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Show IRISH OlllI I STARTING i IB FIGHT r -j;In This Manner an Of-1; Of-1; ficer of Republican ; Army Describes Sit-uation Sit-uation in Hibernia rNt'BLIN. Feb. 5. A high offi-U offi-U err of the Irish republican I I array has given to the Associated i ; Press a statement on the army and its operations. This i the first authorised statement thus made public, but the identity of the officer ' and tha circumslanoea of the Interview Inter-view cannot be disclosed, nor Is tha correspondent permitted to publish itha statistical information supplied regarding tha total number of forces, 'both reaular and "Irregular,"' now in Jthe field. ( " The officer, wlin wilt m m-smnaied-faa Colonel X. spoke freely, answer- Ing every question, but he enjoined I nonnublicallon of various alatements. (Which, he said, "m Kht give informa- i Hlon to the enemy." J in i im nava wnaa I He denied thn declaration of Major .Ceneral Ftrickland. In command of -tha British troops, that the Irish re-1 re-1 publican army orgnnlantlon was dls-'fnembered. dls-'fnembered. and repudiated the aug-' aug-' geatlon that the remarkable activity in tha last fortnight was a demon- st ration to disprove the assertions that the morale of the volunteers wss 'impaired. "The recent Increases In the at-. at-. tacka on the crown forces." he said. "wss only a natural development, due -to the perfecting of our orgnnliatlon. "From now on there will he further "extension and Intensification of our oper. lions In all parts of ;h country." coun-try." TO ISSUE COMMUNIQUE. He Intimated that the republican 1 army would aoon begin tha issuance Jof a mili(ry communique, probably ."weekly, and added: "Our system of communication la not yet rnpld, but it Is certain " ' He smiled nt a reference railed to hls attention that Michael Collins ,.wss head of. the republhwn army, -saying: "That la a delusion persisted per-sisted in not only by the public, hut by the Brltiah government." He did ' 'not say whether the direction of the republican army whs In the hands of -on man or a committee. There la a Urn reward outstanding for tha ar-"rest ar-"rest of Collin. LAN y CAMPAIGN. Tha Irish republican army dots , 'the country." Colonel X ssld. "Our ltlan is to account for every district either by battalions or companies; 'every foot of around is belns; surveyed sur-veyed snd mudled with reference to , 'the most promising; spots for am- , i bunhes and with regard to tho dispositions dis-positions of the. crown forces. The nize of our forces varies according to the nature of the country and the . number and character of the Inhabitants. Inhab-itants. County Month la snnrsely settled, set-tled, and the terrain is flat, making conditions for fla-htlng unfavorable. I "We are slowly hut ateadlly carrying out our plftns.- It should he understood. however, thst we must organise and train men while we are flKhting." COMPANY 13 UNIT. The unit of the organization, he siild. la the company, whoa full strength, normally In lOQ men. euch company being be-ing tactically self contained and furnishing fur-nishing ftn own h I g nailers, engineers and machine guns. "The tendency, though," he continued, contin-ued, "Is to operate In smaller units, like Ulster, where certain districts are either too thinly peopled or the population popu-lation is hostile. We have only small groups engaged In reconnaissance and Irtelllgence work. Home areas where Conditions are wholly favorable, the companies nre formed Into battulluns." DIRECTION OF ATTACKS. Questioned as to who directed the attacks. Colonel X replied: "If it be an attack on a barrack or other major operation requiring many men, the officers of-ficers in the district must satiafv us at hendtiuartrra that it won't mean i throwing away men or ammunition. In small operations, however, such an attack at-tack on one or two lorries, or the seizure seiz-ure of military suppllea on trains or roada, or raids on mails, the men act en their own Initiative." ' Colonel X asnerted that the organisation organi-sation was growing rapidly and that It waa easy to obtain recruits. MANY OLD SOLDIERS. "Of course. he explained, "we do not take every applicant. To join, a I man must have a good standing. A I 1 good proportion of the republican army ; la compoaed of ex-aoldiera, of wnom : only the best are taken; they are par-; par-; tlcularly useful in machine run work " No pay is given to any memhera. ' except instructors. Martial law has thua far not affected the operations of the republican army, said Colonel X. ' ! Hi nee martial law has been proclaimed In the south, commanders of all die- -, trlcts concerned have met to deal with the new conditions. i MATTER OF SUPPLIES. j made unless something is wrong with the policeman's record, such ss engag-' engag-' ing In Intelligence work." j Discussing the republican army's methods of warfare, he explained: I DEFENDS METHODS. "(iuerrilla fighting Is not as futile as many people may believe. Our people peo-ple in i$ came out In manses against ths British and were mowed down In one summer s campaign. We would be quickly annihilated, too, ' if we attempted at-tempted to opopse the military In bulk. Hut we hit them without being hit. We have kept on for a year and the bo s are still full of ginger and eager to continue. "Our methods are undermining the morale of all crown forces. Take th auxiliaries, for example. At first, the auxiliaries were a daxhlng lot and handy with their guna. Hut now. since I they have been forced to take refuge In I armor plated cars covered with net-I net-I ting, their prestige is gone. We no I longer fear them. IUNOERMINING ENGLAND. j I "We are also undermining Kngland I economically. The coat to England, we 1 estimate, is a million pou.ida weekly to maintain armed forces in. Ireland.! and ft will b necessary to Increaae' the forces tremendously be furs they can make headway against us. Kur-thermore. Kur-thermore. we are undermining Kng- land's reputation abroad.' Regardant tha mahitsnanca of sup-piles, sup-piles, arms and ammunitlun, Culonel X said: "Theraji Is no l,ncT of any short -a,. BrsiaJea what la captured In attacks, at-tacks, tha usual aupply contlnuea to trickle In. Our methods of fiathtlna short, sharp enssgema-nts economises ammunition. The Irish republican army la not hampered by lack of funds, a large part of vhlch. Colonel X declared, coma, from America In aubst-rlptlons to tha republican loan. Laaacal quartermaa-tera. quartermaa-tera. he went on, look after the Mylnf cail una, and provide billets and sup-pi sup-pi aes. Mtff WELL FED. "Tha men are well fed and are In toad health." ha added, 'and their continued con-tinued realliencs) la smasins. Nothing d'preaaes them; they are always same for new Job. even If knocked about uiarht after night." Asked why individuaj polioamen were hai down, ha aald that no policeman was picked off because ne happened to lt aa officer, asserting;: "So sttsck Is |
