a British official,
he undertook the task of trying to
induce soldiers of the British army,
prisoners in the hands of Ger
many, to foreswear their oaths of
allegiance and join their country's
enemies.
"The suggestion that Casement
left Germany for the purpose of
trying to stop the' Irish rising was
unrasicd at the trial and is con
clusively disproved not only by the
facts there disclosed, but by fur
ther evidence which since has he
come available."
Collin's Opinion.
It is undented by any Irish lead
er that Casement did his utmost
to persuade German officers to
lead a rebellion. But listen to Col
lins' story:
"Casement's opposition to the
rising meant nothing to the leaders
in Dublin. They looked upon it
and in sense rightly that this was
simply one man's biased view
formed as a consequence of his ex
periences in Germany. His out
look on the rising or idea of rising
was naturally different from the
outlook of men like Scan McDcr
mott and Tom Clark.
"My own opinion is that Case
ment had acquired a world out
look and his mind was, consequent
ly, influenced by world conditions.
"German assistance appealed to
him as vital to the successful issue
of Ireland's rebellion against the
might of the British empire. It is
a fact to he told now without
harm to anyone that his disap
pointment over his failure to in
duce Germany to send to aid Ire
land's tight brought on tenons ill
ness which kept him many week
in bed in Munich.
"And let it be remembered tht
in his opinion he by no means ssa
alone. 1 can quite understand Pro
fessor MacN'ril's having shared this
view. He knew aa indeed did
most of ii that we were literally
only a corporal's guard planning
U attack armed (oict t .f the lintl
est power on earth, But MtDrr
moll and Clark were not uait ng
for tinman anl in the shape ot
nun. I tt king tht-ui meant mth
mi; lo iht-stj insptird trader.
"lfihmn ssrre guod enough for
iheiii. I iif y ssrtt soiitrnl to itly
solily ii;ii stitnt.th ol fortes tt
ho'i I lo ir tabulations Mfit
his.d rnt'u'y UHMi htimt torvtl
tlatxnt, "Of c oirs Itiey wai ted t.rm 4n
aunt tod amooiii.u.ii, hut, la-king
It, i m, Ihry t : 1 ptitittl to tighl,
It rr(ssi..e MttNtit't thttiy ifcai
! h t lrls had irsoits I Hjvoii
'I'"-'- ' t I. I Hit h.-f to tssss.ii
Iht Inih ji!t is itiii(,i, no t,il,. i
tsp!tnttK It ttumi) tt,, K
ihr fraud, it loiast t is t i
lu-tt I k I'.ii t:.,i if t tMi .,(
I liftilun
II .-Ill's, '
:t ' I bt
s. s.
Ttt Mil un'a!lMt.,t t4 "M sKa!
Cull tit 0q KitMy st II aa itaf tn
Ttit Umtht Jaivl.y Vte Kttt
t.
t