There is no such bond here--or, at least, the
Irish Nationalist has refused to acknowledge it.
The year 1912 has opened amid signs of unrest and change, the meaning or
the end of which no man can know. In the Far East and the Near East
political and religious systems are disappearing, and chaos is steadily
increasing. In Europe the nations have set out on the march to
Armageddon, and there is no staying the progress of their armaments. In
Great Britain alone the question of preparation for war is shirked on
the plea that it is one for experts, and even soldiers and sailors,
drawn into the political vortex, make light of our necessities,
believing in the hopelessness of ever convincing the people of the truth
until "a white calamity of steel and iron, the bearing of burdens and
the hot rage of insult," fall upon us. It is for this reason that we see
the extraordinary phenomenon of men denying the necessity for becoming
a nation in arms, and yet urging our Government to contract no
friendships abroad, and to interfere on behalf of every petty princedom
oppressed by a powerful neighbour, and every downtrodden subject of some
foreign power.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333