Evening Post. FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1933. THE FARMERS INTERVENE'

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 10, 13 January 1933, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1933. THE FARMERS INTERVENE'

_ The nominations for the General Election in the Irish Free State closed on Wednesday without any trace of the movement for a National Government: which was launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin about a fortnight ago. That is one of the advantages^which Mr. de Valera was recognised.tohaye gained by his promptness in. following up the Lord Mayors-meeting and Mr. Cosgrave's approval of its object; with the dissolution of the Dail. He was hoping we were told, "t6 catch the new national Party movement on the wT SJ°°y and "The Times" considered that he might conceivably be successful,, as .a "general understanding was the nearest approach o an agreement that his opponents would j* a ble to make in &c week allowed. But we were told at the samejime (sth January) that Mr. McDermot, the leader of the Farmers and Ratepayers' League, had nad a long interview with Mr. Cosgrave and was believed to have arranged to combine forces. That this policy has had, at any rate, a jarge measure, of success is proved by the nomination's as reported yesfit^Jte UghMr '"■■*'Valera's Party, the Fianna Fail, has 100 candidates m the, field and Mr. Cos, grpe's only 85, the difference is more than made up by the 25 candidates representing the.Farmers' and Katepayers' League. There may still be some constituencies in which there is a conflict between Cosgraveite and League candidates. That is indeed implied m the statement of the Cosgrayeite organiser that "there will oe loyal co-operation with a view to avoiding vote-splitting"— an assurance which under the proportional system is something more than a hgure of speech; but the chances are that not many of the 25 electorates which the Farmers' League is contesting axe offering the possibility of a clash. . As the "National Centre Party" which is. to-day described as "primarily a farmers? party" and as hoping to hold the balance of power in the new Dail, is not represented under that name in the nominations, we may probably assume that it is an alias for the Farmers' and Ratepayers League, which figures so conspicuously. But, whether in one organisation or two, the intervene tion of, the farmers as an independent and important factor in the politics of the Irish Free State, and on a platform which, while primarily concerned with their own interests, includes the whole range of national policy, is an event of interest and significance. The Farmers' Party only numbered four in the last Dail and six in the' preceding one, and both in office and in Opposition Mr. Cosgrave seems-to have been able to rely upon their loyalty. The farmersare now seeking a strength and an independence more commensurate with the importance of their industry, and it is not Mr. Cosgrave but Mr. de Valera who has supplied the inspiration. vTbe origin of the movement is described by the "Round TableV Irish, contributor in its December number.as follows::— Tho , political - reactions to Mr. de valera's policy and the economic facts ,have been considerable.: Tho big farmers, nnder the relentless pressure of events,.have at last become vocaland begun to organise, jAt a large and representative meeting in Dublin on 15th September, resolutions were adopt-' ?5f condemning the "jingo policy" of the Government, and' demanding that steps should bo taken to recover for the farmers their position ia the Bntish market. ; . ' At a subsequent convention in Dublin on the 6th October the National farmers' and Ratepayers' League was formed and a constitution adopted. The first of its objects was defined as"to promote the interests of agriculture and to give the farmers the power to mould/Government policy," but of special interest outside of Ireland are the clauses defining the national and international objects of the League as follows.:— • _To get rid of the memories of the civil war, and to promote good feeling between all classes; to encourage a friendly attitude toward other countries, and obtain a fair and honourable settlement of the disputes at present afioctVig thei country's export trade: and to abolish partition by abolishing the animosities _which are the cause of it. Referring to these provisions and to Mr.. Frank McDermot, an Independent member of the Dail, who was unanimously elected president'of tlie League, and who had evidently been its principal promoter, the "Round Table's" contributor writes as follows:— It will be, seen from these'■ declarations; that.Mr. McDermot is the only Pree State politician who has approached the question of partition in a rational manner and. formulated a new constructive economic policy based on the real needs of the agricultural community. The same writer describes Mr. McDenriot as a "coming politician" and expresses the hope that he may prove to be the leader of a new moderate party which will turn its back on the "barren personal ani-

mosities" of the de Valera and Cos. grave parties and base a programme of national reconstruction "on love of Ireland rather than hatred of England." We were given a touch of Mr. McDermot'^ quality in the remarkable speech on Mr. de^alera's Oath of Allegiance Abolition Bill, which was cabled to us at considerable, though by no means. undeserved, length on the 21st April last.. * Ireland, he said, is a great nation with a flu© history. If. we regard ourselves as belonging to the British Commonwealth, the Bill is a breach of international good manners. Let us not behave like guttersnipes. If wo canuot nd ourselves of the obsession that our rights havo been trampled down, and if we want to (leave the Commonwealth, let us say so and go out like mon and be done with it.' . . . ■ The spirit and manners of Mr. McDermot • would certainly better become a great nation than those of a guttersnipe, but in policy it cannot yet be said that he speaks for more than the farmers, nor even for them as a whole. It was the "big farmers" who, according to the "Round Table," rallied to his call and formed the Farmers' and Ratepayers' League. It was to the small farmers and workers that Mr. de Valera appealed ( in the speech at Ennis reported on Tuesday, and his supporters were described by the "'Manchester Guardian's" correspondent on the following day as "small farmers, poor men, and young people." In September a special correspondent of the same paper said that the small farmers' vote had always been | pretty equally divided, but that at the last election Mr. de Valera's promises and Mr. Cosgrave's reluctance to promise had turned "a few votes in this class, and some among the more substantial farmers" in Mr. de Valera's favour. But the Cosgraveites thought that a swing-back had begun, and that it would be completed yhen the full effect of the economic war was felt after October.