DA 963 A5 1922 A A S i *5 i r\ ^^^^^^ ^ 1 r\ ^^"^™t " 1 Q — — — — - ~ 9 ^ 4 .55 /I ^^== § 1 A ^^^^^^s ~n 1 — ^^^^= Z? :UBRARY0/\ tf-CAUFOfcfc ^UIBRARYQ^ ^OFCAllF(% AWtUNIVtRVA 33 ^MNVSOV^" "%JMMNn-]ftV ? ^WEUNIVERJ/a vvlOSANCELfjV. l?Aavaan# ^Aavaain^ ^ju:wv-$ov^ "^nuAwn-mv. ^UBRARYfl^ ^OJITVDJO^ ^OFCAUFOfcfc, ^5 ^•Aavnain^ ^l-UBRARH 5 ^OFCALIFO o mow-so^ ^lOS-ANGEUfo -rtfrUBRARYQ^ ^UIBRATOa ^\\El!NIVFR% "%3AJNIH^ \to\m^ ^HMITCWO 5 ^ %1»SQV^ ^lOSANCEl i |jt»IVER% ^IDS-ANGElEr* ll»S0V^ V 'I ^OF-CAllFOfcfc ^Aavaan^ ^Aavaan-^ ^MEUNIVER%. 5 CO «$H!BRARY<^. <$UIBRAR /Cinn / Jw/njnwi.jr\>' vW/mnvn. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT AND THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OE IRELAND RELATING TO THE LIABILITY for the RELIEF of IRISH REFUGEES. Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. June, 1922. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from ELM. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, and 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.I 37, Peter Street, Manchester ; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; or 23, Forth Street, Edinburgh. 1922. [Cmd. 1684.] Price 2d. Net. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT AND THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND RELATING TO THE LIABILITY FOR THE RELIEF OF IRISH REFUGEES. No. 1. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND COMMITTEE OF THE CABINET TO THE SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. Downing Street, IZth May, 1922. Sir, I am directed by Mr. Churchill to request you to lay the following considerations before the Provisional Government of Ireland. 2. During the past few weeks there has arrived in this country a large and increasing number of persons who have been driven from their homes in Ireland by intimidation, or even by actual violence, at the hands of men acting openly in defiance of the authority of the Provisional Government. These refugees, robbed of their property, evicted from their homes, and in many cases actually penniless, on arrival in England appeal for assistance to His Majesty's Government ; and it will be readily appreciated that they find but little immediate satisfaction in the assurance that the Provisional Government has accepted the responsibility for restoring them to their homes and com- pensating them for the losses which they may have sustained. 3. Moved by the urgency of this state of affairs, and by the effect upon Parliament and public opinion, which could not fail to be influenced in a sense prejudicial to the Provisional Government by the spectacle of a number of homeless and destitute refugees to whom no means of immediate succour appeared to be available, His Majesty's Government has established machinery for affording pecuniary relief, after full and careful investigation, to the more pressing cases, and has allotted a sum of money for this purpose ; thereby temporarily assuming a liability which properly pertains to the Provisional Government. 4. Mr. Churchill feels sure that the Provisional Government will recognise the necessity for the measures which have been taken ; and he will be glad to receive their assurance that they admit the immediate financial liability which is being incurred, as well as the ultimate responsibility for the restoration of these people to their homes, and for compensation in respect of loss or damage to their properties. - I am, etc., L. Curtis, Secretary to the Provisional Government of Ireland Committee of the Cabinet. The Secketaey, Provisional Government of Ireland. DA e>63 No. 2. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT TO THE SECRETARY TO THE PRO- VISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND COMMITTEE OF THE CABINET. Baile Atha Cliath, 18th May, 1922. Sir, The Provisional Government of Ireland have given careful con- sideration to your letter of the 13th instant in which you intimate that His Majesty's Government has established machinery for affording pecuniary relief to a number of persons who have arrived in Great Britain, having been driven from their homes in Ireland by intimida- tion or by actual violence at the hands of disaffected persons, and in which you ask that the Provisional Government will admit the im- mediate financial liability which is thus being incurred as well as the ultimate responsibility for the restoration of these people to their homes and for compensation for loss or damage to their property. My Government regret that a certain small number of law-abiding citizens have recently been obliged to flee from their homes in this country under threat of violence, and they are aware that some of these people have left for England. In so far as these persons are •concerned, the Provisional Government fully realise the necessity of making provision to relieve their pecuniary distress and they appreciate the prompt action of His Majesty's Government to that end. They have no hesitation in giving the desired assurance that they accept liability for the expenditure incurred in providing such relief in bona fide cases. The Provisional Government, however, are aware that, apart from cases where people have left Ireland owing to intimidation or