HOME RULE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 5 May 1914, Page 5

HOME RULE

IF ULSTER IS SEVERED

MR. O'BRIEN'S VIEWS. fPassa Association. — uuptbight, LONDON, May 4. Mr William O'Brien, M.P., speaking at Ballineeu, said that if Ulster was .severed it would be the signal for a revolutionary movement of resistance against the English more formidable than any since Wolfe Tone's days. .As far as Mr Redmond and his friends' were concerned the mischief was done, and the country was sold. They had agreed to turn iho Home Rule Bill into a "Jack the Ripper" Bill for the dismemberment of Ireland. Jf .Mr Redmond had a spark of statesmanship he would cry a truce to the conflicts among Nationalists, and appeal for a supreme national effort to attract Ulster, instead of cutting- her oil

(Theobald Wolfe Tone was an Irish (Protestant) rebel. He was born in Dublin i" 1763, and was calkd to the Irish ttar jn 1789. With others, he founded in 1791 the "United Irishman," an organisation which was broken up in 1794 owing to' the disclosures <-.f one William Jackson, an English clergyman and a man of infamous notoriety, who had long lived in France and had imbibed revolutionary opinions. Tone was permitted to emigrate to America, but in 1795 he was in Paris endeavouring to foster a French invasion of Ireland. He succeeded in his purpose, and was made an Adjutant-General in the French Army. He took part in the invasion of 1796 and again in the raids that were made bv the French on the Irish coast during the rebellion of 1798. He was taken prisoner in October, 1798, and at his trial in Dublin by court-martial he made a manly, straightforward speech, avowing his hostility to England and his design "by far and open war to procure tho separation of the two' countries." He claimed in virtue of his status a French oflieer to die by the musket, instead of ths sword ; but he was sentenced to be hanged. The day before the execution was to be carried out he cut his throat with a penknife and died of tho wound.) i

A FEDERAL -SYSTEM. ~ LONDON", May 4. Sir Sidney Low, in an article in the "Daily Mail," states that preliminary to federation there should be a constitutional convention representing the best legal and administrative talent in the country ; but it is necessary first that the Irishmen should settle the terms upon which Ireland should enter the new union. If we could get Mr Redmond, Mr Dclvin, Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, Lord Dunraven, and Mr. O'Brien, and their various lieutenants, in the same room, probably we could make a much more satisfactory job of the Irish Constitution than the Imperial Parliament could do. Meanwhile colonial precedents show that the way can only be paved by the exclusion of Ulster until Ulster asks for the right of entry. Mr Frederic Harrison, in a letter, suggests the maintenance, of Ireland as a national unit by constituting the Ulster members until the Imperial Parliament otherwise determines a standing committee of the whole to control all matters affecting Ulster, whether executive, financial, or legislative. THE GUN-RUNNING "FANNY." (Received Mav 5, 8.5 a.m.) LONDON. May 4. Two destroyers searched a ship "undel repair and suspected of espionage, off Fehmarn Island,.with a Russian name on the bows and a Dutch name astern, both painted over. It transpired that the vessel was the gun-running "Fanny." She was subsequently released. \ | THE MOUNTJOY. j CREW UNAWARE OF HER < ! MISSION. I A MUTINY THREATENED. j

(Received Mav 5. 8.50 a.m.-.} LONDON. May 4. The Mountjoy, after landing her arms, went to Hamburg. Six members of the crew have returned to Leith. The men belong to various parts of Ulster. They state that when engaged they did not know the vessel was engaged in gun-running. They were debarred from communicating with. their families. They threatened to' mutiny miles * thev were allowed to send money u> their wives. 1 he guns and ammunition were v-dued at between £90,000 and £IOO,OOO. There were no marks to indicate the maker-- of tlie bayonets and ammunition. The Mountjoy knocked about th? Irish Sea for 14 days, waiting for signals to land her cargo. "FREEMAN'S JOURNAL" OPINION. LONDON. May 3. The "Freeman's Journal" (Nationalist) de: lares that Home Rule has won, its bitterest enemies confessing that the battle is practically over. The paper adds that any arrangement involving definite exclusion of Ulster is an utter impossibility.