THE OFFER FINAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1921, Page 5

THE OFFER FINAL.

MR. LLOYD GEORGE’S REPLY UTMOST IN CONCESSIONS. PROFOUND DISAPPOINTMENT. Received August 28, 5.5 p.m. London, August 27.

Replying to De Valera, Mr. Lloyd George says: ‘The British Government is profoundly disappointed at your letter. You write of the conditions of a meeting, as though no meeting had ever taken place. The proposals already made were not made in a haggling spirit. My colleagues and myself went to the very limit of our powers in endeavoring to reconcile British and Irish interests. The proposals have gone far beyond all precedent, and have been approved as liberal by the whole civilised world; even in quarters which show sympathy with the most extreme Irish claims they are regarded as the utmost the Empire can reasonably offer or Ireland can reasonably expect. Your letter shows'no recognition of this fact. “Further negotiations must, I fear, be futile, unless some definite progress is made towards an acceptance basis. You declare oUr proposals Involve the surrender of Ireland’s whole national position. What are the facts? Under the settlement we outlined Ireland will control every nerve fibre of her national existence. She will speak her own language, make het own religious life, have complete power in taxation and finance, subject c ly tn an agreement for keeping trade and transport as free as possible between herself and Britain, which is her best market. She will be an uncontrolled authority in regard to education and all the moral and spiritual interests of her race. She will also have authority over the law and order of the land, ' and over the agriculture, the conditions 1 of labor and industry, the health and homes of the people, and her own land defence. Ireland, within her own shores, will be free in every aspect of national activity, national expression and national development.

NO SEPARATION. ‘The States in the American Union, sovereign though they be, eujoy no such range of rights. We consider these proposals completely fulfil your wish that the principle of government by consent of the governed should be the broad guiding principle of the settlement which your plenipotentiaries are to negotiate. 'That principle, first developed by England, is the mainspring of representative institutions, which she was the drst to create. It is now the very life of the British Commonwealth, and we could not have invited the. Irish people to take their place in that Commonweal tli on any other principle. We ate convinced that through it we can heal old misunderstandings and achieve an enduring partnership as honorable to Ireland as to the other nations which make up the Commonwealth.

“When you argue that the relations of Ireland with the British Empire are comparable in principle with tbpse of Holland and Belgium with the German Empire I find it necessary; to repeat once more these promises, which no British Government, whatever its complexion, can ever exceed. In demanding that Ireland should be treated as a separate Sovereign Power, with no altogienee to the Crown and no loyalty to her sister of the Common wealth, you arc advancing claims which the most famous national leaders in Irish history, from Grattan to Parnell and Redxnond, explicitly disowned. Grattan, in a famous phrase, declared: The ocean protests against separation, and the sea against union.’ O’Connell spoke similarly in the House of Commons in 1830.

| “The British Government offers Ireland i all that these patriots asked and more. It lis playing with phrases to suggest that the ' principle of government by the consent of I the governed compels recognition of that demand, or that in repudiating it we are straining the geographical and historical considerations in order to justify our claim to ascendancy over the Irish people. There is no political principle, however clear, that can be applied without regard to the limitations imposed by physical and historical facts. To deny these limitations would involve the dissolution of all democratic States. We do not believe that permanent reconciliation between Britain and Ireland can ever be attained without the recognition of their physical and historical interdependence, which makes complete political and economic separation impracticable for both.”

DANGEROUS ATTITUDE. Mr. Lloyd George quotes the following passage in Lincoln’s first inaugural address on the brink of the American Civil War as expressing the British standpoint: “Physically .speaking, we cannot separate. Suppose you go to war; when you cease fighting the identical old question as to the terms of intercourse is upon you.” Mr. Lloyd George continues: “I thought I made it clear, both in the conversations and in subsequent communications, that we can discuss no settlement which involves refusal on the part of Ireland to free, equal and loyal partnership in the British Commonwealth under one Sovereign. We are reluctant to precipitate the issue, but we must point out that the prolongation of the present state of affairs is dangerous. Action is being taken in various directions, which, if continued, would prejudice the truce and ultimately lead to its termination. This would indeed be deplorable. Whilst, therefore, we are prepared to make every allowance to time which will advance the cause of peace, we cannot prolong the mere exchange of Notes. It is essential that some definite and immediate progress be made towards a basis upon which further negotiations can usefully proceed.” The Premier concludes: “In this and my previous letters I have set forth the considerations which must govern the attitude of the Government. If you are pre pared to examine how far these considerations can be reconciled with the aspirations you represent I shall be happy to meet you and your colleagues.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable, Assn.

Received August 28, 11.5 p.m. London, August 27. A secret session of the Dail Eireann considered Mr. Lloyd. George’s reply, the Dail Eireann’s reply to which is expected on Monday.

THE STUMBLING BLOCK.

QUESTION OF SEPARATION. SPEECH BY MR. LLOYD GEORGE. Received August 28, 11.5 p.m. London, August 27. Mr. Lloyd George was presented with the freedom of Barnsley to-day. Referring to the terms offered to Ireland, he said the terms commended themselves not merely to Britain, but to the whole civilised world. e&uuQt (zowte&aaee sejsaratAwa,

which would lead to the most cruel and most terrible civil war Ireland had ever seen,” he added. “It is Southern Ireland that is not satisfied with freedom and insists upon separation. AH hope of accommodation must be abandoned, but I trust commonsense will prevail. We only want to do what is fair and what is just and right. I believe that in spite of all indications to the contrary, that when the Irish people realise that real freedom has been offered to them, and that all they are asked to do is to join the proudest community of nations in the world as free men. they will realise that their destiny will be greatest as free people inside a free federation of free peoples.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.