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DECEMBER 18J 1922
.' 1 if
1 1 ' . ; " " --- . , . t i
77tT HEALY, SCORNER OF BRITISH DIGNITY,
IS NOW THE FIRST HEAD OF THE IRISH FREE STATE
Has high Hepe of Bridging
Chasm Between Ulster and
Rest of Free State
i
jN THE little tewp of Bantry, fringing the Atlantic en the southwestern
coast of Ireland, years age was a poorhouse. It may still be there.
And the thankless job of being its guardian belonged te a middle-aged
man who had struggled through life as men de and who had married
ts men will. .
Then ene day the neble stork Hew in through the window and
deposited its precious burden upon the shabby crib just an ordinary
looking baby, te be sure but you just can't always judge by leeks.
The guardian of the poorhouse and his wife talked it ever and decided
that this young hopeful of theirs should be named Timethy, and se he '
was christened. His last name was Healy, and it wasn't lenir before thn
"ethy" was aroppce. in iaver 01 just plain "Tim."
And that was the start of Tim
Healy, who lived te wag the sharpest
tengue in Ireland who grew out of
the obscurity of the poerhouso
lhadews te the brainiest, most bril
liant and witty of the original band
of Pamell's Heme Rulers, electrify
ing his fellow associates, dazzling
Ireland from coast te coast and ter
rifying England with his words.
Tim Talked His Way
Inte British Parliament
He was born in 1855 and twenty
seven years later he was a member
of Parliament.
Some years age, when the Irish
question was being discussed be
tween two leaders, ene asked the
ether what he thought Tim Healy
would be when Ireland became a
free State.
"He'll be a mighty old man," was
the reply.
On the evening of December 5
King Geerge gave his sanction te
the legislation setting up the Irish
Free State, and the formal inaugu
ration came the next day with the
assembling of Parliament.
And then, le and beheld! Tim
Healy, he of the poorhouse of
Bantry, was appointed the first Gov Gov
ereor General.
The satisfaction was general.
Lately he had been associated with
the previsional government as
friend and adviser, and in recent
years his extraordinary legal ability
lias been at the disposal of the Sinn
Feiners.
Following his Appointment lip went
from Londen te his home in Dublin,
and here is what he said:
Tim Healyand he wants the pen
pie te continue te call him that had
ji rise te prominence se rapid it would
bnve spoiled most youngsters, but he
lntinnged Mmiewnv te keen Ida hnnrl nn
his shoulders and Ills feet en the fleer
and fight his way te the top.
Plenty of misery enmc into his life
in the early days about the poorhouse
at Bantry. Ui saw the suffering foil;
who came te the doers and asked te
be taken In after they had been driven
from their homes nnd their farms by
the unbearable burden of rent. He
saw the wretched victims of the famine
years, and the impressions made upon
him were be great that he devoted
a lifetime of work for relief from the
laws which oppressed. In 1881, after
one of the stiffest battles ever seen en
the fleer of Parliament, he managed te
get a clause, in the Land Act which
Raved millions of dollars annually for
the Irish farm families in rents.
His Early Education
Was Haphazard Affair
His early education was something
left te his own device. But lie learned
quickly, and in some strange way he
managed te pick up shorthand, an al
most unheard-of thing in these days
and then, before he was seventeen years
old, he had decided he would leave
Ireland and seek his fortune in ether
parts.
Ne went te Newcastle, England, and
necause lie cnuiu write shorthand he
found n job in n railway office. Hit
fondness for literature led him te see
out the places where he could fenst
his mind upon the best the masters had
produced, and two years after he ar
rived in Newcastle he was secretary '
the Literary Club, whose membership
was compo-ed of energetic Irish youth
anxious te improve their minds. But.
ns a matter of fact, their greatest de
light was the deliverance, of speeches
nnd papers of ultra-fiery nature against
what they solemnly believed was British
misrule in Ireland.
