IRELAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 October 1916, Page 5

IRELAND.

PRESENT SYSTEM OF

GOVERNMENT.

CONDEMNED BY MR. REQMGXD.

COALITrO.M MINISTRY BLAMED.

HOME RULE WANTED.

Received Dt-t 1 . 10', r,.s p . m ,

London, Oct. IS. In the House of Commons, Mr. Redmond moved that the present system of the government of Ireland is inconsistent with the principle for which the Allies are -fighting, and that it was ma wily responsible for the rebellion. Ho said his object was to call attention to the unsatisfactory situation in Ireland which was full of menace. The aspirations of Ireland, and a good understanding between Britain and Ireland were also 'biggest interests of the Empire.

Mr. Redmoni asserted that undeniably the situation in Ireland had been full of menace and danger. From the day the Coalition Government was formed recruiting in Ireland had declined rapidly. Sir E.- Carson's inclusion m the Cabinet had persuaded thousands of Irishmen that they would he betrayed. frstbreak of war Ireland was on the side of the Allies, and there was genuine enthusiasm with the Allies' eause. With a little sympathy on the Government's part it would have been possible to create practically a united country. Instead, all the Rationalists' efforts had ibeen thwarted, ignored, and snubbed, and the final blow was' the creation of the coalition. Then the revolutionary Sinn Fein army rapidly increased, and distrust and suspicion spread throughout the country. If the rising in Ireland had been dealt with in the same manner as General Botha dealt with the rising in South Africa the whole situation would have been saved. Instead, the Government behaved with panicky violence. Ireland should have been and given her freedom. It wa s even possible to trust Ireland now. Mr. Redmond asked if the Government seriously proposed to maintain the present system of perpetual martial law. He urged the withdrawal of martial law, the release of'prisoners, and the putting of the Home Rule Act into operation. GRIEVANCES AND REMEDIES Mr. Redmond went'on to deal with the recruiting problem. He contended that conscription in Ireland would he, an aggravation of the situation and not a remedy. Throughout, the efforts of the Nationalists had been thwarted and ignored, and their suggestions derided. They had asked for the creation of an Irish Army Corps, but everything calculated to arouse national pride and enthusiasm in connection with the war had been rigorously suppressed. Nothing did more harm than the suppression o? nil official mention of the Dublin and Minister Fusiliers' landing at Gallipoli. When the 10th Division went to the front there was not a Catholic officer in the~battiUion, except two or three subalterns. He further complained that the recovered wounded Irishmen were redrafted into English battalions. It was a mockery to complain that the Irish Division wa--, not kept up to its strength. Gallantly the Irish troops had won Ireland a new place in the councils of the Empire, and it was to the interest of the' Empire to enable her to maintain that place by removing at once all the fog, bad faith, and bad management. While the present Government existed, an irritated national feeling would remain in Ireland. He saw England fighting for the rights of the small nations, yet maintaining a 'Unionist Government in Ireland against the will of the people by means of martial law. Mr. Redmond concluded by domnnding a new Commander-in-Chief in Ireland; that the Defence of the Realm Act should be administered by means of machinery similar to that in England; that convicted rebels should be treated as political prisoners, and, above all, that the Government should take their coinage in botli hands and put Home Rule into operation.

IRISH CONFUSION. NATIONALISTS AND RECRUITING. London, Oct. IS Tlio Times' correspondent at Dublin says that the Nationalists are clearly and deliberately abstaining from encouraging recruiting. The Freeman's Journal, which Mr. Redmond is supposed to control, has not printed Major Redmond's appeal for reinforcements for the Irish division. This illustrates the unprecedented confusion in the affairs of Ireland.