EXTREMES IN IRELAND.

Taihape Daily Times, 12 September 1919, Page 7

EXTREMES IN IRELAND.

1 PLEA FOR AN EARLY SETTLE- ! MENT. 2 i A (By Col. Arthur Lynch.) 3 Still the tension in Ireland is be--ing keyed higher. This is in accord with what I recently wrote, but the intel'venti~o~n of COllg‘l‘ESs has brought iiabout .a crisis. ‘The situation is deli- ' cate, but above all things I wish to see the way paved for the reconciliation betiveen Ireland and England. A hompact honourable as well as advantageous to both is possible. Extremists on botlTsides are flour-‘ _ishing their verbal shillelaghs and re—i peating the silly cries which do less‘ credit to their heads than even to’ their hearts. The policy, for instance, I of submerging Ireland for half an hour in the Atlantic is not practicable, nor’ would it settle the Irish question. ’ The action of the American Senatei ashould not be regarded as unfriendly; I I rather the co-operation -of the Unitedl States should be Welcomed in dealing! with this interminable problem. Thatl is the note that I desire to strike just‘ now, and if the response he found inl a cordial spirit. then a dangerous com- i plieati-on will have‘ Vanished from the, horizon. l

After the first flush of resentment, English people may reflect that our Yankee cousins are not guilty of "interfering in a matter that does not concern them. There are three times as many Irish in America as are now to be found in Ireland, and the Irish question is always one -of the first. importancc at all I”1-esidential elections. President Wilson himself, therefore, could not, even if he so desired, ignore the pressure brought to bear upon him by his Irish friends. Moreover, he has been discussing with the representatives -of this country affairs as diverse as those of Czeeho-Slovakia and Ispahan, and.while laying down the law to mankind from China to Peru, it does not seem extraordinary to take notieeof so obtl'us_iVe a question as that of Ireland.

Remember that the Dominions are in the same case. The Parliaments of every one of them have pronounced in favour of Irish self-government. Yes, you reply, but America is a foreign country. Well, do not make America too foreign; look -on this breach of diplomatic etiquette rather as the hasty act of a friend than a hostile move on the 15211-t of! a. nation seeking a. quar-. rel.

1 Delay 'i's.nlo9t 1:3. ‘settlement, even ‘though delay has become so highly honoured in the spheres of super-st.ates~ lmanship. Even there the results, ye gods, are not so brilliant that they can lapply this method as a universal sol- . vent for all ti-oubles_ ! The only safety is to tackle the Whole i question resolutely with the determinaI tion to come to .a settlement, to throw Inside prejudices, anfi resentments, to recognise the strength of the Nationalist demand for self-determination, while at the same time. safe-guarding Ulster in regard to both finance and religion. Failure here, I believe may lead to one of the worst of evils, an estrangement between the United States and Lthis country.