FREE STATE AND ULSTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18364, 3 April 1923, Page 6

FREE STATE AND ULSTER.

CONDITIONS CONTRASTED. VIEWPOINT OF ORANGEMEN. [by telegraph.-—peess association.] ~-.■: DUNEDIN. Monday. At the Grand Orange' Lodge meeting the grandmaster, , Mr. .F. G. OtrmmiEg, reported that 46 visits had been made to lodges, mostly outside the large centres.-: After reference to primary lodges, and the great present need for a clean,, Christian brotherly soul, Mr. Camming referred at length,to the difficult and dangerous lot of the Protestants in Ireland, concluding What a tragedy, and the end is not in,sight. Can the object of these unspeakable crimes and persecution be to crush Protestantism in Ireland Was it any wonder that loyal Protestant Ulster should lose no,; time ;in exercising the statutory right to exclude herself from the Southern Free State. Ulster was the only place at present in Ireland, where there was security for life and property. The Ulster Government is now in full •working order, and with ' the passing of time it becomes more firmly established. Law and order are observed, and the people v are happy' and contented. They are prepared to co-operate on equal terms with those in the south in all matters that affect the welfare of Ireland. They hope the Free State Government may establish law and order and bring peace, happiness, and prosperity for its own community, but under L no circumstance will the ; loyalists of Ulster ever '■ consent to give, up their own Parliament."/ The report was received and adopted. It wa3 decided to adopt the suggestion agreed to by the executive with the lady delegates for' a ladies' conference to precede the : usual Easter gathering. Grand - Lodge correspondence from the City of. London Lodge No. 44 intimated that it had been unanimously decided to request every grand lodge to take steps to frustrate the apparent attempt by some once again to bring England under the heel of Rome as indicated by reports which had appeared in various newspapers that King George V. would, during a visit' to Italy, nave an audience with the Pope. The '•' letter was referred to a special committee set up to consider and report to the lodge. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland wrote with reference to a draft of £975 forwarded in February,, 1920, intimating that when that money reached the Grand Lodge the Home Rule Bill was likely to pass, and the sum was not therefore passed over to the Carson Defence Fund. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland now asked that the money might be retained for grand lodge purposes. It was decided that as the money was subscribed for a specific purpose, to which it' could not now be devoted, the Grand Lodge of Ireland be asked to return the money so that it could be held in trust and made available for defence purposes in Ulster should necessity arise.. Five hundred members attended the church parade yesterday.