THE IRISH SPHINX

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 49, 22 November 1920, Page 7

THE IRISH SPHINX

VISCOUNT'gREY'S ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE .LEAVE IT TO IRELAND Viscount Grey has a plan for solving the Irish problem. He published it iu 'tho "Westminster Gazette" at the end of September, and ho holds that it i« tho only way. The 'difficulty, ho says, is tho difference between Ulster and tho rest of Ireland. It is inflamed and. not composed by British proposals, anil therefore Irishmen must 1m allowed to draw v )ap thtir own Scheme. There should be a definite announcement that for Great Britain and Ireland there can be only .one foreign, policy, one Army, one Navy, and no separation. At the end of two years, or sooner if Ireland b ready, the British Government should withdraw from Ireland, leaving the responsibility of Tilling that. country to Irishmen themselves. In no other way, Lord Grey thinks, can we bring homo to Irishmen that sense of responsibility tho lack of which js "tho deepest underlying cause of Irish disunion." ; ■' The following is the text of Viscount Grey's letter:— The Government of Ireland has never been such a Teproach niyl discredit to British statesmanship as it is to-day. It has been unable to punish or prevent the constant-mnrder of those who servo it; in parte of Ireland .its authority has apparently • censed, and has been supercede by Sinn Fein courts, from which alono can any redress bo obfain- . Ed for ordinary crime or wrong-doing; and some, if not. all. of tho once Unionist minority in Nationalist Ireland, hopeless of protection from the British Govornmoat, nro now' advocating Dominion Home Utile or looking to agreement with Sinn Fein. The' British Administration, in fact,- exhibits the helpless'noss of an oxtremelv feeble "Government, ivhilc incurring all,the odium of one that rules' by force. Ireland is more discontented than ever, and there is no prospect'of settlement or improvement. To this we havo come after centuries .of British rule, and it would be well for .everyone, whether he has - been Home :I!iilcr or Unionist, to look for the cause with a fresh mind. The permanent ■ underlying cause of a' failure so prolonged and persistent as that in Ireland is not to. be found in the shortcomings of individual Govenimonts, not even in those of the present Government. Faulty as all Governments may be, and as many British Governments in Ireland certainly havo been, the Irish question would have been solved before now hut for one tiling —the difference between Irishmen themselves, that is between Ulster or part of Ulster annd the rest of Ireland. And the lesson of past years is that'this difi'erenco is inflamed and not composed by British proposals'for tho government of Ireland. ■Tho present Homo Bule Bill now before Parliament is no exception. There is much to bo said in the abstract'for the'lines on which it was drawn; they could easily be expanded irr to-Dominion Homo Rule for a united Ireland. But apparently no one wants the Bill; no one nccopts.it as a solution; and Irishmen will refuse to put it in operation.. We must, therefore, look for some other policy for'relicf. Nothing that is in the niit'ufft 'of a bargain between the British Government and one part of; Ireland has any chance of success: if Sinn Fein accepts it Ulster will dennunci: it; if Ulster aocepts it, Sinn Fein will reject it. The only prospect for future peace and good government In Ireland is that tho Iriab should draw up their own scheme. This is the point .Lord Hush Cecil made (very clearly n few weeks ago. but ills proposal had, I think, a fatal defect. It stopped short of tho ono thing essential to make Irishmen agree upon their-Own problem. They will never do this except tinder pressure of a real sense of responsibility. This is what they havo never yet had; tor it ha? always been.understood that as long ■ as Irishr.wn differed Great Britain would go on governing or proposing plans for" the government of Ireland. As long as this .is so, an Irish Convention or Constituent Assembly will either differ' and break up m internal discord or propose something which tiiuj know we cannot ngvca to; probably it will do both these things, and the present intolerable state' of Ireland will continuo indefinitely. . ■ Tho only practical policy that ollero any prospect of success seems to mo to Have thrc? cardinal'points: • (1) A definite announcement that lor these two islands of Great Britain and Ireland there can be only one foreign polievV one-Army, and one Navy, and that we cannot 6tand a separation in.thesa matters any more than- the North, could stand the separation of tho South in tho United State. With this exception (2) Irishmen must be as free as the peoples of the great self-governing Dominions to settled for themselves how their country is to be governed. To give tlmo for them to como to an agreement with each other and draw up their own scheme (3) the British Government will continue to perform as best it can the function of government in Ireland foT & period not to exceed two years, but at the end of that period, or sooner if. IHand is ready, it will withdraw, arranging itself, if need be, fair terms for the°re*irinK Constabulary and others .who have served it; and tho responsibility lor Irish government will bo on Irishmen themselves. ~ . . , In no other wav can we 'bring homo to Irishmen that sense- of responsibility of which wi have for centuries deprived or reli*vd th<iui, and the lack of which is, I belifv*, the deepest underlying cause of Irish trouble", of Irish disunion, and of Hi» failure of ever/ attempt hitherto mad'i to find a solution of the Irish problem.