Sir, - I read with interest in Sean Mac Connell's Midlands Report of September 10th that a permanent exhibition has been opened in Moate, Co Westmeath, to the memory of the pioneering Irish-American politician Al Smith, former Governor of New York and Democratic candidate for the US Presidency in 1928.
I should like to draw attention to one further link with Ireland for which Smith should be particularly remembered. The Irish Labour leader James Larkin, by virtue of being a founder of the Communist Labour Party of America, had become a victim of a wave of pre-McCarthyite rightwing hysteria that gripped the United States in the wake of the first World War. Accordingly, in April 1920 Larkin stood trial for his beliefs and was sentenced to between five and 10 years in New York's Sing Sing prison on a charge of "criminal anarchy".
Following Al Smith's inauguration for his first term as Governor of New York in January 1923, he received a delegation led by Muriel MacSwiney, widow of the martyred Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney, who argued for over an hour in favour of Larkin's immediate release. Just one week later, on January 17th, 1923, Smith gave Larkin a free pardon and stated:
"I pardon Larkin, not because of agreement with his views, but despite my disagreement with them. Political progress results from the clash of conflicting opinions. Full and free discussion of political issues is a fundamental of democracy. Stripped of its legalistic aspects, this, to my mind, is a political case where a man has been punished for the statement of his beliefs."
Al Smith's memory is indeed worthy of honour for such a service to democratic free speech. - Yours, etc., Manus O'Riordan, Head of Research, SIPTU,
Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.