The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1914. A DISSOLUTION EXACTED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1999, 5 March 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1914. A DISSOLUTION EXACTED.

The Home Ru-ie Bill has. now reached one of the most critical stages of its sensational- career. Ifor some time past it has boen evident: that Mu. Asquith and his coilaa-gues ilVtist choose one of three. i:<wrsfis-"iiamely, a settlement by can-sent, a general election, or full speed ahead with thepractical certainty ©f civil war in Ireland. With -the approach of the time for the final- choicS a change has come over the tcmn of the Hadical Press, and tho bjfcest eabtegratns indicate that there is a gyowing foeling in Liberal and Labour circles that there must bo art. appeal to the country .in the near .futare. The idea seems to be that- the- Bill should be pushed as far as- possible.! and that if 'a settlement then proves impossible a dissolution should take plate, A great deal.will, of course, depend upon the nature- of. the concessions which Mu. Asquith has promised to announce when moving tho se-cwid reading of tho Bill on Monday next. In', view of recent statements, it is doubtful whether he will gq so far as to agree to the exclusion of Ulster, and anything less than that will certainly not satisfy the t/nianists,. Ho may, consent to additional safeguards, and even propose some modified form of Homo H-jde within Some Itule,. or he may alter the Bill so a* to make it the pattern and the first instalment of the ni'O'po'sed system of federal government for the' United Kingdom. Eut whatever solution of the problem Me. Asquith may decide upon, such a far-reachi.n.g change, in the .Constitution ought not to be made until the people have had an opportunity of expressing a.t). opinion upon, it by means of a- general election. One of .th'? principal reasons for.the intense hostility. which has been aroused by the Home ftuja schomc is the feeling- that it is being forced through Pnrl-iamp-nt in spile of the opposition of a majority of the electors. ', ■ ■ "

nins demand for a .general election lias been greatly strengthened !>v tho results of the by-efeetiqns. especially those which harp/taken rears'during the last six-'monthsi The Insurance Act, AVelsh Disestabltshmont, and naval policy may have had something to do with'the Libera:! defeats, fait Homo Rule has ffi-obably been the. principal cause of the change of pvd> lie opinion which ii now forcing'the Radical Press to admit that V dissolution cannot be avoided muelr longer. •Earl Gijey stated the position clearly and reasonably when he declared in an interview at Duftertip ,ou Monday that great constitufcianal problems .cannot be settled by force. and against the vill of a majority of the electors,. Great questions of this character should, ho said, be .settled by genoral consent on lines acceptable to tho overwhelming niajority of reasonablo men on both sides. It J§" almost unthinkable that any responsible British statesman should deliberately prefer the risk af civil war rather than agree to a dissolution with tho object of crbtaining the verdict of the country, 3tfc is true that the Government contend that they secured a verdict in their favour at the previoua general election, hut on that occasion Home Rule was only otte of a number of important issues pla«| before the electors.., and it is impossible to say whether the decision was for. or against the Government's Irish policy. Moreover, even where the matter did come, before, the electors only the general question was discussed, and the people did not have an opportunity of canaiderbg the Government's actna-1 proposals £ov the solution' of the problem as set I out in the Bill now before Parliament.

An impressive illustration of tho gravity of the crisis is provided by the remarkable appeal, signed bv Lokd Roberts, Sir RraYAftn Kipliko Loud MiLXEn, Dicev, and ntliers, who urge 'fktit fellow country-

men to join in a solemn declaration ' that if the Home little Bill is passed without being submitted to an election, they will feci justified in trying to prevent it from being put into operation, and particularly in'en' deavourin.g to prevent the use of troops against ulster. That men of such ÜBifoubtcd loyalty and high standing should feel compelled to take such a grave step is in itself enough to make any Government realise the seriousness of the outlook. When Eaeii Obey was asked by the Duncdin interviewer if he thought the people of Ulster would really fight if Home Rule was forced upon th.em without an appeal to the country,, he replied, ,! I do not only believe it, but I am certain of it" He went- on to say that lie did not he* Move- that the people of England thoroughly appreciated the danger oi the situation, and he was ccovnacci} that as soon as they did so public opinion would insist oft a. dissolution before the Bill became law. The latest developments give strong gupport to this opinion,.and now that ■the final stage of the Bill is at hand the full first lty of the position is Lining realised, the result hein.g that the Liberal newspapers have to admit that a section of their own party see the necessity for an election. T/i a matter of, such fundamental importance 1 it would be desirable thateven a settlement by consent should lio j confirmed by the electors before being put into operation'; but if suuh 3.11 agreement cannot be arrived at it would be the height of folly for the Government to sweep right oft to almost inevitable disaster without seeking the guidance and support which a definite expression of public opinion at the polls might be relied upon to give. Before next week has passed the world will probably know exactly how far the Government is prepared te jro in the way of concessions, attd whether an aereenient between the ptrtics is possible. Until then it is not very useful to speculate as to what the future has in store for Irehud. -