DEMOCRACY IN EIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 146, 23 June 1938, Page 8

DEMOCRACY IN EIRE

Mr. de Valera's victory in the ' Irish General Election, announced yesterday, can be taken as a tribute ] both to his courage as a statesman i and his judgment as a politician. It ] is also a remarkable example of the j effectiveness of the democratic j machinery of representative govern- ■ nient. The General Election of July, i 1937, left the de Valera Government ] with 69 seats in the Dail, a number | corresponding exactly with the seats , held by aft the other parties com- ■ bined. The stalemate was overcome ■ by Labour, with 13 seats, giving its ] support to the Government. Though , Mr. de Valera must have found such : a coalition, if it can. be so called, : irksome, after the freedom of an ( over-all majority he had enjoyed since his accession to power in 1932, lie nevertheless carried out sweeping reforms in the Constitution of Eire .and initialed conversations with Britain which resulted in an AngloIrish Pact of equal importance. This agreement, which put an end to the somewhat strained relations existing since the withdrawal of the Irish annuities in 1932, was warmly welcomed in both Britain and Eire as inaugurating an era of peace and friendship. On May 25 the Valera Government was defeated in the Dail by one vote on a minor issue in a private motion. Nominally, this need not have been accepted as signifying a lack of confidence in the Government, but Mr. de Valera, [with plans for the future in mind, I determined to "throw off the shackles of the Labour Party," as the cable message described it at the time* and appealed to the country. As a result he gained in the recent election eight seats, four from Labour, three from the Cosgrave Party, and one from the Independents, securing a majority of sixteen, ample for his purposes. Apart from any issues between the parties—and these have been domestic and not of great interest to outsiders—Mr. de Valera's motives in seeking a dissolution were clearly expressed in the proclamation dissolving the Pail. This stated that the Government, "with a precarious majority, was constantly at the mercy of a group of combinations supporting sectional interests, and could not do the nation's work as it should be done." On his record, therefore, Mr. de Valera claimed from the country a stronger measure of support for hi 6 p6licy. Such an appeal to the electorate implied a moral courage and a faith in the working of representative institutions somewhat rare in southern democracies of Australia and New Zealand. There are few instances in our more recent political history of any break in the continuity of Parliaments. Governments have preferred, no, matter how small or "precarious" their majoni ties, to "scratch along" through the 1 full term of Parliament, avoiding contentious legislation that might , result in their defeat, rather than boldly to risk all in a test of public ! opinion by a dissolution and appeal to the country. Mr. de Valera took the risk. It was no light one with a j strong Opposition, headed by a veteran politician of the calibre of Mr. W. T. Cosgrave, a forme; ! President of the Dail. It might have been thought also that the Irish electorate," with a reputation for inconsistency, perhaps undeserved, would change its allegiance. Such ' fears proved groundless. Mr. de I Valera won and won handsomely, if I not overwhelmingly. His trust ir t the people proved not to have beer , misplaced, and his victory a lessor I to politicians of little faith thai . democracy will'run true, if trusted