Evening Post. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1921. HOME RULE ACT

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 92, 19 April 1921, Page 6

Evening Post. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1921. HOME RULE ACT

The übiquity of the Irish, question was well illustrated by the h^lf-column of cablegrams <m the subject, which we published yesterday. London and Dublin, Paris and Eome, Vancouver a.nd Washington, all made their contributions to the story of patriotism and misunderstanding and crime which has not only brought Ireland from a condition of unexampled prosperity to a state of war but is also endangering the peace of the world. From Bans a speech of Archbishop Mannk was reported in which he claimed tfl have convinced the Pope that " there. was something fine and heroic in Sinn Fein's -war against Britain "'and that " British policy in Ireland was shocking "—neither of which statements is really inconsistent wilih the condemnation previously attributed to the Pope of the acts of some, of the Archbishop's compatriots in Ireland. Though Archbishop Mannix is silent on the subject, it is impossible to, believe that such acts a* those described in an adjoining message -r-the coldrblqoded/ murder by thirty armed men of an unarmed civilian and th« burning of hk house aftei bombs had been placed inside it to prevent salvage we of the kind which the Archbishop proved to the Pope's satisfaction to be undeserving of condemnation. The news from Vancouver was that Osmond Grattan Esmonde r^ad been committed for trial on a charge of using seditious language.. The Dominion Government would apparently have preferred that his denunciation should be overlooked instead of being advertised in a cause celehre wbjdh may star the fires of sectarian strife throughout the Dominion. Australia and New Zealand had a better Vay of treating an unwelcome guest. The item from Washington ywterdaj was that Senator Morris had introduced a resolution which declared th*tj " the United. States views with horror, and indignation, the British Government's policy in Ireland," an.d.,tJjat the Senate had referred the resolution to its Foreign Relations Committee. Britain's maltreatment of Ireland appears to be a safe mark before any representative tribunal in America, and the reeponsibib” j ties of the Senate im foreign poKoy do not ipake it an exception-, to the rule. What the Senate and th» sovereign people of the United States would say if a motion were brought before the House of Commons declaring tha.t Britain views with horror and indignation the prevalence of lynching in the Southern States of the American Union may be easijy imagined. But we m,us|; tak» things as they are, and instead of seek ing refuge in tv quoques of this kind, or putting all the blame on the Irish and j German " pull" in American politics and the irresponsibility of tibe Senate, w» must frankly recognise .-that und«r the conditions of American politics, which for practical purposes may be accepted as permanent;, the unsettled Irish question is a standing mepaoe to the friendship of the two great branches of the Engfeh-epeaking peoples. For the purposes of that friendship, which is. of more importance to the world than any formal combination of the other Powers, the vital question is not whether Britain or Ireland is chiefly to blame for this disagreement, or whether the United States is not more to blame than either for tho importance it attaches to the quarrel and for its refusal to treat the, matter as the inero domestic concern of outsiders, but whether the quarrel still persiste. From the standpoint of the world's peace no less than that of domestic peace, it is imperative that the agelong trouble between Britain and Ireland shall not be allowed to continue for ever. In many essential respects that trouble appears to have reached its darkest and moefc desperate phase dwririg the last twelve months; yet, though but Jitfcle .is made of it either by the foreign critics of Britain or by her pwn prophets of evil, there is some ground for hoping that the darkness is that of the hour which precedes the dawn. Tho statistics of crime not only do not justify the boast made by Mr. Lloyd George some time ago that the Government had the murder conspiracy by {.ho throat, but father suggest that the country is go'! 1? from bad to worse. According to the figures given in the March number of the Round Table, 337 persons were killed in Ireland, including 224' policemen and 54 (soldiers, between Ist January, 1919. and sth February, 1921, and 590 were^ i wounded. Figures, which partly overlap tllese were supplied by cable on. Saturday. Speaking on the 14th, inst'» the Attorney-General for Ireland said Uliut eiucQ the tab January 140 member*

of the Crown forces in Ireland had been killed and 226 wonnded. A very serious increase in casualties during the last three months is indicated by these figures. But they were accompanied by statistics of an even more distressing character. Within the same period of three months and a-half no fewer th.a£ 221 members of the Crown forces were arrested for criminal offences, 165 were triad, afld 124 convicted, including 12 who were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from three to ten years. 'Several trials for murder are also pending, The charge that the crimes of Sinn Fein have been met not merely by the reprisals which are a necessary incident of what is in effect a state of war, but by crimes which no code can juetjfy, cannot bo denied, in the face qf these figures.

In spite of these horrors, the cardinal fact to which we refer as justifying hope is that, there is. a. Hpnve B-ijle Act on the Statute-book. It is of course not without defects. ]ta financial provisions do i}ot satisfy a majority of Irishmen, and a message received yesterday shows that at the eleventh hour they may need to be amended. The violation of Irish unity is a more fundamental defect, but under present conditions it is unavoidable, fqr how can the principle of self-determina-tion which gives Home Rule to the rest of, Ireland be denied to . Ulster ? Home Rule of a liberal, though not. of a final, character is on the Statute-book, and, what 16 more, it is going to be -worked. UJster will wqrk jt to the fullest possible extent. Sinn Fein, which a year ago was expected to keep electors from the polls by force, announced a fortnight ago its intention to contest every election for the Southern Parliament. 11, may boycott the Parliament after the elections, but surely ■even Senator Morris will modify Ms hatred of British tyranny when he sees the power that has been placed in the handjs of frjie ?l*i^ people and, the extensions of which it is capable.