At twenty-two the energetic Tim
went te Londen and there he stuck
He had an uncle in Dublin who edited
a newspaper which he called the Na Na
teon, and the young Tim, new an e.-
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Man JVhe Bearded Sedate Members of
Parliament Cemes Out of His
Retirement te Rule
all-night sittings of the Heuse of Com Cem Com
eons in the enrly eighties, and even at
that early date, Healy led u little
handful of Irish obstructionists which
held the fuming, spluttering, furious,
and cursing British members in their
scuts throughout the night, and far
into the dim shadows of the early
winter morning.
With Joe Blggar, Healy would pro
cure all the (levcrnment blun books In
which thcre wes n line remotely bear
ing upon the subject he was supposed
le be discussing and with delight In
their eyes, these two would held the
squirming speakers and the furious
members of the Heuse In their seats
while they read the. boekg from cover
te cover, net ccn sparing the feet
notes.
"I must say," said the tired speaker
once, In nn effort te discourage this
team, "that I can hardly hear what the
honorable member is reading."
"Yes, sir," replied Blggar, net per
turbed in the least, "the acoustics of
this house certainly leave much te be
desired I'll come nearer te you," end
with young Healy he staggered right
up under the no-e of the speaker, their
arms full of blue books.
"And new," they said, "as we
wouldn't for worlds, have you miss
one word of tills highly Importent docu
ment, we'll begin again et the begin
ning" and with that they turned back
te page I and started te wade through
again.
Even the Peet Laureate
Sang About Timethy
The famous session became subject.
for the thoughts of the poet laureate
of the Irish Parliamentary Party in his
song. "The Ail-Night Sitting."
Tim Healy has new, nnd always has
1 hnd. an nbherrence for titles, and It
was upon one of his gay nights en the
fleer of the Heuse that he shocked the
British sense completely into luxcus!
1)IIity by referring te nn Irish peer ns
I "this bigoted and malevolent young
puppy."
And one time he had the lie of Great
Biitain upon his liead lacnusc he turned
te the British members nnd addressed
them: "I had ns lief reason with a
horde of Zulus as with you set of Brit
ih asses."
And he cared no mere for tradition
and sentiment than he did for English
men themselves, and he proved it by
being the tlrst man In hundreds of years
te net only nuetien the Speaker's rul-
l statue should develop n noticeable curl.
Unti does net need te gues iur u
certain that the melancholy Jehn
Dillen, en reading in his Freeman h
Journal of the cheesing of Tim te rule
ever him, drew the shades en his win
dows, nailed them down with tenpenny
nails, locked his front deer and threw
uwny the key.
They'll Slay Away New
That Tim Is the Bess
"And 'Wee Jee' Devlin will new never
mere come nearer te Ireland than Bel
fastwhere we can in fancy see him
ascend the great brewery chimney
stack at the head of Kails read and
gaze sorrowfully toward the Premised
(but snatched awny) Land, where new
reigns a king who knows net Joseph Jeseph
who, in fact, would spit en Jeseph if
lie met him In n desert.
"A fpw venrB age one of these queer
turns of the wheel of Pate suddenly
relegated te the political morgue Jeb"
the Melancholy, 'Wee Jee' and the
half dozen ether little Kaisers who.
believing that they owned Ireland body
nnd soul, had already plnnned te dividf
the rule und the revenue among them
selves nnd their 1(),MK nunts and
thirty-second cousins and bad with
particular satisfaction arranged te ln
Htall Ireland's black beast, Tim Healy.
in a specially constructed steel cage
ranguc with these werds: "I htvi
nothing mere te say te you. I nova
discharged my stomach." It was only
a ery few Intimates, O'Brien tells us.
who nt that time knew the tiun'i
amazing fertility of intellectual resource,
his devouring industry, his eloquence
of tongue und pen. 1
In these early days thp official organ
of the party te which Healy belonged,
I'nlted Ireland, was almost entirely
the product of the perm of Heely nnd
O'Brien, dashed off et opportune inter
vals, often In the middle of the night.,
it was In their little office, where both.,
were busily at work one night, that:
Healy told a visiter: "Here O'Brien,
nnd I concoct our Pnlted Ireland snlsd.
