The Dominion. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1914 ULSTER AND HOME RULE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1953, 9 January 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1914 ULSTER AND HOME RULE.

_ The. negotiations between the British Prime Minister (Me. Asquith) and the- Leader of the Opposition ,(Mit. Bonar Law) with a view to arriving at an agreement on the Home Rule question seem to have failed. The latest information on tlie subject is not, however,, quite definite, for while the Westminster Gazette states that "the negotiations continue without untoward incident," the Morning' Post announces definitely that they have proved abortive, Mr. Asquith being "unable to accede even a limited exclusion of Ulster." In view of tho fact that tbe latter journal not only declares that the Conference has failed, but also gives the cause oi its failure, it is more reasonable to accept its reading of the situation than the mere general assurance of the Westminster Gazette that everything is going on smoothly.* If the attempt to prepare the way for a settlement hy consent has really broken down, the outlook for the future of Ireland will be gloomy indeed, though.it must not be hastily assumed that all' possibility of a friendly agreement is now at an end. The feeling among men of all schools of political thought in the United Kingdom in favour of some solution of tho problem which will avert the danger of civil war is so strong that it is hardly likely that Mn. Redmond's policy of "full speed ahead" with the measure now before Parliament will be accepted as the only course open to the Government, for the majority of the British electors now recognise that the people of Ulster are in deadly earnest, and that they would probably offer armed resistance if tho present Home Rule scheme were forced upon them. If a settlement by consent is to be brought about both parties must be prepared to make some concessions, and though the problem is an extremely difficult one, a solution ought not, as Mn.. Asquith has himself stated, "to be beyond the resources of statesmanship." The crux of the question is the position of Ulster, and this has completely overshadowed all other aspects of the controversy in the popular imagination. It lias been suggested that Ulster should, at least for a time, bo excluded from the jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament, but this would sharply conflict with the Nationalist ideal of "Ireland a Nation." Mn. Redmond will not hear of Home Rule with Ulster left out, and now we are told that the negotiations between Mr. Asquith and Mr. Bon-mi Law have failed because Mr. Asquith is unable to accept this sug- ■■ ecstion. In his Ladybank speech J.

fc 4M:? *■}■ m "ilA > n istc'r?Jaic.Ui y 0 /^^? f:;: -tpc;ieflndition3:Coffeiu^tiatioiv " :^';il s ,creet t ;ja''- \ in'%thc:--way;.pfs/Ir.islu'uriitvH'* r GovernrneutvS;¥rpposals?wKich|wouki'' ■ : secuve;/somefforra ; :'bf ' ' n)ent^fort:UJsbn^Thi^s':theJ:;l;vicw ; ', • .taken :bysMjO?iF:f SSOliVEiftirflhis uookidiV^lTbxcAltornativcs^'to'Civil: - War^fpublished'by'JonN'MuKßAVv • : London), which deals'with'the present position Homellule qucs-' ticm in-a very clear 1 and instructive • ! manner. Mr. ULiv.Bß'states that ."tho 1 quahfyjug phrascis meaningless ■ if f the_ Government have determined to i i insist that fromths- beginning Ul-: { ster must be iri- . tonrion ■ surely: is that':, in a' any ■' arrangement which can,he accepted by the Government there must be a provision enabling .Ulster to throw in her lot with the "rest-of Ireland at a later date should she. think, it desir- | able to do so," Some such arrange- ; menfc was suggested by. Mr. . Churchill la his speech at Dundee when he declared that "the claim of NorthEast Ulster for special consideration ■ was a very different claim to tiro defeat of Home Eulc-and could not be brushed aside without the Govern- ' m-cni's full consideration.'.'.He went j ou to say that there was no advance ] which the Uistermen could make I which could not be met and match- '■ ed, and more than matched, by their Iruh fellow-countrymen ■ and-;, the ' Liberal Party. , If the negotiations between' Mr. Asquith and Mr. Bonar Law have actually_ broken down, it will bo a j great disappointment to thousands o* people in all parts of the Empire who have been hoping that LoRB Lobebuen's appeal for a settlement by consent' would remove the overhanging menace of civil war. It ■ seems as if the Government is unabla_ to resist the pressure of the Nationalists. Mr. Redmond has ■ stated that Mr, . Churchill's idea is impracticable and unworkable, and latest developments indicate that r t Mr. Asquith is inclined to endorse , this opinion. If thon the Prime Minr ister will not consider the exclusion of Ulster hi any shape or form it, would be_ interesting to know what ■ his contribution is going to be- to that "interchange of views and sug- j . gestions—free, Frank, and without prcjudice"~which he recently invited, and ip which, ho said, ho and his colleagues would be ready to participate. Should p\\ efforts to arrive at an agrcemeat fail, a catastrophe seems to be inevitable. Many ' people are convinced that if the Gov- *• erament goes straight on ■ with its' >. present scheme in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Act - it will not be brought into operation 4 "without any recourse, or need for : recourse, to the armed forces of the [ Crown,' to quote Mr. . Asquith's j words, Ho went on to say: "If a statute deliberately enacted by Par- ; liament were to be met by force, and organised and armed resistance,' it would clearly be not only the right but the duty of the Executive to assert the authority of tho law by every appropriate and adequate measure." Such grave words'suggest a situation s which cannot be contemplated with* J out dismay, and it would be deplor--0 able if British statesmen were com- • polled to confess tfaciv inability to discover a solution of tho difficulty '■ and thus avert a national disaster." i