violence, there is an organised movement amongst a certain element of the population in both countries which has for its purpose and political object the discrediting of the Provisional Government in Ireland and ■of His Majesty's Government in Great Britain, and it is a matter of common knowledge that in accordance with the settled policy of that movement a considerable number of persons have left Ireland on the plea of compulsion without any justification whatever for that plea. I am therefore to ask that you will convey to Mr. Churchill that the Provisional Government are particularly anxious that this aspect of the matter should not be lost sight of, and that the greatest care should be taken to have the bona fides of each individual applicant for relief established before any assistance is given. My Government are desirous of being supplied as soon as possible with particulars as to the amount of the financial liability which is likely to be incurred in connection with this matter. They anticipate that normal conditions will be re-established in Ireland in the course •of the next two months, and that it will then be possible for these people to return in safety to their homes. The Chairman of the Provisional Government assured a Deputation from the Church of Ireland Synod on the 12th instant that the Government would protect its citizens, would ensure civil and religious liberty in Ireland, and that spoliation and confiscation would be discountenanced by the Irish 4 Government. Pursuant to this policy the Government will regard it as one of its immediate duties to secure the restoration of their homes and property to any persons who have been deprived of them by violence or intimidation at the hands of a lawless section of the community. My Government has further directed me to place before you for Mr. Churchill's consideration a matter which, while it does not directly concern the subject of your letter under reply, is nevertheless on a parallel with the situation therein referred to and is not altogether un- connected therewith. For many months an organised campaign of violence and intimidation has been pursued against the Catholic inhabitants of Belfast and the surrounding counties of North East Ulster, with the result that many thousands of persons have been driven from their employment and from their homes, their property destroyed and looted, and in many cases the breadwinners of families murdered. In consequence it has fallen upon the people all over the rest of Ireland to provide relief for the starving and destitute sufferers,, a very large number of whom have been forced to flee for safety from the area under the jurisdiction of the Northern Parliament. This drain upon the financial resources of our people is rendered especially severe by the general economic depression which at present obtains in Ireland in common with the other countries of Europe, and the Pro- visional Government feel that His Majesty's Government cannot in equity dissociate themselves from responsibility for the condition of affairs in Belfast and the surrounding counties which has been the occasion of this call upon their citizens. My Government feel assured that upon Mr. Churchill's representations His Majesty's Government will accept financial liability for the provision of relief to the Catholic inhabitants of an area for the government of which the Imperial Parliament is immediately responsible, and will allocate the necessary sum for this purpose. It is also the earnest hope of the Provisional Government that His Majesty's Government will take immediate steps to ensure that adequate protection is afforded to the Catholic inhabitants of that area, and that it will arrange for the speedy return of their homes and property to those refugees who have been driven therefrom. The effect of such an action on the part of the Government would be of incalculable assistance in promoting peace and harmony in Ireland. It would remove one of the principal causes of dissension in those counties where Catholics are in a minority, and would facilitate the task before the Provisional Government of securing a prosperous, law-abiding, and united Ireland. I am, etc., Dj'aRMIUD (3 hElGCEARTUIGH, Secretary to the Provisional Government* The Secretary, Provisional Government of Ireland Committee of the Cabinet. Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office, By Harrison and Sons, Ltd., 44-47, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. 2, Printers in Ordinary to His Majesty. (b 3-359; Wt. 500 11/22 H & S, LtcL 6p. 3 CALIFORNIA. AT 2 LOS ANGELES LIBRARY T O ftlJDNV-SOl^ IVER%. 9 = -n l_> ITVDJO^ &Abvaan# *-/ J o u -"NIVERty) Will »LIU//> ^2 I mm University of California Library Los Angeles This hook is DUE on the last date stamped below. > .\\IL UIU 1 LUJ/// 2* IWSOY^ UBRARYOa OJI1V3JO V> Nr F-CALIFOfy* AavaaiH^ E-UNIVERtyv \E-UNIVERS/a 315 v^/lf ^\ ^OJITVJJO^ ^WE-UNIVERS//, r o vwlOSANGELFj> o "%3AIN(I-3HV ^UIBRARY^ ^/OJIWDJO^ ME-! >*1 £? CO 3D <-^>l S>^1 rmv "fr/rimikm.iiAY* -\WE-UNIVERXfc ^ g ^lOS-ANGElfj> o >■ =3 "^SM3AINn-3VW ^HIBRARYQ^ ^UIBRARYQ^ / /Kwnjnvn..ir\ ^ % zr.wnjnvn.icVK .^OFCAIIF0% ^AUvaaiH^ 5ME-UNIVERS/A ) ^rjmkiw.cm^ HI _ JT A A 000 394 441 I