THE IRISH CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 296, 3 September 1918, Page 8

THE IRISH CRISIS

THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES AT STAKE [Contributed.] The. article in the June, number of the "Round Table" on the Irish rrisis, i'.nd the Navy League's leaflet on the strategic importance of- Ireland to the Ailies, arc worth careful study by thoso who wish to see a .system of self-gov-ernment established in Ireland consistem- with the. supremacy of the United Kingdom Parliament. After sketching tho history of the Irish problem, in the course of which the testimony-of Mr, John Redmond is cited as to the progress of the country, and the freedom in the local government, local taxation and university education, tho "Round Table" . describes the proceedings of the Convei> tion as set out in its report and analyses that report.

Broadly speaking, the report shows tl;nt during the deliberations of thn Convention opinior* crystallised into three groups: (a) A central/group composed of moderate Nationalists and Unionists from the South and West of It eland, which advocated a solution on V'hat might bo called federal lines, that io to say, Ireland was to occupy ' a position of a State ina United Kingdom federation of nations; (b) an Ulster group, which substantially stood out for the maintenance of the Union, or, if that were impossible, for the oxclusion of six Ulster counties from any Home Rule Act; (c) an extreme Nationalist group which demanded for Ireland the status of a Dominion.

According to the majority ieport, tho Irish Parliament was to have no power to make laws relating to Crown and'succession, making of peace and war. Army and Navy,_ treaties and fori eign relations, dignities and titles of honour, control of harbours, lighthouses, cables, wireless, etc., to meet the requirements of tho Army and Navy, coinage and copyright. 'There was to be a. Senate of 64, constituted partly ex-officio, partly by nomination, fo; , a-House of Commons of 160. ' In the House, of Commons the Unionists were to be guaranteed 40 per cent, of the membership, partly by the representation of minorities through niemters to be nominated by the Lord Lieutenant, partly by according additional membors to Ulster. The addition \1 nominees wero to disappear after fifteen years; tho additional representatives of Ulstor were to continue until they were abolished by tho vote of a three-fourths majority of both Houses sitting together. \Forty-two Irish representatives were to be elected lo the Ui.itetl Kingdom House of Commons by a process off indirect election hy the members of tho Irish House of Comn.ons. Customs and excise were to bo reserved to the United Kingdom iiiitil'the matter could be reconsidered ar«d decided within seven years after tho termination of tho war. All other branches of taxation were to bo left to tlie Irish Parliament. Tho principle of an,. Imperial contribution was' approved, though no scheme • or basis was proposed. The Convention adopted, apparently without discussion, the report of a pubcommittee to the effect that in riactice it would bo impossible to ,'mposo a system ol compulsory service in Ire--1:ii7.l without the assent and tion of tho Irish Parliament. To assert, however, thai, when an Irish l'jrlinmeiit is in existence' it will bo a matter of practical necessity for the In: ion Legislature *to submit such a law to tho Irish Parliament before it couM be enforced would, in fact—says ilii' N "Round Tablo"—be to givo tho Irish Legislature a veto power over United Kingdom legislation— an* arif'.ngement which is unknown in any federation, and quite unworkable in prnctice. _ It is obvious, it continues, that tho lino takeiii by tno majority is the only line, -which could load to a final settlement of tho Irish question. Tilt two minority reports eneli ■•epr".Kpnt the irrrconcilablc faction.

The article then describes the origin of tho present Conscription Home Rule controversy, how the Nationalists and Sinn Feiuers came together in a conference at Dublin and issued a joint declaration to the effect that the "passing of tho Conscription Bill by the British House of Commons must be reKarded as a 'declaration of war on the Irish nation," how the Roman Catholio bishops, headed by Cardinal Logue, published a,manifesto, calling on - the Irish people to resist conscription "by all the means that are consonant with the law of God," and also directed the clorgy to administer to their congregations on tho following Sunday a solemn pledge of resistance-"by the most effective means at our disposal." These tho article—mean that Nationalist Ireland as a whole has for the moment adopted the standpoint of tho Nationalist extremists in the Convention and declared for Dominion status. The declarations "deny the right of the British _ Government or any external authority to impose compulsory military service on Ireland against tho clearly .expressed will of tho Irish people." They do not refuse, military service under a United Kingdom law until Home Rule has * been conceded, which would be an intelligible position. They reject the authority of the United Ipngdom altogether to require compliance with its laws on this subject, taking their stand on "Ireland's .soparato and distinct nationhood." They describe an Act dealing with a subject which in all unions and federations in the world is in the fnll control of the central government as "a declaration of war on tho Irish nation," and they call upon Irishmen to resist the enforcement of the law by every moans in their power. This can only mean, if they have thought out their position, that the signatories are determined not only to resist conscription, but to reject any solution of the Irish problem on tho lines recommonded by the majority of the Convention, and to insist on the break up of the United Kingdom.

