almost impenetrable defiles hundreds of miles into the interior. He did not know of any other army that could have gone as far as the Greeks had gone. They had established their military superiority in every encounter, and had only been beaten by the combination of the country and the long lines of communication that had to be maintained. The House then adjourned until November 14 for the Autumn recess. It was not then realised that this was the last time that the old Parliament was destined to meet.

-Meanwhile the civil war continued to be carried on in Ireland. At the beginning of August the Irish National troops made advances both in the South-East and South-West. Carrick-on-Suir was occupied, and National troops who landed at Fenit on the Kerry coast advanced to Tralee and captured that town. Tarbert and Ballylongford were taken on August 4, and the troops advanced on Listowel. A band of Irregulars with an armoured car entered Sligo and exploded a mine at the Ulster Bank, almost completely wrecking the building. The car was engaged by a machine-gun post and retired. At the end of the first week in August the position seemed promising. The Irregulars in Munster were pressed both on the flank and in the rear and were abandoning town after town. On August 8 the capture of Newcastle West by the National troops broke the resistance of the Irregulars in almost the whole of County Limerick. They were driven from all the principal towns in the county, and although they still occupied some villages they were unable to offer further serious opposition to the advance of the troops. Newcastle West was strongly held and the Irregulars did not retreat until ten of their men had been killed and their headquarters shelled.

The next step of the Irish Army was directed to the relief of Cork, which for many weeks had been groaning under the tyranny of the rebels. It was officially announced in Dublin on August 10 that troops had landed at two places in County Kerry whence they immediately advanced towards the town, which was captured soon afterwards, the Irregulars putting up only a poor resistance. The National troops lost about eight men killed, and the Irregulars were believed to have lost about the same number. They seemed to have had no ordered plan of defence and were taken by surprise by the landing of their opponents. Although the fighting was slight, damage to property was considerable. Cork military barracks was set on fire and almost entirely destroyed, as well as the other barracks occupied by the Irregulars. With the capture of Cork the back of the rebellion was definitely broken.

On August 13 the Irish Government suffered a grave loss in the death of Mr. Arthur Griffith, President of Dail Eireann. When this news became known in Dublin it caused a profound feeling of sorrow. Flags were lowered to half-mast on many of the principal buildings, and on the shipping at the quays. A

message of sympathy was sent by the King to his widow. He was buried in Dublin on August 16, when all work was suspended in the city, and the people flocked into the streets to view the procession.

The Irish rebels soon showed that they had no intention of resigning without a struggle. On August 14 a large body of them entered the town of Dundalk in the early morning and took the National troops completely by surprise. The latter made a stout resistance, and for a considerable period fierce fighting took place, but the Irregulars soon had full control of the town. Two days later a large number of Irregulars invaded Greenore and seized the police barracks and the harbour. These successes, however, were short-lived. The town of Dundalk was recaptured on August 16 from the Irregulars, who were closely pursued across the country by the National troops. Greenore was also evacuated after a brief stay.

On August 17 Dublin Castle finally passed out of the hands of the British Government, and the new Civic Guard, or Police Force established by the Irish Government, took charge of it.

In the latter half of August the rebels made several attempts on the life of General Michael Collins, the Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Army. On the 18th his car was ambushed and fired upon and a bomb thrown, though he happened not to be in it at the time. Shortly afterwards he was killed in an ambush in County Cork where he had been carrying out an inspection of the outposts of the National troops. The ambush took place on August 22 in wild country, and the General died fighting, receiving a fatal wound in the head after the attacking party had been practically driven off. His body was taken by sea to Dublin, where it was embalmed and laid in state under the central dome of the City Hall, where, during the day or two before his burial, many thousands passed by it in slow procession. The funeral took place on August 28, and was notable for a more profound demonstration of national feeling than had occurred within living memory. General Collins had become the hero of the people because he stood, even more than President Griffith, for actual achievement, and was its active and visible embodiment. General Richard Mulcahy was appointed his successor as Commander-in-Chief.

On August 29 Irish Irregulars, led by the Englishman Erskine Childers, endeavoured to cut the trans-Atlantic cables in Valentia Harbour, County Kerry, when National troops arrived and put them to flight. At the end of the month many ambushes were reported. The Irregulars appeared to have abandoned all idea of fighting in the open, and had fallen back upon the policy of ambushing, the destruction of road bridges, the cutting of the surfaces of the roads, and the tearing up of railway lines. On the last day of the month heavy firing took place in the streets of Dublin, a military post at the Four Courts Hotel being attacked with guns and revolvers. Troops at the

ordnance survey quarters in Phoenix Park were also attacked, one man being wounded. At the same time an attempt was made to cut the railway communication between Dublin and Cork, a portion of the line being blown up.

The troubles of Southern Ireland were increased by a general strike of postal workers which began on September 10, as a protest against the withdrawal of increases of pay granted on the recommendation of the Irish Postal Commission on the reduction of bonuses. The Government offered to spread over a period of three months the reductions which they had resolved upon, but this proposal was rejected by the workers' representatives at a conference on September 9.

The postal strike soon became general throughout the south and west of Ireland, and although the Government endeavoured to maintain a restricted service of letters and telegrams, the paralysis was virtually complete.

