QUESTION STILL OPEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 156, 1 July 1916, Page 5

QUESTION STILL OPEN.

THE IRISH TANGLE. LLOYD , GEORGE'S STATUS. ONLY A MEDIATOR. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, June 30. A short discussion of the Irish question took place in tile House of Lords to-day. The Marquis of Salisbury asked the Government to publish Mr Lloyd George's proposals and also to disclose the report of Lord Hardinge's Committee of Inquiry into the causes of the revolt. He ajso asked for the latest information regarding the spread of disaffection in the three southern provinces. The Marquis of Crewe deprecated public discussion as likely to be harmful to the national unity. Viscount Middleton insisted on the gravity of granting powers of government to an Irish assembly. If an elcc;ion were held now Mr Redmond would not bring back one-third of his following. The result would be a pro-German majority. While the Government was talking the German army in Ireland was growing. The Marquis of Lansdowne said it was premature to discuss the matter. No proposals had yet been formulated. He added: "The Government has certainly authorised consultations, but is not bound to accept the proposals." Public opinion is unable to understand the position of the Irish negotiations. The newspaper comment reflects the general doubt. The "Daily News" says: "The caution of the Marquis of Lansdowne is evident. He realises the gravity of the moment." The "Daily Mail" "protests that his speech is most mischievous, and is calculated to cause grave doubts in Ireland as to the good faith of the British Government. The "Morning Post" says: '"It is now clear that Ministers never imagined that they gave Mr Lloyd George a free hand to commit them to cut-and-dried proposals. Mr Lloyd George pledged the Cabinet without its authority. He tried the hustling trick, sought to rush an Irish settlement, but the trick has not come off." The "Times" says: "Cabinet is making a. detailed and critical examination of Mr F<loyd George's scheme, paying particular attention to the condition of Ireland for the purpose of providing safeguards for the protection of Unionists in the west and south, and ensuring that naval and military efforts will be in no way hampered." SCHOOLMATES TO ENEMIES. DRAMATIC MEETING. TOWNSHEND FINDS FRIEND. (Keceived 0.50 a.m.) CAPETOWN, June 30. A British colonel serving in Mesopotamia, in a privatr letter to a friend here, states that the Turkish commander at Kut-el-Amara and GenerahTownshend (t"he British commander) were school mates. They had also bean friends ir France, and immediately recognised eael: other.