The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1921. THE IRISH OUTLOOK

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14829, 17 December 1921, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1921. THE IRISH OUTLOOK

The outburst of Lord Carson in the House of Lords on Wednesday last will be widely regarded by all who desire to see the inauguration of a more friendly spirit between the people of Britain and Ireland. There is at present every prospect of that desire being given effect to, and it ill becomes those who loudly proclaim that they are faithful and leal subjects of the King to endeavour to thwart a consummation for which all the Empire longs. While there has been much sympathy for Ulster "in the experiences through which she has passed, there can be no question that the affixing of the signatures of representative men 'of Britain and Ireland to the agreement reached after many weeks of serious negotiation has materially changed the situation. That -agreement has been acclaimed throughout the Empire as one of the most momenTous events in our national history, and it has been hailed as a triumph of statesmanship. There are those throughout His Majesty's dominions equally as jealous for the integrity and honour of the Empire as all the "die hards" of Ulster, and they have enthusiastically welcomed the treaty as guaranteeing the security and maintenance of the company of nations, under the Union Jacks as they recognise that should an agreement be ' impossible The effect would not be confined to Britain, but would have its echo 111 disseverance and strife in every

hamlet and district in all lands which acknowledge allegiance to the British Sovereign. The Irish problem is now an Imperial question; it is no longer a matter for the North and South of Ireland, nor for that matter between Britain and Ireland, and the mistake made by the "dies hards" of the respective factions is that they fail to recognise this fact. Lord Carson's fears concerning the Irish army being intended as a menace to the future of Ulster can be dismissed without serious consideration, and his declaration that England has (been forced to succumh, having been beaten to her knees by gunmen and assassins, may be dismissed as the imaginations of a perturbed mind. No one can seriously subscribe to such a belief, though it has been voiced in this Dominion, and by those whose very calling should have impelled them to face the truth and unreservedly admit that the patience and persistence with which the British Premier and his colleagues conducted the negotiations were not the tactics of weak or beaten leaders, but rather those of men who conscious of their strength, forebore to exert it, being anxious to bring their weaker opponents to an amenable frame of mind, and the generous recognition of this fact would have had a farreaching effect in bringing about that feeling of mutual respect and amity which all desire. That the "die hards" of neither side are satisfied with the agreement is unequivocal proof that the moderates have reached safe ground, and H is devoutly to.be hoped | that their recommendations will be 'given effect to by both the British Parliament and the Irish Dail Eireann, for with that consummation it is assured that both peoples will proceed together towards a common destiny in which, as Mr Lloyd George happily expressed it, "England's peril would be Ireland's, and England's victory Ireland's glory." Once the new regime is inaugurated we are convinced it will not be long ere both Lord Carson and Sir James Craig will be induced to admit that their present fears are ungrounded, and even Mr de Valera and his stalwarts may be brought to see the error of their ways.