ULSTER'S WAR THREAT

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1398, 26 March 1912, Page 5

ULSTER'S WAR THREAT

ORANOEAIEN DRILLING, Bar TeloErttDli-I'rcsn Asaoclallon-O&ujrighl London, March 2i. Ulster Orangemen nro drilling nud route-marching on a large scale. On Sir Edward Carson's advice, eacli signed a. declaration before a magistrate that the object of the marches M'as recreation; This was done so as to keep within Hie l.nw. Detectives regularly attend the drills. PBEMIER MEETS NATIONALISTS. London, March -1. Messrs. .T. E. Redmond, T. P. O'Connor, and John Dillon (Nationalist leaders) had .1 two hours' conference with the Premier anil tho Home ]!u!o Committee of the Cabinet. NATIONALIST APPEAL FOR FUNDS. (Rec. March 2G, 0.5 a.m.) London, March 25. The Nationalists are asking for funds to counteract the Ulster campaign ngninst Home Rule. STORY OF A SECRET ARMOURY. Writing of the situation in Ulster, the "Daily Neivs" cm-respondent said recently :—There has Ijseu a plain slackening of Iho extremist impetus. You meet people, it is (rue, who assure vou that thc> "die hards" have imported 'and hnve hidden somewhere in Belfast as many as 20,1)00 rifles. Yon hear stories of heroes who fill in their sparo time making potshots ivith revolvers at pennies nailed up on a wall. In strict confidence, you arc told that at a certain place carpenters are working with all haste fitting up accommodation for 500 police reinforcements or (roops. I have already referred to the drill exercises at Orange Club rooms. All these things are just now details of the picture equally with the stock of coloured chalks laid in by Ul9 news vendors of Sandy Row, tho Petticoat Lane of the Orange quarter. The chalks are to enable the infancy of Belfast to scrr.vl war cries on pavements and shop shutters. But a picture made up solely of such alleged details becomes a gross caricature. After all Belfast is not yet a synonym for Bedlam. For some time past, continued the correspondent, there has been, especially in the rural parts of Protestant Ulster, a revival of a biltsr persecuting spirit. The many PrrsUyfrriaii?, clerical and lay, who have declined lo the anti-Home Rule declaration, or to take tickets for the Belfast Convention, havo been "marked down." It i.s common knowledge that most Prp'ibyteriiin farmers are totally opposed to tho "die hards" and the "Provisional Government" nonsense. They want to see the country settled, and they know that Hint cannot be until the self-government question has been solved. In these circntnstance.i the Unionist clubs lately revived throughout Ulster have become the centres of an elaborate spy system. "Suspected" persons find their comings and goings watched and reported upon. Petty acts of persecution crop up, and as a matter of self-defence and mutual protection the moderate men have had to establish a vigilance committee.