nd deported without trial. It was even
sought to poison the wells of American sympathy by levelling against
them and others an allegation which its authors have failed to submit to
the investigation of any tribunal.

To overlay malpractice by imputing to its victims perverse or criminal
conduct is the stale but never-failing device of tyranny.

A claim has also been put forward by the British Foreign Office to
prevent you, Mr. President, as the head of a great allied Republic, from
acquiring first-hand information of the reasons why Ireland has
rejected, and will resist, conscription except in so far as the Military
Governor of Ireland, Field-Marshal Lord French, may be pleased to allow
you to peruse his version of our opinions.

America's present conflict with Germany obstructs no argument that we
advance. "Liberty and ordered peace" we, too, strive for; and
confidently do we look to you, sir, and to America--whose freedom
Irishmen risked something to establish--to lend ear and weight to the
prayer that another unprovoked wrong against the defenceless may not
stain this sorry century.

We know that America entered the war because her rights as a neutral, in
respect of ocean navigation, were interfered with, and only then. Yet
America in her strength had a guarantee that in victory she would not be
cheated of that for which she joined in the struggle. Ireland, having no
such strength, has no such guarantee; and experience has taught us that
justice (much less gratitude) is not to be wrung from a hostile
Government. What Ireland is to give, a free Ireland must determine.

We are sadly aware, from recent proclamations and deportations, of the
efforts of British authorities to inflame prejudice against our country.
We therefore crave allowance briefly to notice the insinuation that the
Irish coasts, with native connivance, could be made a base for the
destruction of American shipping.

An official statement asserts that:

"An important feature in every plan was the establishment of
submarine bases in Ireland to menace the shipping of all nations."

On this it is enough to say that every creek, inlet, or estuary that
indents our shores, and every harbour, mole, or jetty is watchfully
patrolled by British authority. Moreover, Irish vessels, with their
cargoes, crews, and passengers, have suffered in this war
proportionately to those of Britain.

Another State Paper palliates the deportations by blazoning