Evening Post TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1913. HOME RULE AND ULSTER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 103, 28 October 1913, Page 6

Evening Po st TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1913. HOME RULE AND ULSTER

Mr. Asquith has been in many tight corners before, but probably in. none which seemed to the outside observer less enviable than that in which the latest turd of the Trish question has placed him. For generations British statesmanship was the bane of Ireland, and by way of inevitable retaliation Ireland has lately become the bane of British statesmanship. Just when a solution along the general lines which, sooner or later and with or without qualifications and reservations, must be followed, seemed imminent,/ the embarrassments • and the dangers have become more acute than ever. The alternatives that have been presented to the Government during the last few months have been the abandonment of what they regard as a policy of justice to Ireland and of relief to Great Britain, or the outbreak -of a civil war for which vigorous preparations have been made in Ulster, and which might easily spread further. It was only natural that in those circumstances many staunch supporters of the Government and thorough-going believers in Home Rule should have been strongly urging a compromise as the only means of escape from the terrible dilemma. Mr. Asquith has been in no hurry to speak, but now that he has spoken it must be conceded, even by his opponents, that he has risen to the heiglit of a great occasion with wonderful success. His courage, his coolness, his moderation, his dexterity, his rare talent for terse, weighty statement and lucid argument, have never been put to a severer test, and they have responded so admirably as to enable him to state the case for the Government with extraordinary* power. Whatever else may happen, it is at least clear that, as long as Mr. Asquith remains in charge, the British Government is not going to be "bluffed" or intimidated. No difference of opinion as to the merits of the legislation proposed by the Government should stint one's admiration of the spirit and v tone displayed by the Premier, or one's appreciation of the value of the lesson that he has provided. The breakdown of authority, the loosening of the bonds of law, the substitution of violence for argument as the motive power of reform — these are some of the dangerous tendencies of the time to which members of the party of law and order have not hesitated to pander. Though Sir Edward Carson and Mr. Bonar Law may develop their resistance to Some Rule to the point of civil war, and shatter a constitution which has 1 defied the storms of ages, "the wreck will strike one fearless head," and that iB the head of the Prime Minister. But his calmness and courage are just the qualities that are calculated to postpone the ordeal indefinitely. After arguing from the progress of the Home Rule Bill that "a complete constitutional case" had been made out for passing it with the aid of the Parliament Act next session, Mr. Asquith declared that "the action of statesmen in a matter which had reached this stage ought not to be affected or deflected by any menace of forcible resistance." The doctrines preached in Ulster were, he said, "the negation of the first principles of Parliamentary and democratic government," and he regretted that these doctrines had been countenanced by the responsible leaders of the Unionist Party. "Lawlessness," as Lord Loieburn pointed out in his plea for a conference, "is opposed to all their traditions, and no one stands to lose more than they in every way by its encouragement. Towards the end of August, according to newspager reports, a Labour leader recommended strikers to arm themselves. He had learned from his betters. Others may do the same." Mr. Asquith points out that among the others who are bound to learn the lesson of lawlessness if it is allowed to win the day in Ulster will be the mass of the people in all other parts of Ireland. For the present they are quiet, partly because their grievances are not so acute as they were, and partly because they believe the remedy to be at hand. "But even if it were true," says Lord Loreburn, "that there has been a cooling down of Nationalist aspirations under the influence of growing prosperity, could anything be more certain to rekindle them than a rejection of self-gov-ernment after a strife conducted in the temper which has characterised proceedings in the North of Ireland during the last twelvemonth? So far as we can measure the prospect of disorder in either event, more may be apprehended from the refusal than from the concession." It is amazing indeed that the Unionists have not contemplated this and the other consequences of the gospelthfli.thejr have fieaa pleaching in U.^^

But Mr. Asquith is far from adopting a, "non possumuB 11 attitude. Without being either so provocative or so complaisant as Mr. Churchill displayed himself in his epeech at Dundee, the Premier ehowa that, though the Government is proof against intimidation, it is quite open to argument. Dealing with the difficulties in the way of Lord Loreburn's proposals, The Time* said : "Not the least formidable of these obstacles « the fact that the Government may hesitate to make any conciliatory ovortures lest the^y should be interpreted as concessions to threats of disorder. The effect of such speeches a* those of Sir Edward Carson may prove to bo very different from that which they are intended to produce." The Unionists would surely be in a much stronger position to-day if their leaders were not afraid to imitate the candour of this plain hint to Ukter's fiery leader. Even Sir Edward Carson, however, in hi/S most unchastened mood, could hardly mistake anything in Mr. Aisquith's Ladybank speech for weakness. The Premier stands by the Home Rule Bill, and will not shrink from employing the armed forces of the Crown to overpower any resistance to it after it has become law ; but he is quite prepared to consider with, an open mind any reasonable proposals for the adjustment of Ulster's position. The conditions of such a consideration are, however, that the establishment of a subordinate Legislature In DabKn must be conceded, that "nothing shall be done to erect a permanent and insuperable bar to Irish unity," anStfaat Ireland's claims shall not be postponed till an all-roUnd scheme toi devolution has been adopted. "We take this to mean that,, the Government i» willing to consider an amendment of the present Bill which will provide separate treatment- for Ulster while leaving the door open for her ultimate inclusion in a united Ireland. If the Unionists are ready to negotiate ofl these linee, the" Premier is ready to meet them; if not, the Bill must go through as it is. The Daily Telegraph has searched the Ladybank speech in vain foi? "the" healing word that the nation so eagerly expected"; but what the nation most needed was firmness and common sense, and the Premier has s given it a bracing dose of eacli. The general reception of the epee«i is accordingly very favourable. "Mr. Asquith," says so fierce a.champion of the Union as the Observer, has gone as far as reasonable opponents could expect, and he oughC to be met with the samd moderation, dignity, and skill." Let ug hope that th« resources of Unionist statesmanship will prove equal to the task.