The Dominion. MONDAY MARCH 23, 1914. A CRITICAL SITUATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2014, 23 March 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY MARCH 23, 1914. A CRITICAL SITUATION.

A.v intelligent and impartial reader of tJic debate mi the Harae Rub Bill, which is now proceeding in the British House of OommoflSj s must be strongly disposed to agree : with Sift Ebwaiid Caisson's description of Mb. Asquith's latest mood as . "trilling with'tiro subject" The general impression left by the cabled summary of the discussion certainly supports the assertion of the London Times that the Prime Minister's reply to the questions and criticism of the Opposition was "inadequate to the point of childishness." He made no attempt to grapple with the new phase of the eantroTersy in the spirit -of high statesmanship, and after ail his promises of concession and conciliation his attitude "throughout the debate, eanttot fail to create a feeling of intense disappointment among that great mass of ■ reasonable men and women throughout the Empire who are sincerely anxious for a- just and peaceful sottlemaat of the cliflieuis; problems eon- : nested with the government of he-'. land. By his recent promise of im-' portaM concessions Mr. Asquitjiraised hopes which have now- been dashed to the ground, aftd the lost! state of this prolonged fight is worse than the first A' clear straight course, even if it had been an mi-: Compromising one, would probably. have been less exasperating than the vacillating and devious policy which ■ he .now seems to be pursuing. As far as. Home Hula is concerned fee appears to be quite unable to continue in ode mind for, any length of time, but swings rapidly from a spirit of "sweet reasonableness" which gives promise of a friendly agreement, ts a. bitter "imbcndiag mood which naturally provokes a corresponding-' attitude of hardness on the other side. Mr. Asqimth spoke with both voices in his famous Ladybank speech. On the one hand he declared that- the intention oi the Government is to pass the Bill into, law dor the Parliament Ac* as soon as passible, awl that in his opinion a conference oh the. subject would serve no useful .purp-o.se, On the ether hand he referred to the advantages of a settlement by consent, and stated that, subject ta certain simple governing conditions, there was no scheme which lie was not prepared to <ronsidcr. with a perfectly open, mind. The conditions were that nothing must interfere with the establishment in Dublin or an, Irish Parliament And an Irish Executive responsible to it, and that fto permanent or insuperable bat' must be erected in the- way of Irish unity. . Since the Lady/bank speech the Prime Minister's mood has changed more than oncft, and until the present session of Parliament opened all efforts tq extract from him anything like a. definite statement as to what the Government Was prepared to do to bring about a friendly agreement ended in /fiiilur& In tie King's Speech the hope was expressed that the eo-opetaxicn of all classes and weeds would secure a lasting settlement and during the debate on the Addfess-in-ieply Mfi, Asquitk' promised that directly (ho financial business was completed the CJovcrn'ment would put forward its'siiggesU&ns % the solution *>f the problem. These suggestions made their appearance in due course. Tkv ineluded the pf-op.asftl that tflstor. should be given an. opportunity of ■ declaring by means vi a poll of the • electors whether it desired to lie excluded from the jurisdiction, of the ■ Irish Parliament, If the result was in favour of this, c&iiyse the period of exclusion was to he six years, and the electors of the United Kingdom : would then be asked to decide wire- . ther exclusion should continue. These proposals were aeeepted by Mb. Bed, : MOKp as "the very limit v of conces- : sion."- lb was not to he expected 'that they would give satisfaction to all parties, but the outloolc. was improved when Sir Bdwakb Carson .admitted that the Government had : made same progress by. acknowledging the principle of exclusion., though he did' not think that Ulster should be placed under "sentence of ' death with a stay of execution for ' six years." Be thought that Ulster should be governed by. the imperial I Parliament, until Parliament having regard .to the fcelins? ■of Ulster, should itself order otherwise. He was of opinion, Irawevet, that these details could be -worked out by negotiation* Ifo 'one,, oi beiieves that the .prineiple of ■exclusion -,affords an ideal solution of the difficulty.; but it seems to be generally regarded fts the best method of settlement, possible in the CH' : cumsta.nee.s. Some .rJationalists contend that the four excluded eoan* ties should, ho automatically joined with the jest of Ireland at"the. end of the, six-year period; but th)esLon> don Tablet, _ the' well-known Boman Catholic journal, very sensihly : points, out that a casteed Ulster* would become ah Ivis'h Alsace-Lor-raine, and, asit would be impossible to control events, at the end of the i sis years, the Nationalists should make, a virtue of necessity. The state ' of feeling in political eirel.es and ift the country pit this stage was very ■ uncertain, and responsible people on both sides were extremely guarded in their utterances', being, naturally disinclined to commit themselves until the itiythe* .details as to the Government's concessions were made availa-jjk.

