IRELAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 18

IRELAND

(By Cable.) EOME RULE BILL. LONDON, February 26. The Irish, Bill has already arouse'd strenuous opposition. Labour opposes it on the ground that self-government should be granted to a united Ireland. Mr Adamson (parliamentary leader) declares that partition is contrary to the Labour policy, v Lord Robert Cecil's steadily growing f arty opposes the Bill on the ground that reland must become orderly before selfgovernment is granted. Lord Robert Cecil states that Home Rule in a disordered Ireland would be inconsistent with Imperial safety. He advocates a return to the Bajifour Crimes Act. Mr Devlin* (Nationalist) states that every man, woman, and child in Ireland will despise and oppose the Bill. The only way to stop the present disorder is to give complete self-government. He says the Bill will permanently divide the country y The Bill a free Imperial gift of £1,000.000 to each Irish Legislature, plus the Irish duties and taxes in excess of a fair contribution to Imperial services. February 28. The Times, in a leading article, says: "The Home Rule Bill exceeds the- strict demands of justice for Uls'ter. The Government is profoundly mistaken in substituting a joint Council for the structure of an Irish Parliament, and has flouted the traditional ideal of the Irish people for the sake of placating the sensitiveness of Ulsterites, who have been left insuffi cient inducements to co-operate with the southerners. *— The success of the whole scheme, however, depends upon the Parliamentary Amendments' Bill, which, even as it stands, is perfenable to inaction." February 29. The Sunday Pictorial says that as a result of secret conferences the leading Irishmen and Sinn Feiners are willing to accept dominion Home Rulej excluding the six Ulster counties. March 1. The new Home Rule Bill has been published. It provides that the Council of Ireland shall consist of a President (appointed by tho King) and 20 members each for the Northern and Southern Ireland Houses of .Commons. Both these Houses are prohibited from interfering with religious equality. The Irish members to the Imperial Parliament are laid down at 42. Of-the £18,000,000 fixed in thevfirst instance as the Irish contribution to the Imperial expenditure, 56 per cent, will be apportioned to Southern Ireland and 44 per cent, to Northern Ireland. The legal system provides for a Court of Appeal for each division, and a superior Court of .Appeal embracing the whole of Ireland, from which latter there is the right of appeal to the House of Lords. A special provision protects from parliamentary action the rights of Dublin University, of Trinity College (Dublin), and of Queen's College (Belfast), unless the' college authorities approve such action. A clause lays clown that the existing enactments relative to unlawful oaths and to holding assemblies in Ireland shall not apply to Irish Masonry, whose privileges are protected from parliamentary action. The Bill confirms the previous forecast that a clean cut is made of the northern counties for the Northern Parliament, which is described as consisting_ of Unparliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry «nd Tyrone, with parliamentary boroughof Belfast r.nd Londonderry. The Dublin newspapers are unanimously

unfavourable to the new Home Rule Bill. Mr Devlin states that it is an insult to Ireland, and creates a Dublin Parliament without any power. LABOUR VERDICT. LONDON, February 28. A delegation of Labour M.P.'s who recently carried out a, short tour of investigation in Ireland has issued a report denouncing the military administration in Southern Ireland. The report condemns the shooting of policemen and similar outrages, but declares that they are no part of any political "organisation's programme. The report concludes by stating: "No improvement con be expected until the problem of Ireland's political aspirations is solved." RAIDERS AND POLICE. LONDON, February 26. Details of the attack on the Timoleague Constabulary barracks show that a band of armed, men estimated jit 40 to 80 at midnight employed firearms and bombs in a fight which lasted four hours. None of the garrison- was injured. In the mornin? three dead assailants were found close to the barracks, and also one severely wounded, who said that seven wounded men had been removed. The assault was carried out with the usual preliminaries of road blocking and telegraph wire cutting. The barracks adjoin the station. The assailants used railway wagons as armoured cars, which were found to-day bullet-marked. February 28. In connection with the murder of a woman at Exford, Ireland, during a raid for arms the murderer confessed that the raid was arranged by the local branch of the Sinn Fein. This is the first time Sinn Fein has been definitely asjociated with the campaign of outrages Forty Sinn Fein prisoners in Cork Gaol have been removed to Wormwood Scrubbs Prison, London. Twenty civilians ambushed a patrol of six soldiers at Rushbrooke, in County Cork, and wounded one soldier. The assailants escaped, after seizing all the' sol diers' rifles. March 2. An armed masked party held up mail vans and removed letters addressed to the Viceroy's Department and escaped. ANOTHER TRAGIC MYSTERY. LONDON, March 3. A youth has been found dead with several bullets in his face and body at a lonely spot near Dublin in circumstances similar to those of the alleged execution at Cork cabled on February 20.