oughly weighed, there was always a chance of Germany lending a
hand."

As to the general attitude of Sinn Fein and Larkinite Ireland, it might
be described as one of benevolent neutrality where, as in many cases, it
was not one of actual hostility.

True, recruiting figures had reached a total quite unprecedented in
Irish history (150,000), and loyalty had received an official stimulus
when the Irish leader and the Lord-Lieutenant toured the provinces
together; but this was discounted in the country districts by the
deliberate plans of the Sinn Feiners, and in the towns, or rather in
Dublin, by a sense of the futility of all war, and in particular this
war, whose aims were vague enough to the statesmen, and appeared almost
illusory to the worker. Hence anyone reading the _Workers Republic_
could have noticed whole passages that might have been taken direct from
the German Socialist Liebknecht.

One very significant leader (Saturday, February 5, 1916) on "The Ties
that Bind" is well worth quoting in parts as an example of this
feeling:--

"Recently we have been pondering deeply over the ties that bind this
country to England. It is not a new theme for our thoughts; for long
years we have carried on propaganda in Ireland, pointing out how the
strings of self-interest bound the capitalist and landlord classes to
the Empire, and how it thus became a waste of time to appeal to those
classes in the name of Irish patriotism.

"We have said that the working class was the only class to whom the word
'Empire,' and the things of which it was the symbol, did not appeal;
that to the propertied classes 'Empire' meant high dividends and
financial security, whereas to the working class that meant only the
things it was in rebellion against.

"Therefore from the intelligent working class could alone come the
revolutionary impulse.

"Recently we have seen the spread of those ties of self-interest binding
certain classes and individuals to the Empire--we have seen it spread to
a most astonishing degree until its ramifications cover the island,
like the spread of a foul disease.

"It would be almost impossible to name a single class or section of the
population not evilly affected by this social, political, and moral
leprosy....

"For the sake of L400 a year our parliamentary representatives become
Imperialists; for the sake of large travelling expenses and luxurious
living they become lying recruiters....

"There is nobody i