Anglo-Irish Settlement Possible

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 14, 18 January 1937, Page 7

Anglo-Irish Settlement Possible

Tired of Economic War LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copy righ t. Received Sunday, 9.20 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 16. The Times’ Dublin correspondent says; “After five years of disappointments it would be overmuch to expect Free Staters to be over-sanguine concerning the Anglo-Irish conversations, yet there is distinct hopefulness regarding them. The Free State has distinctly suffered worse than Britain by President De Valera withholding moneys as he retained £14,531,000 in the three years for which the figures are available, while Britain collected £14,661,000 by tariffs. Moreover the Free State was forced to pay heavy bounties to retain her position on the British market. Although the land annuities have been halved the Free State farmer has been forced to pay them several times over in taxes to assist native industries established under heavy tariffs. The cost of living has risen considerably and small farmers are suffering. The majority are tired of the economic war, nevertheless it is feared President De Valera’s insistence on a united Ireland is an insuperable obstacle to a settlement although the desire for peace is so great that Free Staters will need powerful evidence to convince them that British obstinacy is not the stumbling block. Tihe Sunday Dispatch’s Dublin correspondent believes an Anglo-Irish agreement possibly leading to a settlement of the main problems includes lower duties, the Free State paying a sum almost equivalent to that withheld in the land annuities for the defence of the coast by the British navy.

One reason why Mr. Malcolm MacDonald is anxious for an agreement is to obtain food supplies from the Freo State in the event of war.