ULSTER IN ARMS
. ——-« A MOBJENTOUS QDESTION IS UIjSTEU WfiSJli tßv 'MaWOKM R055,1 ' No. 2. - Thofo aro tri:a fineries—and ijiej' aro irnfeed v<'ry momentous riuestioiis— that one. puts to one's ecli when, sotiiiitt ont to study tlie Irish problem o;i tho Is llister -rigllt*? -.Secpiid'; • tVil-l Vlsier fight? A it er ea ref ul rosea rcb iho answer tfi will generiilly bo ill the afhrtna'tivß,, indeed, one might provo tiio aflirniat'ivo answer out of the mouths of tho Nu tionalisU themselves. Mhilo I ' was- in Ulster a- Liberal delegation camo over to study the problem in Ireland, ami Jetiirngd eoteiireed liat'tjlster was . right, A Radical, who has prominently yn'teres.t;«l hiniself With- X/lbtral .poli.tir.ss "■ in Perth, camo over and returned con- ' '■verted to Ulster's cause. Olio could, in-; ■ stance rnan.y finiiilar cases. LpQknlg at tho prospenty of Ireland at the present., time, it is really difßciilt io find any very pressing hec.eSsity for fioiuo Ruib'. ;: -" - The.ro is certainly. no groat demand for it hi Ulster, and, in talking- to men and wranen on both sides., ono.finds that while tli.os.o who aro against it are most determined, those wlif favour it regard |li 6 matter with a certain amount of .inoifforenco.. The question invariably narrows* itself down, to -oj.io" o!f reHgioii 1 Whatever a\enuo you start to cxplo-e, you find at- tho enit of it tho barrier of creed. Tiiere is absolutely no g<!l ting ;aw.ay'fi;cinj that fact. And there is ,&lsothis fact, that whereas of recent years the bitterness, between tho Ca-thoiie,sand ■tho. Protestants in flio Nqrth. of IreiaJld was- beeoiiuiig a. thing of the past, it tl}6. jh.te r rTiosi'fcioii- of this Homo ..Ruto quostion, been greatly intensified, and tho friends of Hval crcods bf two or thr.eo,years -ago uro not -now on spe'akuig terms. Tho of pcace and aniitv has boon, put back fifty years I "Veu see that yffung fellow -wo just IJSjSiid," said a man with whom 1 Was drivi-ng back from r> night parade in tho ' couuti-y. "he's an awiully good' cliap, any ntnriy all iiis friends- .hero are Protectants ; iiiti he scarcely tlaro be seen speaking to them -now/' Sijgli a .coliditioii of affairs is. truly dcpimalili!, and, apparently, but for the Natini.ali.-.t agjtatcrs, there would be no necessity .for it. Whatever may to said to the contrary by the ail'itaiors, tho statistics of the north, ami indeed of ,tho north as compared with the south, prove to any impartial mind that Xjls-tef-should have some say in th.o quesfion of ■whether o:r ftot; she is to he governed by a-ii Irish Parlfeimen't niogtitig , in Dublin, or by a Parliament' of the United. Kusgdoiii meeting in - ■the heart of the Motherland. According to ;ho latest statistical in. .formation available, out of L551.69G inhabitants in the. province of tilster, oiily (590,810 are. Rom\m Catholics. Tho other's ' are composed of-- • Protesiant ICpiscoiialians 3(16.773 Prc.shytoriaiis ! .jofrio Metkidisis ; 4^ Other denominations ti'iiSi®-., Information refused !i total :„--S9'i),BSa As cmn'paj'pd with . the others, the . Roman Cittholics aro therofoi-G Jin .rtl.iiioi'ity of •2!!ti,o'Jo Th.ii tignres have 1 an .important bearing upon the,situation, so ; far as Ulster is cpiiceriiod; -eyeii though l'-t would not be fair to assume that t'bo whole of the • MIKTOO are iii - favour of lioino Rnle.' ■ liiit. coiiVT one 1 as- ' sort tliiit 'the 600,000 Ca'tiioiicS are fill iii favour oi it, Tiiere are r.-.auy Catholic Umo-inst.Sj even in the , south.. Any impartial survey of t'lio cannaer-e;[-al aspect, of the question must be oft. tirely m 'favour of the -exMusi&ii of tilster if a large majority of tho people, of Ulster wish -t<> lio excluded. Heme : Rule would simply mean that tilster . would have, to pay the' pipcir, '.and yet 1 wonW have practically i\o say iii t-a'Hing the tune. A lew figures will show how . Ireland has prospered under tho. Union. Between I.BSW and 1910 the deposits .in. the Post Office and Trustees. Savings Banks increased by nearly nine millions ■ sterling,' while the number' of tho de- ' pesitors increased from 200,000 to 700,•< 000. During the same period tho -de!- : )'sosite in the joint stock, hanks iivsreasgd. . Jio less than. £'20,000,000. I found. ,- lielfast and the north generally a hIV& of industry. Belfast itself has five of the lar-ges.t industrial concerns of their • kind in the world.. Tii.e shipping indu> ■ ■ try and the linen industry may hp speci- . ally meniionefl, while, pven agriculture in the north is Oil. a.'liighej' plane than it is in tlie south. :. For Customs and. Inland. Revenue nt . 