The Irish Committee at Work
THE preliminaries of organization for the Irish inquiry are ended and the time for action has arrived. The American Commission on Ireland, chosen by the Committee of One Hundred on Ireland, held its first meeting in Washington last Friday and Saturday and issued the following preliminary statement:
The American Commission on Ireland has accepted the task [entrusted] to it with the sincerest desire to improve the relations between the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland, to obtain facts as to what is actually happening on Irish soil, and to discover ways and means of offering continuing mediation, if such ways exist. Firmly believing that the present situation, if long continued, will menace the peace of the world, and realizing that it is already becoming a domestic political issue in America, the Commission seeks to shed light upon what is happening, in order to present an actual picture of the crisis to the American people, so that, with this background, constructive suggestions may arise as to a way out.
The members of the Commission are unanimously of the belief that the friendship of the English-speaking peoples for one another is of such priceless value to the welfare of the entire world, that for Americans to leave a single stone unturned to preserve that friendship would constitute grave culpability. The Commission is, moreover, profoundly stirred by the long-continued reports of lawlessness and the wholesale shedding of blood in Ireland on both sides. Its members cannot sit by unmoved at the possibility of an outcome so terrible that it might easily mean the destruction of the bulk of the sorely harassed Irish people, a people so gifted as to be able to make a unique contribution to the culture and progress of the world, a people whose voluntary martyrs have begun to make the whole globe realize that the situation of Ireland has reached a pass where brave men prefer death to its continuance.
If in such an hour the constitution of an unofficial commission of citizens of a friendly nation seems unusual, it is to be explained by the unprecedented circumstances in Ireland, by the fact that millions of Americans of Irish blood can know neither contentment nor happiness until peace is restored to their kin across the Atlantic, and by the historic American devotion to those peaceful ideals which but recently animated its troops in the World War. An America inactive in the face of the tragic events in Ireland would be an America recreant to its traditions and to its faith.
The Commission expects to effect its organization this week and to make arrangements for beginning its public inquiry on November 17. It seems also probable that, in order to facilitate its work, the Committee, consisting of Miss Jane Addams, ex-Governor Joseph W. Folk of Missouri, Frederic C. Howe, James H. Maurer, and Senator David I. Walsh, will increase its membership.
One of the first acts of the Commission was the drafting of a cable to Cardinal Logue, who occupies a position in Ireland similar to that of Cardinal Mercier in Belgium, requesting that a deputation of Irish Bishops be sent to this country to place before the Commission first-hand testimony on conditions in Ireland. The invitation was the result of several suggestions that have come from Ireland to the Committee of One Hundred. The Commission further announced that a number of the mayors of Irish cities will immediately be invited to hasten to this country to give their testimony. These officers will include both English and Irish partisans. A select list of American witnesses, composed of citizens who have recently returned from visits to Ireland, is also being compiled by the Commission.
The editors of The Nation, having fulfilled their function in gathering together the Committee of One Hundred on Ireland, acting as a secretarial medium for that body during the period when it was electing an executive commission to conduct the proposed investigation, and having initiated the appeal for funds to defray the expenses, have now withdrawn from direct connection with the matter. The American Commission on Ireland is in full charge and every member of the staff of The Nation wishes the Commission Godspeed in its task of high service. The full Committee, supporting the Commission, numbers 144 members. This body is representative of all that is best in American opinion and aspiration. Its complete membership is printed for the first time below:
Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago, Ill.
Hon. Charles F. Amidon, U.S. District Judge, Fargo, N.D.
U. S. Senator Henry F. Ashurst, Prescott, Arizona.
Bishop James Atkins, M. E. Church South, Nashville, Tenn.
Mary Austin, writer and lecturer, New York City.
Abby Scott Baker, Washington, D.C.
Governor Simon Bamberger, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Abraham Baroff, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, New York City.
Rt. Rev. Troy Beatty, P. E. Bishop of Tennessee.
Mayor C. F. Beck, Akron, Ohio.
Mayor Martin Behrman, New Orleans, La.
Fred G. Biedenkapp, Brotherhood of Metal Workers, New York.
William Harman Black, former member National War Labor Board, New York City.
Alice Stone Blackwell, Boston, Mass.
Harriot Stanton Blatch, New York City.
Lucy Branham, New York City.
J. M. Budish, United Cloth, Hat, and Cap Makers of America, New York City.
Rt. Rev. Hugh L. Burleson, P. E. Bishop of South Dakota.
