IRISH DEADLOCK.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1921, Page 5

IRISH DEADLOCK.

PRESS COMMENTS.

SERIOUS VIEW TAKEN. ~ CABINET MUST DECIDE. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyriffkt. Received September 5, 5.5 pan. London, Sept. 5. The newspapers take a serious view of De Valera’s reply. The Daily Chronicle says: “It is obvious that De Valera’s letter precipitates something of a crisis. It could not have been written in its present form if the majority of the Dail Eireann really wanted peace on the basis of the Government’s offer, nor even if they cared much about securing a settlement without a return to warfare. It remains to be seen how far the majority of the Irish people, which certainly holds a different view on both these points, can influence the Dail Eireann’s final decision.” The Daily News says: “While the Government wants to enter'the conference on the basis of the original offer, with six vital conditions, De Valera demands that the conference shall be unfettered. There is no reason why the Government should not allow the conditions to be frankly discussed, or, apart from the stubbornness of a bom theorist, why De Valera should refuse to debate on equal terms the practical contingencies of a real peace offering.

Let De Valera remember that Ireland has never been presented with so remarkable an opportunity of winning the substance of freedom. We hope the Government will have the moral courage to respond to the letter in a spirit of forbearance.” The Daily Telegraph declares: “The character of De Valera’s letter makes it impossible for Cabinet to take any action which i may have been agreed upon in expectation of Mr. Lloyd George’s suggestion of personal negotiations being accepted in a sincere and reasonable spirit. It might have been accepted simply in a reply of a couple of sentences. No one would have ventured to expect quite that from De Valera, but he might rationally have been supposed to be ready to send an acceptance that did not read like a refusal to negotiate. Cabinet is best able to decide whether there is any possibility of making progress towards a settlement, despite the letter, and the nation is now quite at one with the Government’s attitude upon Ireland, and leaves the matter confidently in their hands.” A STAND ON PRINCIPLES. Michael Collins, speaking at Armagh, said: “De Valera’s letter does not alter the Dail Eireann’s position. We have simply taken our stand on the principle of government by consent o( the governed. Britain's acceptance of that principle will mean a speedy peace. The Government’s offer does not give us thte substance of freedom. The Northern Parliament is being made an artificial excuse for keeping Ireland asunder. I say that freedom is coming. Nobody can stop it. It will bring an era of prosperity and development. Our proposal is that the northerners come in with their heads up, abandon their policy of biting off their noses, and take their share in governing their own country. The Northern Parliament does not, and cannot, Ulster’s unruly elements.” ULSTER NOT SURPRISED.

The Daily Telegraph’s Belfast correspondent states that De Valera’s letter created no surprise there. It was now felt there was no hope of a settlement left, because a conference without the conditions already guaranteed to Ulster could not be held without reopening the whole question and beyond the original offer. THE NEXT MOVE. v t?* It is believed in Dublin that the next move will be the application of a + ime Innit for negotiations, after which the truce will cease automatically.—Aus.-N.Z, Cable THE TIMES’ ADVICE. CALL ANOTHER CONFERENCE. UNIONISTS PESSIMISTIC. Received September 6, 1.25 a.m. London, September 5. The Times, in a leader regretting the prolonged exchange of Notes as likely to emphasise a deadlock, urges the (Government to exercise patience, even to indulgence, and call another conference in an effort to reach peace. A Dublin message says tl.’st th® Southern Unionists show symptoms of pessimism. The Irish Times is accusing the Dail Eireann of risking a breakdown in the negotiations and shaking public confidence in the capacity, to negotiate settlement—Times Service. REPUBLIC DEMANDED. NO VOLUNTARY UNION. FREE CHOICEOF DESTINY. London. Sept. 4. Downng Street has issued Mr. De Valera’s reply to Mr. Lloyd George’s letter of August 26. The reply states: — “We, too, are convinced it is essentia] that some definite immediate progress should be made towards the basis on which further negotiations can usefully proceed, and recognise the futility of a mere exchange of argumentative notes. I shall, therefore, refrain from commenting up the fallacious references in your last communication. The present is the reality with Which we have to deal. The conditions of to-day ere the resultant of the past, accurately summing it up and giving the simplest data of the problem. These data are, firstly, the people of Ireland, acknowledging no voluntary union with Britain, and claiming a fudamental natural right to choose freely for themselves the path they shall take to realise their national destiny, have, by an overwhelming majority, declared for independence, set up ft republic, and more than once confirmed their choice.” ONLY POSSIBLE REPLY. “IT CANNOT BE DONE.” London, Sept. 6. The Daily Express, in an editorial, says Dail Eireann complains, that the Dominion status offered is not the same as that of South Africa. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, because they are further away and not subject to our i army and navy. Hence, it says, there f must be complete separation. The only Answer any British Prime Minister can 1 possibly make to this isj“lt 4 cannot be . jdone." ~ j