1911, Beltast- paid no loss ;a 'sum than . iM.illo.OOO, or more than double tlie eon- ; irUnition. of'-the rest cf lrolai'.cl. Indeed, this figure was only exceeded in tiro United Kingdom by Ixnidpii, Liverpool, and Bristol. The shipping to aiid from Ulster (foreign and colonial) wa's-m:oro tlifi : ft all the. rest of Ireland put All the. figures point to the extraordinary amount of industry and wealth fii Ulster. Belfast itself does 70- per cent, ef i all tho Irish export trade. Similarly ill regard to local government, the figures are so greatly in i'av- ■ our of Ulster as. to wake every Utster- •' man, whether he ho Protestant or Cath- . olio, think twice about ecmiin.g under . lioino Rule, because in tho seutb—and ■ it is, thfi south that would .govern—tho ■' local taxation and the pauperism aro out ~ of all proportion io what they aro . in Ulster'. The lo:al taxation i lit Belfast, is 7 s. .id. in the . jC s in Dublin it is 10s- 3d., , rt.iicl hi Cork 10f, ti(i ; ! lit Ulsier the ■pa-tipers are only on<» in 103; iii the rest i ; of Ireland the paupers-are 1 in .33 • , One i.iiigl'it, goon, multiplying ii.r-t,inres . in connection with Ic.'al gmcinnieiit, conHii'e.V'ee, a iiil liuanee to sli'ow thait • Homo Rule would be of jio benefit, hut ■ the reverse., to Ulster. It is co.ncoh.ahie, - tl'.erefore, that on -these ground's ..she , ma.v be jiisiifiMi in a-sking to remirin 1 uiuler the tliiion. , „ » : But, t!\cre is -anotliet a>id a still liioro ! important aspect:, of tin} queslion to he ' considc rod, and it i.s » question that coni corns the Outer Knrpire as well as Great • Britain and Ireland. It iis tiio'question . of the loyalty of the Irish Nationalists. We in the colonics are aeeiibiomcd to i consider them lo ( val; but when one comes • -to lof'k iwS) tlivs question there is an- - j ahmiving amount iif evidence, which, -to say the least ot it, ts' of a vei-.v dist|iiiet- > | ing ffit-titfs, It- is. -ii;ls& vitgtfd hji' t'lie :aji* • j vficaic.s of H/uoe. Rule that Ir<-h'.nd Wo-vi'lcJ < I still hi; coutcnt with a modicum of self-, • government and would, remain lo> ,»1 tQ • j the Union; bu| here again tiiere i-s evi- • i denee t.<j the <?mtrary, a-ftd that before ] long the firy will lie fio't Vlicme Rule for [ Irehtid," but "Ireland a Nstieu." Tho j attitude of the loyalists has been well put by Carson in his lnessago to the i Overseas tioiiiimous, which 1 gave in. mj r j last article. Oil tiw other liiir.d, Mr, ' | John Redt-ier.d himself has said: "Iro- " land i'oi- the Irish is our motto., and the I j coiisumiiiation. &£ our hopes and 4Sipira- ' f tioivs is, in one. word,, to .drive English " rule sooner 6r later bag and bncgage. ' i trotn flur cc«ntry. : ' Wliat Mr. l?edl ' Miisid has «aid in so many words otber j Nationalist M.P.'s'.kave sni'd. jiv. cjiUally ,i if not riioro iorc'ihlc- laflgtia-ge, 'Sho'til'd ' not the Ulster loyalists, therefore, be :il- " l,;ivvc;l an Olipo.rtuu.ity Of sayinu; Wj'otbor ; they prefer an Irish or a British BarliirllHillt/ Oil.-the Continent one found that hofli our fiiinrds and our enemies were loe';- . lug wil b -a cc.rtain .mwuiit. of amazement lj upon the [K'sition that had been cieate'd, " j Bismarck !«ni: ii-g-o said, (hat Kmilhnd, ! by grnn'tiisg Home Rule, would dig its j. ■ owii grave; aud Admiral Mabair - an aur tborily wl'.ose opin'ou is rcspoclod eveni.: hi Ireiiind- has. recei'tlv -.Miftcn tliaf "it; J is inioossibk for a military man io look
at tho map anc. not perceive ihnt tho ambition of tlm Irish separatists, if realised, would bo eveu more threatening to tho national life of Great Britain than tho secession of tlio South was to tho American Onion." In tho brief space at one's disposal, it is not a aimplo matter to state onetenth of the case for Ulster; but suflicent has boen said to show that there is anothor Sido to the argument, different from tjio ono wo have boon accustomed to hear from tho Homo llulo delegates who occasionally honour v us with a visit —tlioso charming Irishmen who, with their fresh and pleasant-play of humour -and all their fiery celtic oratory,, can command at will our laughter and our tears, and eveu spirit and occasional coin out of tho pocket of tho unbeliever. For myself, I confess that, coming from distant Now Zealand where wo aro all Liberals, I weat over to Ulstor favourably disposed to Homo Rule. 1 camo back convinced that in asking to remain under tho British -Parliament Ulster .cannot be far wrong. The horrors of a civil war in Ireland aro too awful to contemplate and, after being for only a brief spaco of time in the