IRISH PROBLEM.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16254, 3 July 1918, Page 9

IRISH PROBLEM.

THE FEDERAL SCHEME. MR LLOYD GEORGE'S VIEWS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, June 30. Tho Press Bureau reports tiio- proceedings oi a deputation lroin all parties, oxcbpi; tho Irish, which urged tho case of Federal devolution to Mr Lloyd George. Tlie Prime Minister was accompanied by Mr G. N. Barnes. Among the spokesmen ©f the deputation, Mi - \V. Adamson (Labour)* said that while it was in favour of tho devolution proposals, the Labour Party wculd > not acquiesce in an attempt to establish a federal fdrm of Government being mado an excuse for hang-ing-up Home Rule for Ireland. He believed that unless the Irish difficulty was settled quickly, either thero would bo a rising in Ireland or in tho near future events would bring other forces to the settlement than two sections of tho British people. Lloyd George, in reply, said he had always been a strong federalist. He realised the impossibility of Parliament dealing adequately with post-war problems if it were simultaneously taxed with local affairs j birt it was impossible to carry out such a/measure during the war without something like general assent. There <vas> no doubt about' opm',°d in Scotland and Wales; but opinion in England was not so clear. That was what really mattered. It was reallv a question for the English constituencies. Other special difficulties included the question of Ulster, on which the views of the deputation were not clear. He would not like to predict how far devolution would helj> to solve tho Irish question. The national conscience must be eased. Both Unionists and Home Kulers had an uneasy feeling that the best was not being done for the country, but if a scheme were proposed giving equal treatment for Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales, they could say to the Irishmen, "Wo are giving you exactly what we are taking ourselves; what is good enough for us ought to bo good enough for you." That would satisfy the Dominions, which were convinced' that wo were treating Ireland clumsily and tactlessly in not giving her the freedom which was her due. That was certainly the feeling of America. Ho bad received letters, even in the last few days, from prominent pro-English Americans who were most unhappy that the irish question remnined unsolved. Therefore, he was glad that they were promoting a solution which would ultimately give satisfaction as fair, just, and businesslike.

The death of a retired Austrian forester named Kern recalls an averted tragedy which might have changed the history of Europe. The incident took place about three weeks after Sadowa at the village of Biredorf, about 30 miles from Vienna. King William of Prussia and . Bismarck sat down outsido a small cafe to drink beer. Kern, who had a double-barrelled gun, regarded them as tho deadly enemies' of his country, and _ he was an excellent marksman. Taking aim from behina coyer, ho was nbout to firo when his wife, seeing what her husband was about to do, clutched him by the coat tails. H° turned to argue with her, and before the argument .was finished tho King and the Chancellor had gone. If, says the "Sheffield Telegraph," Kern had fired, thero might have been no German Empire to-day.