THE FREE STATE.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1922, Page 5

THE FREE STATE.

BILL IN THE COMMONS. MATTER OF URGENCY. DEBATE ON THE MEASURE. Dy Telegraph.—Press Awn.—Copyright. Received Feb. 17, 5.5 p.m. London, Feb. 16. The second reading of the Irish Free State Agreement Bill was moved in the House of Commons to-day by Mr. Winston Churchill (Secretary for the Colonies). Mr. Churchill pressed the urgency of the measure. Provisional government unsanctified by law was an anomaly unprecedented in the history of the British Empire, and its continuance one day longer than necessary was derogatory to Parliament and the nation. The Crown could not expect the Provisional Government to restore order until it had proper legal powers. One of the most important results of the Bill would be the election in Southern Ireland. He hoped the people, through the election, would finally put aside the idea of an Irish Republic, and he also hoped the election would result in securing a fresh, normal and sensible Parliament for Southern Ireland. The men at present in that Parliament were chosen, not because of special fitness, but because they were thought to be most obnoxious to British power. If Ireland repudiated the treaty the position of Southern Ireland would be one of great weakness, for she would be isolated from the world. RED SOVIET SUGGESTED. It had been suggested that the present Irish Government should be upset by a coup d’etat, and that a Red Soviet should be created, but he thought no people in the world were less likely to turn Bolshevist than the Irish. Since the treaty was signed the position in Ireland had improved. Ireland was on trial before the world, but six months ago it was Britain who had to justify herself in the tyes of the world. Ulster’s position to day was one of great moral and military strength, and the Provisional Government should receive every possible assistance. While the pewitinn of the northern frontier had recently improved the position in Belfast was horrible, and he hoped there would be some sort of parley with a view to ending the vendettas rife in Belfast. Alluding to the boundary question, be said no expression of opinion now could affect the treaty. Had they waited to refer the boundary question to Ulster there would have been no treaty. Continuing, Mr. Churchill said it would have meant the reconquest of Southern Ireland at an enormous cost of blood and treasure, when the only difference was the right of the people in certain districts to exercise their option regarding which Government they lived under. It bad been agreed that the month’s option in which Ulster should decide whether to join the Free State should run from the final act of recognising the constitution of the Free State. The boundary commission could not begin work until August. THE BOUNDARY QUESTION. Sir F. Banbury (Coalition-Unionist) interjected: “They will all have killed each other in Ireland by then.”

Mr. Churchill: “On the contrary, we hope things will improve.” Mr. Churchill said it would be much better to try for an agreement on the boundary question. The endeavors of Sir James Craig (Premier of Northern Ireland) and Mr. Michael Collins (head of the Provisional Government) to reach a settlement on outstanding matters, including the Council of Ireland, had not finally been abandoned. Surely it would be better to leave the boundary question until after the election, as things must be better after the election than now, when a renegade Englishman, Erskine Childers, was doing his best to poison the relations between the Irish leaders and his own people. If finally the British Government saw Ulster being maltreated and mutilated by the boundary commission, the Government would be bound to reconsider her whole financial and economic position, and so ensure that Ulster would not be ruined by her loyalty to Britain.

Captain C. C. Craig (Unionist) moved an amendment that “the House do not proceed with the Bill until the Government give an assurance that no decision of the boundary commission will take effect without the approval of the Northern Parliament.” He argued that the negotiators with Sinn Fein had no right to include a boundary clause in the treaty, or make a disposition of the Northern Government’s property; it was like dealing with stolen property. He was in Mr. Lloyd George’s house on the night the treaty was signed, and he could easily have voiced Ulster’s opinion. They would never settle the issue on the lines of the proposed treaty; the boundary commission would lead to nothing but bloodshed and chaos. STUPENDOUS DIFFICULTIES. Sir Gordon Hewer t (Attorney-General) said it was no part of the duty of law officers to interpret article twelve; it would be for the boundary commission to interpret the article. Sir William Davison (Coalition-Union-ist) said there had been a distinct breach of faith with Ulster regarding the boundary.

Sir William Allen (Unionist) said Ulster would fight to the death against serious disturbance of the boundaries. Mr. J. Devlin (Nationalist) said it was the patriotic duty of everyone to assist in carrying out the treaty. He denounced the criticisms of the Provisional Government for not putting down crime; they had only recently come into being, and had stupendous difficulties to encounter. When the Unionists turned up the whites of their eyes at what was occurring in Southern Ireland they did not mention what was going on in Belfast. Mr. Devlin said there were 100,000 Catholics in Belfast, out of a 400,000 population, who for eighteen months had been treated as outlaws and hunted, persecuted, murdered and attacked by assassins, some of them in uniform. He added: “I ask the Northern Government what they propose to do to end the rfeign of terror, and this saturnalia of blood and assassination.” —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.