NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1466, 14 June 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

The motion to the operation of the Home. RuTc Bill is'certain to i>e defeated. Hut all" the logic is on the side, of; those vriiourge that if Ireland..wishes to have a Parliament of its. own, .Ulster lias, an equal right to wish-for political separation from the" rest of Irelarid. If it is right to set the South of Ireland free from control by Westminster, it must bo' right. to. sat Ulster free from contr'til by Dublin. The principle of : i'the" Billy anil the basic arguments advanced on.behalf of the Bill, are valid for the defence of Ulster's, claim to remain outside the Bill. To exclude Ulster would relieve the Government ot' .a great deal of trouble, arid would not imperil any principle, for which either the Government; or the. Nationalists have been' .fighting.. But the Government knows.that the Nationalists insist on placing ..-Ulster under a Dublin Parliament; .for the very simple reas : on;.' ; t)i'at: Ulster;, .'is'.; practically the only .prosperous part of Ireland, and -Home. Rule would be financially impossible wiihoi.it; it. ■ Ulster as a whole, and Belfast ..in particular, will bear., most of the cost to Ireland of Home lUtb; in fact, it is Ulster'.s money that, will be the. backbone of the. Irish Tr'easr' ury under Horaeyßisg,, Few. responsible people or Ireland even %pf.eten4ibt"tßirjlC' that Ulster will settle down happily under a Dublin Parliament: Unionists and Nationalists alike know that Ulster will ; ;iihtE At the best she will take up, in relation to tin: Dublin Parliament, just the; role that the Irish -Nationalists have played in relation to the. Parliament at Westminster. • As Mn. B.u.rori" put it, in the speech'cabled yesterday, if the Brillshi* 1 i h.'m;'en't. 'ha^cl;. failed to govern Irelarid,:. would the Irish Parliament be. any/more successful with Ulster'?:;. ■ The edyocates. of the claims of Ulster; arc quoting, and with unanswerable effect, a famous question asked, in %; Mi-iy days of his presidencyj; by ..Abraham Lincoln in one o!vJii'§> possessions of the soul of Bur, re: '•'On what rightful .principle may ; <iState, being not in ore than one fiftieth part, of the .nation in. soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionately larger subdivision of itself in the: most arbitrary way?" To. do' this, L-'ixcQt.s. said, would be tyranny. It is this side of the Home. Knle problem that will work most strOjigly against tlie Government.

An interesting fenhire of the arts nual dinner of lb:; Piip'ss. ■ftaliei-yy held ill London last Hionfh, was thrpresence of Siu j'linvAiu) Op.ky, w'lro delivered a st"riki spc^e! i>. vAfrjjrte vious dinners the enief speakers have included Jin. .Ascjrm!. Air. B:\lFouit, Mr. Bin iiEr.i., and .Mr. LloydGeohge. There was a lime when tin* l.iuke. of Wellington sneered at a diplomat for "nrvvsjianenn;,;.'' Perhaps he held the view as .Mu. Laurexsox appears io lioki of tlio wretched creature:- v.ho writ". for (he papers, although, no d(uil)!, !ie would, express his opnvso.n na.vdly ni. t:h". Laurexsox manner:. The HV.v'»u'/isIrr Gm.rlle, apropos of ih:' (iailery dinner, recalls the; natn.'S of Sonic of the eminent mvii. who cJit' not disdain to write lend it's articles' in their day. ('Axxixr. nut merely wrote, but was, :ihe, which was directed., b.y the'.: w'ft.v, against Hie. rowdy Radicals. .of tijie day; and Diseaeu is always, asic-

ei.-U.ctl . with the J{cM\csCriita:ldvc-■ Lo'itp JlEUioUitifli wrote for ilia tit' cniry (htztttcj i?«vW,»iSTOK, .'imi ( il,.ui.S'i')Ni; lor I lit; Munii'ii;/ t'lroniclcj for 111.; Standard and (In; Sa'ar<!n<j l.'rri' w; Mn. Asqi.Trti for the S/iirln'itr mid the .KcoiUifflki.; while jgoftß. .Hfiiir.iiv' for a trine edited i,!ie j'fill itiitf-iSir&ltC' ThiSf; ;sri; only rt; few of 1 hi; nininn.iiL 's.tvrtem.cii' who either boKitii ;i,k journalists or combined journalism wHJfi polities, Like the old. . Jf-dy win;, <>ii being confronled -villi the fad that an opinion noxious to ii(;.r had been expressed by St. 'I'-ivur,-, d'ecTa'tcd' t !)fit she thought- tiie less ot I'.mt, .M it. I.Ari!t;,VHON will probably revise hi.s opinion o| ill!. Gi.aiiSToxi: and Loitn Moiu.ky.

A STATKJtr.xr of tinieii iiiteroßli wns made at ii No-LieeiiM! detnoiisiriilioi! in Christ church on Tuesday nighl by the RiiV. It S. G:rax. Mr.. Giuy deel.a.i'ed that- the nie.nihcr . for Christt'liurch Xorth had "often horn : tauntcir' on live .attitude he took ■ui> ,rir to.n.nectjon. with t'Ro cau.ctisof tlis "Liisfiral" party n.t wliipii. Mk. ■ T. Mackenzie w.as closcn ;is tin.' new leader. "Jlk. Tsitt," .Mr. G:ray cou-■t-inived, ''hail 'satd he >vouTd.. fidi sitbehind a, .'irian is'ho Avas- in -touch 'jiiid implicated with the liquor. party. That: ni'a'n,.vvia§ not to-day t.he, leader of the Liberal party, and if Jlij. ■ Isitt never did anything else, lie wQit'ld he remembered so long .as they had memories." Wo do not know who was referred to as "that man"; hilt the only mail who is inost particularly "not to-,day the leader of ihn Liberal party" is Sin Joseph Ward. Probably, however, Mr.. Millar is meant. .But whatever Mn. Ts.itt's friend may liavh liicant, the. fact remains that the most, important Railways,, and Defence—are held, by Mr. Ar : thur, Mykks. Mr. Myp.rs is one of several men who were denounced in terms of extreme . roughness and ■■b'riitality- by Mr. Isitt on the floor of the House, but perhaps the. member for. Christehurch X"rth will cp.ii.j ti.ni.te the: docile and devoted servant Of the Ministry until it is turned out.

The report, of the. Court of Inouiry -.set up by the 'I)^fcn^cil i 3fe ,^al■■^7■, ment to investigate the allegations publicly mad.o by the Christchurch Pro!iihition_ f,eague that drinkingand .rowcl'yism had. occurred at. -the: Territorial camps at Biingiora and Teinpleton (-in. the Ciinteronry district), is reviewed in ;a- mnmorandum from Gkxkral Godlex to the, .Minister lor Defence (the. liox. A. M. JlvEits), which' we publish to-day. The result of the. iiuiuiry goes ■ to shoy,' that the . League, inspired 'no doubt by the best intentions," overstepped the bounds of fair phiv :by its: method of proceeding. ■ From the 'eradeiife .giyen :iv£. the/ inquiry it seems clear that the League had no cert Sin prospect of proving its'allegations—or even of calling evidence, —'.vhen' the letter of complaintwas written, and .dispatched, to the' General. ■ That being : sio,,, t.he publication of the letter in-the iucliciour, and. unfair., v T.he. lieagfe stated, that 'it did not ask tor' ail inquiry, but. it should have occnrred to. those well-meaning gentlemen that publi'e: concern for- the c'ondtict and welfare Of-the youths in caiiip woulc! have demanded or.e.