BEST HELP FOR IRELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18019, 18 February 1922, Page 9

BEST HELP FOR IRELAND.

APPEAL BY MR, COLLINS.

ADHERENCE TO TREATY.

PEACE AND GOODWILL. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 10.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON. Feb. 17. Mr. Michael Collins last night telegraphed to Mr. Winston Churchill: "The best way the British Government can help us at the present time is not by suspending the enrrying out of the treaty regarding evacuation, but by so adhering to its spirit and letter that Ireland will be convinced that Britain really is delivering the- goods this time. Many people in Ireland believe that England will again trick us, amd this belief is being used to our disadvantage. We who put our hands to the treaty do not intend to turn back, but we must insist that the other side shall also show absolute goodwill. In this regard it is high time English people should view the socalled Ulster question in its true perspective.

"I protest strongly against the campaign of slander proceeding in connection with the trouble between East and West Ulster. It was inevitable that the detention of officers of the Irish republican army going to a football match and the failure to notify in time the reprieve of the prisoners at Dorry should be met locally by the seizure of prominent Unionists. It is equally unavoidable that the Nationalist minority in Belfast should defend themselves. I and my associates, working in the teeth of many difficulties, are ready to settle all matters in a spirit of peace and goodwill. We have already proved our sincerity by the withdrawal of the boycott, and there can be no real peaco until Ulstermen display the same spirit."