THE GOVERNMENT AND THE TRUCE

New Zealand Tablet, 20 May 1915, Page 39

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE TRUCE

Perhaps it is well that the announcement of the result of the negotiations on the Welsh Church- Bill brought to the surface the discontent felt at the way : in ; which the political truce has been observedor, to be more correct, has been broken. Everyone who feels that the first interest of the British Empire at the great .' crisis through which Europe is passing is an enterprising, up-to-date policy, rejoices that the nation's fate is in the hands of statesmen who are highly gifted (says a writer in the Catholic Times). They have proved again and again since the war began that their views are \ clear, that they know how to deal promptly and effectively with difficulties, and that they are always ready to take occasion by the hand. Looked at broadly, their action deserves the highest praise and its merits /re generally recognised. In very trying times they have made no serious mistakes, though some of the measures they have taken to grapple with the requirements of the situation have been almost revolutionary. By the vigor, initiative, and care they have shown in using the national resources to the best purpose they have gone far to disarm criticism. But in the handling of domestic affairs they have not earned the same eulogy. It has been felt by their supporters that they have displayed signs of weaknessin a word, that they have become too pliable in the hands'of the Unionists. That it is the desire of the. majority of the Unionist party that the truce should be faithfully observed there is no reason to doubt. Nor is there any ground for believing that Mr. Bonar Law has departed in the letter or the spirit from the undertaking into which he entered on behalf of his followers. He does not appear to have been influenced by the desire to promote party interests when all parties should be at one. His acts and his words have all indicated that in his conduct he has been guided by patriotic motives. But other Unionist leaders have not been so scrupulous. They have not hesitated to seek to secure party gains notwithstanding the truce; and, to the surprise and regret of Liberals, members of the Labor Party and Nationalists, the Government have yielded to them with a facility difficult to understand. What could be more astonishing than the manner in which the compromise on the Welsh Church Bill was arranged ? The strongest argument in support of the Government's progressive measures has been that they were in accord with the wishes of the people for whose benefit they were intended. It was urged that the Government's legislation embodied the views of those whom they represented; yet the compromise on the W e Bill was arrived at without any consultation with the Welsh Party. What other course could the members of the party have pursued but that which they have taken? Who can blame them for concluding that in a weak moment the Government had played into the hands of their Unionists opponents, for sounding the tocsin, mar-; shalling their forces, and calling on Liberals,- Labor members, and Nationalists to come to their aid ? Mr. Llewelyn Williams has described their feeling in plain. terms. They 'felt that they, and, through them, their people who had been so faithful to the Government had been humiliated by it. m ■ . r I The Welsh have consistently demanded the reform embodied in the Bill. Ninety per cent. : of the representatives whom they have sent to the House of Commons have voiced their claim. Yet without their knowledge concessions were promised to opponents of the Act,: at the instance of Anglican Bishops and Unionist •leaders, which would imperil what the Welsh electors and their members of Parliament have been contending for during so many years. The Welsh cannot be

charged with a want of patriotism. ; ; They have .been' anxious to maintain the. political f truce, but it was broken with the? object "of imposing conditions on their country to which she would not, :it was known, : assent r in times of peace. -a A storm broke loose. It .was the inevitable result of the success of Unionist Party tactics. ",; -■■ ''-■■ x-% ■-""'\z"i.'' : .""'-' - Owing •to similar tactics the patience of the people of Ireland is continually tried. : So far, indeed, as Ireland is concerned there has scarcely been a pretence of the observance of a truce. It has appeared almost as if the Government abdicated and the Unionists took possession. The idea of a truce was not in General Sir -George Richardson's mind when he boasted to Ulster Volunteers that they would kick Home Rule to the devil.' £ Men who were foremost in threatening to defy the decision of the Parliament of the Empire and to take the field against his Majesty's forces have received well-paid appointments. When Sir Henry Bellingham's second son, Captain Roger Bellingham, a Catholic and a Nationalist,- who has died -bravely on the battlefield, addressed a meeting of Irish National Volunteers as an officer a few months ago, Unionists who had encouraged hostility to the law in Ulster endeavored to get him penalised because he was an A.D.C. to Lord Aberdeen, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and a semi-apologetic official explanation of the act was offered through the press. The Ulster Volunteers who went as drilled men to the colors are allowed to enjoy ease and dignity at home, whilst countrymen of theirs who joined the army since the commencement of the conflict without having had previous military training are at the front. The Ulster Unionists receive special favors, but proposals to secure their pensions to Irish policemen who are in the firing line meet with opposition from prominent Unionists in the House of Commons. By giving way to the pressure of the Unionists who are bitter enemies of democratic movements the Government are damaging the popularity which they have otherwise justly acquired. It is not on the Unionists the blame for breaking the political truce is laid by the discontented—their mode of acting is what was expected —but on the Government who, as they have sufficient strength, should also, it is contended, have courage and determination enough to resist their blandishments and intrigues. It is to be hoped they will now become fully alive to the peril of weakness.