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DOMINION HOME RULE

; ® _ ' —— * : Attitude of the northcliffe press. 1 ' I- /- \ - t;" ? .SSC (By % an «» occasional contributor.) k ; ~ '% "■' i.i here iisi; nothing J more remarkable; in the history of recent English political relations with Ireland than the change that has come over newspaper opinion in -Great Britain, since the ; Sinn -Fein Party, seeing that ; English influence dominated the - Peace! Conference, turned its attention to* rousing public opinion in America against the political and economic slavery of Ireland. How successful Sinai Fein has been may be gathered from the files. of American " ; papers, which . indicate an unprecedented, state of fueling . against, those who in the case of Ireland wish to violate the principles of democratic freedom for which the -United States entered the war. It is well known that for many years .(since 7 the conclusion of the Civil War, in fact!it hasi been the dream of English politicians to establish an alliance with America. It is equally well known thatithe main, •: if not the only,' obstacle to the fulfilment of this dream was the state of Irish opinion in the States. Thia£. was such a plain case of cause and effect that one wonders at the lack of ' 'statesmanship that allowed the : ; cause to /. operate when Irish opinion might have been so easily satisfied, even in quite recent times; but statesmanship seems have vanished from the public life of England-. Tricky /politicians, gifted :: with neither foresight nor imagination, now rule the greatest Empire in the world., Mr. -John ; Redmond. was probably, the nearest approach "to a statesman that the British Parliament knew since Mr. Gladstone died; but the atmosphere of political corruption and trickery was not an Irish gentleman's milieu. No wonder it is commonly said his heart was broken. If the Liberal Party had kept their pledges to him a settlement in good ? will might have, been arrived at: they did not, and England is now regretting the result. Mr. Redmond would,have been satisfied, for the time, with a subordinate parliamentkeeping in view at the same time his old chief's dictum that "no one had a right to set bounds to the progress of a nation." No one in Ireland will now accept '"less'than the practical independence of Dominion Home Rule; and a. majority, sick of government by tanks and : ; machine guns, ask for. something more. Mr. do Valera's appeal to, and personal appearance in, America were a piece of the tactics of genius. The English press, forced by recent events, such as the Senate resolution, have at last been driven to recognise that if America is to be satisfied, Ireland must be satisfied first, that otherwise there is little chance of a friendly understanding, .much less an alliance,, between the .."AngloSaxons." There is a powerful body of opinion in America, which is growing every day, in favor of acknowledging the Irish Republic, and immense pressure is being brought on the Senate to that end. That would be the end of all things, and this is the reason why English journals some time since bitterly hostile to any form of Irish self-govern-ment, are now advocating independence within the Empire. Some of these papers, such as the Spectator, which advocates two Dominions in Ireland, are palpably dishonest, that being a form of settlement which would please nobody, not even the Orangemen, who only want the maintenance the status quo, and have never asked for a Belfast! parliament. There is no doubt that, on the whole, English journalism is coming to see that a parliament on the dines of those granted to the free dominions of the Empire must be granted to Ireland. -..-. The most powerful newspaper man in Great Britain is, beyond any doubt, Lord Northcliffe. During the_ war he made and unmade governments and dictated policies, foreign and domestic. He controls the Times, Daily Mail, Evening News, Weekly Despatch, Observer, and a host of provincial papers, either directly or through his family. He recently Wrote to Captain Alcock, the aviator who successfully airplaned from America to Ireland, a letter of congratulation on his arrival from the "happy and prosperous Dominion* of Newfoundland," at the "future. happy'^ and prosperous Dominion of Ireland." That this was ; no mere rhetorical rameis is evident from the fact that his newspapers are now supporting a Dominion solution. . The. Weekly Despatch speaks of the Irish Unionist Alliance as a "dwindling and discredited band," and observes' that "all who have eyes to see and ears to hear and understanding hearts, have welcomed the Dominion of Ireland hint. They believe that on these lines, will --be found the solution of the long-standing and thorny, problem.- The simple, essential, and outstanding fact is that Ireland is 1 being held by an army of occupation," and the article ends with the striking admission that 'it is a stubborn truth that there; is, in the .United : States a Greater Ireland whose attitude to Great Britain, determined as it will be by our, treatment''; of their 1 kinsmen

