ULSTER AND HOME RULE

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14924, 23 February 1912, Page 4

ULSTER AND HOME RULE

ORANGEMEN DRILLING. SERIOUS VIEW OF THE POSITION. [FROM OUR OWH CORRESPONDENT.] London*, January 12. j Before many weeks the United Kingdom , will be in the thick of a fierce controversy i over Home Rule. Sir Edward Carson is leading the Ulsterme'n, and has adopted as his motto Lord Randolph Churchill's famous phrase, " Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right." That Ulster takes the situation seriously goes without saying, ! and the special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, writing from Belfast, gives facts and figures which may help New Zealanders to comprehend how deadlyearnest Ulster really is. He says:— The Unionists are determined that their followers shall be in a better position to defend themselves than they have been in the past. To this end they are drilling, and fine drill will improve their discipline. This is just what the chief officers of the Orange organisation aim at. They have been very successful in recent years in improving the standard of conduct of mem- ! bers of the lodges. The men are very j amenable to discipline, and they are easily j controlled by their officers. Of course, if j they were suddenly attacked they, like ! most Irishmen, would not be inclined to turn the other cheek to their assailants. But the elementary training they are now receiving will help to keep the rank and file in hand. A Force lor Order. "I believe the drilling of Orangemen will prove not unwelcome to the civil authorities. A gentleman of position in Belfast informs me that if there was rioting in the city the Grand Master could immediately obtain the services of from 5000 to 10,000 stalwart members of the Order to act as special constables, and these men could aid the police so effectually that there would be no need to call for military assistance. In the past Orangemen were not so well organised, and it was quite an easy thing for' a few irresponsible lads, by spreading tales of Catholic assaults on Protestants, to provoke tumult and disorder. That possibility has grown, more remote with improved discipline, and, although Orangemen will always take care to protect their own, they aro taking steps to perfect their organisation simply for defensive purposes. The aim of the Jeaders is to get the men under control as a drilled body, and they will not countenance any attack on rival factions. The majority of the men in the Orange lodges of Belfast are artisans. " It goes without saying that if an Irish Parliament is established, the better drilled Ulstermen are, the more adequately they will be able to offer a resistance to the decrees of the Dublin Executive. Whether that resistance is of the active or passive type, time alone will prove, but if the former, then the drilled men Will have less to learn when their opposition takes definite form. Probably this idea did not appeal to the Orange leaders when the drilling was sanctioned, but it is certain that the ordinary members of the lodges considered it when they asked to be allowed to drill. Who Pays the Piper? " They know full well that with a Home Rule Parliament established in Dublin they will be called upon to, pay the piper." ' They believe an Irish Government will be a spendthrift Government. An Irish Executive may be unable to control the Customs and excise, and they- will have to look about for revenue. Did they attempt to raise money by taxing the farmers of the ■ South, West, and Midlands, they would be face to face with a revolt. They would turn to Ulster, whose members would not be strong enough to defeat them. " Ulster will not allow itself to be bled, and the many hundreds of men who are nightly displaying an enthusiasm for military drill have not lost sight of the fact that the knowledge thus gained may help them to resist bearing an undue propprtion of the expense of government. They believe they would not be patriotic if they neglected to prepare themselves for an emergency. That they form excellent material for the drill sergeant the progress already made is proof. They hope, however, that their preparations will preserve the peace, but they, are under no delusions as to, what they may expect."'