IRISH PEACE EFFORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17648, 8 December 1920, Page 7

IRISH PEACE EFFORTS.

A CHRISTMAS TRUCE.

BNDIRECT NEGOTIATIONS.

MR. HENDERSON IN LONDON. PROPOSALS FOR PREMIER. Br Telegraph—Press Association— (Received 8.30 p.m.) *- ana N'.Z. LONDON, Dec. 6. Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., has returned unexpectedly to London, leaving the remainder of the Labour Party's delegation in Ireland. In an interview, Mr. Henderson said: "I have com* into contact with every school of thought in Ireland, political, religious, and economic. All are tired of strife and want peace. My firm conviction is that the present moment offers an excellent opportunity for a settlement. It has been frequently urged that the existing reign of terror must cease before negotiations begin, but to permit the almost universal yearning for peace to evaporate bt cause of too much concentration on the hideous deeds of the past two years, which thoughtful people of ail shades of opinion deplore and condemn, may plunge the two nations into a bitter struggle, such as has never been encountered before.

" Everything should be done to secure a period of comparative quietude, in which all acts of violence, official and unofficial, fhall cease," continued Mr. Henderson.

" A definite effort should be made officially to arrange the terms of an armistice during which a conference between representatives of the British Government and the Irish people should be held. I have reason to know that if these suggestions are acted upon the full weight of the heads of the Roman Catholic Church and organised Labour in Ireland will be used to secure the cessation of lawlessness." Mr. Henderson added that he hopes to lay proposals before Mr. Lloyd George. In the House of Commons to-day, Lieut.Commander J. M. Kenworthy asked Mr. Lloyd George whether Father O'Flanagan, acting president of the Sinn Fein, spoke ■with authority in his request for the Government's peace proposals. Mr. Lloyd George replied : That is what I want to know. The Government is prepared to discuss with anybody authorised to speak for Ireland, proposals •which may bring peace. Activity Behind the Scenes. Newspapers variously describe the amount of real progress made towards Irish peace negotiations. The Daily News is the most hopeful. It says that the Prime Minister and other Ministers have been strongly discussing the subject with more or less representative Irishmen, who are not deeply implicated in party politics. The Daily News believes that much has been happening behind the scenes, and it attaches importance to the .Crime Minister breakfasting with Mr. G. W. Russell, but the Daily Chronicle says that Mr. Russell as a representative Irishman does not, count. Another Irishman who has been active lately in exploring the fiituation is Sir Horace Plunkett.

The Daily News says that the Parliamentary atmosphere, apart from the Ulster Unionists, is most sympathetic. Even Conservatives are pleased with the Prime Minister's leanings towards peace. The Daily News, which has been from the earliest the strongest advocate of Christmas peace efforts, believes that progress has been made, but points out that a truce must first be arranged, involving a settlement of the important subjects, such as the murder campaign, the withdrawal of the military, and the release of many Sinn Feiners. Only then could negotiations for a settlement begin. Any discussion of a settlement could not include the idea of an Irish Republic. That subject is barred. The most hopeful lines of procedure would be the exclusion of Ulster and the grant of fiscal autonomy to the Dublin Parliament. . Sinn Fein Repudiation. The Morning Post refers to the subject as the Prime Minister's parley with the organisers of murder. It says that fiscal autonomy means independence. Any serious proposal in that direction would wreck the Coalition. The rank and file of the Unionists have stood a good deal, but they will not stand surrender. The Times confirms the statement that the Government is carrying on indirect negotiations with the Sinn Fein leaders. It states that at least four channels have been kept open during the last month. Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., has an official mandate from the Prime Minister to explore avenues of peace. It is impossible to say whether they will lead to a basis of settlement, but Mr. Lloyd George has other views for guidance in the Irish situation, besides the official statements from Dublin Castle. It is profoundly hoped that a basis of agreement may be found. The Evening News states that there is a growing belief • that peace negotiations are opening almost immediately. It is believed that the arrest of Mr. Arthur Griffith, the vice-president of the Sinn Fein movement, was part of a plan to enable him to discuss peace safely and freely. The Sinn Fein Divisional Council in Dublin repudiated peace negotiations with England, and declared that any person discussing terms with a foreign Government, unless authorised by the Dail Eirann (Sinn Fein Parliament), would be guilty of treachery. Mr. G. W. Russell is the editor of the Irish Homestead, . and under the pseudonym of " A.E." is well known as a poet. He was a member of the Irish Convention of 1917. Sir Horace Plunket, youngest son of the sixteenth Lord Dunsany, is the founder and president of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society. He was a persevering worker for peace in Ireland in 1914, and was chosen unanimously president of the Irish Convention of 1917. Mr. Arthur Griffith is vice-president of the Sinn Fein movement, and in the long absence of De Valera in the United States has been the virtual head of the movement in Ireland. He was elected Sinn Fein member of the House of Commons for Cavan East and Tyrone. He was arrested last week in Dublin, following a military raid on his house, where documents were found showing that he was the closest link between the Irish Republican Army and the Dail Eirann. A recent cable message stated that the rpason for the arrest of Mr. Griffith was obscure, for he could have been arrested any dav for months past, but apparently the authorities preferred to regard him as a " constitutional " rebel who was not responsible for the murder of Government officials, and as powerless to prevent them. Some of his supporters, however, claim that he is the real heart and brain. of the Irish movement, and that when he savs "Peace!" there will be peace. Mr. Griffith is said to have exchanged a lucrative appointment at. the Cape for a clerk's pittance at Dublin to- carry on propaganda among the vouth of Ireland. Professor John McNeil, who was prrested at the same time as Mr. Griffith. has Keen ea.lled the Ludendorff of the Republican Army. He was sentenced to a term of penal servitude at the time of the E?»ter rebellion. He is Professor of Earlv History in the University College of the Irish National University.

DUBLIN COUNCIL RAIDED.

SIX MEMBERS ARRESTED.

ANOTHER CORK AMBUSH.

Australian and NZ. Cable Association (R««i. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6. Ten police in a , motor-lorry .: were attacked from ambush at Clonakilty, County Cork. A brisk fight ensued, and one constable was wounded. Toothers summoned reinforcements:, .: which., arrived to find the attackers gone. " ' f

Frlr U - " martlal found the managers of £?• S i°- rnal guilt y of spreading a false report intended to cause disafecp" m The ere taken to Mountjoy Prison pending promulgation of sentence. D,,hl?„ r • ided a meetin g °f the Dublin Corporation and arrested Mr. M Staines, Sinn Fein M.P. for St. Michans." Dublin, and five councillors.

The court-martial on the managers of Freeman Journal wa s the first military prosecution of an Irish newspaper. Six charges of publishing false reports calculated to cause disaffection were laid Four charges related to the publication of a *r£ ~ two P oli cemen who were shot at Tul ow in September had been murdered by R.I.C. Auxiliaries for having resigned from the force. The defendants were found not guilty on these charges. Counsel for the defence admitted that the murders were not committed by the auxiliaries. The charges on which the defendants ha.ve been found guilty arose out of the publication of a story that an arrested Sinn Femer had b#en brutally ill-treated in barracks. The story was described by counsel for the Crown as a pure fabrication. THE HOME RULE BILL. NEW AMENDMENT BY LORDS. A. and N.Z. LONDON. D*c. 6. The House of Lords, by 51 to 50, carried the Marquis of Salisbury's motion to delete the clause in the Home Rule Bill providing for Crown Colony Government in Southern Ireland in the event of refusal to carry out the terms of the Bill.