in.the ohi country, Anglo-American " relations." ./-..-• j : ' .!•: I In %he. Observer, Mr. J^,-;L. __bin. who is tinohfthlv -1 the ablest "fighting" journalist SKgnglandy takes up a | similar position. "It is astonishing, but tolerably correct," f he declares,!/ 'to say that the Irish question I has become the . g real • crux of < the World Question. We see that after Arma- I geddon ~as » before ~ it, 'the old obstacle".. remains. . While it I stands in the road there never can be any chance of effec- £ tive Anglo-American ' combination, "' and hot "only''%hatthe | last state will be worse than the v first. The one Obstacle is 1 the Irish question and nothing . else." • He goes on to 'speak | of American interest in, Ireland, and says: "It will be idle | to ask what the U.S. has to do with it. ... . The Irish fi question is a world question because the Irish race is a "§ world race." : j.'The military occupation of Ireland with a 1 considerable army, tanks, and aircraft, as. on the left bank 1 of the Rhine, cannot continue indefinitely in peace time. § They may. master rebellion but they cannot .prevent Out- I rage or i secure order/' ... "Another honest attempt has!' to be J made in strict connection with a new programme of econ- § omic development. The attempt this j time nitist be such | a bid for settlement as British statesmanship can base itself on once for all. It must be made in a decisive spirit. $ It must-represent the utmost we can'perform. It"must 'be - : an attempt to find and do the right thing in itself. r ".' '" It must set plain limits to what is separatist in the demands of Sinn Fein or any "other irreconcilable element. "'""i And equally it must demand, in the supreme interests of I the British commonwealth, some, big modification of the % entirely stiff and unyielding attitude; so' far taken by j Unionist Ulster." Mr.' Garvin in advocating economic I development, of course," has" the"idea of economic 'subjection, but the Irish may be r trusted to look after that; I. besides, England not now the" hub of the financial uni- \ verse, and an Irish parliament will naturally look to % America, which is/'-;. ;;■■.■ -;;p 7 ?. : JOViI-J I

The pressure of events in Ireland has turned Sir Horace Plunkett from Unionism to Nationalism, and he is now standing on the Dominion Home Rule platform. He has advocated this solution.,of the Irish question in America and is: advocating it in Ireland, .where he and. his friends have established a high-class weekly, the Irish Statesman, for propagandist purposes. Tho. -Washington correspondent of the Times, dealing with' Mr. ! de Valera's visit to America, thinks "so far as the future is concerned, Sir Horace Plunkett and.-his proposal [for. Dominion .Home Rule] will got) infinitely-more respectful 'hearing on the revival (sic) of Mr. do Valera and his republic than anything Sir Edward Carson or his English or. Irish friends may say or propose." ""' "-' •-. .t:-. T .-..--..-• --■•.- The Times itself, in an article in its issue of June 16, which was plainly "inspired by a dread of the trend of affairs in the United- States, insists that the. Irish question is essentially a British question; in the first place, and for that reason it is incumbent'on- the British^Government to address themselves without delay, and without thought of parliamentary or electoral advantages, to its solution. Every week, it says, that passes without proof that the British Government are determined earnestly to do their duty to Ireland, is not only a week lost but an opportunity gained by the disseminators of distrust and dissension. Such action may envenom Anglo-American relations for years to come. . The article ends by saying that within the limits of British security "Ireland shall bo mistress of her fate." The Irish Independent, in an editorial dealing with the new attitude., of. the .Northcliffe.. papers, says that according to the Times and Daily Mail, Lord Northcliffe's letter to Captain Alcock ; has caused a great sensation America, and is regarded; as justifying the brightest'hopes. It adds: "A parliament with powers equal" to those enjoyed by the Dominions j would: be {acceptable to -the majority of the Irish people, and if Lord Northcliffe has thrown his lot earnestly and sincerely with the advocates ; of Dominion Home Rule, we say : more power to his elbow.' " To readers conversant with the position of affairs in Ireland before the war the present attitude of the- North--cliffe. papers seents little short of miraculous./ The Times never gave hospitality to .any more advanced views for. the government of Ireland than what is known,,as ."gas and water" ( Home Rule. Now it advocates practical independence. V This advance we, undoubtedly v owe to'---'Sinn Fein, which has'lifted Ireland but of the mire" of party politics |" and placed it in a position it has not held since the'days ; ; of Grattan. Truly, the men who died in the Easter;, of J| 1916 and during the following weeks of English vengeance. ' died that Ireland might live. ■•'. \ %'^k. ■■:. 'i-j ;■•': .!■",' ~»:,'; fls -if;- '•' .."■ -'.-J- LI'S. +*&

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Bibliographic details

New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 13

Word Count
1,657

DOMINION HOME RULE New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 13

DOMINION HOME RULE New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 13