The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1919. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19830, 22 December 1919, Page 6

The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1919. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

While the attempted assassination of Lord French, Viceroy of Ireland, is a shocking thing, there will be little surprise that the attempt was made. Tor•rorisin and murder have become the chief weapons of a section of the Sinn Fein, and it was inevitable that the Viceroy, who has not hesitated to adopt extreme repressive measures, would become the object of a direct assault. Evidently Lord French anticipated such an attack. At the time of the outrage he was driving in an armour-plated motor-car, and was accompanied by an armed military escort. There appears to have been a good deal of firing and bombing, and the marvel of it all is that the casualties wero so few. How far the campaign of violence and covert rebellion has the sanction of the people of Ireland it is difficult to say, but the state of Ireland to-day is such as to cause the very greatest concern and apprehension. The Irish question has baffled the statesmanship of Britain for generations, and the breach between Britain is increasing instead of decreasing. It was hoped that one result of the Great War would he a better understanding, but it cannot be said that that hope has been realised. While many Irish soldiers performed thoir part with tiio utmost gallantry, the country was not responsive. Mr Lloyd George threw out the bait of self-government for Ireland, but it was loaded with conscription. While he insisted that the two issues of Home Rulo and conscription were not interdependent, they were in fact so regarded, and the combined opposition of the Nationalists and Slttn Fein made tho enforcement of the measure impracticable. The Home Rule clause was also left in abeyance. The Nationalist Party, which supported constitutional methods, steadily lost ground both before and after the death of Mr John Redmond, and at the last general election Sinn Fein superseded tho Notionalist Party as the predominant political force in Ireland. Granges had been made in Dublin Castle, Lord French succeeding Lord Wimbomo ns Viceroy or Lord Lieutenant, but the new administration quickly came into conflict with Sinn Fein. Raids and arrests became more frequent, and they wero replied to with an unprecedented succession of murder, arson and outrage. Many of tho Sinn Fein members of Parliament have been imprisoned, and their escapes from incarceration have supplied tho one touch of comedy in the whole sad and bad business, What the future has in store for Ireland it is impossible to say. Mr Lloyd George has a committee at work, but already such differences hare developed that the existence of the Government is threatened. One of the many difficulties which face the Government is tho fact that tho Sinn Fein, which is the strongest political force in Ireland, demands complete independence for Ireland. If an Irish Parliament were granted it is practically certain that its first action would be to declare its complete severance from Britain. Efforts to partition Ireland would bo resisted to the bitter end. The Imperial Government may devise a scheme with sufficient and acceptable limitations and safeguards, hut the experience of the past is not a hopeful augury of success. The British public is not likely to ho coerced or frightened into concessions by the carnival of violence and murder, but there does exist in all British countries a sincere desire to arrive at a just solution of the Irish question.