THE IRISH TREATY

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 52, 30 August 1932, Page 8

THE IRISH TREATY

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

DE VALERA'S ENMITY

Now that the Irish question occupies tho centreof the political stage it may bo of interest to recall the negotiations and correspondence which led up to the signing of the 1921 Treaty from which the- present disagreements have originated, says the "Manchester Guardian.'' In the early, days of .July, 1921, a truce to the civil war was arranged and a number of political prisoners on both sides released; on 14th July Mr. do Valera came to London to interview" Mr. Lloyd George, then Prime Minister. A week later the proposals of the. British Government were dispatched to Ireland. These suggested the immediate extension of Dominion status to Ireland, but with reservations with regard to the British. control of the sea, the restriction of the Irish Jand forces, and the provision of facilities •for j the British, in Ireland. " Ireland should also agree to shoulder a part of the British-debt, and her share, in default of an agreement between the two Governments, was to be decided by an independent arbitrator from within the British Empire. Mr. de Valera consulted his colleagues (some of whom had to be released from prison for the purpose) and on 10th August returned a refusal claiming that the conditions attached to the proposals made worthless the recognition of Irish nationality 'Dominion status for Ireland everyone who understands the conditions knows to be illusory. The freedom which the British Dominions enjoy is not so much the result of legal enactments •' and treaties as of tho immense .distances" separating the countries, making '.'interference by Great Britain 'impracticable.' "EQUAL FREEDOM." ■ "The most explicit guarantees, including the Dominions' acknowledged right to secede, would be required to secure for Ireland an equal degree of freedom." But in the Goevrnment's proposals "qur geographical situation is made the basis of denials and restrictions unheard of in the case of the Dominions" and if accepted would reduce the country to "hopeless dependency." He refused the single British arbitrator, suggesting instead a board of thTee, one from each country involved, and the third "to be nominated by agreement or in default by, say, the President of the United States if he would consent." After Mr. Lloyd George had replied to the effect that the right of Ireland to secede from the Empire could never be acknowledged, Mr. de Valera again dispatched the unanimous rejection of the terms by the Republican "Dail." On.7th September the British, thinking that the correspondence had gone on long enough, asked for a definite reply to the question whether they "were willing to'enter a 'conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the British Empire could best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations.": Mr. de .Valera sent a reply accepting, but stated in it that his nation had '-'formally, declared its independence and recognises itself as a sovereign State." -Mr. Lloyd George then cancelled the conference on tho grounds that it might be thought to be an; official recognition of Ireland's ."severance from the King.'s domains" and of-Ireland as a sovereign. State able to make a treaty of amity with the King, or not, as sho would. .The exchange of letters continued. THE CONFERENCE. On 19th September Mr. de Valera brought tho matter to a head-by asking whether the British were asking for a surrender or for "a "conference free on both sides and without prejudice should agreement not be reached." Mr. Lloya George replied that the British . Government .could not enter a conference on "the" basis- of this correspondence, but he.invited the Irish to a now one to consider the same question "as spokesmen, of the people- you represent"—thus avoiding the vexed question whether the Irish nation was or was not a sovereign nation. The difficulty with Mr. de Valera had been that he would not allow the "vexed question" to be 'avoided. The Irish •immediately accepted the new invitation, and on 11th October delegates from Ireland, not including Mr. de Valera, met the British delegates in London. . ' ,

The .conference .sat. for- a long time behind closed, doors/ issuing only short official notices; it was- well '.into December when agreement was announced in the form of a treaty sotting-out the terms of InSandV,status 'arid' of the oath of faithfulness to-His-Majesty the King in virtue ofvtlie-i common'citizenship and membership 'of..the " British Commonwealth of; Nations. Ratification took plactv in; the.Dail after long struggles and constant; '.opposition' from Mr. de Valera,-who' eventually resigned his Presidency. : ... .-.. -.'.-,;