OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 7

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

“NO ALLEGIANCE TO FOREIGN KING ” ABOLITION BY THE DAIL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, May 12. The oath ’of allegiance, as set forth in ..Article 17 of the Free State Constitution, is in the following terms: — “ I ... do solemnly swear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State as by law established, and that I will be faithful to H.M. King George V, his heirs and successors by law in virtue of the common citizenship of Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations.” This offence to Mr De Valera and his followers has now been abolished. The Dail passed the Bill to remove the oath by 76 votes to 56. A despatch rider at once took the Bill to the Governor-General, Mr Donal Buckley, and he immediately gave it his formal assent, enabling it to come into force immediately. The required time (one year and 60 days) having elapsed since the Bill was first rejected by the Senate, it was possible for it to become law in spite of the opposition of the Upper House. Speaking during the debate, Mr De Valera said: “ I will bring in a batch of Bills amending the Constitution. The Irish people will be consulted before the Republic is declared. I still hope to see the day when I will end everything up by declaring a Republic.” BREAKING OF TREATIES. Mr Fitzgerald, a former Minister. of Defence, opposing the motion on behalf of the Cmnami na n Gaedheal (Cosgrave) party, said that breaking the principles of treaties made the international position impossible. When parties made a contract no one party could claim the right to interpret it to suit'its own convenience without the agreement of the other parties. The Government’s action was making for anarchy. It was against all honesty for the Government to seek power to abolish the present Slate and create a new State without making it clear to the people. If there was going to be piecemeal transmigration of the Free State into some sort of a republic,

high, supplied equally as noble, if not so precipitous, a spectacle. Along the track through the narrow mountain defile the hoof-prints of several deer were plaintly visible. Soon after we got through .the pass rain set in, obliterating all the peaks above. RAVAGES OF THE DEER. Down in the Spey Valley, opposite the half-way hut, and about half a mile distant across the valley, roared the Cleve Garth waterfalls, 1500 feet high, tumbling out of the mists above in one sheer leap, a truly magnificent sight; and strangely enough, though it was a dead cairn where we stood, the snowwhite ribbon of plunging waters, about half way down, was being continuously cut off in mid air by a mountain blast and swept to the right for about 50 feet, where, dashed against the cliff, it continued its drop. The Spey River, too, is beautiful, and is distinct from the others in its colourings inasmuch that, while the waters bf the Freeman, Gamelot, and Lyyia Rivers so faithfully mirror all possible shades of green, those of the Spey River for quite lengthy stretches are' coloured gold by running over yellow moss-covered rocks that so largely occupy its bed. - It was distressing on reaching the flat to find so much of the undergrowth of the forest eaten out by deer. In many places it was possible to see between the trees for as much as a hundred yards and more, and one spot, quite an extensive area, resembled an ugly stockyard, the forest flbor having been trampled about to such' a degree that not a vestige of green was to be seen upon it. No lover of New Zealand’s glorious forests could but deplore such a sight, and it did not require much imagination to picture what will be tbe ultimate fate of this scenic wonderland, so largely contributed by the unique beauties of its forests, if tbe deer menace is allowed to continue. *, ' It was now raining steadily, and tbe clouds bad come down low, ‘casting a complete blanket’ over Fiordlaiid. In an 8-knot launch with sail set —the third launch used during the trip—we sped 22 miles down the lake back to our starting point and into glorious sunshine. Behind, all was blotted out in a gathering storm. It was the end of the last act, and so Nature had dropped her curtain. COMPARISON WITH MILFORD TRACK. “How docs the new round trip compare with the Milford Track?” is a question that will now be asked. In the writer’s opinion both the Freeman and the Camelot Valleys are definitely superior to the Clinton and Arthur Valleys, possessing infinitely more beautiful river, lake, ami forest scenery and a more plentiful bird life, while the mountain scenery is more interesting and Just as fine. On the other hand, the Milford Track scores in the unrivalled Sutherland Falls and in the view of the Jervois Glacier from Mackinnon Pass. The new track also lias the advantage of providing a round trip as compared with that of “ there and back ” in the case of the Milford Track. The Milford Track, however, is necessarily much tbe better appointed of the two, and is easier going—advantages which will disappear progressively as the new track is developed. Evfen as it exists to-day the new route presents an ideal trip for all able-bodied Hampers and tourists. Proper bridges are now being built across the Freeman and Camelot Rivers, and for those who wish to avoid negotiating the “ chimney on Fowler Pass a boat will be provided on Lake Tuaraki.

then the last step should be the abolition of the oath. ■ The present motion seemed to be some justification for the old charge made against Ireland that Irishmen were not fit to govern themselves. Mr Macßermot, leader of the Centre Party, said that a republic in prospect was far more damaging than a republic in reality. He regarded the Oath Bill as a piece of chicanery, largely responsible for the economic war and the misery flowing from it. Mr Gratton Esmonde said that he believed that the British Government would consider the treaty broken by the Free State Government immediately the first person took his seat in the Bail without subscribing to the oath. NO EXCUSE FOR CIVIL WAR. Mr De Valera, replying to the debate, said that his party was elected to get rid of the oath. The majority of the Irish people did not want any confession of allegiance to a foreign King. The moment the oath was gone the elected representatives of the Irish people would gain respect in the country which they never had before. He hoped he would never hear of the oath again. When every section of the Irish people could be represented in the Bail there could be no excuse for anyone in the country preparing for the use of force. Preparation for war would no longer be justified. “We are ending civil war and the cause of civil war here to-day,” he declared. He admittted that there was an active recruiting campaign by the T.R.A. being carried on in the country. But the present Government did not see any dancer in that unless such recruiting became a danger to the elected representatives of the Irish people. He did not believe that the passage of the Bill was a violation of the treaty between the Free State and Great Britain.