The Press. Friday, March 15, 1918. The Irish Difficulty.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16161, 15 March 1918, Page 6

The Press. Friday, March 15, 1918. The Irish Difficulty.

Such is the mist of illusion that has surrounded the Irish problem that many people may blame Lord. Salisbury, and those Poers who supported him, for initiating a debate upon the Irish disorders. -But they can be blamed for their action, which was undertaken with the object of - forcing the Government to take effective steps to restore order and defend law-abiding Irishmen against Sinn Fein crimes, only by assuming that Irisn disorder is rendered blameless "by being condemned. Replying to " the charge that disorder and lawlessness were rampant in Ireland, and increasing to an intolerable degree, Lord Curzon argued that firm and effective measures of repression might accelerate the conflagration, that the lawlessness had been exaggerated, and that the* military had now been given full power with the disturbod areas. From his speech, in which the . merits of a Fabian policy arc defended, and a departure from that policy is justified, it is not at all clear what tho Government has actually done or will actually decide to do. Everyone who can clear his mind of prejudice, and who wishes to bo ablo to form n sound ■, opinion upon tho Irish question, must remember that tho issuo is no longer the old one between Ulster and Dublin; the • conflict is 'Between Irishmen who j wish, to remain within the Empire (whe- j ther -under Homo Rule or the Union) on the one hand, and, on the other fcaiid T Irishmen who wish to becomo as independent of Britain as is, say, Germany or Turkey. The men of Ulster f . are /very unwilling to come under a Dublin .Parliament in any circumstances, hut if tlie Sinn Feiners had not overmastered the regular Nationalist Party there would have been a L settlement long ago, for the late Mr p Redmond was perfectly willing in July, j 1916,,t0 agree with. Ulster upon a settle- • merit on the basis of a temporary partitkm. He recognised the fairness of

f Fein pressure that forced him to oppose J partition-.when it was again proposed by Tur Lloyd George last year. The Sinn Feiners have been so successful in I making tho Irish c/itestion an intolerable sore that many Unionists hare been driven into supporting peace at any prico Newspapers like "T.'e "Times,'' which have a blow ready for any suggestion that tho war might be ended as the result of discussion, have defied reason and consistency so far as to ask for peaco in Ireland at any price, at any sacrifice of reason and justice. "The Times,'" in January, argued that national interests outweighed those of any Irish faction, and that, therefore, tho Government should, it necessary, coerce any section that stood out against the easiest settlement. There have, indeed, been many signs that tho idea is to sacrifice Ulster in order to relievo the Government of the Sinn Fein menace that Birrcllism created. The Sinn Fein leaders aro very likely to be content with such a triumph. and it is in this connexion Kignificunt that Mr John Dillon, who differed from his late chief in being a Sinn Feiner at heart, is reported to bo contemplating a reunion with the Sinn Fein Party. There aro powerful interests in Ireland to -which this will not bo agreeable. Cardinal Logue, we niav be sure, will not like it, for his concern for his country and his church must impel him to regard with anxiety a political triumph won through violence and unreason. In a pastoral issued - in December he thus denounced the Sinn Fein movement: —

"Whether due to tne demoralisation of the world by war, or to a fate hanging over unhappy Ireland, blasting her hopes when they seem to brighten, an agitation is spreading hore which is iilconsidered and Utopian, and cannot fail to entail suffering, disorganisation, and danger, to tho end of disaster, defeat, and collapse, and all in pursuit of a dream no sober man can hope to sec realised, namely, the establishment of an Irish Republic, either by an appeal to the potentates of Europe at the peace conference, or hurling an unarmed people against an Empire of five millions under arms—a thing which would bo ridiculous if it were not so mischievous and fraught with euch danger to an ardent, generous, and patriotic people.'' Despite tho disapproval of the Cardinal and of most of the Roman Catholic Bishops,, the Sinn Feiners have proceeded -with their advocacy of separation and their practical policy of crime and outrage. If they have calculated that so only would they force a settlement, they have apparently not misjudged the British Government. But it is hardly to be expected that North-East Ulster, conscious of the reason and justice of its case, will consent to be sacrificed for the sake of appeasing a party of treason and violence.