_ In tho second place these declarations mean that the real leadership has been .taken by the Irish Roman Catholic clergy. The bishops have not only expressed their opinion as private citizens, as they were entitled to do; the pledge of resistance has been issued under their authority, and they havo mebiliscd tho whole organisation of the Roman Catholic Church in order to administer that pledge under religious sanction to their co-religion-ists. This has very likely been done in order to restrain violence. It is none tho less significant, for it shows that one of tho most important, if not the most important, political power in Ireland is tho Roman Catholic Church. Religion has always figured in Irish politics.' The Presbyterian clergy took no small part in the movoment for an Ulster revolt. An assembly of tho Presbyterian Church has followed the lead of the bishops by passing a resolution m favour of conscription and ogainst Home Rule. None the leas, ibis action by religious bodios is hound to havo a tremendous effect both upon tho prospects of Homo Rule within Ireland itself and upon religious toleration everywhere. Religious toleration rests upon the principle that a man's religious beliefs aro his own concern, pud that tho State has no concern with them, but only with his conduct as a citizen. But if organised religious bodies intervene in politics it is inevitable that religions beliefs which i-ndueo this conduct should become matters of controversy, for they begin to nfl'ect in vital respects the life of tho community as a whole. If they stand where they stand today, the- Nationalist loaders will bo

drawn into a secessionist niovemont by the logic of their position as inexorably as were the- Southern States when they denied the right, of the American Union to prevent the extension of slavery to new territories in the West; like the Confederacy, they will bo forced to secession as the only method of escaping the obligations of a legitimate Union law. Like Lincoln, the British Government will be compelled to the use of l'orce as the only method of preserving the Union. The essence of the declarations is the affirmation of the right of- Ireland to a national existence separate from that of the Union of which it has hitherto formed a part. So long as they stand, if the issue is not joined over conscription, it will be joined over taxation or some other exercise by the Union Parliament of its Union powers. Howovei the fundamentals may be obscured, the Mansion House declarations are a call to Ireland to establish itself as a Dominion by resistance to United Kingdom law. 'The writer then gives the reasons why Dominion status ' cannot' be granted. "In the first'placo Dominion status would not.solve the problem in Ireland itself. The work of the Irish Convention makes that clear. Not only Ulster but tho moderate majority .declared against it. To adopt thesolution would simply mean the partition of Ireland or civil war between North and South, between Protestant and Roman Catholic. . . . In the second place it is noc a, step which any responsible Gov-. ornment oould take in the middle of a great war, jn view of the public utterances of Sinn Fein and of tho past and possibly present connection of some of its leaders with Germany. Dominion status would mean the surrender of all control by the United Kingdom Government, even in matters of defence, to

nil Irish Government. . . . Thirdly,! there is the question of man-power. To i leave the raising of man-power to an j Irish Parliament must menu inevitable j long delay, and in the present temper j of Ireland it is probable that no troops | could' be raised voluntarily or by compulsion by any Irish Administration lor the purpose of service abroad. If the man-power of Ireland is to be raised for this war, tho right obviously to use the laws and maeiiiiP cry of the United Kingdom for the_purpose, under ' authority of the United! Kingdom Act. or not at all. ! "Finally, there is a large aspect of the question. Wβ are to-day lighting two forces which'stand across tho path towards a true Commonwealth—ono is the tendency to autocraoy, the other tho tendency towards anarchy. In between is the narrow road of union and democracy. Yi'e have all begun to seo the dangers of autocracy. We are not so familiar with the subtle anarchism latent in the gospel of. self-determina-tion. If self-determination means that all, educated citizens ought to share in the, rights and responsibilities of the village, the country, the State, and the' Empire to which they belong, it is Bound doctrine. If it means that every community lias a: right to think .only of itself and to set up on its own regardless of its neighbours whenever it chaoses, it is the apotheosis of selfishness and the highway -of war. .The people of Great jßritain have long ago made up their minds that to continue tho maintenance of the full Union and to deny to Irishmen tho control of their own domestic affairs would bo to capj/ tulate to the autocratic impulse. But for Ireland to demand secession, or for Great Britain to give in to the Sinn Fein movement so far as to concede it, and permit the break-up of a Union' which has already lasted for more than 700 years, would be to be falso to the lessons that Lincoln taught, and to the principb which underlies the political life and development of the Englishspenkiiig communities throughout l.he world." '

