[DILLON, John] The Irish Elections, 1921. The Nationalist Position. Statement by Mr. John Dillon. Pamphlet, 12 pp. Announcing Dillon's decision not to contest the elections, as ''the present...

[DILLON, John] The Irish Elections, 1921. The Nationalist Position. Statement by Mr. John Dillon. Pamphlet, 12 pp. Announcing Dillon's decision not to contest the elections, as ''the present circumstances of Ireland and the policy and proceedings of the British Government for the past three years make it practically impossible for any Nationalist Irishman to fight Sinn Féin at this election''. With: Irish National Federation of America, 47 West Forty-Second St. Dillon's Speech. Ireland's Position on the Queen's Jubilee. Circa 1897. Leaflet (15 x 22.5cm), printed both sides. Very good. Scarce. (2) John Dillon was the last Chairman of the Irish Party, and the last ex- Parnellite active in Irish politics. A supporter of Michael Davitt and the Land League, he supported the Home Rule Bill of 1912, opposed conscription, and condemned the 1916 executions in the strongest terms (''You have let Hell loose in Ireland'', he wrote to Lloyd George). He was committed to achieving Home Rule by constitutional means, but found his position undermined by British policy in Ireland. In March 1918 he succeeded John Redmond as Irish Party leader, but in the General Election of that year his party was wiped out by Sinn Féin, and he lost his own seat in Mayo to Eamon de Valera. The present pamphlet is effectively his farewell to public life.

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