country, one can easily pardon;tho reluctance of Mr. Asquith to send a section of tho British Army, or oven of the Navy, to attempt to quell the spirit of the north. _ Ono can understand, equally, tho distasto of tho Army to engage in such a frat ricidal conflict. In Belfast I happened to meet a distant connection of my own, a young man, highly respocted alike by Protestant and Catholic, who has taken ah antivo part in the Ulster campaign. I asked him casually ono day if ne knew-a friend of mine, one of the officers at tho Curragh, who had caused so much trouble recently by resigning when they .were told they would have to-go north against tho men of Ulster. Ho told mo that ho not only knew him, but that ho was his greatest friend since boyhood's happy days. Yet by the whim of those who had expressed a wish to see "if tho red blood would really flow." this officer was to be sent north; maybe to put a bullet into tho heart of his dearest friend! Small wonder that ho should resign his commission, even though it meant tho end of his professional career' and tho loss of the pension to which in a few years ho would be entitled. It is such incidents as theso that make one pause and think of the dread possibilities of foisting Homo llulo upon an unwilling Ulster. But, as I wrote tha other day in the London ''Spectator"—in. a'letter that •has received wido attention and that has been lengthily quoted with a good deal of approval, even in journals that favour Home Rule—the question is no longer ono of domestic politics: it has bccome largely an Imperial one, and the farthest hamlet in tho outer Empire is intimately concerned in tho final issue. ■ ' Wo have scon what tho result of pushing matters to the extreme will be In regard to the Army, arid in-re-cent cablegrams wo have' been told of tho Navy signalling a "Thank you" to tho salute of the Ulster volunteers, while the sailors oii tho fleet now patrolling the Ulstei 1 coast answered the cheers of "Tlio Rebel Array" with other cheers. During my recent perigrinations abroad I niet many officers who told me they would not only resign their commissions, but they would go over and fight for Ulstor, and it is a fact that there are several ex-soldiers now drilling the Ulster volunteers whose placos would proihptly bo filled by younger men from tho Army the moment active hostilities broke out. And what tho officers do the men would, do, for the British.Tommy has ever.prided Tiimself upon following his officers. It n ono of the reasons i'or tho success of an Army .that, in somo respects, is;not yet all.jfe-,should he, if, yqne,may. judge from tho.:exten£. of /the,.armaments,; on tlio Continent. Ono knew ,all along— even beforo the recent troubles came to a head—that in trying-to coerco Ulster • the War Minister. would be up against ■the biggest proposition in his whole experience. lie, himself, did not seem to realise it, and lie has gono to the wall with a shattered reputation. And now what of the still graver issue, namely, disruption in the Navy? That exchange of cheers tho other day- along the coast of Ulster was perhaps an omen. Can it be possible that if tho big guns do spfcak they will speak .with tho heavens, and not with tlio tilled earth of Ulster? 'A gunner can sometimes miss the mark. I remember .once, at' Samoa, when we were shelling tho rebels along the coast, a pious captain of a cruiser giving orders that tho Vehurclies must be respected. But our gunners found that the enemy were sniping from tho churches, and the shells from the warship scorned to have a fatal facility for landing right in tho church grounds! And once, during my recent wanderings in England, I. met, also, an admiral, and said to him that it was his department that would settle things when "the trouble really began. "What do you mean?" ho asked. "0h,",1 said, "you could blockade tho place and prevent the landintr of arms, and oven of supplies." "I'm not eo sure of that," ho answered. "There are many landingplaces on tho Irish coast, and, besides, you know, there's precedent for putting a blind eye to the telescope I" Here, also, was food for reflection—enough, at all events, to make sane men think and set a safer course beforo th» black storm breaks along tho coast of Ulster. V -
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Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2144, 9 May 1914, Page 6
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2,289ULSTER IN ARMS Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2144, 9 May 1914, Page 6
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