MINISTERIAL MOTIONS. - ENQUIRY INTO ATROCITIES.
The ACTING-PRESIDENT read the following extract from that morning'sIrish Independent:—
"Reuter's Agency has received a communication from the London Correspondent of the New YorkNation which states that the following appeal was recently sent by that paper to a number of prominent Americans:—
‘The struggle between Great Britain and Ireland, which has gone on for many months with an increasing use of armed force by both parties, is widely reported to be accompanied by atrocities planned by the British Government and answered in kind by the Irish people. One grave result is the rapid growth of anti-British feeling which seriously threatens the unspeakable calamity of war between the United States and Great Britain and endangers the Peace of the world. In the interests of peace and international friendship, the Editors of the ‘Nation' earnestly invite you to serve as a member of a non-partisan Committee of representative Americans, with power to add to their number, who shall designate a Select Commission, to sit at Washington or elsewhere, for the impartial investigation of atrocities in Ireland, regarding which the British Ambassador and Professor de Valera and others shall be invited to submit evidence. The proposal does not contemplate any recommendations regarding the future political relations between Great Britain and Ireland.'
"It is added that over 80 acceptances have been received from Senators, Congressmen, Mayors, lawyers and others, and it is expected that the Committee will within a fortnight be able to select a small Commission which will sit in Washington early in October.
"The New York Correspondent of theDaily Chronicle (quoted by special arrangement) says Mrs. McSwiney, wife of the Lord Mayor of Cork, will appear before the Committee. The English point of view, he adds, will be fully presented.”
He suggested that every Teachta should collect in his Constituency all the available accounts of burnings, outrages, shootings, and other crimes and transmit the evidence to the Propaganda Department. The Mayors and Chairmen of Urban Councils should be asked to help in this matter. He understood that the Mayor of Limerick had already taken action such as that now suggested.
The SUBSTITUTE DIRECTOR OF PROPAGANDA dwelt on the necessity of getting the names and ranks of the perpetrators of the outrages.
The ACTING-SPEAKER advised that persons with legal knowledge should be consulted in the compilation of the statements.