THE IRISH TREATY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22563, 6 May 1935, Page 4

THE IRISH TREATY

The actual event which led to negotiations was the opening of the Northern Parliament by the, King in person. It would not have been right for Ministers to put in the mouth of the Sovereign words which could only apply to the people of Northern Ireland. It is well known that the King, acting in harmony not only with the letter but with the spirit of the Constitution, earnestly desired that language should be used

which would appeal to the whole of his Irish subjects—South as well as North, Green as well as Orange. The outlook of the Sovereign, lifted high above the strife of Parties, the clash of races and religions and all sectional divergences of view, necessarily and naturally comprised the general interest of the Empire as a whole —and nothing narrower. Already the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, alone and unarmed, had sought out Mr De Valera in his hiding-places, and with equal statesmanship and courage had laboured in the cause of peace. The Government, therefore, took the responsibility which rested with them and with them alone of inserting in the Royal speech what was in effect a sincere appeal for a common effort to end the odious and disastrous conflict which was every day spreading more widely and bringing more discredit upon the name not only of Ireland but of the British Empire. The response in the opinion of both islands to that appeal was deep and widespread, and from that moment events moved forward in unbroken progression to the establishment of the Irish Free State. • • ■■ • * ■ ;'•..:; •■■ •" ■ •'V ■ • ; •■■ .-■■' From the outset it became of the utmost importance to convince those who were mow accepted as the Irish leaders of* the sincerity and goodwill of the Imperial Government. The issue was too grave for bargaining and haggling. We stated from the very beginning all that we were prepared to give, and that in no circumstances could we go any further. We also made it clear that if our offer were accepted, we would unhesitatingly carry it through without regard to any political misfortune which might in consequence fall upon the Government or tipon its leading members. On this basis, therefore, and in this spirit the long and critical negotiations were conducted. We found ourselves confronted in the early days not only with the unpractical and visionary fanaticism and romanticism of the extreme Irish secret societies, but also with those tides of distrust and hatred which had flowed between the two countries for so many centuries. An essential element in dynamite and every other high explosive is some intense acid. These terrible liquids slowly and elaborately prepared unite with perfectly innocent carbon compounds to give that pentup, concentrated blasting power which shatters the structures and the lives of men. Hatred plays the same part in Government as acids in chemistry. And here in Ireland Avere hatreds which in Mr Kipling's phrase would "eat the live steel from

a rifle butt," hatreds such as, thank God, in Great Britain had not existed for a hundred years. All this we had to overcome. * * * * # The personal relationships which were established gradually between the British Ministers charged with the negotiations and the Irish representatives were of real importance in achieving the settlement. If I touch lightly upon a few inci- . dents in these long parleys, it is only to illustrate" how prejudice on both sides was largely disarmed, and how a mutual confidence and understanding grew up to bridge the abyss which had yawned between us. Mr Griffith was a writer who had studied deeply European history and the polity of States. He was a man of great firmness of character and of high, integrity? He was that unr usual figure—a silent Irishman; he hardly ever said a word. But no word that issued from his lips in my presence did he ever unsay. Mr Lloyd George has described how in the supreme crisis of the negotiations, when rupture and resumption by ■ both sides of whatever hostilities were possible to them seemed about to leap upon us, Mr Griffith quietly declared that he for his part, whatever others might do, would accept the offer of the British Government and would return to Ireland to urge it upon the Irish people. . ' Michael Collins had not enjoyed the same advantages in education as his elder colleague. But he had elemental qualities and mother-wit which were in many ways remarkable. He stood far nearer to the terrible incidents of the conflict than his leader. His prestige and influence with the extreme parties in Ireland for that reason were far higher, his difficulties in his own heart and with his associates were far greater.. • '':■■ ■ # ' • : / * '.'•'■-■■. Our settlement with the'Boers, with my own vivid experiences with it, was. my greatest source of comfort and inspiration in this Irish business. Indeed it was a help to all. I re-, member one night Mr Griffith and Mr Collins came to my house to meet the Prime Minister. It was at a crisis, and the negotiations seemed to hang only by a thread. Griffith went upstairs to parley with Mr Lord George alone. Lord Birkenhead and I were left with Michael Collins meanwhile. He was in his most difficult mood, full of reproaches and defiances, and it was very easy for everyone to lose his temper. "You hunted me night and day," he exclaimed. "You put -a price on my head." , '.,,, . -. ■ " Wait a minute," Isaid. " You^are not the only one."' And I took from my wall the framed copy of the reward offered for my recapture by the Boers. "At any rate it was a good price-r----£SOOO. Look at me —£25 dead or alive. How- would you like that?' ? * •'- ;■*•' ": ■•': v :;r ' I He read the ; paper, and as he took it in he broke into a hearty laugh. All his irritation vanished. We hadi a really serviceable conversation, and thereafter—though I must admit that deep in my heart there was a certain gulf between us-r----we never to the best of my belief lost the basis of a common understanding, . _'.,._, .[,;.. •; •, - •-' Michael Collins acted up to his,word-in his relations ,with the British Government.'» The strains-and- stresses,uppji himj,at times were unimaginable. Threatened always with death:from those whose methods he knew only , toorwell, reßrpaohed-by darkly-sworn confederates with-treason and perjury, the object : of a dozen murder conspiracies, harassed to the depth .of-his " nature by the poignant choices which thrust themselves upon him, swayed by his own impulsive temperament, nevertheless he held strictly to his engagements with the Ministers of a Government he had; so long hated, but at last learned to trust. He was determined that the Irish name should not be dishonoured by the breach of the Treaty made in all good faith and goodwill. "I expect," he said to me towards the end, "that I shall , soon be killed. It will be a help. My death will do more to make peace than I could do by living." He was indeed soon to seal the Treaty of Eeconciliatioil with his life's blood. " Love of Ireland " are the words which Sir John Lavery has inscribed,on his picture of the dead Irish leader. They are deserved, but with them there might at the end be written also, "To England Honour and Goodwill." A great Act of Faith had been performed on both sides of the Channel, and by that Act we, dearly hoped that the curse of the centuries would at last be laid. . '' —EIGHT HON. WINSTON S. CHUECHILL. "Thoughts and Adventures." By the Rt .Hon. Winston S. Churchill, C.H , M.P. London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd. , * * Actually no such reward had ever been offered by the British Gevernment, but this I did not know at the time.