The first meeting of the Parliament of the Irish Free State was held on September 9, no member of the Anti-Treaty Party being present except Mr. Ginnell. The Irish Cabinet was constituted as follows:

Guerilla warfare continued throughout September. On the 9th the town of Kenmare, in County Kerry, was captured by Irregulars, but soon retaken by National troops, who made many of the rebels prisoners. In the middle of the month it was reported that Ballina, in County Mayo, had been taken at a time when most of the Free State troops were at Mass for a dead comrade. On the night of the 14th firing took place in Dundalk with rifles, revolvers, and machine-guns, the electric lights being switched off and the streets left in darkness. It was afterwards discovered that the Republicans had seized the electric power stations, but in the morning they disappeared, leaving the Free State troops in possession of the town. On September 17 an audacious outburst of rebel activity took place in Dublin. A party of National troops was attacked and two of them wounded. An attack was also made on the military guard of a newspaper office. At the same time four men entered the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department, shot one of the detectives dead and made good their escape. During the middle of the month the campaign of ambush in the south also became intensified, and one patrol in

County Cork. was waylaid three times in the course of a single journey. Sharp fighting occurred between Free State troops and Irregulars in County Mayo, while in County Tipperary National troops were ambushed on their way to Mass, losing two of their officers and four men.

It was in this disturbed state of affairs that the Free State Parliament began its discussions of the Constitution. It soon became clear that majorities for the essential terms of the Treaty were assured. The conduct of the Constitution Bill was entrusted to Mr. Kevin O'Higgins, and on September 19 a resolution was passed in favour of adult suffrage. The second reading of the Free State Constitution Bill was introduced on September 21, and the speech with which Mr. O'Higgins introduced it gave much satisfaction to the minority, which still passed under the name of the Southern Unionists.

The second reading was duly passed, and the Provisional Government entered on the committee stage on September 26. Most of the articles of the Treaty dealing with "fundamental rights" were passed with a few small amendments, and in the one case when the Government were seriously challenged they succeeded in obtaining a satisfactory majority. This case had reference to Article 12, to which Mr. Gavan Duffy proposed an amendment which amounted to an invitation to proclaim a Republic. The proposal was to leave out the King, but the Ministry were determined to accept the King because they had a mandate from the people in favour of the Treaty, and it was impossible to draft a Constitution without the King that would be within the terms of the Treaty. President Cosgrave said that there had been much talk about republicanism in the country, but he insisted that the position of the country under the Constitution was far superior to that of those who armed themselves, seized property, and followed the example of the Czars. Mr. Duffy's amendment was ultimately rejected by 43 votes to 16. The final passage of the Bill will be referred to in the following chapter.

Meanwhile the Provisional Government decided to equip the National Army with military courts, which would have large sanctions for the maintenance of public order and the punishment of crime. On September 27 it moved in Parliament a resolution which stated that it was acting on the initiative of the Army authorities, who deemed the possession of such military courts essential to the effective discharge of their duties and responsibilities. The resolution was introduced by the President, Mr. Cosgrave, who denounced the methods of the Irregulars as those of highwaymen. He said that the Irregulars were maintaining a condition of terrorism throughout the country. The Army was being exposed to enormous risks, and the Government had determined that it must be endowed with more far-reaching powers. The Irregulars could have peace at any moment on the condition of surrendering their

arms, but if they did not want peace sterner methods must be employed against them. The resolution was seconded by Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and opposed by Mr. Thomas Johnson, Leader of the Labour Opposition. His chief point was that Parliament should not be asked to confer any new powers on the Army until the Government had made a full and frank statement on the military situation.

The resolution, which was duly approved by the Dail, provided for the setting up of military courts for inquiring into charges against persons in respect of taking part in any attack upon the National Forces, looting, arson, unlawful possession, or damage to public or private property, having possession without proper authority of any bomb or dynamite, firearm or ammunition, and breaking any general order or regulation made by the Army authorities. The military courts set up had power to inflict the punishment of death, of imprisonment for any period, or a fine of any amount on any person found guilty. The Army authorities were further empowered to remove any person taken prisoner by the National Forces to any place within or without the area of jurisdiction of the Government. Provision was also made for the regulation and control of the sale, possession, and transfer of revolvers, rifles, guns, and other firearms.

The last event to be recorded in Ireland during September is an attempt that was made to destroy an Irish Government transport in Kingstown Harbour on the 28th. The vessel was boarded by ten armed men, who intimidated the crew of eight men, and then proceeded to sink the ship. Shortly afterwards the watch on board a British destroyer moored a few hundred yards away noticed that the vessel was sinking. A naval party went on board, closed the valves, and emptied the vessel of the water that had poured into her hold.

The fifty-fourth annual Trades Union Congress began at Southport on September 4 under circumstances which were more depressing than the organised labour movement had known for many years. Exhaustion created by widespread unemployment, and by a succession of industrial disputes, was reflected in a substantial set-back in the membership of the Congress, the loss since the previous year amounting to 1,250,000. Mr. R. B. Walker of the Agricultural Workers' Union presided. His address was concerned with the Trade Unions as distinct from the political situation, but he ranged himself with those who stood for further pursuit of an aggressive policy. He deprecated efforts to promote goodwill by round-table conferences with employers on the ground that the advantage was with the employers, and that to give up aggressive methods would imply acceptance of the present system and its philosophy of greed and competition. They were warring, he said, against wrong ideas, and needed to carry on that war with courage and resolution. By that means alone, in his opinion, could they rally their members.