Ireland's Hope

New Zealand Tablet, 22 September 1921, Page 37

Ireland's Hope

Since the British Premier sent the Premier of South Africa on an errand to Ireland on behalf of England, all the fair-weather friends of Ireland have discovered an interest in what they now describe as our sister in the Empire (says the Catholic Magazine, for South Africa). The militarist press has tried to hide the realities of the situation even now. One would think that the new negotiations were due to some special act of statesmanship on the part of some members of the Imperial Conference. The main facts are that the Republican Government of Ireland with its own army has shown that it can govern Ireland in spite of the mailed fist of Mr. Lloyd George. Force having failed to achieve^ its purpose, Mr. Lloyd George is prepared to negotiate! We may be sure that the Irish Republic will not make the same mistake as Germany did. The Irish have refused to demobilise until the terms are settled, with guarantees that these terms will be carried out. They know only too well that if with the aid of General Smuts another Fourteen Points were held out to the Irish people, that would be no reason to lay aside their arms. They saw General Smuts sign a Treaty which violated every one of the conditions on which the Germans laid down their arms. Tt is difficult to play that trick twice in one generation. Ireland will certainly not be the victim. If Irish liberty therefore is saved, it will be the work of Ireland’s right arm, of friends in America and elsewhere who were not ashamed to stand up for her in the day of her bitter ordeal. The Irish President has made it clear that he represents the Irish • people who claim the right of self-determination. They ■cannot bow to the dictatorship of another country or of any Irish minority that desires such a dictatorship. A Glorified Rebel Mr. de Valera may take heart from a celebration which has just taken place in London: A statue of George Washington has been presented to England by some American people and duly unveiled in front of the English National Gallery, The American who made the presentation said: “.We are presenting to the Government and people of Great Britain this bronze likeness of one who forsook her flag, rejected her sovereignty; and fought against her King, and with a splendid magnanimity, Great Britain has answered the challenge by placing this one-time rebel on a pedestal amid the mighty monuments / and memories of Trafalgar Square.” Washington had taxless justification for his act than de Valera, since Washington was an Englishman. If England to-day were only governed by men with a greater spirit of magnanimity than Mr. Lloyd George, and a wider outlook than General Smuts (who seems unable to conceive any solution but that of a limited Home Rule), England would avoid the costly errors committed in regard to George Washington. Should wiser counsels prevail, we may not have to wait a whole century or more to see de Valera’s statue in London. He has stated often enough that a free and independent Ireland will be no menace to England’s safety. An Ireland forced to remain within a Union which she does not desire will never cease to be a danger.