Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1920 — HARDING AND THE IRISH [ARTICLE]

HARDING AND THE IRISH

Just how much comfort the friend* of Irish freedom will be able to obtain from Senator Harding's letter to Frank P. Walsh is for them to determine. That the letter was written is admitted by Senator Harding’s secretary, the date having been March 24. In it, the Republican presidential candidate expresses sympathy for the cause of Irish independence, and points to the satisfaction it gave him to vote for the peace treaty, after the Irish freedom clause had been incorporated. What Harding said as a senator and what he might say now, as a candidate for president, are two different matters, although there is no way in which he can repudiate his official vote in the senate or deny having written the Walsh letter. Still, it is hard to understand how much is to be gained from what Harding actually said last March. He had sympathy for the Irish cause then. President Wilson, it has been

intimated, has sympathy for the Irish people, but he has not deemed it proper for him to say as much because of his official position. Many people In this country have a kindly feeling toward Ireland’s efforts to become independent, but they reason that it is highly improper for this country to take sides against Great Britain, not only because she was an ally of America during the world war, but on the general principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of other nations. The Republican national convention refused to insert an Irish freedom plank In the platform, and Senator Harding is running on the platform. He probably would not discuss the Irish situation in a letter to Mr. Walsh now, and if he did so it is not probable that he would take a definite stand. Indorsement of free Ireland would hardly be proper for a man who hopes to become president and retain the friendship of the British government. One thing publication of the correspondence does show is that a candidate never is able to run away from his phst.—lndianapolis News.