The Guardian AND EVENIG STAR. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1923. IRELAND'S PLIGHT.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 March 1923, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENIG STAR. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1923. IRELAND'S PLIGHT.

Looking to all the circumstances it is impossible not to admire the faithful effort of the Irish Free State government to establish law a«d order, and to place Irish affairs in a settled state whereby the nation may rise to the eminence its resources and the industry of the people make possible. President Cosgrove, though not such a brilliant or as well-known a figure on the British horizon as Griffith and Collins were who preceded him, is none the less a s faithful to his oath, and bent upon the task of redeeming his fellow countrymen from the slough of anarchy in which the excesses of the rebels have consigned the nation. His plea, conveyed through the cable nows on Saturday, to Australasia for sympathy with the Irish people who in the face of revolting deeds have stood firm and have declared that their will must prevail, will find a responsive echo. The rebels or irregulars ere seeking to intimidate the nation by "the rule of the torch.” Yet these same folk talk of “national” rights! Their actions are a negation of all thnt is truly national. and the bent seems to he towards that state of “internationalism" which is associated with communism. No country, and least of all the British Empire, can afford to drift- into such a sea of turmoil as these rebels would seek to direct the affairs of Ireland. Although we are so far remote from Ireland, it is possible by means of the cable news sent through, and the opinion.- of visitors who return from Britain to glean something of an insight into the affairs of Ireland. What the Free State government is doing, and it appears is slowly succeeding it>; is the establishment />! law and ordfr whereby peace and goodwill will bo secured, and prosperity quickly follow in train. Tljo new government token very iniportont steps lately

in entirely remodelling the administration of justice through the lower courts of law. The most competently trained legal minds are being appointed magistrates. and the desire is to give the people ail assured faith in the integrity, as also the ability, of the presiding magistrates to deal with the legal matters which come forward. In other ways the government has given outward evidence of its good faith and earnest desire to bring peace to the land. But all the time the lecidcitrant ones a>v s.-ekdlg to wreak the vengeance i n the nation by a series of outrages which pile one upon another in unending sequence. It is pointed out by President Cosgrove that in the main the sufferers by these outrages of tire and bomb are plain, homely people who sec their places destroyed, their lives impel illed, and the prosperity of the countryside wrecked by the miscreants. Rut in the face of this terrorism and great destruction the people stand behind the Government in the desire to see home rule established. For long year- the trend of affairs in Ireland was hound up in the icalisation of home rule. The political objective has been achieved, hut in iho hour of success, a considerable body of opinion in Ireland breaks from the old compact. and in turn attacks the authority placed in the hands of the Irish people themselves. Well may I’resident ( o-groto ask for the sympathy of the people in the Antipodes where emissaries of the Kepubiiean I’arty are now seeking a footing. Any cursory student of the daily news should he really lo doiioiiiuo tin; methods of the rebels who seek hy main force ami tenori-in to overthrow constitutional authority. Tlio-.- tactics as

affecting any country will not he countenanced in Australasia, and least of all within the British Empire. On the contrary, the greatest goodwill 1 e extended to those in responsible authority in Ireland; their noble and s<■ 11 -

sacrificing work appreciated, and the very best of good w i-lies extended for their speedy success in suppressing the fiction responsible for the revolt and its excesses.