Rt. Rev. C. E. Byrne, Bishop of Galveston, Texas.
Governor Thomas E. Campbell, Phoenix, Arizona.
Rt. Rev. John J. Cantwell, Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles.
U.S. Senator Arthur Capper, Topeka, Kansas.
Governor Robert D. Carey, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Frank E. Carstarphen, Special Counsel for the Federal Government, New York City.
J. J. Castellini, merchant, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Parely P. Christensen, Presidential candidate, Farmer-Labor Party, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Professor Arthur C. Cole, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
George W. Coleman, President of the Open Forum National Council, Boston, Mass.
Martin Conboy, former Director of the Draft, New York City.
Henry W. L. Dana, Cambridge, Mass.
Rev. William Horace Day, former Moderator of the National Council of Congregational Churches of U.S., Bridgeport, Conn.
Rt. Rev. E. T. Demby, P. E. Suffragan Bishop of the Colored Race, Province of the Southwest, Little Rock, Ark.
Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, editor of the Crisis, New York City.
Professor Horace A. Eaton, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
Governor Edward I. Edwards, Trenton, New Jersey.
Hon. Maurice F. Egan, former Minister to Denmark, New York.
John Lovejoy Elliott, Hudson Guild, New York City.
Hon. J. W. Folk, former Governor of Missouri, Washington, D.C.
Mrs. André Fouilhoux, Short Hills, N.J.
Clemens J. France, former Collector of the Port of Seattle, Wash.
Royal W. France, lawyer, New York City.
Governor Lynn J. Frazier, Bismarck, N.D.
Zona Gale, writer, Portage, Wis.
John F. Galvin, former Chairman, Board of Water Supply, N.Y. [page 2]
Gilson Gardner, Washington correspondent, Newspaper Enterprise Ass'n.
His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, Md.
Mayor C. P. Gillen, Newark, N.J.
Arthur Gleason, writer, New York City.
Hon. James [M.] Graham, former Congressman, Springfield, Ill.
Mayor Frank J. Hague, Jersey City, New Jersey.
William Hard, writer, Washington, D.C.
Rt. Rev. Robert Le Roy Harris, P. E. Bishop of Marquette, Mich.
Dr. Gillette Hayden, Columbus, Ohio.
Professor Carlton J. H. Hayes, Columbia University, New York.
Mayor J. J. Hayes, Vicksburg, Miss.
William Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher, New York City.
U. S. Senator Charles B. Henderson, Elko, Nevada.
Mayor Joseph Herman, Newport, Ky.
Morris Hillquit, lawyer, New York City.
Rabbi E. [G.] Hirsch, Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Philosophy, University of Chicago.
Mayor Daniel W. Hoan, Milwaukee, Wis.
Judge George Holmes, Omaha, Neb.
Rev. John Haynes Holmes, President Free Religious Association, New York City.
Rt. Rev. J. M. Horner, P. E. Bishop of Asheville, N.C.
Frederic C. Howe, former Commission of Immigration of the Port of New York.
Bishop John Hurst, Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Md.
Mayor John F. Hylan, New York City.
Dr. Edmund J. James, President Emeritus, University of Illinois.
U.S. Senator Hiram W. Johnson, San Francisco, California.
James Weldon Johnson, Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, New York City.
William H. Johnston, International Machinists Union, Washington, D.C.
Rev. Paul Jones, formerly P. E. Bishop of Utah, New York City.
Dr. David Starr Jordan, Chancellor Emeritus, Leland Stanford Jr. University, California.
Most Rev. James J. Keane, Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa.
Mayor H. W. Kiel, St. Louis, Mo.
Edwin P. Kilroe, Assistant District Attorney, New York City.
Richard R. Kilroy, editor, Anaconda Standard, Butte, Mont.
Dr. George W. Kirchwey, Head of Department of Criminology, New York School of Social Work, New York City.
Rev. G. S. Lackland, Denver, Col.
U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follete, Wisconsin.
Hon. F. H. La Guardia, President of the Board of Aldermen, New York City.
John S. Leahy, St. Louis, Mo.
Owen R. Lovejoy, General Secretary, National Child Labor Committee, New York City.
Professor Robert Morss Lovett, Dean of the Junior Colleges, University of Chicago.
Hazel MacKaye, Director of the Bureau of Pageantry and the Drama, Y.W.C.A., New York City.