O'Brien supplies the oil nnd I put in
the Unegar."
The tireless and apparently lnex
haustlble energy of the young Healy
cannot be npprccieted without realizing
that at this time he was net only turn
Ir.g out half the grist for United Ire
land, but was reading for the bar, at
tending te his pnrliumentary duties nnd
by meetings and his characteristic fiery
speeches in every portion of the country
was making the Irish landscape enilrelr
unhealthy for all sorts of British of
ficials. When the boisterous, ranting Orange
leader. Colonel Sanderson, replying te
a taunt from the Parnellile benches.
moved the Heu-e te mirth with hla
en O'Connell Bridge, te diag out the i Jumeiii nun, "I was born nn Irishman,
icmnlnder of his misernnie days en ni ""- rciiiniiien se ever since,' uim
diet of bread and water, supplemented "uj s.imuiaieu me polite mlrtl) of th
bv the peanuts presented te hlin ly
passing children n terrible warning
te the world against the flinging of
monkey wrenches into political ma
chines. By n second fantastic turn,
the same wheel lifted Tim out of the
obscurity into which lie had long
since retired nnd elewited him te rule
the land which was te have been his
prison."
Gave a Solid Knock
te British Dignity
Just about the cr first time up.
Little Tim shocked the British house
iif the description of William O'Brien
very well shews:
"A quarter of an hour after he took
his sent
IIOUHC te 11 rear liv nnntverlnir "Sin
despite plenty of circumstantial evi
dence te the contrary, I presume then
Is no foundation for the nccusatlen of
lis enemies that the honorable member
transferred his nntitlty te the nation
01 Ghectaws."
Caustic Wit Was Fell
by Opponents in Debate '
Once when an old Tery Dle-Ilard
member, n retired major, having poured
" bucketful of bile ever the heads et
the Irish, flopped back In his vat, un
fortunately squashing beyond cure his
Ac i" T,m areRO '" his f,et with
.Mr. Speaker, allow me te congratulate)
in.- uu.iernuic memiier who has just sat
he sat
1,1 nil II, Mil iii-i in- njiiik , . " tt,n
... flfltl'. nn-. .1. ... .L .
nu mnnim. f. l .vf.i l... -."-. I, lllfl ll - Illf-r miir MMHtl
I, in ni in tt -7 in- iiiix-. iui ii r viuni hi; i , - , f --- - ...... ...(l .,,. i-i,v
started up te make his maiden speech ' 'Pn n's, hat his head didn't happen te
tiny of frame, sardonic of visage. ' , , ',, . .
Tim Heal, Gmeniiir Gencr.il ul
Irkh Free State, and Vice liegnl
l.edjre, where he will make his home
in Dublin
--iyJycl J"
.."iW, nrf' K,V,M1 n nie.isui,. of freedom
"large as that cnje.wd b an Stale
ir. hnn.Am,er,ra" r"'"". indeed, in some
'ripeets, larger.
''J1"1 ''J0' n our position is sep-
"ii hi lie siv tun tiui'ie
pei I uilli die phonetic notes, tool, down
the speeches in Parliament and re
polled llii'iu for the Dublin paper. He
became lis icgular Parliament cone-i-peudciil,
and In search of a iere by
mill til ii U i U liliih fill MiiIii.u imiilil lin mull kill-mi
mm ,1 . V '. "-'. .
il it I iieiiuid. lint 1 haw i young rim decided the nearest
"e highest hopes that. In time, the feel- , pieach le his ideal was Puinell.
.hni i..i ' "ml htd"1' hia undergo a
,;", n line ue i-innini nimvi men-
Up-
"'It "I a bound, se many ties link
"' ""'"I and ourselves that we may
reasonably eX(IPCtt ,j mutllni t.f)Ml.PS.
f,is, in the course of u few years,
sat ihe amalgam may be dlscewred
.i .. e" complete leuiiieii tal.e
place."
