The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1921. AN AWKWARD CORNER.

Southland Times, Issue 19366, 25 October 1921, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1921. AN AWKWARD CORNER.

No more unsatisfactory ending for the Irish negotiations could be imagined than the one which is now threatening, and it will. be strange if some formula—lmperial affairs seem to consist largely of finding a right formula—cannot be discovered to give Mr De Valera’s telegram to the Pope an innocuous interpretation. It must be confessed that the task of composing such a formula looks exceedingly difficult, but the delegates from Dublin are hardly likely to assume the responsibility of breaking off the negotiations on such a pretext. If Mr De Valera in his telegram meant what his words say and if his colleagues were aware of the text of the message before it was sent, their presence at the conference is difficult to explain. They have to reconcile their presence at a conference with representatives of the Imperial Government on terms that are well known with the despatch of a telegram setting up the very claim that has been set aside by the preliminaries leading up to the meeting and under the circumstances outside observers may be pardoned if they search, with some bewilderment for a scrap of evidence to convince them that there is any sincerity in the Irish leaders. There ean be little doubt that the break-up of the negotiations by this unfortunate telegram will injure the Sinn Fein cause almost past redemption. The world will see in this telegram a deliberate intent to bring the negotiations to an abrupt and barren ending without the admission of any real discussion of the vital points and probably the Irish people will have something to say about that matter. At this distance, of course, it is difficult to gauge the power of the various currents which under the surface are working against any settlement of the Irish problem. So far the conference has not been impaired by the untoward events which have threatened a disruption. The breaches of the truce in Ireland, the riots in Belfast and the munnurings of some sections of the Coalition have gone by unnoticed and sane opinion in the Old Country will cling to the hope that this incident, unfortunate though it be, will not be sufficient to wreck the movement which has promised so much. Of course, the sections who oppose any settlement with the Sinn Feiners will magnify this incident to the uttermost limits and rejoice m the opportunity it offers, but it will be impossible to form any idea of its actual importance until the public knows definitely whether or not Mr De Valera acted on the spur of the moment and sent his unfortunate telegram without the knowledge of his colleagues, or whether it represents the considered views of the delegation. That the Vatican should communicate with King George in the way it did was probably an unwelcome surprise to the Irish leaders, but they must be sufficiently versed in diplomatic usage to know that whatever their claims may be, no Power has recognised the existence of the Irish Republic and that the Pope’s message accepted the position in this form. As a matter of fact Mr Lloyd George made it clear that the Imperial Government would not consider any conference which in any way suggested that the authority of the Brit;°h Crown over Ireland was or could be rejected. He was prepared to negotiate with a number of gentlemen who represent the large body of opinion in Ireland to see if some settlement satisfactory to them and not involving disloyalty to the King could be reached. The Pope accepted this position as he saw it and King George’s reply, referring to “my people” was strictly in accord with the facts and with the Vatican’s idea of the situation. How any body of men sitting down to consider these points, with the tremendous importance of the task entrusted to them clear in their minds, could commit the error of thinking that the reply sent to the Pope created a position not already existing is difficult to understand. That such an opinion might have been formed hastily by one or two men is not beyond the bounds of reason and it is probable that if the inner history of this incident is ever given to the world this will be the explanation of the unfortunate telegram despatched in the name of Mr De Vnlcra. In the meantime the Irish delegation is in an awkward corner, and they will need to use all their ingenuity to devise a retreat from it without loss of prestige.