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Otago Daily Times, Issue 15885, 3 October 1913, Page 4

THE HOME RULE PROBLEM. The prospects of a conference between the Unionists and the Liberals for the purpose of discussing the chances of arriving at a compromise in tho matter of Home Rule for Ireland appear sufficiently remote, judging by the tenor of the latest cablegrams—indeed, events would seem to point rather to the coming of a crisis. In Ulster the enrolment and drilling of a citizen army 50,000 strong is proceeding

apaoe, ■whilst a fund amounting already to half a million of money has been subscribed for defence purposes. The Ulster Council, with Sir Edward Carson at its head, has also completed arrangements for the setting up of a provisional Government immediately following the passing of the Home Kulo Bill next year. The Times, which has taken the lead in urging the parties to consent to a conference, alluded to the failure of the Nationalists to realise that the resistance to Home Rule in Ulster was actuated by "one of thoi.j deep, elemental, unreasoning passions which always in the end upset the calculations of politicians and which result in such an explosion as can be only disastrous." The Times also pointed out that the legacy of the impending conflict would be a racial and sectarian hatred in Ireland creating a profound reaction in Great Britain against the policy provoking it. Despite this weightily-worded warning Mr Redmond's speech at the Nationalist demonstration has but added fuel to the flame. Mr Redmond refuses to take the Ulster agitation seriously, characterising it as a gigantic absurdity, and he stigmatised Sir Edward Carson, Lord Londonderry, and Captain Craig as so many humourists playing a children's game of "Let us pretend." So sure is Mr Redmond of victory, and so careless of consequences, that he has declined a. conference except on the condition that the Unionists concede the principle of an Irish Parliament with an Irish Executive responsible to it. Mr Redmond's review of the situation—" our ship is at the har- | hour's mouth, the glass is set fair, and the orders are full steam ahead "—reveals a degree of optimism which, in the opinion of The Times, is calculated to startle all who have any grasp of the situation, be they friend or foe. And naturally Sir udward Carson has described Mr Red mond's reference to a conference as no offer at all. The leader of the Ulster Unionists further declared that Mr Redmond had completely failed to understand the position, and that, until he appreciated the reality of the resistance to Home Rule in Ulster, any settlement by compromise was hopeless. That there is Teal cause for anxiety in the prolongation of the struggle in its present spirit of animosity no one who knows the temper of the Irish people will fail to realise. One sensible suggestion is made by the Nation—a Government organ—to the effect that Ulster should have the option of becoming an Imperial province if, after a fair trial, she is dissatisfied with the working of Home Rule. When calmer counsels prevail it is possible that a com.promise may be effected in this direction. At present, unhappily, feeling rims too high to admit of muck hope of anything approaching calm discussion; wild words and wilder actions are more to the taste of either side. It is now stated that no decision in regard to the Home Rule question is likely to be arrived at until Cabinet meets at the middle of the month, and that there is a strong current of opinion that the Liberal party is averse to a conference. The objection of Ulster to Home Rule is perhaps fully intelligible only when it is conceded that it is based to a very large degree on sentiment. What specifically Ulster is so much afraid of is not altogether clear. The "general prejudice " argument is somewhat vague. An Irish Parliament would contain a substantial proportion of Ulster representatives capable, presumably, of looking after her interests, and it is not conceivable that any legislation, however fanatical, would aim at crippling the greatest commercial asset of Ireland. There remains no doubt the apprehension that the descendants of those who won the battle of the Boyne will be placed at a disadvantage in resisting the influences of Romanism. The Imperial Parliament has declared, however, that Ireland shall within limits govern herself, and Ulster is in a double sense in a minority. The Home Rule Bill has still to pass the House of Commons for a third time, which cannot happen till next year; it has still to be rejected by the Lords and has still to go through the process provided by the Parliament Act before it becomes law. Much can happen before then, but there is force in the suggestion that if Ulster is in the meantime' playing a sort of political game, it is the kind of game that, played long enough and seriously enough, is likely in the end to be taken in deadly earnest.