Neither the Sinn Fein leaders nor the people believe in the power of the
Irish vote in the British House of Commons. At the last general elections
the Sinn Fein party pledged that if its members were elected they would not
go to the British parliament, but would remain at home to form the Irish
parliament, the governing body of the Irish republic. Dodgers explaining
why Sinn Fein had decided to forego the House of Commons were widely
distributed. These read: "What good has parliamentarianism been? For
thirty-three years England has been considering Home Rule while Irish
members pleaded for it. But in three weeks the English parliament passed a
conscriptive act for Ireland, though the Irish party was solid against it."
On this platform, Sinn Fein won seventy-three out of 105 seats.

If Sinn Fein is to relieve the social conditions in Ireland, it must, say
Sinn Feiners, find out the cause. So they have pondered on this question:
What is the cause of the unemployment in Ireland today? The answer to that
question was the one point that the sharp-mustached, sardonic little Arthur
Griffith, founder of Sinn Fein, wanted the American delegates from the
Philadelphia Race Convention to carry back to America.

It was revealed at a meeting of the Irish parliament specially called for
the delegates. Cards were difficult to get for that meeting, and as each
one passed through the long dreary ante-room of the circular assembly hall
of the Mansion House, he was subjected to close scrutiny by the two dozen
Irish volunteers on guard. In the civilian audience there was a sprinkling
of American and Australian officers. Up on the platform was the throne of
the Lord Mayor, in front of which sat the delegates--Frank Walsh, Edward F.
Dunne, and Michael Ryan. In a roped-off semi-circle below the platform were
deep upholstered chairs wherein rested the members of the Irish parliament.
Countess Markewicz was, of course, the only woman there. White-haired,
trembling-handed Laurence Ginnel, who is given long jail terms because he