Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 27th, 1920. IRELAND.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 May 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 27th, 1920. IRELAND.

Day by day Ireland looms large in,the caoie news. The settlement of the

a.ome jUule question as applied tto lre>und is tne greatest national question of the Empire. in Ireland there is a wide-spread outbreak of anarchy and lawlessness, and with order and safe government defied exceptional methods have to bo taken. Any form of government to bo effective must be stable and must command respect. To do so needs the force behind it to as;ort its power, if such be needed. In our ovPn country the conditions are such that the government runs smootliily. Law and order are respected and obeyed, and thero is no occasion for the use of force, or even the showing of it

yet ive know nil the time the power to enforce thp will of the people as expressed by the government of the country is there. Not so long ago when a .serious strike threatened the peace and prosperity of New Zealand, the Government accepted the assistance of an auxiliary body of farmers who were anxious to see their products shipped. This body exercised force in order to maintain the effective services of the Dominion, and law and order and peaceable progress were enthroned once again. So in Ireland to-day, matters are so far out of hand that neither life nor property are respected. There is an evil, ugiy faction abroad seeking to destroy the good government of ilie country by usurping its place with a form of republicanism. Such a movement is destined to complete defeat, and it were better now to bring the situation to an end as quickly as possible than allow matters to drift on in the deplorable state which marks the daily history of Ireland. The Home Rule question has been the disturbing factor in Irish political history for long years, and though the position at the moment is so desperate, we beiievo that Ireland is now rapidly ap-

proaching a solution of her political troubles. To begin with, Britain is pledged absolutely to Home Rule for Ireland. Hitherto there have been two factors in Ireland to satisfy. It has been possible at last to satisfy Ulster with the grant of a liberal measure of self-government to Ireland, and that is some advance. The bill lately propounded is capable of amendment, and there is the evident desire to amend it to satisfy the rest of Ireland in a reasonable way. ' A tolerable settlement should therefore he possible by a united national effort. If ail are genuinely determined to give Ireland a substantial measure of self-government the time is ripe for the action. All over the Empire there is the desire for a liberal and honest compromise 10 settle matters fairly. Having won Ulster to this frame of thinking, there remains the National party to satisfy. If they are so genuinely desirous of a settlement, now is their opportunity to reach the goal. There must of course he the spirit of compromise on their part. This does not suggest defeat but would rather open the way to more complete victory. If they act generously now, and later show along with their countrymen, a sincere desire to conduct the affairs of their country wisely and well, the high road to a fill- j ler degree degree of Home Rule will be , assured. They have hut to justify tieir | claims by complete action, and the Mother of Parliament will do the right thing by its latest ‘offspring.