. ,,n T'lUfed for a moment, stroked his
jnert white beard and sent a message
" Ameriea
Meral Support Asked
of American Public
J,' ,y,0,,!,l lik'' te fk the American
Public," h Hiiid, "te glw (he new
ecrnnient moral support or, at any
"", net te give its enemies financial
n5!!rrt' I',", -nnn jeais age 1 United
LAi cPr-v """" " "l0 t'nlted States
faking Irish and American sympatliy
our st niggle, going tiem New Yerk
".Mlvestnn and en te Kan Francisce.
, l lie Sllsteuaucii un limn rrienlieil
"an nuich te de with planting the Irish
lih!"" .rl '"! ''""holders en their soil,
'"lerailiig U,em f,nl lut ,,l( j,i.
n.r ',,1,1,il"',1 "N Ike utesl odious and
iniiKjvhii.ie hiiid-teniire system that cwr
lilt',1 "Rrlfiillure.
. !',' ''r," laic's opponents have
miiI iy T I'anacea except wrecking
,'n ls" '"'asing bunas, burning
"n'iws, iiinbushliig tioeps and liiyinu'
u,; i1"'"01'' N" Aiiierleiin or Irish
ii. I,, . c!Vl .ull M',1,H '"'""'y ''ere te
. . "'". ' "'" M,utl' Iiuii11 cldse his
hi i , 'i'1" niturn of Iho cainpalsn
' ' WpliiK te keep pp."
Used Pen te Help
the Cause of Ireland
Ills in Helps championing Hie cuiec
of nationalism wen him instant recog
nition mid admiration, and at twenty-
liw Hie gieat l'aruell, after liu I uk i
iil.sene.l the weih of tills youth fer1
three .wins past, appointed him pri
vate seeiptary, and thereby opened the
way for a fuitlier inetceilc develop- I
iiient, which the energetic Timethy (oek
adviinlnge of in Its fullest seiibe. He
hnd been secretary te l'aruell just a
year when he became a member of
Parliament, u green youngster from Ire
land, representing County Wexford,
clumsy looking, le say the least, with
a shock of black hair thut seemed never
te stay in plum.
Hut, fearless, he talked back te Iho
leaders. He had a vocabulary that
seemed unlimited and a voice with
which he could wield it and the nerve
and the energy never le retreat, in
mutter who his opponent or what his
iclutiw Importance In the nreblem of
government might be. Thev guffawed
Tim once. That was the first time he
arose te make n speech. But they never
did it again.
When He Wanted te Hit
He Hit Hard and Often
lie conducted himself along u policy
which appeared te have for Its motto :
"If nu see n head, hit It" and hit
them he did. One of his curliest ad
ventures was n leading part in a free-for-all
light en the .fleer of Parliament,
V
hift hnnrts in his breeches pockets, ns ! r ,, ' Im n?il benn flaying an Lnjc-c-oelly
inpelcnt as n Parisian ffuuiin S ,nHIfrvAivp mpmlwr vhe wns A
rnnmin? through thn Tuillerles Palace "V,1,"","1 ,n .PPrary Haying him for
ut i ui- umi wi i jImjc i nil l'I" III l I h
'The
I'jolesieiiiil IriJ'ieimliil.l,..
Jsllllliiel .,f 1 1 I -1 Pulitiis '
ll has been loved as intcn-elv as I
he bus been hated, npd even the ling- I
ll-h, who In. limited seemed te have a
waim spot in their hearts be.ause of
uV;;,1:":';: i:.;:"..,n '. . .......
.'i-'-i iiikii iiiiiipii e.vinuy .
