HOME RULE

Southland Times, Issue 17610, 26 March 1914, Page 5

HOME RULE

ALL QUIET AT ULSTER the abmy BE-xsrsTA.’rnMEiurs. THE GOVERNMENT S WEAKNESS COHSEHCHXIZ> BY SUPPORTERS. Political Situation Precarious MUnfiTKT FACES WITS DANGER. STOCK EXCHANGE BUOYANT. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—CopyrightLONDON, March 2i. The idea of a federal or devolution settlement finds increasing support Jn several newspapers. Eight Liberals, writing to the Westminster Gazette (G.), say that the Government’s Ulster offer, though statesmanlike and the best under the circumstances, suffers from its admitted de feet of want of finality. The writers warmly advocate the Westminster Gazette’s suggestion of February 18 as the best means of securing a definite settlement. The whole constitutional question. they say. could be dealt with during Ulster’s six-year period of exemption. The Westminster Gazette, on the date referred to. said that the indications were that the Government may possibly appoint a. statutory commission of botn parties to recast parliamentary government on a federal basis. It pointed out that the work of reconstructing the House of Lords was be.yonrl the strength of any one party. Stress was laid on the indications that any agreed settlement of the Ulster problem in the immediate future could only be transitory. The Gazette agreed that the problem of the House of Lords should be included in tho matters referred to the Commission. The Unionist papers declare that General Paget is being made a scapegoat, and hint at the possibility of his resignation. They acclaim General Gongh as ”lhe man of the hour.” and say that ho and his band of officers have saved the country from disaster. The Liberal papers declare that the Tory attempt to split the army in twain has failed, and assert that the limit of patience has been reached. Mr W. H. Cowan. Liberal, asked lire Prime Minister if he had considered the exclusion of Ulster pending a general scheme of devolution. Mr Asquith replied that, he was anxious to give the fullest consideration to any proposal that is likely to afford common grounds of agreement. General Paget and General Gough have returned to Ireland. The opinion generally expressed in (ho lobby after Mr Asquith’s speech was that it is now impossible for the Government to call on the army to coerce Ulster. Many Liberals and Nationalists arc disappointed that the Government did not accept General Gough’s resignation. Moderate Überals are debating Air fa th cart Wason’a suggestion that the dissenting counties exclude themselves until a federal solution is forthcoming The Daily News (G.) says the public want to know the conditions under which General Gough returned. Are the conditions unqualified or optional obedience? If the army is to be a Tory institution, then the Liberals will break it, as they broke the House of Lords. Air T. P. O’Connor, M.P.. in the course of a special article in Reynold’s prophesies that there will be no developments in Ireland until the Bill reaches the House of Lords, where some Carsronite proposals will be embodied. The House of Commons will reject them and send the Bill back to the House of Lords, whereupon it will be accepted, and thus end tho Home Rule struggle. The Min is tec of War, Colonel Seely, has promised to publish all material documents relating to General Gough's resignation and reinstatement. Mr Asquith added that the documents include the written instructions to General Paget. The whole question could be discussed on the second reading of the Consolidated Fund Bill to-morrow. AIR REDMOND’S MESSAGE. TO AUSTRALIAN SYMPATHISERS ORANGE PLATFORM REVEALED. SOCIETY INFLUENCES ON THE ARM A'. LONDON. March 24. We arc requested to send the following as Mr J. R. Redmond’s statement to Australian Home Rule sympathisers— The Ulster Orange platform has now been completely revealed. Sir K. Carson and his army have not, and never had. the slightest intention of fighting. As a fighting force against the regulars Ulster could not hold out for a week. Their plan was to put up the appearance of a fight, then society Influences were to seduce the army officers, and thus intimidate the Government and defeat the people's will. The action of the commanclere in some of tho crack cavalry regiments, officered by aristocrats, has now fully disclosed the Orange plan of campaign, and raised an issue wider even than Home Rule —• viz., whether a democratic government is to he browbeaten and dictated to by drawing rooms in London and a section of officers who are aristocrats and violent Tory partisans. The cause of Irish freedom has in this fight become the cause of populat freedom and order and liberty throughout the world. it is impossible to doubt the result of such, a fight. The second reading will he taken on Alonday. and the Bill proceeded with until it finds its place on the Statute Book. AUSTRALIAN ORANGEMEN. WILL PROCEED TO ULSTER. SIDNEY, Alarch 24. A meeting of the Loyal Orange institution decided to form a contingent of sympathisers with Ulster, to proceed to Ireland and, if necessary, to help defend Ulster. A large number of offers of service were received. The executive have also started a fund to supplement Kir M. Samuel’s gift for the assistance of officers resigning their commission. and expressed the hope that the King, as supreme head of Protestant Britain, would exercise his right of veto, and so make a general election imperative before the Bill receives the Royal Assent. ULSTER SUPPORTERS. TO SAIL FROM CANADA. OTTAWA, March 24. The first contingent of Canadian volunteers for Ulster will leave in May. Several of the Canadian and South African papers urge the Government to adopt the referendum. AN IMPROVED OUTLOOK. STOCK EXCHANGE BUOYANT. LONDON, March 24. The Stock Exchange is buoyant, and there is an all-round advance owing to the more hopeful outlook in Ulster. Consults touched £76 and closed at £75 15s. GENERAL GOUGH’S DEMANDS. SCENES AT THE WAR OFFICE. “RATHER FIGHT FOR ULSTER.” GOVERNMENT’S POLICY DICTATED BY SOLDIER. LONDON, March 25. Received March 25, 9.25 p.m. The soldiers loudly cheered General Gough and Col. AlcKewan on their arriving at the camp. Speaking to the officers and soldiers gathered at the gates of his home General Gough said that the officers .were all reinstated, and would not be called to force Ulster to submit tojL

