HOME RULE ACT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 94, 14 January 1921, Page 5

HOME RULE ACT

ATTITUDE OF IRELAND SURVEYED

MODERATES’ IMPORTANT SUGGESTION

By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright, lliec. January 13, 11.35 a.m.) London, January 13. The "Times” Dublin correspondent, in

a survey of the attitude of Ireland towards the Home Bule Act, states that only an eleventh-hour amending Bill will make it acceptable to all sections of the Irish people. Otherwise, in the opinion of both the moderate and the extreme Sinn Feiners, it will be impossible to arrest the drift towards anarchy and despair. Hardly anyone shares Sir Hamar Greenwood’s optimism. Nobody but n few moderate Unionists are willing to give the Act. a trial. The current talk of peace and disarmament merely obscures the. real issue. Moderate Sinn Feiners who are willing to come to reasonable and honourable terms have made common cause with the extremists, as they do not we in the Act any prospect of success. They state that they are tired of arms-length sparring between tho Prime Minister and semi-official and unofficial representatives of Sinn Fein, and now make the important suggestion that the Prime Minister should issue a definite statement of the fiscal and other concessions he is prepared to make. These could then be submitted to a plebiscite of the Irish people. If accepted and incorporated Into the Act the measure would then have every prospect of success. The correspondent has learned on good authority that the Irish Labour Party, which now wields an extremely powerful influence, welcomes the idea. It is also believed, that the political leaders are not opposed to it. There is no doubt that without amendment the Act will have little prospect of success. —"The Times.”

SINN FEIN OUTRAGES TRAIN DERAILED AND FIRED INTO. (Rec. January 13, 9.5 p.m.) London, January 12. Sinn Feiners derailed a train in a wild stretch of country in West Donegal by placing large boulders on the line. When the train left the rails a hundred Sinn Feiners lying in ambush fired into it. Woodwork was riddled and'the windows broken. Fifty troops replied vigorously. The. Sinn Feiners fled. It is believed that several were wounded. There were no casualties to the troops. Three bombs were flung at a police lorry passing Bachelors’ Walk, one of Dublin’s leading thoroughfares, and two exploded. The police immediately opened fire with rifles and revolvers. Apparently Sinn Feiners from a side street replied. There was a wild stampede of people in the streets nearby. Several women fainted. One Sinn Feiner was seen to fall, but his comrades carried him away. There were no police casualties. — Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. SINN FEIN M.P SENTENCED (Rec. January 13, 7.50 p.m.) London, January 12. J. J. Walsh, the Sinn Fein member of th.e House of Commons, who escaped from Mountjoy Prison eighteen months ago, has been sentenced to five years’ servitude. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. esmondeYexclusion REFUSES TO SUBMIT TO "INDIGNITY.” Sydney, January 13. The Federal authorities state that Esmonds will be allowed to leave the Makura if he takes the oath of allegiance. Esmonds refuses to submit to what he terms “such an indignity.” In a statement to the Press he states that he is a natural-born British subject travelling with properly vised and authenticated British passports. He holds a passport from Lord Curzon. His brother made the supreme sacrifice at Jutland. He was himself rejected as medically unfit. He prefers not to land in a country which places such humiliating conditions on him. —Press Assn. O’CALLAGHAN’S STATUS

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENTS DISAGREE. (Rec. January 14, 0.30 a.m.) Washington, January 12.

It is understood that President Wilson will finally decide whether Daniel O’Callaghan, Mayor of Cork, will remain in the United States. It is indicated that the State and Labour Departments have disagreed as to O’Callaghan’s status. Mr. Davis (Under-Secretary of State) ordered his deportation. The Labour Department held that O’Callaghan’s claim that he was a political refugee was valid. Mr. Davis pointed out that O’Callaghan could not be a political refugee since De Valera had voluntarily returned to the country from which O’Callaghan came. O’Callaghan will testify in his own defence on January 13.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.