BRITAIN AND IRELAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21554, 27 July 1933, Page 8

BRITAIN AND IRELAND

A few days ago Mr. de Valera was fulminating against British i "aggression," declaring, in the course of a debate on the economic war, that co-operation and goodwill would bo possible only when the evils of partition had been settled. He denied the right of Britain to demand the land annuities, and said that no settlement could take place until the "invaders and intruders" got out. Now the Minister of Industries and Commerce says that the Irish Free State is not anxious to maintain tariff barriers against Britain, and Vill remove them if Britain does the same. It is a remarkable change of front. Perhaps Mr. de Valera no longer dominates the Cabinet; perhaps his recent speech was merely a matter "of habit and that off the platform or the floor of the House ho has his calm moments cf common sense. In the realm of politics there may be nothing more certain than the uncertainty of decisions of Mr. de Valera's Cabinet, but in the utterance of Mr. Lemass there is at least some ground for hope that negotiations, in connection with which the services of General Smuts as a mediator were reported to be available, may be resumed. The overtures of Mr. Lemass may mean nothing. Obviously Britain cannot make any tariff concession ! unless the land debt is acknowledged. But doubtless the Minister realises this fact, and it is just possible that the hostile faction is preparing itself for submission in order to extricate the country from a very deplorable economic situation. The question put by Sir N. Grattan .Dcyle in the House of Commons, as to whether the British Government would accept a lump sum in settlement of the Irish annuities, may have more than ordinary significance. It may be a "feeler" and a hint of what might be an acceptable mode of procedure to the Free State. Other influences may also be at work. The campaign for quotas may further menace Irish farming. By means of bounties an effort has been made to nullify the British tariff, but there is no way of out-manoeuvring a quota system. A realisation of this fact may have brought the Free State Government to a more reasonable frame of mind.