The Evening Star FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1919.

Evening Star, Issue 17234, 26 December 1919, Page 4

The Evening Star FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1919.

The latest scheme of'* self-government for Ireland, as promulgated by Ireland. JUr Lloyd GeoTge in the House of Commons, is at least mora acceptable to dispassionate British opinion concerning a practical settlement of the Irish Question than any one of the many proposals in the past. It offers an honorable way out of a deplorable tangle. But it does nob follow that it will be any more acceptable to the embittered rival factions in Ireland than previous schemes. From the Hibernian point of view it must be a great scheme that would right the wrongs of se-vea centuries. As the late Price Collier says in his candid book, 'England and the English,' in which he gives a vivid outline of Ireland's grievances, " the English-Irish divorce case has been in the courts now for 750 years, and is apparently no nearer a settlement to-day (1908) than at any date during those centuries. A vivacious, emotional, law-ignoring Celtic lady is united, not altogether of her own free will, to a rather dull, self-centred, law-worshipping Saxon, and their domestic troubles have been unceasing ever since. They have murdered their children; they have stolen one another's household effects; they have made love and been made love to by strangers} they have committed every offence known to lawj they have patched up a temporary peace, only to fight the mora fiercely aftorward; and they have called one, another every name in the vituperative dictionary/' These are the principals} that is the case. !Wid charmin' pisintry upon a fruitful sod,

Kghtin* like devils for conciliation, An' batin' each other for the love of God". Reasonable terms of reconciliation are now offered. The British Government, in fulfilment of a pledge and not as a concession in response to unpardonable lawlessness, now propose that self-government be conferred on the whole of Ireland through 4he eofaiblishment of two Legislaturesone of which will be the Parliament of Southern Ireland and the other the Par--liament of Northern Ireland, The scheme has not been impulsively devised, but is the result of long deliberation ,over innu- — merable causes of racial and religious friction. And it cannot be pretended that the proposals eliminate for the future the causes of strife in the past. The details of the administrative machinery; suggest that in respect to several vital parts sand i may be thrust into the bearings. The suggestion,. for example, to constitute the homogeneous north-eastern section a separate, area, eliminating, where practicable,.

the Catholic communities, whilst including the Protestant communities in coterminous counties, is a sure road to friction. It is impossible in Ireland to deal exclusively with Catholic and Protestant communities and interests in the political sense. The religious element will arise feverishly and provoke strife; sectarianism will raise its ugly head in many places and in spite of good intentions. A mere political boundary~wtll not keep the Hibernian and the Orangeman from each other's throat. Every Irishman, from the South or from the North, knows that very well, and will not burn his blackthorn.

_A great deal of the projected settlement follows the experimental provisions devised by the Peace Conference for the new autonomous States in Central and Southern Europe. There is to be protection on the same lines for minorities, and for religious and social rights of small communities whose interests in some special features differ from those of the majorities in tho same areas. It will not be easy to maintain protection without friction and factional strife. But these provisions are, after all, mere details which may be adjusted to satisfaction as time softens old asperities. The main aim of •the British Government's scheme is right. It is based on right principles, and the striving for justice to all parties has not thrust generosity out of the scheme of settlement. It is unlikely that the financial provisions will prove acceptable to the passionate partisans in Ireland; but to all others interested in and anxious for an amicable and honorable settlement of the Irish trouble 'the proposed arrangements will seem very reasonable. And in this as in other difficulties adjustment will follow honest effort - towards successful and loyal self-government. None of the self-governing Dominions have ever found the Imperial Crown to be harsh or unjust in policy or in the practice of the Crown's inalienable powers.

As Mr Lloyd George earnestly pleads, "it is time for the.closing of the chapter of mistakes, follies, and crimes on both sides. The question now is not who is to blame for it all, but how to eet it right." It is right in existing circumstances that the Prime Minister should emphasise the fact that Britain does not quail before a band of wretched assassins, but enters -upon the scheme of settlement prompted by a deep sense of justice.