The Dominion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1921. THE IRISH DEADLOCK

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 304, 17 September 1921, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1921. THE IRISH DEADLOCK

With the latest turn in the negotiations between tho Sinn Fem leaders and. the British Cabinet, prospects of peace and a friendly settlement in Ireland are seriously narrowed down. At the same time there cannot be any difficulty in assigning responsibility for this deplorable state of affairs. ..In., refusing to recognise Ireland as a “sovereign State”' and' negotiate with' tho Sinn Fein representatives on that basis, Mr. Lloyd George has taken a stand that will be approved almost universally in every part of ths,Empire other than Ireland, and even in Ireland will be approved by at least a third of .the population. That Nationalist authority on ' Irish affairs, Mn.. Stephen GwynJi,. estimated recently 'that the Ulster unionists number about one million, and the Southern Unionists 300,000. These figures combined/account for approximately one-third of the total Irish population, and it seems safe to assume that at a minimum one in three of the Irish people are thoroughly loyal to the Empire Any remaining hope of a peaceful settlement rests upon the possibility that with tho issfic plainly raised a very much larger proportion of the Irish peo--rde may declare for adhesion to the Empire. The one thing clear at the moment is that in their .'present frame of mind .any further attempt to negotiate successfully with Mr. dr Valera and his.associates is well nigh hopeless. Tn endeavouring to promote a settlement, the British Government has manifested a snirit of generous liberality and offered terms which command the approval oven of parties and groups at homo and abroad which formerly criticised or condemned its Irish policy. The only effect upon the-extremists who dominate the Sinn Fein organisation has been to stiffen their irreconcilable attitude and. encourage them to exaggerate impossible demands.

If the Irish people are capable'of the act of self-preservation which the ease demands, they will need to exercise their influence on their leaders or displace them, ■ They and they alone are standing in the way of a settlement which would give the- people of Ireland full local autonomy, and every prospect of secMrity, well-being, and happiness. The true nature and effect of their demands arc. very easily appreciate ed here and in other Dominions where people of English, Scottish, 1 and Irish descent are mingled indivisibly' in a common national stock. Even the not very numerous groups- who assemble at times ' in this country and in' other,parts of the overseas Empire to pass fiery re-

solutions about the alleged ill-treat-ment pf Ireland would soon bo heard from in more vehement protest if it were proposed to deprive them of their British citizenship. The merging of races in the Dominions in itself fastens upon the Sinn Fein irreconcilablcs the reproach of attempting to re-establish divisions which are obsolete and can never be revived. In the Dominions it is already finally demonstrated that Irish, English,- and Scottish are members of one nation. While the people of the Dominions are on this ground vitally concerned in the settlement of thie Irish question, they are equally bound, in their own interests and those of the whole nation, to condemn any attempt to weaken the Empire at iits heart. The strength of the whole Empire centres for the time being in the Mother Country, and if she were weakened and laid open to attack by the secession of Ireland the Empire as a whole would be deprived of tlte security .it derives to-day from the compact and close-knit organisation of the United Kingdom. For their own sakes individually as well as iii loyalty to their common bond ofmn'iou with (the Mother Country, tho Dominions are supremely interested ' in preventing any approach,; to conditions in which the coasts of Ireland might be •used as-a base of attack on Britain and on British seaborne commerce.

Whatever else may happen, it is, of course, certain that the Sinn Feiners will never succeed in separating Ireland from the Empire. No one can doubt that the powerful minority in Ulster would have to be annihilated before Mr. de Valera and his associates could realise their aim of making Ireland a foreign country. Adding that fact to the still greater and more commanding fact that throughout the overseas Empire the dividing line between Irish and other constituent British races is rapidly being obliterated, and undoubtedly Is' destined to. ‘be . obliterated altogether, the complete futility of the Sinn. Fein agitation is self-evident. The question - really raised at this stage, the only question that can arise' where the political status of Ireland is concerned, is whether she is to enjoy the privileges and benefits of nationhood within the Empire, or is to remain tho dupe and victim of a. set of unbalanced irreconcilables. ■ In bringing negotiations to the' present deadlock theyhave trampled the real interests of Ireland underfoot. The remedy is in . the hands of • the Irish people, and in this connection it is the rq? deeming feature of an otherwise gloomy outlook that there have been of late some indications of a popular revulsion in Ireland against the extreme Sinn Feiners. One of to-day’s cablegrams points out that Irish- topinion, expressed in Sinn Fein newspapers, strongly advocated acceptance throughout the negotiations. A plebiscite is suggested •as a means of ending the deadlock, and there seems little doubt that if a vote is taken. in fair conditions the people will declare for accepting the offer of the British Government. The difficulty may be, however, to prevent the ir reconci lab les pursuing a policy of intimidation which would reduce the plebiscite to the level of a farce. If is plain .in any casq that |-he people of Ireland will have themselves to thank if they allow their country to be thrown again into turmoil by a campaign of violence which serves, only to postpone the realisation of their legitimate aspirations.