THE KING INTERVENES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2207, 21 July 1914, Page 4

THE KING INTERVENES

The- action of His Majesty • thr King in inviting representatives of the various parties concerned to meet in conference in order to arrive at a settlement by consent of the ' Home ilulp , controversy , will meet with general approval througlu out the- British Empire.. The idea is that the Government, the Opposition, the Nationalists, and the Irish Unionists shall each be represented by two of their, number, and, as the conference , is to be held at Buckingham Palace, it may ,be presumed that the King himself will preside. Throughout the long and. bitter strugglo which the Home Rule scheme has provoked, Hjs Majesty has always acted in a strictly con-. stitutional manner. There have been rumours from time to time that ho was bringing influence to bear on one side or the' other, but .Ministers and others-who are in a ])osition to speak from first-hand knowledge have expressly stated that ho has never deviated from the proper constitutional path. Every suggestion of partisanship has been authoritatively denied. This does not ,mean that His Majesty has watched the course of events with serene indifference. On the .contrary, it may be taken for granted that he has followed every act in this great political drama with the intensest interest. 'His Ministers would naturally, ■keep him'well' acquainted' with all ,that : has been going on, but up to the present time ho has taken no public part in the proceedings. Indeed, no ono can say precisely what the personal opinion of the King is on the Irish -problem:. With a settlement almost insight it would be deplorable ft feeling's of bitterness and resentment were permitted to block the way to peace. A civil war in Ireland would be an oternal disgrace to British statesmanship. The exclusion of Ulster in some form has been conceded, and ,the Government is prepared to abandon the time limit. The principal point now in dispute is whether there shall.be a clean cut by which Protestant Ulster would l bo removed from the, jurisdiction of the Parliament which is to be set up in Dublin,. or whether each county should be permitted to settle its own fate by the Vote'of its inhabitants. The Spectator is of opinion that the best compromise available is to take the homogeneous Protestant ■' unit formed by the six. counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Derry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh,, and cither exclude them by a clean cut, or by 'a poll of the electors, voting as an area and not by counties. "The object of this plan is, of course, to prevent, the very dangerous situation that must arise if polls were taken in the boiV der counties of Tyrone _ and Fermanagh.", Other suggestions as to a settlement by compromise have beon made, but i± seems very difficult'for the parties to agree to the final step' which will remove the clanger of civil war. In such circumstances the most natural course of action is to bring, them together to talk the matter over in a friendly way, and the King, who stands above all parties, has now. expressed his desire that such a ■ conference should be held. The welfare of his Kingdom is at stake, and at such a critical juncture as the present his proposal commends itself to roason a.nd to common sense. It is to be hoped that it will be completely justified by result's. ........