Letter from Sharman D Neill to Edward Carson, 7 October 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Sharman D Neill to Edward Carson, 7 October 1916

1 Private 22 Donegall Place Belfast, Oct 7 1916
IRISH SILVER FACTORY- 14. FADE ST ., DUBLIN Dear Sir Edward Carson Although I have never taken any active part in Politics I am constrained to
offer you the opinion of a plain man in the street which I know is the opinion
of many others like myself — It seems to me in this hour of the Empires urgency for Man Power, you have
a supreme opportunity to show the bona fides of Ulsters Attatchment to the Empire.
Why not offer on behalf of the Six Counties to agree to Conscription? The friends of those Conscripted (even if the police would not) would see
to it that any Nationalist who crossed their borders to take the place of
men called up, would automaticaly be arrested & made to serve.
This would to my mind effectually put out of Court the Nationalists, before
the bar of public opinion in England, unless they fell into line, which
there seems to be no prospect of their doing. It would definately kill Home Rule for it would seperate the Six
Counties from the rest of Ireland by a barrier that could never
be broken down. We know Conclusively the Nationalists will never accept Home Rule
with the Six Counties left out. Many many of us Unionists feel deeply humiliated that so many
hundreds of eligible men calling themselves Unionists, are sheltering
themselves and their sons under the Nationalist umbrella.
A Unionist cannot logically object to doing his part for the
Empire in her hour of need. Now is the time Sir to speak out and save our province from
the lasting stigma of cowardice and our Beloved Division from extinction. I remain with humble apologies
Yours faithfully Sharman D Neill

Letter from Sharman D Neill (1858-1934) to Edward Carson (1854-1935). Carson was a prominent Unionist Politician. Originally a practicing solicitor from Dublin, Carson's opposition to the proposed third Home Rule bill made him the figure head of Unionism throughout the island. He was the centerpiece of the speaking tour that culminated in Ulster Day (28 September 1912), when just under half a million signed Ulster's solemn league and covenant pledging to use ‘all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a home rule parliament in Dublin’. Carson inaugurated the Larne gunrunning in 1914 which armed the UVF, many of whom Carson would encourage to join the British Army throughout the First World War.. Neill was one of the finest Irish silversmiths of the late 19th century and designer of the cap badges of the Ulster Volunteer Force from 1912 until 1914. Neill would lose both of his sons in the First World War.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__4368.html)