HOME RULE SCHEME.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3382, 10 January 1920, Page 2

HOME RULE SCHEME.

g RECEPTION IN IRELAND. I BITTER CRITICISM VQICED. ; - l 1 THE FINANCIAL PROI-"OSg_\l.S. I , . . LONDON, Dec. 23. I The correspondent of the Times, dis- I cussing the new Home Rule scheme, I says that the Government‘ will blund-I I er seriously ii’ it limits: the Ulster area to six counties. It wouiff Suit -the BelIlfast. people, who desire to create it IProtestant .bloc, and the. Sinn Feniiers, whose idea is that a small area I cculd be more easily coerced; but nine >leountles would give -:1 juster balance Wot‘ industrial and agricultural illi‘a'_*l'es‘f I Ilter chance oi’ a united Ireland. The I Times, in a leading article, snpportsr _ I its col‘l'espondent’s view. I l I Mr Garstin says that the Irish Council is the most hopeful feature of the I Home Rule scheme. It is the only con--1..-eivable means bf [harmonising UlsI ter’s particularism with -the unity of ‘lirelnnd. If the Sinn Feiners -are lobstinate, let Ulster accept its share and lead the w':L_v. :':‘.me nationalism I would ultimately foliow. Mr J.’ H. Thomas, general secretary of the National Union of Railwa_vnlen, in an article in the Sunday Times, says that English trade unions, have not found any difficulty in reconciling the workers of North andlSouth IrC- I I land, I , I a in Harold cox, editor or the Edin-I burgh Review, describes -tlle Premier ’s I financial proposals as immensely supcr- I ior to those in the 1914 scheme. The: Irisli may shout with indigna'tion, buitl the contributon of £lS_.ooo_,ooo under-I f:.ta.t.es the sum due on the basis of Ireland’s taxable capacity. I The correspondent of the Times at .19:-,‘r.»li:r states that the pulse of Ireland is so feverish. and the country so disturbed that sober discussion" is , impossible, but the country ’s first ver— I diet, as expressed in -the press, is, unanimously 1111faVou1'able to the new Home Rule scheme. The Ulster Unionlsi. press retires to its familiar trenches and condemns the scheme without. any of Sir E<‘lwar<l Carson’s .reser\'ation.<.l ,The Nationalist journals in the capi—l tat and southern provinces raise a similar loud and whole-hearted chorus of repudiation. Their principal objection ‘to Ulst.el".~3 I Home Rule veto is upheld, but thel scheme is Still mercilessly criticisedl [on other grounds, particularly the I financial proposals. which the Eveningl ITelcgraph declares are based «on the principle of feeding a dog on its own tail. I ‘ Others pour bitter scorn. on thel I whole Bill, jibing at it as utterly im—l possible, and intended maifify for I American consumption, with mean and narrow finance. 1 I The Irish Times says the southern Unionists will reject. it becasue it repays their «historical sacrifices and ancient loyalties with political tannihilation. Mr Lloyd George does not I bring peace, but the sword. Most critics consider the greatesti weakness of the Bill is the vaguelyl I sketched arl*a,ngenlcnts for -the boun-I daries of Unionist Ulster, denouncingl, I the new province as a patchwork. The Ilrish Times says that it will ”surpassl I the worst. botchery of the Peace rCon- I llfei-ence. “If the scheme has anYI z,t'uture,”’ ~ Says the paDGl', "13 I I will be. necessary to re-ar I lrange 'the -proposed boundaries ofl ‘ I north-east Ulster. Another vital o‘bI jection is the temperamental reactionl ‘against giving six counties equalityl I with 26.” I Many critics think thlat the Bill isl not seriously meant. A factor on the I other Side ‘is that the Home: Rule act on Ithe Statute Book must be dealt with‘ immediately, if Ireland refuses’ what is now Dfiered. Long delays are certain, and calmer reflections may come after the heliI days. The immediate verdict is not ‘ hopeful, but "Mr Lloyd George can ‘ hardly have expected anything different. Still, those who make the first I I Government in Dublin will need some ‘ nerve. I The Sunday Observer, in --.1. leading article urges that’-the Prime Minister Ishould go straight ahead in pursuance I 0f the Cabinet’s plans for Home Rule, as otherwise he will play into the I hands of the Sinn Fein. England must. ‘reach the limits of bold goodwill to- - Wards Ireland, take the moral initia‘.iVo, and confront the irreconcililable ' 'I Wreckers with a new situation. I