More Concerning Mayor MacSwiney

(The Crimson invites all men in the University to submit signed communications of timely interest. It assumes no responsibility, however, for sentiments expressed under this head and reserves the right to exclude any whose publication would be palpably inappropriate.)

The death of Lord Mayor MacSwiney in an English prison was indeed an unfortunate event for the Lloyd George Government, and one not calculated to restore peace in Ireland. Aside from the excellent point made by Mr Ferguson in today's Crimson, there is the Cuestion of what effect the death of the Lord Mayor will have on the minds of many people. Among those who have always been pro-Sinn Fein, it will serve only to intensify their bitter hatred of England, but the greatest effect will be upon the minds of those who are friendly to the British Empire and wish to see the Irish trouble settled in a just and satisfactory manner. It will awaken them to the fact that the question cannot be settled by the present tactics pursued by the British Government. The life or death of MacSwiney or any other man will not in the end determine the solution of the Irish problem--that will depend upon social and economic considerations--but it will influence the trend of though in this country and in England itself to no mean extent. Whether MacSwiney had been released or not would have made no difference as to the outcome, for one man cannot secure Irish independence, but it would have made a difference in the good opinions of many well-wishers of England. As one English paper has remarked editorially, the death of Mayor MacSwiney is a victory for Mayor MacSwiney. RICHARD W. VAN ALSTYNE '22, October 28, 1920.