Rabbi Judah L. Magnes, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Jewish Community (Kehillah) of New York City.
Mayor James B. McCavitt, Anaconda, Mont.
Allen McCurdy, Secretary of the National Executive Committee, Committee of 48, New York City.
U.S. Senator Charles L. McNary, Salem, Oregon.
Bertha H. Mailly, Executive Secretary, Rand School of Social Science, New York City.
Hon. Dudley Field Malone, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, New York City.
Basil M. Manly, Director of the Scripps Economic Bureau, Washington, D.C.
Mayor Elliott Marshall, St. Joseph, Mo.
Anne Martin, publicist, Reno, Nev.
Congressman William E. Mason, Chicago, Ill.
James H. Maurer, President Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor, Harrisburg, Pa.
Miss Katherine M. Meserole, Bellport, Long Island, N.Y.
John E. Milholland, business man and writer, New York City.
A. P. Moore, editor of the Pittsburgh Leader, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. Agnes H. Morey, Brookline, Mass.
Bishop H. C. Morrison, M. E. Church South, Leesburg, Fla.
William J. Mulligan, Supreme Director of the Knights of Columbus, Thompsonville, Conn.
Mrs. William Spencer Murray, Catskill, N.Y.
President William A. Neilson, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Professor William A. Nitze, head of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago.
Albert J. Nock, editor of the Freeman, New York City.
Edward N. Nockels, associate editor the New Majority, Chicago, Ill.
Rt. Rev. John J. O'Connor, Bishop of Newark, New Jersey.
Daniel C. O'Flaherty, Richmond, Va.
Rt. Rev. Charles T. Olmsted, P. E. Bishop of Central New York.
M. O'Neill, Akron, Ohio.
Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons, P. E. Bishop Coadjutor of California, San Francisco.
Captain Julius C. Peyser, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Senator James D. Phelan, San Francisco, California.
Rev. Watson L. Phillips, Shelton, Conn.
Amos R. E. Pinchot, lawyer and publicist, New York City.
Mayor Willis H. Plunkett, Phoenix, Ariz.
Rev. Levi M. Powers, Washington, D.C.
Mayor George A. Quigley, New Britain, Conn.
Mayor Edward W. Quinn, Cambridge, Mass.
Congressman Charles E. Randall, Kenosha, Wis.
U.S. Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, Louisiana.
Mrs. James Rector, Columbus, Ohio.
Raymond Robins, formerly Commissioner in command of the American Red Cross Mission to Russia, Chicago, Ill.
Gilbert E. Roe, lawyer, New York City.
Mrs. John Rogers, Jr., New York City.
Rev. John A. Ryan, Professor of Theology, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Professor Ferdinand [Schevill], Professor of Modern History, University of Chicago.
Rose [Schneiderman], Woman's Trade Union League, New York.
Mayor Cornell Schrieber, Toledo, Ohio.
Hon. R. O. Sharon, Peoria, Ill.
Congressman Isaac R. Sherwood, Toledo, Ohio.
Dr. John S. Simon, St. Louis, Mo.
J. C. Skemp, International Union of Painters and Decorators, Lafayette, Ind.
Mayor E. P. Smith, Omaha, Neb.
Mrs. Anna Garlin Spencer, minister, educator, White Plains, N.Y.
U.S. Senator Selden P. Spencer, St. Louis, Missouri.
Emma Steghagen, Woman's Trade Union League, Chicago, Ill.
Doris Stevens, New York City.
Mayor Peter F. Sullivan, Worcester, Mass.
Rev. Norman M. Thomas, editor of The World Tomorrow, New York City.
Richard C. Tolman, Associate Director Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, War Department, Washington, D.C.
Albert B. Unger, Assistant District Attorney, New York City.
Hon. James K. Vardaman, former U.S. Senator, Jackson, Miss.
Mrs. Henry Villard, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Congressman Edward [Voigt], Sheboygan, Wis.
John H. Walker, Illinois State Federation of Labor, Springfield, Ill.
U.S. Senator David I. Walsh, Boston, Mass.
J. Barnard Walton, General Secretary, Advancement Committee, General Conference of the Religious Society of Friends, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dr. James P. Warbasse, President of the Cooperative League of America, New York City.
William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, Emporia, Kan.
Rt. Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead, P. E. Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pa.
L. Hollingsworth Wood, lawyer, New York City.
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