PEACE IN DANGER

Taranaki Daily News, 24 October 1921, Page 5

PEACE IN DANGER

NEW IRISH CRISIS. REPUBLIC THE ISSUE. GOODWILL UPSET. A dramatic development in the Irish peace negotiations threatens the breaking up of the conference and a grave set-back to peace. The cause of the trouble is De Valera’s repeated declaration not to own allegiance to the King, thus re-affirming the demand for a republic. It would seem that if this attitude is endorsed by the Irish plenipotentiaries in London negotiations will cease.

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Oct. 23, 5.5 p.m. London, Oct. 21. The Daily Express states that a grave crisis has arisen in the Irish peace negotiations with dramatic sudder.ess, owing to Mr. De Valera’s references to the King in his telegram to the Pope. The point at issue is the sovereignty of Ireland. Failure of the negotiations will precipitate a general election, and already the Government’s election organisers have had warning, as the Government mean to go to the country for a firm mandate to resist an Irish republic. When Mr. Lloyd George saw the Irish delegates he intimated that if Mr. De Valera’s pronouncement represented the unalterable view of the plenipotentiaries a further conference was impossible. The conference adjourned till Monday. A DELIBERATE MOVE. Lobby correspondents say that unless Mr. De Valera’s telegram is explained away the Irish Conference will be as good as finished. The Sinn Fein leader is not credited with high statesmanship, but it is impossible to regard his action as a theatrical display, without a deliberate intention of repudiation of the King. It is more deliberate than any yet published, and compels that immediate notice be taken of the cardinal difference. Mr. De Valera is apparently counting on Mr. Lloyd George’s anxiety to attend the Washington Conference to make the Government amenable to pressure; if so, he has made a pro-found miscalculation. The Government, however, hope that before Monday the people of Ireland will find a way indicating that they arc not behind Mr. De Valera, and that they regard his intervention as a blunder, which they* regret and condemn.

The Irish Bulletin, a Sinn Fein organ, explains that Mr. De Valera’s message was a protest against the phrase about the troubles in Ireland in the King’s reply to V.ie Pope as being a dishonest description of the British war on Irish charters. Both the Irish majority and the Irish minority regard Ireland as their beloved land, and desire peace and contentment for it. They also protest against the use of the words “My people,” as they prejudice Ireland's declared independence. The Bulletin adds: “Peace and friendship is impossible if every expression of goodwill received by the British Government from other countries is made a pretext for misrepresenting the issues between Ireland and Britain. Ireland’s distinctive nationality and her people’s thrice repeated declaration in support of national freedom, are the foundations on which real peace and true -friendship between the two peoples must be based if there is to be any permanence in i either.” “AN ACT OF INDELICACY.” The Daily Mail’s Rome correspondent states that Mr. De Valera’s telegram is widely discussed, and the general feeling is that he is guilty of an act of indelicacy. It is unknown at present what steps, if any, the Pope intends to take. A high Vatican official stated that the Pope was much grieved over the mistrust between England and Ireland. of which Mr. De Valera’s telegram gives additional proof. He is convinced that if both could forget the past and approach the Irish problem with unbiassed minds, a solution would not be long in coming. The Times’ lobbyist writes that he 3ias good grounds for stating that the 1 Irish delegation was not informed of the terms of the message, yet Mr. De Valera’s action will embolden critics of the Government to demand an immediate abandonment of the negotiations. If Mr. De Valera would re-import into the discussions the question of independence a speedy outcome can be foreseen,. if otherwise it is assumed his intention was not deliberately to put an end to the negotiations.

THE POPE’S MESSAGE.

PLEASES ROMAN CATHOLICS. London, Oct. 21. The Pope’s message to the King is accepted throughout the country as the most definite pronouncement he has yet made regarding the Irish crisis. It is accepted by most of the Irish that the Pope has in view a constitutional settlement within the Empire. This has given much pleasure to the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland.

Lord Middleton, the Provost of Trinity College, and Mr. Andrew Jameson, have been chosen to represent the southern Unionists of Ireland at the Conference on questions affecting the loyalist minority.

DE VALERA PIQUED. THE KING PRAISED. London, Oct. 21. The Westminster Gazette is of opinion that Mr. De Valera is piqued because the Pope did not send him a message simultaneously with that to the King. The Irish Times says that Irishmen in all parties are disappointed. It pays a warm tribute to the King, who, in his dealings with Ireland, has shown the warmest courage and liberality, and made the truce and conference possible

A GRAVE OUTLOOK.

CONFERENCE MAY BREAK UP. FEELING IN ENGLAND. Received Oct. 23, 11.45 pm. London, Oct. 23. The newspapers predict that the Irish conference will be broken off. Mr. Lloyd George asked the Sinn Fein delegates to define their position * they must either repudiate Mr. De Valrea, which they are unlikely to do, or find a formula for smoothing the matter over, which is extremely difficult. If the matter is adjusted Mr. De Valera’s message will have a serious reaction among the Government’s supporters. A number of Conservatives, who disapprove of the conference without a definite surrender of Ireland’s claims to sovereignty, threaten to revolt if any further concessions are made or Ulster’s interests are sacrificed.

DE VALERA’S MESSAGE. WILL AROUSE INDIGNATION. London, Oct. 21. The Timee editorially says: “Mr. De Valera’s telegram to the Pope we imagine will fill his Holiness with surprise, as it will certainly arouse indignation among the people of thia country and the Dominions. It is an act of impertinence towards the Pope and towards the King. It is unmanly churlishness. If he really speaks in the name of the majority of the Irish people the chances of peace are small. We are fully aware that irreconcilable forces in this country are also working to wreck the Conference, but these do not represent the great majority in Britain, yet it would be idle to ignore the strength they may derive from manifestations such as that of Mr. De Valera. Should peace be frustrated, despite the honest endeavor of this country, the cause must be so clear as to justify its course in the eyes of the civilised world. London, Oct. 21. It is learned from well-informed sources that the Irish delegates’ insistence on the essential unity of Ireland and the subservience of Ulster nearly precipitated a crisis, but it was averted by referring a certain question to a joint committee, giving time for further reflection. It is also understood that the best hope for a satisfactory settlement lies in the differences in the Sinn Fein camp and the belief that the Irish delegates are purposely placing their demands high in order eventually to secure the best terms.