THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1937 TO-DAY'S IRISH REFERENDUM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22769, 1 July 1937, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1937 TO-DAY'S IRISH REFERENDUM

Irish electors will be called on to-day, not only to elect a new Dai or Parliament, but also to pass judgment by vote on Mr. de Valera's proposed new Constitution. This most interesting document deserves more than passing notice. It is arresting that, at a time when the secular seems to have overthrown , the religious in most modern governments, Mr. de Yalera opens his Constitution by invoking Divine sanction. It is promulgated "in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be preferred." This may be read with the provision that "the State will recognise the special position of the lioman •» Catholic Church as the guardian of the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens." Recognition is also given to other Communions. Closely akin to these ethical provisions, but having also social and political implications, is State recognition of the family "as the natural unit group of society," and the pledge "to guard with special care" the institution of marriage. No divorce will be permitted within the Free State. The right of private ownership in property is recognised, and the right to transfer, bequeath and inherit j property. Herein .lies a solemn I . repudiation of Communism, rein- j forced by an earlier declaration that j "the dignity and' freedom of the individual" is to be assured. Free-j dom to express convictions and opinions is guaranteed, subject to , public order and morality. The State r is forbidden to confer titles, but ! may create orders of merit. These are the principal provisions on the ethical and social sides.

On the political side, the Constitution is promulgated for the -whole of Ireland, to be named Eire. The fact that the country is partitioned —the fact of Northern Ireland—is recognised, and, "pending the reintegration of the national territory," the area over which Parliament and Government will exercise jurisdiction will be the same as that of the present Free State. Here is one actuality, at least, that the tortuous mind of Mr. de Valera must admit and one that his policy seems sadly designed to perpetuate. Apart from the empty assertion of complete sovereignty over Ireland, the new Constitution establishes a Republic in fact (but not in name) within the Free State. At its head will stand the President, elected by direct vote of the people, who will supersede the former GovernorGeneral, the King's representative. Difference exists as to the status of the President. Some argue that he will be no more than a figurehead, like his predecessor., and others that, fortified by the popular vote and the powers vested in his office, he will become a dictator and so extinguish the dream and official assertion of an Irish democracy. As with such officers in other States, a good deal will depend on the person and disposition of the President and the tradition that grows up round his office. Mr. de Valera himself :is expected to be the first President, and in the seven years' tenure provided may be expected to give this instrument of State its future shape. To advise him the President will have a Council of State, a body perhaps suggested by the British Privy Council but of little apparent account. Mr. de. Valera destroyed the old Senate or Second Chamber and has now devised a new one to replace it. Its powers are very limited and its mode of election makes it subject to the Dail. The latter or Popular Chamber is left untouched. All authority in the Free State is vested in the President, Dail and Senate, but the real power will remain with the Dail unless the President should succeed in subordinating it to his will. Certainly he appoints the Prime

Minister, but the latter must be the

person -nominated by the Dail; and also the Cabinet, which, however, is

nominated by the Prime Minister. No mention of the King, of Great Britain, or of the British Commonwealth of Nations is made in the whole Constitution, which, as Mr. de Val6ra has already stated, will stand without alteration in the unlikely event of an All-Ireland Republic. The President of Eire is to take precedence over all other persons in the State, a device by which the King is, in effect, deposed. The relations with King and Empire have nevertheless been defined in two Acts passed last December. The new Constitution must be read in conjunction with these, and particularly with the External Relations Act. For the purpose of "external association"—that is, in dealings with the outside world—the King is still recognised by this Act. King George VI. is still King of Ireland, but not King in Ireland. The Free State is still a member of the British Empire. Internally the King has no functions; externally his business is now to act on the advice of his Free State Ministers. So Eire becomes a republic at home and a kingdom abroad, a status maybe the Irish will understand. Should this strange Constitution be accepted by the Free State electors to-day, it will come into force not later than six months hence, and perhaps sooner. For as long as it may be operative will be banished the hope of a united Ireland freely associated with the British Commonwealth of Nations. So Mr. de Valera is seeking indefinitely to ■ postpone the substance of unity for the shadow of republicanism. His assertion of Irish sovereignty will remain no more than words so long as in fact the Free State rests its security and integrity on British arms; his declaration of political independence means nothing so long as the Free State is economically dependent on Britain. His "sovereign, independent State" is still bound to the British market.