NAVY LEACUE'S LEAFLET. GRAVE ISSUES. The Navy League in its leaflet states that in 19lG it sent a special coiiimissioiiev to Ireland, who prepared a confidential report on the vital . importance of Imperial control over the harbours and communications of Ireland, as vhe result of wbieh a public stateionnt wasi issued and representations made, first to Mr. Asqtiith and then to Mr. Lloyd Geqrge. In view of recent developments,. tile executive presents tho grave issues involved to the people of America, as well as to those of tlii! British Empire. After describing Ireland.as the Heligoland of tho Atlantic, and pointing out that the free States of the world are as much concerned in preventing Ireland from being Prussianised as Britain herself, the memorandum continues: — Communications with • Ireland are practically a matter of seconds. Instantaneous communica'tion between Cork and Berlin is as feasible as instantaneous communication between Dublin and Downing Street. In the rebellion of May, 1916, Sinn Fein communications with Germany were more effective than Irish Post Office communications with the British War Office,

Tho strategic unity of the British Isles is a world problem, not merely a Britiso interest. In this war the issue vitally affects all noutrals. The trade of Europe with Canada, the United States, the West Indies, all the republics of South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Russia in the Pacific, India, Ceylon, and Africa is dependent directly upon tho control of Irish seaports and the communications behind them. , Tho British are interested in keeping Irish ports out of German control, but not exclusively interested. Ireland has 18 harbours, fivo of them firsWlass. The best face the Atlantic Ocean, which floats the trade of tho world. Friendly naval control of Irish harbours by free nations is essential to the freedom of the world. The ocean of the air, the surface of the. sea and underwater attack or defence, will bo controlled from Irish western ports. Strategically invaluable, the Irish ports and communications cannot bo suffered to blackmail free nations. World traffic through tho Panama Canal impinges upon all the western ports of Europe. It would be cheaper and safer for Britain to surrender to Germany Portland, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Lowestoft, Invergordon, and Sc.ipa Flow rather than surrender the control of Irish western ports. A German Heligoland of the Atlantic would menace the Atlantic coast of tlra American Continent from Punta Arenas in Patagonia to Quebec. What Heligoland is to Hamburg, Brunsbuttel, and Sylt, Ireland in hostile hands is to the Mersey, the Clyde, the Severn, and the Seine, with the great industrial centres in- those river valleys. Therefore naval control of Ireland by a naval representative of the free nations of the world is essential tu the freedom of tho world. The rebellion, of May, 1916, was a trial trip of the rebellion contemplated by the Irish Sinn Feiners who have defiled and spat on the British and American flags in Cork, Waterford, Queonstown, and Dublin. The foreign policy of Sinn Fein- is to influence American opinion, because Ireland is truly the key of the Atlantic, a fortress thai guards the main trade routes of the world. Tho bargain struck by Casement with the German Foreign Ofliee to raise an Irish Brigade to light against Great Britain and her Allies, and tho promise of a German landing in Ireland, if sou communications made it possible, show this problem is one with which all the Allied Powers leagued against Germany aro concerned. No sonsible Briton desires to prevent the transaction on Irish soil of affairs that are exclusively Irish. But the British Empire, with its Allies and supporters in tho.'strugglo with Germany, must come first. Ireland must bo either

German or JSritish—using the word iritisli" as representative of the free nations of the world. After the lesson of the rebellion of May, 1916, neither Britain nor the United States of America can suffer Irish communications to fall into the hands" of an ally of Germany. The Sinn Fein movement "which demands "independence-" comprises an overwhelming majority of what' was up to Easter, 1916, Nationalist Ireland. Considering what would be" tho. effect of the achievement even temporarily of Irish "independence" upon the Eng-lish-speaking world, which, with France and Italy, is fighting for the freedom of mankind, "it is as important to America as to the British Empire that under no circumstances must the control of Irish coastal defence and Irish communications be subordinated to the domination of any form of government which, in tho wisdom of statesmen, it may be thought desirable to establish in Ireland."