THE IRISH QUESTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22023, 4 August 1933, Page 7

THE IRISH QUESTION

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —I wish to state that I will bade my loyalty to the Empire against “ A. J. R.” any day. My principal object in writing my first letter was to protest against such correspondents as “A. J. R.,” who is only the mouthpiece of the powerful British press, which always takes up the attitude that England is ever right, that England can do no wrong —a one-sided view to my way of thinking. I do try to use my loyalty in a broad-minded sense, not to let it be blinded to all sense of justice and fair play, as “ A. J. R.” does. Ireland has produced some of the greatest men in British history, and thousands of her sons have helped to make the British Empire what it is to-day, but one would not think so if one listened to what some people had to say. Even the man who accomplished the almost impossible task of organising the Arab tribes into one united nation against the Turks, in the Great War, had to come out of Ireland. I quite agree with what Mr Carroll says.. Has the Free State no case? I think if we were to look into past history, we might find that the Irish to-day have a very good case. It was a pleasure to read Mr Carroll’s letter, as it was quite a refreshing change from the everlasting propaganda indulged in by the press against Ireland all the time. It is very easy for “A. J. R.” to hide his identity behind a few initials, and write letters seething with hatred and bitterness against a country which holds tender memories for many, but he did not advance any argument about the annuities dispute at all. He frantically wrote a lengthy rigmarole about the Irish election, about the lighting of bonfires, about the populace parading the streets, and so on. His letter was utterly futile, but it made it obvious that the Irish question is an obsession with him. It is all very well for Mr Thomas to state repeatedly that the British Government is always ready to negotiate, but Mr do Valera offered long ago to enter into a discussion concerning this dispute if the British Government would agree to the appointment of a tribunal of three eminent men, one from within the Empire and two from without. Surely that was a really genuine offer and. it should have been accepted. The only excuse the British Government had was that it did not want outsiders interfering with its domestic affairs. Yet the failure to settle (his trouble is ever put on the Free State. If the British Government had nothing to be ashamed of then why did it refuse Mr de Valera this_ request? My opinion is that the British claim would not bear examination by foreign arbitrators. —I am, etc., Blenheim* July 31. Allen Bell.

[“ A. J. R.” is entitled to a reply, after which this correspondence must be closed.—Eu. O.D.T.]