. fhe iafesfc debase in the Iloitse of ■Commons has certainly not improved, the. position, and a' very critical siiftatwii has developed, The present state of affairs has probaMy no parallel in modem British history, Tie. iHOjd of piste* have been openly drilling tot months with the object; of resisting an attempt to sever their coiince'ticm with the Imperial Par-li.anie-nt, wd the House of' Oofjvns-oflS is seriously discussing the possibility of. civil war. Mb. Astjl'tTH Js now talking about submitting -the Home Itilo- question to a. referendum, a suggestion which he would Rot hoar of some timfl ago, and probably he will eventually adopt this course, .though he- seems to have raised the question on the present, occasion Partly tat the purpose of extracting admissions from the Opposition which may be, used against them on some subsequent occasion. Sis speech, did not. show any real detorroina.. tiou to And fl solution which, would be aa'epl.able to both sides, and he concluded with Urn tfeonnigiiig as-. sertion that tfie Government is quite. content with the Bill as it stands. Sift EnwAHB Cabsosi's dramatic exit from the Chamber, which took place at the conclusion of the Prime Minister's speech, has caiisiyd intense esei.i&ment, and the whole country is waiting for the next wove in a state of acute suspense. Tte &qttliaak' has

[ become so grave that the Army Council Ims been considering the position, f roops are being sent from ! oilier parte of Ireland tb reiaforce the Ulster .garrisons, and it is stated that an attempt is about to bo made to disarm the Ulster volunteers. In view of the recent appeal: by men of such eminence as L-qhb R-ODEHTS, PboVBSSOK Oi'CEY, U-fld JjOKP MifcXEß, urging their countrymen to: endeavour to prevent the use of troops against Ulster,' it is not surprising that the jjhili.taty preparations now going on hav« caused great uneasiness in the Army. Many of' fleers arc unwilling to do the work which they arc being called upon to perform, .and a largo number have sent in their resignations. It is further stated that the War Office has found it necessary to issue an ultimatum that officers not prepared to serve against Ulster must resign #r be dismissed. There is. evidently flo enthusiasm among the troops for duty of this Kind, and on the other side, there are no fewer than IIiO.OOO armed and drilled covenanters, won in the- prime of life, who arc inspired with the conviction that th<?y are contending for great principles of eiv-il and religious liberty. Jjv«.n. those people who contend th#t the men ol tils-tar are entirely in the wrong iiro now, convinced that they are at any _ rate in deadly earnest, and responsible politicians no Isnger pretend that the mo'veme-nt-. j.s siinply a hiigfl $atnc_o;f bluff, The wjiefc Empire is wait-ini? with wofide-r and anxiety for the next, ate}), and is hoping, thomgh almost against hope, that an acceptable way out of the trouble will yet be foiussjL British people the world over still rft'fuse to believe -"'that the country i.& reduced to such insolvency o| statesmanship that it .cannot with honest mind .and goodwill avoid the evils ami dangers ahead." These are Mir.' Mwwh's awn words, wicf it is not toe much to expect that he will, before it is too late, show,that he is able to fjso to the level of the best traditions of British sfetesm-anship in order to save his country from the disaster ■of a civil war,