IRISH BORDERS

Evening Star, Issue 18716, 19 August 1924, Page 4

IRISH BORDERS

MR BALDWIN IN BELFAST.

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, LONDON, August 18. Mr Stanley Baldwin, who is paying his first visit to Ireland, had an important conference with the Ulster Cabinet with referenco to the boundary problem.—A. and N.Z. ‘ Cable. VARIOUS VIEWS. AN APPEAL TO COMMON SENSE. LONDON, August 5. Warnings against a “die-hard” attitude towards the settlement of the boundary dispute between Ulster and the Irish Free State are appearing in the Press, together with appeals that the treaty should be carried out in a commonsense way. Mr J. L. Garvin, the well-known journalist, writing in the ‘ Observer,’ says : “The business of the Unionist Party is to shun the die-hard spirit Ijk© the plague. If and when we come to the Bill, let it be met not with a negative, but by reasoned amendments, distinguishing between a Boundary Commission and a Disruption Commission. What is wanted is to cany jmt the treaty in the plain, ordinary sense of its original meanings, ns stated by Mr Lloyd George, Mr Chamberlain, and Lord Birkenhead, who signed the treaty. Cause 12 was to provide for the rectification of the frontier only. Ulster was to be safeguarded against any transfer of wide areas, let alone a total disruption. These were the pledges, eijjlicit or implied, on which the consent of Parliament was won. Any contrary interpretation now by a party vote could be taken by Ulster only ns a violation of public faith.”

The ‘ People ’ warns the Conservative Parly against allowing the “die-hards” to bring them to ruin through the Ulster crisis. “The future of the party,” says the newspaper, “is in the hands of Sir James Craig, and it rests with him whether any part will bo left to combat the growing strength of Socialism. The Government, with Mr Lloyd George’s promised support, will be able to carry the Bill in the House of Commons; but if the die-hards are able to influence Mr Baldwin and the Conservatives they would have the Bill defeated in the House of Lords. Mr MacDonald’s answer would then be to dissolve Parliament, appeal to the country to keep its pledged word, and sock the abolition of the Upper House. The Tory Party would then disappear. Much has been done for Ulster; let Ulster now do something for Great Britain and her real friends. Even a Conservative split would be disastrous, and a solid vote against the Bill catastrophic,” The Ulster Unionist Association, in a manifesto, states that the discussion in Parliament and in the Press reveals a disposition to place all the onus on Ulster for the present situation. “ There is nothing more unfair to Ulster*” says the manifesto. “She had no part in drafting the treaty; it was done behind her back, without her representatives being consulted. There are now graver issues at stake than the mere interpretations of Clause 12 of the treaty. Ulster is an integral part of the United Kingdom, and the boundaries of "Northern Ireland are not merely the dividing lino between the North and the South. They are the boundaries within Ireland of Britain herself, as they are the dividing line between those who honor the British Constitution and flag and those who d not. It is because Ulster intends to maintain her connection with Britain, and have nothing to do with Sinn Fein republicanism, that she looks to the people of Britain to insist on Britain’s solemn obligation to Ulster being observed in the letter and the spirit.”

A prominent member of the Ulster delegation has disclosed that there is an unexpected development in the Irish boundary crisis. He declares that if a danse were added to the Government's projected Bill making it clear that tho committee’s function was only to make boundary adjustments, and not to bring about a transference of whole tracts of territory, Ulster would be prepared to appoint a representative. The Ulster members of tho House of Commons have adopted a resolution declaring that their present attitude on the Irish boundary dispute cannot be modified. Mr Stanley Baldwin, Lender of tho Unionists, was not invited to attend the meeting of 150 Conservaticcs which decided to support Ulster’s demands. BELFAST FAHEWELLS AIR BALDWIN. FIRST VISIT TO IRELAND. LONDON, August 18. (Received August 19, at 11.5 a.m.) Air Stanley Baldwin left Belfast this morning. A* largo crowd, including the Belfast .members of the House of Commons, farewelled him at the station, which was decorated with Union Jacks. An address from the railwayman was presented, which said that Ulstermen relied upon his wholehearted support in these trying times. Mr Baldwin, replying, dwelt on his commercial, interest in railways. He mentioned that he had never been in Ireland before, and that ho had enjoyed his visit. —Reuter.