DE VALERA'S LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 39, 15 August 1921, Page 8

DE VALERA'S LETTER

MUST BE SELF-DETERMINATION

IHE ILLUSION OP DOMINION 1 :.,% y STATUS.

ifth^Augnst.

"Mr.' de T£alera's; letter points out that theoutlinetgiveiLui the*draft of the,2oth July' is self-contradictory, and the princip/e of the pact is not easy to determine. "We appreciate and accept it so fax as it implies recognition of Ireland's separate nationhood and right to acH■delermination, but in—the- stipulations aSd express conditions "'concerning ■vital matters, this .principle .js strangely set acidic, and claims advanced by the British'Goyernment to interfere in Irish affairs ! and control which we cannot admit. ■ Ireland's right to choose the path towards her destiny, maintained through centuries of oppression and at the cost of unparalleled sacrifice and Buffering, will not be surrendered. Britain, or .any. Qtlier foreign State, cannot claim to interfere in that right in order to serve.her own interests.

"The 'Irish people believe, that their national destiny -will - best be' realised by iSOJf*&. deiMhmefit, lisa .of jmpanaljs-

tic entanglement: Ireland, like the small States of Europe, is prepared to hazard her independence on the basis of moral light, and is confident that, as ehe would threaten no nation or pe&ple, they would be free from aggression themselves. This policy the Irish have declared for by plebiscite after plebiscite." ' ' After stating liis belief that true friendship would be obtained through amicable but absolute separation, Mr. de Valera proceeds : "The fear —groundless though we believe it to be, that Irish territory may bo used as a basis of attack on England's liberties^—can get a reasonable guarantee not inconsistent with Irish sovereignty. Everyone understanding the conditions knows that Dominion status for Ireland to bo illusory. The freedom which the British Dominions enjoy is not so much the result of legal enactments and treaties as the immense distances separating them from Britain, making interference by Britain impracticable. The, most explicit guarantees, including the Dominions' acknowledged right to secede, would b« necessary to secure to Ireland an equal degree of freedom. There is no suggestion in your proposal of any such guarantees, instead the nahira-1 position is reversed. Our geographical situation in respect to Britain is made the basis for denials and restrictions unheard of in the case of the Dominions. The smaller island must give military safeguards and guarantees to the larger or suffer itself to be reduced to a position of helpless dependency. CANNOT ACCEPT SUCH PROPOSALS. The reply adds: "It is obvious that we could not urge our people to accept such proposals. A certain treaty .'of frea association with the British Commonwealth group, as with a partial League of Nations, we would be Teady to recommend and negotiate and take the responsibilty for, if we had the" assurance that the entry of the Nation as a whole into such an association would secure' for it the allegiance of the presenting dissenting minority, to meet whose sentiment alone this step could be'contempjaited. , We are ready to negotiate treaties for free inter-trade and mutual 'limitation of armament. Agreements facilitating air, railway, and other communications can be effected. No obstacle will be placed in the way of .the smooth commercial intercourse essential to both isfands. All treaties and agreements would have to be ratified, first, the National Legislature. Subsequently the Irish people, "under the circumstances, to be free to give a decision from which military compulsion shall be absent. . /

"We are prepared to leave the question of Ireland's liability for a share ; of the present debt to the United Kingdom to a board of arbitrators, one to be appointed by Ireland, one by Britain, and the third fo be chosen by agreement, or in default to be nominated, say, by the Amerioan President. : FORCE NOT CONTEMPLATED.J "Regarding the question, at issue* between the political jriinority and th«i great majority of the Irish people, that •must remaiit a question for the Irish people themselves to settla. We -cannot admit.:th«jHght of the British Governr merit to mutilatel the country either in its own, interests or at the call of any section of our population. We do not contemplate the use of force. If your Government stands aside we can effect a complete - reconciliation. We are' willing; that this question, too, shaG ,be submitted, to external arbitration. We are ready to meet you in all that is reasonable and just, ,The responsibility of initiating alid effecting an homour- . able' peace rests primarily with your •Government. We have no, conlditio.ns to impose- and no claims but \ one—th-aE ,we,be free, from aggression." . .