THE IRISH CRISIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 October 1921, Page 5

THE IRISH CRISIS.

CONFERENCE ADJOURNS A RUPTURE AVERTED. LETTER TO THE PREMIER. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyrigtt. Received Oct. 25, 10.25 p.m. London, Oct. 24. The Irish Conference adjourned while a small committee is discussing formulae defining the terms upon which the Irish are prepared to continue the conference. The Sinn Fein delegates have sent a letter to Mr. Lloyd George with reference to the situation arising out of de Valera’s telegram to the Pope. The conference has adjourned till Tuesday, which is regarded as a hopeful sign that a rupture has been avoided. The Daily Telegraph’s Belfast correspondent states it is believed here that de Valera’s message to the Pope was sent in order to create a situation preventing Mr. Lloyd George going to the Washington Conference and spreading a new light on the Irish question in the United States.

In the House of Commons, replying to questions, Mr. Lloyd George said he understood it was untrue that Sinn Fein colors were’ being displayed, over the Sinn Fein delegates’ London residence. If it was true he agreed it was provocative. He added: “I cannot imagine why all these follies are being perpetrated when there is a real desire to negotiate peace. It seems to me some people are doing their utmost to make peace impossible.”

STATEMENT BY PREMIER. GOVERNMENT STAND FIRM. London, Oct. 24. In the House of Commons, Mr. Lloyd George, replying to Sir William Davison, stated:—“De Valera’s telegram to the Pope and its publication, especially in the middle of negotiations, constitutes a grave challenge to the position of the Government on the question involved in the telegram. It has been made abundantly clear that we do not intend to recede from our position and the conference cannot proceed on any other basis.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. INFLUENCE OF LABOR. A SIGNIFICANT MOVE. Received Oct. 25, 5.5 p.m. ' London, Oct. 24. The Westminster Gazette’s Dublin correspondent states that political significance is attached to the Belfast seamen’s decision to secede from the Seamen’s and Firemen's Union and join the Irish Transporters’ Union, the key of which is contained in an address by Janies Connolly, an Irish Labor leader, suggesting that if Labor could call out the Balfast seamen and textile workers and keep them out till Ulster threw in her lot with the remainder of Ireland, industrial paralysis would probably result in the disarmament of Ulster without bloodshed. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.