The Press. Tuesday, March 30, 1920. The State of Ireland

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16796, 30 March 1920, Page 6

The Press. Tuesday, March 30, 1920. The State of Ireland

Serious a3 are his other difficulties at! homo and in respect of foreign affairs, Mr Lloyd George can hardly leave the problem of Ireland alone much longer. Almost every day brings from Ireland news of somo new outrage or assassination, and there is no sign that the feeling that is behind this campaign of murder and terrorism is losing heat or strength. On the contrary, the situation appears to he going from bad to worse, and there seems to he no means of relieving it. During January Lord French made a statement to the Dublin "Journal,'' in "which, after stating that fighting was still proceeding in Ireland, he said: "It would seem that Ireland "is condemned to play that role for " eternity. Once again we shall subdue "the agitators, and a period of tran"quillity will follow. Then once again •"trouble will break out." Lord French; one may hope, is mistaken in his gloomy forecast, for the change of opinion in Britain has been so great that if a period of "tranquillity" does come, British statesmanship will probably succeed where it has hitherto failed. A period of tranquillity can come only through a moderation of Irish feeling and an inclination on the part of Irishmen to accept some compromise involving sacrifices by the two extreme wings of Irish opinion. In the meantime, unhappily, tranquillity appears to be farther off than ever, and nobody can find a sure remedy for the Irish malady of, crime and intimidation. To many people there appears to be nothing for it but tho policy of using all the resources of the Government to suppress crime and restore order. To introduce in Ireland, they say, any change of system, without ridding it first of this j political and moral pestilence, would he to condemn the Irish people to utter j disaster. Tho terrorists, they maintain, 1 cannot be metamorphosed into deccnt and law-abiding citizens by making poli- : tical changes, of whatsoever extent. This is probably true enough, but it is a consideration less likely to appeal to Irish feeling than the wise warning of Mr Justice O'Connor, reported in a cable message last week. There is neither beauty nor virtue, he said, in liberty that comes dripping with innocent blood. The only hope of improvement lies in the possibility that Irish opinion can be enlisted in support of this view. "The Times" has been urg- ■ ing that a more wholesome condition of affairs could be created if the Irish Executive were to modify its policy so as to make a sharp distinction between " political" offences on the one hand, and on the other hand felonies that aro equally opposed to Divine and human law t