IRISH AFFAIRS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17740, 17 April 1923, Page 9

IRISH AFFAIRS.

THE CAPTURE OF STACK. BRAINS OF REBELS GONE. (A.USTBA.LUN AKD ».*• w* LONDON, April 15. The capture of Austin Stack, and the discovery of the document stated that iurther resistance t\ou futile, is described as the Free Stateis final hammer blow. Stack was one o the best political brains in the Republican movement, but rejnained a m>&tery

man. , „ The death of Liam Lynch removed dictator, who was standing between a army on the verge of despair, and a peace movement inspired by reason, a determined peace move, piloted y Stack, was on the eve of being brought .to a conclusion. Stack, evidently re« ising the futility of prolonging the conflict, may have been responsible for a clever move having the resemblance r a surrender, without the .ignominy ul giving himself up to the i'ree Staters. Stack's capture removes a prop supporting the Irregular and it may well be that the ena of the struggle has arisen, De Valera's flamboyant manifesto seems to be an attempt to rally the courage of despair.

GENERAL SMUTS" HOPE

(BJCUTEB'S TKLKGBAIIS.)

CAFE TOWN, April 15,

General Smuts, in the City Hall, quoted from an intimate personal letter from Mr W. T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State premier) as follows: 'lhe British Government has acted in the best of good faith, and we have kept faith with them.

General Smuts said he regarded these words as proof that Ireland had at last turned its back on the blood-stained past, and that a fruitful era of understanding and mutual loyalty between her and Britain would replace the tragedy of the past. General Smuts said he sincerely wished that Ireland, like South Africa, might in her final reconciliation wiwi England, reap a great reward for all her past suffering.

PEACE IN SIGHT. PAPAL DELEGATE AS MEDIATOR (Received April 16th, 7.35 p.m.) LONDON, April 16. The special correspondent of the Australian Press Association in Dublin, says the curtain is about to fall on another act in Ireland's secular drama. The last week has seen the virtual annihilation of militant Republicanism for a time. The Irregular forces, bereft of Liam Lynch, Tom Derrig, and Austin Stack, are as sheep without a shepherd. Peace is in sight at last. The Deus Ex Machina will be Monsignor Luzio, the Papal delegate, who has been following Mr Bonar Law's example of waiting for the psychological moment to intervene in the interest of peace. The moment arrived today. A special meeting of the Dublin Corporation will be held on Monday at which Monsignor Luzio will be asked to institute negotiations for peace. Messrs Cosgrave, O'Higgins, Ulytlie, aaid Hogan are still determined to push theii; advantage home, and insist on unconditional surrender. Powerful influences, however, are at work to save the faces of De Valera and his associates, while it is quite certain that the people, as a whole, 'have no desire to seo their fallen idol humiliated. Therefore, when Monsignor Luzio intervenes, he will have the wholehearted support of the people, and will move more readily when he sees that success will not only bring peace to Ireland, but restore the diminishing prestige of the Roman Catholic Church which never has been at a lower ebb. The final terms are likely to follow closely those to which Archbishop Harty lent his name, and which Austin Stack proposed to support at the illstarred meeting in the Knockmealdown mountains. It must be remembered the Government has fifteen thousand prisoners and their future behaviour depends largely on the terms of the settlement. The "Irish Times" calls for a conference between the Free State authorities and the Bepublicaus,' with a view to the negotiation of an immediate peace. It suggests Monsignor Luzio as chairman of the conference.