The Daily News. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1919. SOLVING THE IRISH DIFFICULTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 October 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1919. SOLVING THE IRISH DIFFICULTY.

Despite all the failures which have attended the various efforts to solve the Irish difficulty there still exists a deeply rooted faith in the possibility of an ultimate agreement being reached. Great as are the difficulties which confront those who are responsible for producing an acceptable scheme of Home Rule, they are not insuperable. It is quite possible that the Irish side of the question—with grievances as old as the Unionhas not received a just measure of attention and sympathy in the past and that the British view has been accepted without question. People in general are not apt to concern themselves with causes, rather are they influenced by effects, but to remedy national grievances the causes must be probed, analysed and submitted to careful investigation. This process is worse than useless if it is utilised more for the purpose of apportioning blame than for healing political wounds and adjusting differences that threaten the disruption of the Union. There are, however, certain reasonable principles ' that should be regarded as basic principles, and, if these are admitted, a way is opened up for a practical scheme of what is termed Dominion Home Rule, a parallel for which is to be found in the Constitution of Canada. Lord Morris, late Premier of puts the matter thus: "I want to make it quite clear that I am, and always have been, a Home Ruler, but I have never favored any form of Home Rule that wonkl in any way endanger the Empire. It is because I put the Empire first that I favor Home Rule. Never in the history of the whole Irish question was there a better opportunity for real statesmanship on the part of public men. . There have been prejudices which, unfortunately, in the past thwart ed the efforts of those fighting for Home Rule." If these prejudices and the bungling in the past are to be swept away, the slate cleaned, and a new effort made on practical lines to solve the problem, there must be an agreement on the main point—the unity of the Empire with Ireland as a loyal member. The class who love revolution and thrive on the troubles of others cannot too soon realise that an Irish Republic is out of the question, and if a satisfactory scheme of Home Rule is evolved there would be no occasion to even think of secession. The crux of the problem is to be found in the difficulty of reconciling the particularism of Ulster with the unity of Ireland, therefore, for the north-eastern enclave there must be autonomy without partition. On no other lines can a solution be possible. Other attempts at settling the trouble have failed because this principle has not been recognised. The latest scheme is an honest attempt to arrive at a working plan whereby a compromise may be effected on sane lines. The London Times is responsible for putting forward proposals which certainly merit unbiassed and careful consideration. They are, on the one hand, consistent with any ultimate scheme of federalism or Home Rule all round for the United Kingdom. On the other hand they work out a system of autonomy for Ulster without partition. There are to be two subordinate legislatures, one for the whole province of Ulster, the other :-&5 fee ?est of an

All-Ireland Parliament for common concerns. Irish representation at Westminster would be retained, and while Ulster's apprehensions are safeguarded, there would be established a unified and efficient direction of all that is both national and non-controversial in Irish interests. This scheme is a recognition of the separate interest of Ulster and the rest of Ireland, and may well be regarded as a basis for future union. If this compromise were adopted, Ireland would then be in all essentials in the same position, and would possess safeguards similar to those of the Canadian constitution. The fact that the scheme involves cumbersome methods of administration need not detract from its value as a solution of the problem. Present conditions cannot continue. Ulster cannot be coerced, nor can the rest of Ireland. The portals of a change have been reached. Any scheme of Irish settlement must represent the last word of British Government ill conceding everything to Ireland short of plain separation, whether nakedly avowed as Republicanism or gilded as extreme Dominionism. It should be a liberal scheme that will convince the whole world that Britain has gone to the extreme in her efforts to settle the Irish question. All that is needed is the will of the various parties concerned to assist in the-creation of a workable Home Rule government, and if that will is exercised with determination there need be no fear of the results.