copy                            
 
well have contained more truth than fiction. This confession  
is in. the hands of the I.R.A. and portions of it, incriminat-  
ing two Cabinet Ministers in the bombing outrages perpetrated  
in England before the outbreak of the war and in the theft  
from the National Arsenal in Phoenix Park, are being circulated  
by underground means. The Government reprieved the kidnapper,  
who had been sentenced to death by the Military Tribunal, and  
has commuted his sentence to Life. The interpretation of this  
is that they prefer to keep him alive as a hostage. It has  
been brought out that Hayes, a former Chief of Staff of the  
I.R.A., for the past two years has been a stool pigeon for the  
                   Department of Justice.                   
 
                                                            
 
 
Discussing the Church situation with Mr. Taylor, I could only  
tell him that it was my belief that whatever attitude the  
Vatican might take, the Irish bishops would be unlikely to  
give more than lip service to a policy which interfered with  
nationalistic consideration. It, however, would be of enormous  
value in stemming the attempt of German propoganda in Ireland  
to have it known that the Vatican was not unfriendly to the  
      policy of the British and American Governments.