IRISH FREE STATE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20550, 19 May 1932, Page 9

IRISH FREE STATE.

DELEGATES TO OTTAWA CONFERENCE. POSITION OF MR DE VALERA. t (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—BY ELECTBIG TZLEGBA.PH—COPSBIGHT.) (Received May 18th, 9.20 p.m.) LONDON, May 18. The Dublin correspondent of the Central News Agency says tlie present intention of the Government is to send three Ministers to the Empire Economic Conference at Ottawa with a Secretariat of 16. Mr de Valera's going will depend on the state of Home affairs. OATH AND TREATY MR DE VALERA'S CLAIMS. PUBLICATION OP DOCUMENTS. CTROU OUK OW* COKBISFONDEHT.) LONDON, April 15. On the subject of the Irish Free State Mr J. H. Thomas (Secretary of State for the Dominions), in the House of Commons, contented himself with the announcement that tlie documents between the British Government and Mr de Yalera had been published. The only comment he made was that the British. Government had reaffirmed in unmistakable language that it stood absolutely by the Treaty settlement. There are four papers;: One sent through the High Commissioner for the Irish Free State to the British Government; the Government's reply signed by Mr J. H. Thomas; Mr de Valera's reply; and Mr Thomas's reply. The first statement sent on March 22nd outlined the Free State attitude under nine headings. Among other things, it stated that: The Oath is not mandatory m the Treaty. We have an absolute right to modify our Constitution as the people desire. The abolition of the Oath was the principal and dominating issue before the electors. It has been the cause of all the strife and dissension in this country since the signing of the Treaty. The people, and not merely those who supported the policy of the present Government, regard it as an intolerable burden, a relic of medievalism, a test imposed from outside under threat of immediate and terrible war. The new Government have no desire whatever to be on unfriendly relations with Great Britain. Quite the contrary. But the British Government must realise that real peace in Ireland is impossible so long as the full and free representation of the people _ in their Parliament is rendered impossible by a test of this character. Mr Thomas wrote, in his reply, dated March 23rd: In the opinion of his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom it is manifest that the Oath is an integral part of the' Treaty made ten years ago between the two countries and hitherto honourably observed on both sides. They wish to iHfcke their standpoint on this question clear to his Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State beyond a possibility of doubt. Historical Document. Mr dc Valera's Teply to this will become an historical document and may be given in full: Department of External Affairs. Irish Free State, ; April 5, 1932. Sir, —The Government of the Irish Free State has had under consideration the views of *the British Govenunent communicated to wo in your dispatch of March 23rd. 2. Whether the Oath was or was not "an integral part Of the Treaty made ten years ago" is not now the issue. The real issue is that the Oath is an intolerable , burden to the people of this State, and that they have declared in the most formal manner that they desire its instant removal. 3. The suggestion in your dispatch that tho Government, of the Irish Free State contemplates acting dishonourably cannot in justice be let pass. -The pages of the history of the relations between Great Britain and Ireland are indeed stained by many breaches of faith, but I must remind you the guilty party has not been Ireland. 4. In justice also I must point out that the observance of the agreement of 1921 has involved no parity of sacrifice as between Great Britain and Ireland. This agreement gave effect to what was the will of the British ernment. It was on the other tand. directly opposed to the will of the Irish people, and was submitted to by them only under the threat of immediate, and terrible war. Since it was sighed it has cost Britain nothing. In fact, Britain's prestige throughout the world has been considerably enhanced by the belief, -carefully fostered, that Ireland had at last been set free and the national aspirations of her people fully satisfied. For Ireland, however, this agreement has meant the consummation of the outrage of Partition,, and the alienation of the most sacred part of our national territory with all the cultural and material loss that this unnatural separation entails. British maintenance parties arc still in occupation in some of our principal ports, even in the area of_ the Free State. Our coastal defence is still retained in British hands. Britain claims the right in times of war or strained relations with a foreign Power to make demands upon Ireland which, if granted, will make our right to neutrality a mockery. This agreement .divided the people 01 Ireland into two hostile camps, those who deemed it a duty to resist, facing the consequcm es, and thosewho deemed it prudent in the national interest temporarilv to submit, the latter being placed 'in tr.o no less cruel position of having apparently to hold Ireland for England with "an economy of English lives," to quote from the late Lord Birkenhead's famous exposition of tho policy in the House of Lords. To England this agreement gave peace and added prestige. In Ireland it raised brother's hand against brother, gave us ten years of blood and tears, and besmirched the name of_ Ireland wherever a foul propaganda has been able to misrepresent us. During these ten years, moreover, there has been extracted from «s, though in part only as a consequence of the agreement, a. financial tribute which, relatively to population, puts a greater burden on the people of the Irish Free State than the burden of the war reparation payments on the people of Germany, and, relatively to taxaW® capacity, a' burden ten times as heavy as the burden on the people of Britain of their debt payments to the United States of America. 5. But. as I have already indicated,; we are dealing at the moment with the much narrower issue, whether an oato is or is not to be imposed on membere fleeted to sit in the Parliament of the Free State. The Government of the Irish Free State must maintain that

