COMPULSION IN IRELAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16821, 11 April 1918, Page 4

COMPULSION IN IRELAND

The announcement of the Government's intention to apply compulsion to Ireland comes to us associated with a new scheme of Home Rule and a further and very drastic combing of British man-power, So far it is not clear that the Home Rule proposals have any real connection with the conscription of Irishmen for the army, but the relations of this latter step to the Man-power Rill aro very intimate. Considered altogether apart from Irish politics, the application of compulsion to Ireland is not only justified but overdue. To speak of it merely as "madness," as Mr. Dillon did, is to ignore every other consideration except the reluctance of a certain number of. Irishmen to do their duty and to suggest that when Irishmen are unwilling to fight they should under ino circumstances be compelled. There are other and graver issues to be weighed. There is the serious and urgent need for men to save Great Britain and Ireland from German domination. England, Scotland, and Wales have done their ! part, and Mr. Lloyd George tells us ! to-day that it is now "impossible i to omit Ireland." This phrase pro-! bably covers more than the actual and pressing necessities of the : army. Hitherto the temper of Ire- , land alone has been considered. The time may now have arrived when it is necessary to consider the temper I of England, Scotland, and Wales. It ha 3 been said that Ireland is turbulent and that there is an element of danger in the enforcement of con- ' scription. On no other ground can the exclusion of Ireland from the Compulsory Service Acts be explained. It is not wonderful if Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen are finding this explanation inadequate. They have suffered and are suffering. In proportion to population England and Scotland have sent seven men for every two sent by Ireland; little Wales has given more than three to one. The draft ing of all fit single men into the army was insufficient: married men were called and answered. There has been combing and recombing Still Ireland has stood exempt from the common obligation. Now, under stern and extreme necessity, a further sifting of British man-power is being undertaken for the purpose of enrolling the last eligible man. It is not difficult to believe that feeling with regard to Ireland's share I has reached the breaking point. J England may be asking whether she

has been wise in treating Ireland as the spoilt child of the family; Scotland and Wales may be doubtful whether their sympathy with Irish .aspirations has not been wasted. The United Kingdom is facing a momentous crisis. Three parts of it have ungrudgingly responded to every demand made upon them. , They may fairly claim that the time • has fully come for insisting, even at ; the risk of resentment and opposi- , tion, upon the fourth part carrying its share of the burden. There are still in Ireland some 300,000 men eligible and available for military service. Morally they are no less liable than the enlisted men from the sister countries. Legally their liability has been waived on grounds which the British Government has now been driven to regard as insufficient. It is hardly doubtful that the step will be resented by a section in Ireland; it may even lead to disorder and resistance. In the last resort the measure of success attained will probably depend upon] the attitude of the Irish political I leaders. If the firm ground! is taken that Ireland's responsibilities have not been discharged, and that the loyalty of the Irish is to be judged by their attitude to the Stale in danger, the hostility of the disloyalists should soon be overcome. In the circumstances of to-day this is the only stand an Irishman who professes to be a loyal British citizen can take. Those who are ready to oppose with their last breath the enforcement of conscription in Ireland, but are not prepared to take steps to fight the German menace, cannot well be included among the friends of Britain, or among the supporters of international right and justice. It is to be hoped that there will not be many such, and that Ireland, sanely led, will throw her strength into the battle and emerge from the war sharing equally with all other parts oLthe Empire the honours of the contest, and retaining their respect' and affection. ]