DRIFTING TOWARDS CIVIL WAR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1960, 17 January 1914, Page 5

DRIFTING TOWARDS CIVIL WAR.

: |||3TE|iDETERMINATIONi| : Earning- by the; unionist ; ;By|T«lcsraßli-Pre3a : ABEocktion-&?pyrißUi : January 17f 0.35 p.ni.) &?!{ ■ x.?:'t<s:yiirif.:?;'s r -: tonflon, January 16,-f : PMr. BonarLaw, LeaU-er of. the Unionist party,' , speaking at Bristol, saul tlio position in Ulster was far mon? swiuiw than ■ tho Government ■or tho cosiatrv realised. ■■ It was drifting , ..'n«vitably towards civil war, whicii wmild ehaftor tho whole fabric of lmfonal oxisteiico. There had been couvom.ions between tho party leaders, Imt iliey hud teen resultloss. . ■■. . ■ . ' ■'-. .:■' ' ■ Tho Government, he Baid, desifed a peaceful solution of tho difficulty, but •tho position under which it held office mado it impossible for it to take the oiily step that would afford a peaceful solution. It tho Government wont on with tho isßiio it'could not be decided without bloodshed.- The- Unionist party, ailded Mr. Bonar Law, was pledged to support Ulster, and, with .tho help of tiie Almighty, intended .to . keep that pledge. '■ !',.■■ ■ ■ ■;'■:■■ ■ ■ ■ ' "If," he said, "the Government can make a proposal t-o da away with tho prospect of civil war, the Opposition will bo ready to consider it with a. rcai desire to accept it, if that could lse possible without any sacrifico of national interest or honour." Ho thought, from tiro speeches of Mr. Clmrcbill, Sir Edward Grey, ami Jlr. Asquilh at Ladybank, that tho GoventmoHt was prepared to face tho facts,.but at the first whisper of a conference tho Nationalist leader demanded Isis pound of flesh. When party discipline is so rigid, and passions are so strong that party interests are preferred to national interests, the daimcr to tlie State is grave indeed. That position has now been reached. Tho Government knows that if it ■ appealed io the people to-day and the verdict wont against . them, the. : work for which they had/ sacrificed everything—including the dignity and traditions' of the House of Commons— would al! be in vain. That is a. humiliation to which no party lea<lor should submit. Tlio obligation \vliicli_ the Government incurred to the Nationalists js not precisely a debt of honour, but it weighs heavily with the fiovern* ■ mpnt. They can be true to their allies j '. only by being false, to thfi country. ' "The Unionists maintain," continued Mr. Honar Law, "thnt Parliament has , tho right to govern Ulster, but not to sell it into slavery. If the Gowrinnont ceased to act as . th<> constitutional Government of a fvoo ocoplo, they would be tyrants who had lost sicht of that obedience npon which all Governißpnts exist. British troops aro to be used to shoot British loyalists, in order to pay a debt to men who rejoiced over our national misfortunes, insulted our fiovoroigii, and vilified the Army. Such an order ought niit to bo riiven by the Government, but by flic declared will of tho whole British people. If the Government fears a gnnernl election, tlion let them secure a. o!*>ar issue by r>. referendum.. TV Unionist Party wonld bow to the' decision of that referendum." . . - . . . ' WAR CERTAIN, IF—7 " ' ; :,' SPEECH BY LORD HALDAN'E. ; / : ; ;;: - ; , (Roc. January 17, 0.35 a.m.)"-. | ,;. ■■■ ;■■ London, January Ifi. i Lord 'Haldnne, Lord Chancellor,' speaking at Hoxton, deprecated tho fnsliioii'of discussing the Ulster'negotiations on public platforms, "I decline to , despair," ho said, ','of a rational people '. reaching something approaching! a common denominator on tliis question* Mr. IJonar Law, iu his 6pe«h at Bristol, ; proved to bo not rcry encouraging. A good deal of time still rcivains for tho : people to" talk of civil war in 'Ulster, but | uiey should think of a civil war extending over the wliolo of Ireland. War will bo certain if the cup for which Ireland has waited 2G years should now be ■ snatched from her lips."