SEEKING PEACE.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1922, Page 5

SEEKING PEACE.

POLICY IN IRELAND, ANARCHY MUST STOP, freedom for ulster. FROM BRITAIN. By Telegraph —Press Assn —Copyright. Received June 27, 7.50 p.m. London, Juno 26. Mr. Winston Churchill, speaking in the House of Commons, said that when the Government signed the Treaty with the Irish signatories it had every reason to believe the signatories represented the settled views of the vast majority of the Dail, and the united authority of the Sinn Fein Cabinet. The Imperial Government’s policy all the time had been to obtain a free expression, without creating a partisanship by British interference. Everything was done by de Valera to weaken and dis- i credit the Provisional Government and to 1 embroil Southern Ireland with Ulster. Mr. Churchill stated he had no hesita- : tion in saying that the horrors which had taken place in Belfast were due to an or- ■ ganisation of two divisions of the I.R.A. in i the northern territory, and the continuous efforts by extreme partisans in the South to break down the Northern Government and force Ulster under the home rule of Dublin. Mr. Churchill declared that the Northern Government would be supported effectively, and at all coats, if any attempt were made to coerce it into submission to the South. The Imperial Government had supplied the Ulster Government with 50,000 stands of arms. THE ULSTER FRONTIER. The situation on the Ulster frontier was ! much easier. A triple arrangement had ' been made between Britain, the Provisional Government and Ulster, whereby a neutral > sone of five miles wide would be established in the Pettigo-Belleek district. Sinn Fein had to realise it could never win Ulster, except by the latter’s own free will, and the more the Sinn Feiners kicked against the pricks, the worse it would be for them. The Imperial Government would endeavor to stand between the antagonists and prevent the loss of life and the destruction of property. It had been made absolutely clear that any attempt to break into Ulsters’ territory would be met and repulsed by the Imperial power. Having regard to the fact that there had been no assassination of a prominent man in England for generations, and that even in the height of the Irish struggle no attempt was made on the lives of public persons in this country, it was monstrous to make the recent tragic event ground for an attack upon the police authorities or the Home Secretary. Mr. Churchill said now that the Northern Government was greatly strengthened, it became that Government’s duty to prevent unlawful reprisals, however great the provocation, and he was sure the Northern Government would resolutely discharge this duty. Now that the elections were over, there was no excuse for the Provisional Government failing in its duty in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Treaty, and in view of the wishes clearly expressed by the Irish people, we could not continue to tolerate the many gross lapses from the Treaty and improprieties and irregularities in its execution, which we had put up with or acquiesced in during the last six months. The occupation of the four courts in Dublin by the I.R.A. was an affront, and from this nest of anarchy and treason murderous outrages were stimulated and encouraged. There would be a request to the Irish Government to end this, and if it did not do so, the Imperial Government would regard the Treaty as formally violated and take the necessary action to safeguard rights and interests. A CENSURE MOTION. Sir Frederick Banbury moved a reduction in the salary of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, as a vote of censure on the Government's Irish policy. Colonel J. Gretton asked what the Government intended to do to relieve the people from terrorism by gunmen. Mr. Bonar Law (Coalition Unionist) said he refused to preach the doctrine that the whole of the Government’s Irish policy was wrong. No one wanted the Government to go back upon the Irish Treaty, but personally he was very anxious about the situation, and he doubted whether the Government was dealing the right way with it. He understood the Government was meant to govern, but it had not done so. There was no murder in Ulster until those dissatisfied with the Treaty began outrages. The occupation of the four courts in Dublin was intolerable, as the occupants were planning outrages there. Britain must tell the Provisional Government that this must cease or there will be war. Mr. Ronald McNeill (Coalition Unionist) narrated his last conversation with Sir Henry Wilson, 24 hours before his death. Sir Henry Wilson was about to visit Glasgow, and Mr. McNeill urged care, saying: “Yon may be shot at there.” Sir Henry Wilson replied: “Well, they may miss me.” Mr. McNeill: ‘Yes, but they may hit you.” Sir Henry Wilson, in his whimsical way, replied: “Yes, they may, but it would be much nicer to be shot at by them than to shake hands with them.” PREMIER’S WARNING. Mr. Lloyd George, closing the debate, paid a warm tribute to Sir Henry Wilson’s courage, devotion, imagination and resource. The Premier declared: “The Treaty will be justified whatever befalls. If reconquest becomes necessary, Britain will have advantages which she did not possess when the Treaty began, but it is essential that the seizure of the four courts should be ended quickly.” He said a communication had been sent to the Southern Government on the subject, and a serious situation would arise if that Government failed to carry out its duty; but he would rather say no more, as there must be developments in a short time. Mr. Churchill, in reply to a question, said he “certainly did not consider we ought indefinitely to continue to regard with indifference the progressive degeneration in.o anarchy throughout Ireland.” He had certainly fixed in his own mind definite tests of c : rcuinfltance and time which would determine the moment for a change of policy. , Sir Frederick Banburv’s motion was defeated by 342 votes to 75.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.