Home Rale. . He had a. guarantee 'that they 'would not be asked to bear arms against Ulstermen. There wtc> great cheering.• General Gough said to u Daily Telegraph representative:—l have signed a guarantee that under no circumstances will we be used to force Home Buie upon Ulstor. We are ;Wiliing to undertake ordinary duty, such as the protection of life and property and the preservation of order, but if it- came to a civil war 1 would > rather light for Ulster than against It.” * Another account states that when Gough, McKewan, and Parker reached the War Office there were stormy scenes. General French criticised their action as meriting the severest punishment. The intervention of Far! Roberts restored a better feeling, and finally the officers received a document containing many paragraphs and written in’legal phraseology, setting out the conditions under which they should servo in Ulster. General. Gough replied: “We are. plain soldiers, and do not understand all these legal terms. Wc want things pul plainly.” General Gough then w-rote: / "Do we understand that we are not to be asked to ■ bear arms against Ulster or enforce the present Home Rule Bill, and can we return and tell the officers so?" After further argument General French ' wrote on Gough's paper, "Yes. this is so.” and signed it. Three copies of the document were made and deposited in a solicitor's office. 'The Union Defence League lias collected £54.020 in five clays lo assist the Ulster fund. It was commenced by the Mon. Herbert Gibbs offering £IOOO as a protest to Mr Churchill's speeches. UTEB. A GRAVE .SITUATION'. DISCONTENT AT GOVERNMENTS ACTION. THE GOUGH REINSTATEMENT. WARSHIPS WIDE CO-OPERATE WITH A.AND FORCES. LONPOK. March 25. Received Ma.reh 25, 0.45 p.m. The debate in the House of Commons on the Army Estimates revealed widespread Puberal and Labour discontent, at the Government's actions in connection with the rc-instatcment of General Gough. Bobby correspondents suggest the possibility of a grave situation during tomorrow's debate. Unionist newspapers give prominence to statements that the Government attempt a coup d'etat. The third battle squadron and iho fourth destroyer division are co-operat-ing with General Paget’s forces. THE MINISTRY THREATENED. WITH RANK AND FILE DESERTION. NATURE OF DOCITMXTS DEMANDED. GOVERNMENT'S POSITION CRITICAL WAR SECRETARY OFFERS TO RESIGN. LONDON. March 25. Received Maxell 25. 10.15 p.m. Questioned in the House of Lords if the documents signed in connection witli General Gough's reinstatement include any War Office verbal instructions to General Paget, Viscount Morlcy replied that it would bo a dubious precedent to publish highly confidential instructions. Mr Asquith was asked a similar question in the House of Commons, and replied that documents obviously could not deal with matters which were oral. The Press Association states that the tabling of these documents is awaited with (lie utmost interest. There is a good deal of anxiety amongst the Government's supporters, and tlie Ministry is threatened with widespread revolt in the rank and file if (he rumours current regarding the nature of i the document as exculpating where it j ought to condemn prove correct. | The seriousness of the position cannot | be exaggerated. It is unofficially stated that the LiberaJs, Labourites, and Nationalists alike axe unsparing in their condemnation of the Ministerial attitude. Liberal newspapers and lobbyists j agree that the situation is now most critical. j It is rumoured that Col. Seeley at | Monday's Cabinet mooting offered to re- : sign his portfolio as Secretary for War, but it was not accepted. j LATEST. i LONDON PRESS COMMENT. KING ACCUSED OF INTERFERING, j LORD ESHER'S LETTER. j DAILY NEWS ASKS QUESTIONS. j LORD ROBERTS AND AN ARCH- ' BISHOP. LONDON, March 25. Received March 26. 12.45 a.m. The Dalit - Citizen (official organ of the Labour movement) accuses the King of interfering in Home Rule matters, and adds lit at the Premier's Liberal Government has come badly out of the business. Lord Esher, in a letter to the newspapers. says that it is widely believed that the movement of Aldershot troops to Ireland is contemplated, involving the calling up of the reserves. He is convinced that the first detachments sent to Ireland will result in the resignation of fifty per cent, of the officers and men of the London territorial force. The Daily News says that the country wants to know why Earl Roberts on Saturday was moving Viet ween Buckingham Palace and the War Office and what the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing in this affair. IMPERIAL OFFICERS IN NX. THE RUMOURED RESIGNATIONS. NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY. NO OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION. WELLINGTON, March 25. The reports that several Imperial army officers in New Zealand are handing in their resignations is not taken seriously here. There is no official confirmation of the statement, and it is pointed out that if the officers were ordered Home they would have plenty of opportunity of taking any action thought necessary before they became involved in the Ulster complications. "PEACE OR A SWORD ?" (From Our Own Correspondent). 'LONDON. February 12. On Tuesday last the King opened the fourth session of his second Parliament which is to be, we are told, "the most momentous within the memory of living man." The great question at issue is, of course. Home Rule, and wc have bidden to prepare for most dreadful happenings in Ulster if the Government persists in forcing seif-government on Ireland as a whole. And we have been told that the Government's inflexible determination was to carry the Home Rule Bill as. it stood info law, whether Ulster liked it or not. But some of us are optimistic, and in reading the speeches made by tho party leaders in the course of the debate on the Address, have come to the conclusion tit at there will be no shedding of blood in Ulster, and (perhaps it is only a case of the wish being father to the thought), we ! think we can detect the note of a coming settlement In the speeches of Sir ! Edward Carson. Mr Redmond, and Mr Bonar Law. In each case the note was 1 sounded in connection with the exclu- 1 sion of Ulster from the operations of tho ; bill. Taking Sir Edward Carson’s speech first. He pointed out that Mr Asquith ( in one part of his speecti in reply to Mr Walter X<ong who moved the amendment to the Address (the Premier’s tone was i highly conciliatory when dealing with , the Ulster problem), did not regret the exclusion of Ulster as a possibility, whilst in another part the Premier said there was nothing the Government would not do consistent with the fundamental - principles of the bill. Putting two and ; two together. Sir Edward concluded that the exclusion, of Ulster was not; opposed : to the fundamental principles of the bill. He then declared that if exclusion is pro-, posed, it will be his duty to go to Ulster at once and take counsel with the people there. That was surely an 1 important

