THE ULSTER POSITION.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14901, 14 February 1914, Page 15

THE ULSTER POSITION.

CHRISTMAS PEACE IK JUNCTIONS.

IRISHMEN ALL.

Orson otm own co&sxst-oksxnt.) LONDON, January 2. Christmas week brought a lull in the word-war on the Ulster question unless we may thus irreverently refer to tho remarks of a number of leading divines in their Christmas sermons. Dean Henson, for example, at Durham Cathedral, referred to civil war in Ireland as a crowning calamity with which we would actually be confronted unless pacification were taken— "a calamity so terrible in itself, and so far-reaching in its consequences that it might well imply the very destruction ot the British Empire. This apitttlling prospect has raised tho whole j Irish question out of the catefcjory ot party politics, and we must face it in nu lesser character than that of patri- ' otic citizens. We cannot but perceive that the outbreak of civil war would mduce disasters so great that no pi<7 oent triumph for our opinions could bo worth having at such a price. Meanwhile, we are told on all hands, the- English people are not taking the Irish peril seriously; they think 'civil flrar* is a contingency -which lies outside the range of political happenings. They take for granted that somehow the controversy will be peaceably settled, This public indifference is very easily to bo explained by tho fact that civil war lies so far behind us in thepast that we havo naturally come to assumo that it is inconceivable. None the less this attitude of mind is profoundly unreasonable, and involves the country in tho greatest danger. Fifty years ago the bloodiost civil war of history was raging between men of our own soeech and religion in tho United States of America. "With thiß warning from tho recenthistory of our own race beforo us we should be fatuous indeed to allow ourselves to belittlo the signs of approaching strife. Both parties stand to lose by the outbreak of civil war. Therefore the patriot, who is content with no other character, can appeal to the representatives of both policies, and beg them at all events to avert this threatening danger of civil war. What mostly is wanted is the awakening of the people of this country to the peril which is impending, so that a strong public opinion hostile to any action which would precipitate a conflict in Ireland, or prolong the present dangerous suspense, should be formed and expressed. "Religion, in common with all the lesser intcrosts of the nation, stands to loso by the outbreak of civil strife. In our own experience as a nation we havo at least learned so much. How quickly did English religion become disordered, fanatical, and demoralising, when once Puritans and Anglicans were ranged against ono another on stricken fields I What a legacy of hatreds and prejudices, not oven yet extinct, after 250 years, was left by the great civil war of tho seventeenth century! Who can contemplate without horror a repetition of that terrible experience? "Ireland is so closely connected, with this country that every Irish experience has its-effect hero; and, in point of fact the dividing lino in the oonflitet would fall right across this country, and push itself throughout the Empire. There would hardly be a family without this division disturbing its harmony; not a village in which this strife would not have its echoes; not a Church whose worship would not be confused and degraded by this national schism. And tliis dreadful disaster would fall upon us at a time of crisis, when every kind of divisive question within the community is becoming acute, and on all sides the materials of civil strife are lying to hand. Think also of the risk of foreign attack, which such a display of national" division, and such a dissipation of the national resource would inevitably bring. Ceaso to think of the party interest and think of the country, to which civil war in Ulster must bring humiliation and may bring irreparable ruin." The Dean of Westminster . (Bishop Ryle) said: — "It is a reproach and disgrace to a Christian country that the possibility of civil war should hang, like a dark cloud, behind the brightness of Christmas joy and festivities. It ia not a question of party politics, but of our common humanity. I trust that i" every Christian home the prayer will be offered that thoy to whom "we look for guidance and governance of our land think - not so much of party triumnh and temporary predominance as of the maintenance among us of 'peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion"and piety,' for all generations."'

"WHEN' THE IRISH MEET. In a very interesting comment on the military developments in Ireland the special correspondent of "The Times" says: ■'What tho Hibernians have been doing 'behind their hedges' no one seems to know; but tho first attempt on tho part of the Nationalists to flatter tho Covenanters by imitation took place early last autumn, when it was announced that the people of Athlon© and the 'midland coi'iities* wero busy with drill and route marching. The object was to show Sir Edward Carson and the Ulstorraen that they would encounter tbe opposition of other Irishmen, also aimed and disciplined. The real impetus to volunteering in the South seems to have been given some weeks later by Captain White's action among tho disemployed workers of Dublin. Captain White is an Ulsterman and a Protestant Home Ruler. Having travelled from Ballymonev to "Dublin, ho found the Irish capital in the midst of a fierce controversy over the question of the 'deportation' of the children of the strikers. Indignant at tho attitude of the priests towards the Dublin Labour troubles, he wholeheartedly espoused the Larkinite cause and became chairman of the Dublin Civic League and drill sergeant at Liberty Hall. A misunderstanding with Dr. Traull, the Provost of Trinity College, won for him the sympathy of many Nationalist undergraduates. Tho latter fact is worth mentioning, ior volunteering in th© south of Ireland has been so far not very much of a students' movement. COLONEL MOORE'S "ARMY." "No sooner had Captain White- begun to review the Larkinitos at Croydon Park than another manifesto on the necessity for Tolnnteens was published in Dublin. This manifesto bore the signatures of Mr John MacNeill, a, Gaelic scholar, and of Mr Lawrence Kettle, a member of a family wellknown in Irish -Dolitics. The movement was launched at a disordcrfr meeting. Mr Kettle and Mr MacNeill explained that tho new volunteers would -seek no quarrel -with any Irwhman. On© understood that in certain eventualities it might be necessary to take the field against the CoTenantero —if, for instance, the latter threatened the rights and liberties oommon to all the people of Ireland: on the other hand, at least one speaker at the meeting referred to the possibility of cooperation between the Northern and Southern volunteers. Largo numbers of young men signed the declaration to defend the liberties of their country by tore© of arms. "In Colonel Moore, a son of G. Ttf. Moore, and brother of the novelist, the

Nationalists in their turn ap-poar to haTe found the required British officer. So far as can ho ascertained at present the enthusiasts of the new moyemo*.* are mostly members of tho Gaelic League and the Gaelic Athletic Aa Jactations. Mr John MacNeill denies that his friends are actuated by hostility towards the Redmondit-es.

VOLTJNT-ERING RHETORIC.

The promoters of tho departure hare been reproached for wishing to misrepresent the aims and ideals of the Ulster Unionists. Here, for instance, is a passage from tho pen of a Ga_io Volunteer, which appeared in a recent ksne of the Sinn Fein journal: " 'And what should be the answer to this proclamation (tho Arms Proclamation) ? Sir Edward Carson and the men of the North have given theirs already, and in a manner worthy of Irish tradition. They are not afraid. They are armed and mean to go on. Ours, aa Irish Nationalists, should be the same answer.'

"Colonel Moore and his men have their little joke, say the Unionists. The one thing is certain—they are inspired by a sincere generosity towards their fellow-countrymen. They must quarrel with Ulster over Home Rule; hut, firet, they must aid Ulster to defeat a 'party conspiracy. No wonder that the orthc7 dox Nationalist Press is hostile: the Hibernian dream—Ulster being taught her lesson' by the British Army—haa vanished!"