ULSTER AHD HOME RULE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13250, 8 December 1913, Page 8

ULSTER AHD HOME RULE.

PREMIER'S HOPEFUL SPEECH. . URGENCY OF THE CASE. DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY.' I (Press Assn.— By Telegraph— Copyright.) LONDON, Dec. 7. Mr Asquith (Premier), speaking at Manchester, held a much more hopeful view of the prospects of a settlement •commanding the consent and goodAvill of all parties on a basis of his Ladybank and Leeds speeches^ and Sir EdAvard Carson's latest lines, which suggested an avoidable and humiliating minority, a remark' which he was sure Sir Edward Carson Avould agree, would also apply to the majority. He agreed with Sir Edward Carson on the necessity for. avoiding, m.., the ; Bill any possible separatist or federal, tendency. He •endorsed tho younger Pitt's declaration trhat the quality most heeded iii a Premier was not eloquence, knowledge, ov industry, but patience. He deprecateu the following of short, if attractive cuts, and hurried and precipitate committals. He said he Avas not going, to. bft hustled. He denied that m his ? . Leeds speech he had withdrawn anything he had said at L^dybank. He had been vafhly looking for, weeks for SQijje : co^respondang^a.ud l nbt.i^recpnciliable.s^tel^ent. on tfhe Opposition sjidu, and, had unexpectedly found it Aii, Sir EdWi-d Carson's latest speech a&. ..Manchester, w&ich declared tiiat no settlement, must humiliate or degrade TJlster, and . J*eland must .lot be treated 't&fferetytly' from any other part of the Kingdom,,^ and must haA'e the same protection '-./n the Imperial Parliament, and no Bill establishing the foundation of ultimate separation. "I do not find anything m these general conditions wherewith,, ; .qn principal, 1 am disposed .^o . quarreL" ,, declared the Premier. __ "Ireland's case is urgent and must come first. The Imperial Parliament's supreme and unquestionable authority must be retained. .The Liberals have supported Home Rule for generations because they believed it Avas not &> stepping stpne to separation, but .a preventive of separation. The GovernI ment is prepared to consider, with a vieAv to meeting «A*ery reasonable objection, any 'stipulation ih : the" Bill, sucif as that, relating -to the . Post Office, Avhich, the Unionists consider, has a separatist ; ; or anti-federal ,... tendency. 1 regard Sir EdAvard Uarsori's declarations "as a significant and hopeful feature of the situation, and I cannot but express the belief — nay, the expectation ■ — that*, a free a.nd frank discussjon on the HmHs indicated m my Ladybank speech wiiib Sir Edward Carson may lead — as Heaven grant it Avill — to what 'all desire far more than ,,the prolongav.ion bf an, enibittere^ controversy— namely settlement commanding tlie consent of all parties. . y "Whether the " minoi#ry'6 "apprehensions are well or ill-founded the exist and are genuinely and deeply felt, and constitute, until abated or removed, the one formidable obstacle to selfgovernment!" ' -.. THE CRAZE FOR ARMS. 7^ | The Gazette publishes a Royal proc-* lamatdon signed by Thursday's Privy Council, prohibiting the importation of arms, ammunition and gun/powder into Ireland. Unionist M.P's at Belfast decided to organise a motor service fbr the disof the provisional government to transport troops m the event of hostilities. A second proclamation prohibits coastAvise carriage. Neither proclamation applies to articles intended for sporting or other unwarlike purposes. ....,-., ; y.\ It is reported that Bp,QOO. arms .vre already stored, and, judging by the number of revolvers purchased by. Belfast unionists and Nationalists during tbe past fifteen months their possession has become a popular crazi . Tradesmen m..- Londonderry .booked orders last spring for 3000 revolvers! / GoA'ernftjeut agents have recently heen inquiring m Ulster and reported .that apart from local supplies ammunition is short. •' • Unionists jn Ulster claim that sufficient riflee and' several fnaxiins have arrived. " The Chronicle hopes . thit- the arms proclamation .A^ill jJromptiy be, followed by action against army' officers hereafter using rebellious language and states: "A more outrageous spectacle has never been presented than 'tliat of influential ConservatiA-08 endeavoring "to sap the loyalty and undermine the discipline ol the Army." t < , , yjy • The paper rejoices that Lord Derby.v Lord Selborne, and, Sir Edward Carspn have markedly disassociated themselves from such violent .anapchi^al courses. Tllg Daily Telegraph, commenting- on Mr Asquith's speech, s^ys the" Government has waited until Ulster is armed before belieA-ing she" is hot .bluffing. ' ; Other papers consider the proclamations belated. Unionists m DUblm'"fegard the proclamation as the r Goycrnment's recognition of iho seriouiniess oßth^^'itnfefeion m Ulster, and^as _ prelufl«^tobtill possible steps to avoid a calamity and mal war. : ., .„. ».„,/., fc r- ,- "or