men so selected went off to a criminal’s fate. yet the authorities in effect recognised that the selection turned on a hazard by treating us all as criminals. forms were delivered on some men with charges that astonished none so much as the recipients; and as there was no evidence other than police reports offered in support of such allegations, the only thing in doubt was the length of the sentence. on the other hand, men were passed over who were not less astonished at the passing. but all our finger-prints were taken. we were afterwards considerably amused at the assurance given in the english house of commons that finger-prints were only taken “at first” “owing to the difficulty of identification,” and that they were taken “under military supervision.” finger-prints were taken all the time i was at richmond barracks by a peeler whose descent on newcomers was greeted with ironic mirth, for he was a familiar [55]figure as he hung about the barracks like a hawk, carrying his implements with him. what mirth we had we made as we went, for all that it had a grim background; but we were certainly assisted by comparing the declarations in parliament as to our estate with the conditions we actually endured. and the idea of any “difficulty of identification” was a joke more than ordinarily grim. it conveyed a wonderful conception of ireland as a land untracked and uncharted; whereas, in the most elaborately policed country in the world the only thing lacking to make our leabhrain artistically complete was the presence of a finger-print. and the artists in dark green were swift to complete their pictures.
such things, i found, were only treated with mirth. it was curious to note the way in which the doings of the police—either of the r.i.c. or the d.m.p., “two minds with but a single aim, two hearts that beat as one”—were received. there was a bitterness in the ribaldry with which they were greeted, a bitterness and a certain frosty sting in the mirth; but there was also the laughter for relief.
[56]
not having been in richmond barracks during the first days of terror, i raised a complaint the following morning with the medical officer. i asked his co-operation, as an irishman who should resent a national insult. he did resent it; and as a result, the young officer was compelled to apologise as a matter of discipline. thereafter, that officer appeared no more among us; but neither did the medical officer.
yet, in spite of all these things, we had one another; and that was compensation. i had heard of most of my companions before, but had never had the opportunity of meeting many of them; and i was now glad of the chance of acquaintance and discussion. in richmond the first beginnings appeared of that cementing of brotherhood among the “prisoners of war” that was afterwards to take so fine a form. about a fortnight after my arrival some of us in our room were offered special rooms, with two beds in each room; but we all refused these without any further enquiry rather than injure or forego that brotherhood. our national convictions were the same in fundamentals, but they took different forms. our roots were the same, and they were set in the same good earth; but the branches and [57]blossoms were various. from afar, we could only see the branches and blossoms, and were chiefly aware of our differences from one another; but now that we came near one another we could see that our roots were in the same soil.
indeed, some came who had few roots to boast of, but roots were soon generated, partly by the warmth of suitable companionship, partly by the heat engendered by their treatment. and with all, save a possible few exceptions, a unity and kinship was soon evolved, that mitigated the hardship of our estate and wiped away the sense of danger that hung over us all.
our comradeship softened our hardship in other ways also. the english army was camped round about us to stop all communication with the outer world except through the permitted channels. we were allowed two visits a week. our visitors stood on one side of the barbed wire and we stood on the other, with an armed guard between us. all parcels and letters had to pass through the censor. if the parcels contained clothing, we received them; if they contained food, we did not receive them. that was a part of the rapacity of the army we did not appreciate; but there was another side to it. we were encompassed [58]about with traders, and so, by uniting our resources, and by pooling our wits, we were able to reach the outer world by the very agency that was intended to obstruct us. the officers of course knew this, but they were powerless. and therefore, since accurate accounts of our treatment were getting out to correct the pleasing accounts published by the military, the authorities, in their desire to conciliate public opinion, were slowly compelled to make their treatment square with their accounts, just as they were being slowly compelled to terminate the courtsmartial that hung over the barracks, and seemed likely to last for another year.
our day began with the reveille at six, and concluded with lights out, at a quarter past ten. the intervening hours were spent in walking up and down the room and in talk. the only thing that broke the monotony of the day was the continuous business of the clearing-house. large batches of prisoners continued to arrive from all parts of the country, where the police were making hay while the sun shone, to the no small embarrassment of the military, who seemed likely to have the greater part of the country delivered upon them. large [59]batches were being deported to england; and there is no doubt that many were deported whom the military had destined for their courts simply because it had become impossible to warehouse the cargoes of humanity that were being landed on their wharf. and, in slowly diminishing numbers, men were being selected....
... in the midst of this we lived suspended until our turn came on the schedules of the military wharfingers.