statement, for It suggests that -Sir. Bd-. ward Carson Is at all events inclined to treat tho exclusion of Ulster seriously as aiway out. Then Mr Redmond, when dealing with, the exclusion of Ulster, said that he desired to shut the door Upon no possible suggestion consistent with the main principles of the bill. He did not declare the exclusion of Ulster to be inconsistent therewith. He contented himself with stating, the arguments against the exclusion o ftlic four counties of Down, Antrim. Armagh, and Derry. But lie did not rule out their exclusion. On the contrary, lie declared that the 1 risli Party would put no obstacle in the way of the Government or in the way of peace. All lie asks is that the Irish Party should have an assurance that they will receive, as a quid pro quo. peace and consent. Surely we may interpret this to mean that the Irish Party whilst strongly objecting to exclusion will in the last resort agree, to the exclusion of tho four counties as the price of peace. Mr Bonar Law went even further than Sir Edward Carson. He urged the Government to leave out Ulster, "until their whole scheme of Federal Home Rule is complete, and then ask her to come in, when they are not treating her invidiously, but I treating her in precisely the same j manner as the people of England, Scotland, and Wales. Jf there is to be any form of Home Rule, that seems to me to be the only form that is possible.” The- Leader of (he Opposition proceeded to say that Mr Asqu'th had practically admitted that the exclusion of Ulster was not inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the bill, and then Air Law declared that exclusion was the only solution. He emphatically denied that Ulster has ever vetoed Home Rule for tho rest of Ireland. “She has never made that claim, and if she had wo would never have supported her in it.” If words mean anything this was an extremely important statement. it is tantamount to a declaration that the Leader of the Unionist party is prepared to acrept Home Rule for Ireland, pro- , vided Ulster is for tiie time being placed I beyond the pale. This all looks promising. and if it does not bring peace in plain sight it certainly does not assist ns in conjuring up visions of Ulster stalwarts being shot down and bayonetted by (ho soldiers of the King. Finally, there is the statement in tiie Times that the course of the debates was probably responsible for the belief which quickly gained ground that a settlement may be arrived at. "it is said that the basis of such an agreement would bo the exclusion of the four north-eastern counties for a term of years, at me end of which a plebiscite of the inhabitants would he taken on the question of incorporation in the Home Rule scheme. There is ground for saying (hat Ulster Unionist members would consider this plan so favourable as an y." Mere it will he observed ’’Ulster" is defined as the four north-eastern cuunties, and not fas hitherto) the whole province. As regards these four counties the two plans under discussion are : (1) exclusion with the option of inclusion later, and (2) inclusion with the option of exclusion later. Nationalist ami Liberal opinion inclines to tho former, but the other solution will no doubt he much more acceptable to the Ulster anti-Horne Rulers. The differences of opinion on this matter, however, are not of great importance. The great thing is that the spirit of conciliation and compromise i appears to be in the ascendant, and to he spreading over the whole field of the Home Rule controversy.