this is a matter of purely domestic concorn. The elimination of the Oath, and the removal of the Articles of the, Constitution necessary for that purpose, is a measure required for the peace, order, and good government of the State. The competence of the Legislature of the Irish Free Stato to pass such a measure is not open to question and has been expressly recognised by the British Legislature itself. It is the intention of my Government, therefore, to introduce immediately on the reassembly of Parliament a Bill for the removal of Article 17 of the Constitution, and for such consequential changes as may be required to make the removal effective. 6. With regard to the land annuities: My Government will be obliged if you will state what is the "formal and explicit undertaking to continue to pay the land annuities to the National Debt Commissioners," to which -you make reference in your dispatch. The Government of the Irish Free State is not aware of any such undertaking, but the British Government can rest assured that any just and lawful claims of Great Britain, or of any creditor of the Irish Free State, will be scrupulously honoured by its Government. 7. In conclusion, may I express my regret that ia the statement conveying to the House of Commons the information given you by our High Commissioner that part of his message was omitted which assured your Government of the desire of the Government of the Irish Free State ii&t the relations between the people* of our respective countries should b* friendly. These friendly relations caimot be established on pretence, but they can be established on the solid foundation of mutual respect and common interest, and they would long ago have been thus established had the forces that tend to us together not been interfered with by the attempts of one country to dominate the other. —I have the honour to be, Sir, faithfully yours. EAMON DE VALEKA. "The Only Firm Basis." ! Mr Thomas, in his reply, says: ; His Majesty's Government in the ! United Kingdom could certainly not ac- ! cept the sweeping statement in paragraph 3 of your dispatch, but they feel that nothing is to be gained by reviving the unhappy memories of a bygone past. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom entered into the 1921 Settlement with the single desire • t£at it should end the long period of bitterness between the two countries, and it is their belief that the Settlement has brought a measure of peace and contentment which •could not have been reached by any other means. Further, as the direct result of that Settlement, the Irish Free State has participated in and contributed to the notable constitutional developments of the last few years, whereby the position of the Dominions as equal members with the United Kingdom of the British Commonwealth of Nations under the Crown has been defined and made clear to the world. It is true that the 1921 Settlement did not result in the establishment of a united Ireland but the Treaty itself made the necessary provision for the union at that time of the two parts of Ireland if both had then been ready to accept it. As to the future, his Majesty's Government in the United .Kingdom feel it sufficient to state that, in their opinion, there can. be no con- \ ceivable hope for the establishment of a united except on the basis that its allegiance to the Crown and its membership of the British Commonwealth will continue unimpaired. In the next paragraph it is insisted that the Oath ia an integral part of the Treaty Settlement. , Land Annuities. 1 The second part of thejreply deals' with the Land Annuities.„ It is explained that these are not payment* from Government to Government. In principle the main transac^tS^-4 8 11011 one between the two Go atall, but between the Iriah tenant-pur- - chaser and the bolder of the Land Stock, which is, of course, held both,in Great Britain and in the Irish Free Stat*. * The position is that the annuities are collected by the Irish Free State Government from the tenant-purehasers and are distributed through the. National Debt Commissioners to the holders of the stock. The Irish Land Annuities > arc therefore in effect payments .on the instalment system by the Irish tenant for the land whieh he has bought, which pass through the hands of the Irish _ Free State Finance Ministry and of the National Debt Commissioners, and are , ultimately received by the holder Of Irish Land Stock. After recounting the "explicit undertakings" referred to in-the dispatch of March 23rd, the reply concludes: — , As stated in my dispatch of March 23rd, his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom regards undertakings of this character as binding in law and honour on the Irish Free State, whatever administration may be in' power, in exactly the same way as the Treaty itself is binding on both countries. I would state in conclusion that it is . the sincere hope and desire of his. Majesty's Government'in the United Kingdom that friendly relations- > *be- " ■ tween the peoples of the United Kingdom and thei Irish Free' State should continue. But in its view • those relations cannot but be impaired by any failure in the complete fulfilment of obligations deliberately undertaken. Ulster's Determination. Lord Craigavon, Premier of Northern Ireland, speaking at a Unionist meeting in Enniskillen, said that some people might think that it'was time-he— -* J said something. There was, however, * v.ety old saying, "The least said, the . soonest mended." "At the game time," he added, "as a loyal man to the' King and Constitution, I am bound to say that nothing that may happen will in the slightest degree make me flinch —and I-am sure none of you will' flinch—from doing what we think ia right to trphold the Flag which has flown over Ulster, the United Kingdom, and the Tost/of the" Empire so long.'' Mr H. M. Pollock (Minister for Finance), interviewed in Belfast, said the Government had made up its mind not to offer any opinion on the notes, and Sir Dawson Bates (Home Affairs) said Ulster was not going to be. made a ~ pawn in any , arrangements between Great Britain and the Irish Free State.