Seumas Mar.Msinus, who knows these
Irish pei sons and what thev n.- rlnlm
In his opening paragraphs in a rivcnt I contemptible
ariicie upon the elevation of Ilealv tn i the
ami mirror", ,-n i
III- ren.lv wit anil ..I h.. f,...,l,. ! ".' ,l V "I"'" eievauen ei Healy te
nefch ami sincerity in his own beliefs. "r ,'.'"0ri ,,"",r""'ll,l1 "f ' ' new
, .., sniiri-t . ,,i, ... .i .1...1...: 'w State, having In mind that n-
' " "i me unnL iiiiiiiiu i i r i - .. . .. '-"-- "- --
billlmnt the Hoiee of Commens I Ii"", ,IP,?'.J '"'2a." "" rtitP under is going te luilly us with his high and
and
has ever known, Tim Hcnlv niebablv I I,lc ' Hnlc BUidante of I'arnell and looked mighty (. n-'endish ways, nil I can tell
i.: it . " ' im Tn mm ni. n imi-i-i . ah ,i.t, i.....inH
iiiim ie ue i :: " ....- .,u,n.r
eMaluIslieil his gi cutest
list, ii with ihe iminertnls
and ln-li history.
He piev.'.l biniM-lf te be one of the
sri.'H.-i .ili-lruciienists I lint ever lived
when -emcthlng .nine up that he
v i-lie.l le be laid aside, unil no till
Iiii t -- in Vmeii.iiii jinlitiiK . nn coin-
lum is he will find himself knocked
of Ilnglish net et Minirient terce te l;eei the i '"ln cecu.sl hat in a jiffy, and vvc
dynamic young Tun in his path, for' will have te put him te the necessity
iieniy simply would net Pillow, had this'11' wiping the bleed of nil the ( aven aven
te sny : dishes from his mhle nose a geed many
"On the .lav en which Hoverner Gen- times before he .lisnoies of us.' '
eral inn licalv was first seen rldin:
street I knew well
down O'Connell
It was a jcal light, loe, and when the
hall was denied sea if plus ami false
'th cluttered the fleer.
Tim emerged with a biuied cheek.
, The nubile mcelingn imuiillv break- up
III freo-fer-nll lights and iiels, nud it
has never been disputed that he, hub
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had mere hats broken than any ether
man in iiieat Britain.
After a speech in County Lmilh in
11)0(1 he was mobbed. Ten yeuis later
In Ouiidnlk he ha.) In be escorted te
Ills hotel by the police. He has been
tailed "The Oieal Vltuperater," "The
piire with the records lie has madn in
stalling action into the background.
And just ns well ns he could ebstiucl,
Tim Healy, fir.it Governer General of
the new liish Fieo Slate, could turn
his talents te construction.
All Knghmd remembers the famous
without having seen It, that the face
of Pnrnell en his stntue at the heud,ef
that street leek en a stonier slare than
the sculptor gave It. I uf liners will
net be astonished even if, after endur
ing a ceuple of mouths of the reign of
Tim the First, (he upper Up of the
and indignant gentleman answered him:
if I nm as vile n lnnHlnr.l nu . I... l....
eruble mmber makes me out te be. why
I old net the honorable member's fellevr
'countrymen, who were never noted for
, their tender consideration for a land-
lurus ine snoot me?" "I suppose."
retorted Tim. "it is the old story
what was everybody's business, was no
body s business."
, Jim Mealy permanently established
I J' .Parliamentary reputation bv hN
I brilliancy in the debates upon the Irish
land lull of 18S1, a brilliancy that
, forced the admiration of his enemies,
including, notably. Gladstone, who aft
erward said that Healv was one of th
only four men who thoroughly under under
steed that highly complicated 'measure.
I By the famous Healy clause, vvhlca
he hud Inserted in the bill in commit
tee, a clause whhh provided that the
landlord could net benefit bv anv of
the tenant's improvements the brilliant
young member linked his imine with
the noted bill through a quarter of a
'tentury succeeding
It w;as th- occnMen of this land bill
1 f. i '.. ,"Ml'" "rst evved Ilealv puh
llly kicking ever the political "traces.
1 Im s most memorable and most dur
ing show of Independence was at the
I notorious Galway election of 1880
where Pnrnell foisted upon the Gnl
weglans Captain O'.Shea. husband of
his paramour. On that memorable oc ec oc
(iislen. when none else would take his
life In his hands and oppose Pnrnell.
