l to
that of the "small nations" oppressed by alien rule, for whose
emancipation the Allied democracies are fighting in this war.

The Irish representation in the Imperial Parliament throws a significant
sidelight on this prevalent fiction. Whereas England is only represented
by one member for every 75,000 of population, and Scotland by one for
every 65,000, Ireland has a member for every 42,000 of her people. With
a population below that of Scotland, Ireland has 31 more members in the
House of Commons, and 89 more than she could claim on a basis of
representation strictly proportionate to population in the United
Kingdom.

Speaking in Dublin on the 1st of July, 1915, the late Mr. John Redmond
gave the following description of the present condition of Ireland,
which offers a striking contrast to the extravagant declamation that
represents that country as downtrodden by a harsh and unsympathetic
system of government:

"To-day," he said, "the people, broadly speaking, own the soil.
To-day the labourers live in decent habitations. To-day there is
absolute freedom in local government and local taxation of the
country. To-day we have the widest parliamentary and municipal
franchise. The congested districts, the scene of some of the most
awful horrors of the old famine days, have been transformed. The
farms have been enlarged, decent dwellings have been provided, and
a new spirit of hope and independence is to-day among the people.
In towns legislation has been passed facilitating the housing of
the working classes--a piece of legislation far in advance of
anything obtained for the town tenants of England. We have a system
of old-age pensions in Ireland whereby every old man and woman over
seventy is safe from the workhouse and free to spend their last
days in comparative comfort."

Such are the conditions which, in the eyes of Nationalist politicians,
constitute a tyranny so intolerable as to justify Ireland in repudiating
her fair share in the burden of war against the enemies of civilisation.

The appeal which the Nationalists make to the principle of
"self-determination" strikes Ulster Protestants as singularly
inappropriate. Mr. Dillon and his co-signatories have been careful not
to inform your Excellency that it was their own opposition that
prevented the question of Irish Government being settled in accordance
with that principle in 1916. The B