IRELAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 May 1916, Page 5

IRELAND.

1 FACE THE PROBLEM! \ , c 1 MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S < NEGOTIATIONS. J Received May 30, 8.50 p.m. ' London, May 30. ' The Daily News says that Mr. Lloyd George continues his Irish negotiations. The Ulster party is adopting a concilia- j tory attitude, and he is anxious not to ' make a statement. before the adjournment of the Nationalists' party. How- ' ever, he may think it essential to ' to definitely state whether the basis agreement exists, or, if not, he had bet- > ter face the difficulties of the situation * frankly, and without delay. * BISHOP AND GENERAL. ; ___ j i SOME SENSATIONAL DISCLOSURES. > 1 Received May 30, 5.5 p.m. London, May 29. Newspapers publish letters that have passed between General Sir John Maxwell and Doctor O'Dwyer, who has been Bishop of Limerick for thirty years. The i Bishop is described by Mr. Birrell as a very clever man, and an enemy to the Nationalist party. General Maxwell asked Bishop O'Dwyer to remove two priests from his diocese on the ground that their presence was a menace to the peace and safety of the realm, adding that if they had been laymen they would have been arrested. Bishop O'Dwyer requested evidence to justify the proposed action, and General Maxwell gave particulars of the priests opposing conscription and assisting the Irish volunteers. Bishop O'Dwyer, replying, denied that the evidence warranted disciplinary action, and that the priests had not vio-1 lated civil and ecclesiastical law. He added that he regarded General Maxwell's action in shooting the Dublin rebels with horror, and said: "DeportaJ tions were an abuse of your power, as fatuous and as arbitrary as your regime, and this is one of the worst and blackest chapters in Irish Government." THE ROYAL COMMISSION. , IMPORTANT EVIDENCE. - - DISAFFECTED CIVIL SERVICE. London, May 29. At the Irish inquiry, Sir John Ross, ex-Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Police, condemned the lapsing of the Arms Act of 1906. This extraordinary step was the forerunner of trouble; it ■was like bringing a candle to a powder magazine. Another weak proceeding was in connection with the Dublin strikers dn 1913, when the Government acceded to the Corporation's demand for an inquiry into the action of the police against the riotersr Sir J. Ross submitted a minute to the Government as soon as the drilling.of disaffected sections began, and made repeated requests for instructions to take action before the movement was stronger, but was merely told to keep the men under observation. Witness considered the landings of arms at Larne (Ulster) and Howth (Dublin) were different. The former was done secretly and the Government's authority not defied openly, tat the mob at Howth overpowered the police and defied authority. Harrell's suspension for his action at Howth was extraordinarily grave. He was an efficient, impartial and able servant. Witness resigned as a protest. He added that Harrell's suspension destroyed civil servants' confidence in their superiors, and led them to believe that tfc«y were at the mercy of politicians who would betray when it suited them. Also the disaffected knew they could arm, manoeuvre and preach sedition unimpeded amid the distraction of war. Harrell's removal was the essential cause 1 of the revolution. Harrell gave evidence attributing the 1 rebellion to four causes—the existence of an anti-British party, the repeal of the iPeace Preservation Act, the failure to enforce the law during Larkin's movement, and the Howth affair. Sir Maurice O'Connell said that Kerry had swarmed with German agents. A lady had been arrested at the Killarney Hotel, of which a German was the man- ' ager. There were also under-spies employed as waiters until April, 1916. [ • [ PROPOSED NEW CATHEDRAL. London, May 29. s Archbishop Walsh suggests the possi- • bility of building a cathedral in one of i the devastated areas of Dublin. He is , confident the Irish in America and Au»-