Mm Healy and Jee Misgnr. without
, moment s hesitation, rushed te Galvvsy
and publicly threw off their coats le
, fight their leaiUr. It was 'P. P. O'Con O'Cen
, nor, who. becemine (irm n,.n,i,.!i.i
I"' "Ml' llll-l lllllllll-, l ... .. . , " "" ---".IIIIIICII
entirely df testable as a small Diogenes, I ,, "IP "'.I0,'klng news of what Par
peering out ever the nms of bin pin.-e. J""11 wiR fjinu te de upon Gnlway, seed
ne7. tlueugh bilious eves, ever Iii i from .Londen te Ireland te start th
entemptible iiudieiice am horrified 1 0IT,,S'!I"M- ,
he Heuse of Commens with thn fnl. llenly and P.iggar worked tin G.il.
lowing exordium. '.Mr. Snenker if th : wny " het pitch and get them te
noble Marquis i Hai tingten I thinks he "". ,nrd Lynch, u. local man.
iKniiisc y JMica. rne.v liluntlv told
their audiences that Mrs (VSh'eu wan
I arnell s mist less that being the first
t,mp., Ihe intrigue was made public.
... .," !nr'lpll arrived m Galway with
I) Mica he was greeted bv the fir't
frowning, growling crowd he lm.l ever
I encountered in Ireland It jut for
bore attacking Pnrnell. but had it get
Its fingers upon O'Shea it would havn
tern him in shreds Paruell passed en
te his hotel, with the growling crowd
dogging his heels, summoned Tim Hnd
-Tee te liis room, showed them that by
their opposition they jeopardized th
pnrty an.) jeepardired thn great Heme
I Itule Bill then pending, and warned
them he would net glw up though lbs
people should kick him through ths
treels of Gnlwuy .
Healy Gave In Finally ,
te Help Irish Cause
Knewing Ins P-irnell. IJenh n.nl r
icign I iiiiself te fate and advise ths
witli.liiiwal of Lyn.li Hut (lie stub
born Ilelfast pnrkniau refiiHeil bis com cem
plianii' "'ll work for Muster l.vncli."
.In" si, 1,1 "f ' M. ,jlj )(i,v
Galway te de it."
I'arnell, addressing ihe frew.l from
ihe hotel window, said: 'n want le
smash me' II. I i.,i Parlia
ment for you in the hollow of mv
I hand If veu smash m.. veu ferevijr
siniisli your ( himce of getting that
.Parliament." 'I his threat, for it wn
nothing lcs. stunned the crowd and
eventually made them acquiesce in ths
scandalous thing. Blggnr pemlsle.1 lit
his support of Lynch and made him
go te the polls- where, of course, lis
was new defeated by an overwhelming
majority. Captain O'Hhen. prevlnr
himself te m what might be expected,
seen after paid Pnrnell linel in- u..in
I out te the British politicians.
vim.-.. i. :....! i i. . .
i ni-it mi- until uri-tiK came with
Psrnill, after the O'Hhen divorce suit
Ilealv it was who led the country and
smashed his former leader. Tim's
superlatively- abusive tongue vvns nev
uci ie goon purpose ne covered thn
g te
rpu I.I..
slandurd tbe petticoat of Kite
O'Shea." lu,ry
A K"u numtier of years
O'Brien says that nt that time Tim
was almost as fend of making liimelf
disagreeable te his friends as offensive
te his fees. Ills theory of life wes te
regard everybody as an enemy till he
hnd proved the contrary, and he af
fected n brutality of speech that would
have made Swift or Itabelals green I with
envy, u one time concluded s lis-
Parnellltes with ridicule bv vivin.
the country such sublime poreses
"I'arnell has flung te the breeze
frjvty .4.Vy f(i f-eVrv-T.
t't .
I
nwA 4tlu
...... A..ltt-.-1 ..-ll.l I II . "" mil
iiiuii iuii.cu jMiniiini me py tb0 back
deer. New;, suddenly reappesrlnr at
the psychological nioetent, he, smld
showers of laurels and with bis re of
bands. Is again ushered Inte polities!
life, through the glided and 'ffiJCi
ball deer of n palace. iiwrn
1
Ji
m
m
AX
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