An addendum to this article was supplied by Mr. J.
R. Fisher in a letter which the Times published on Wednes- day. Mr. Fisher points out that Article XII. and the failure to consult the North never excited so much mistrust as the report that there was a secret understanding between Sinn Fein and certain mem- bers of Mr. Lloyd George's Government. Mr. Fisher recalls a letter to the Times last May in which Mr. William O'Brien stated that Mr. Michael Collins and Mr. Arthur Griffith were induced to sign the Treaty on the assurance of two Ministers that the counties of Tyrone and Fermanagh, the City of Berry and the town of Newry would be transferred to the Free State. Mr. Austen Chamberlain at once wrote to the Times to disavow any knowledge of such an oblique transaction, But the Ministers to 'whom Mr. O'Brien referred have not denied the statement. No wonder that Ulster is. filled with misgivings arid is determined to hold fast to what legal rights she has. If it were a question of a slight rectification of the boundary the North would probably be more strengthened than weakened by losing some malcontents and taking in a few Protestants who are at present outside. But the loss of two whole counties and two important towns is another matter. It would cripple the whole structure of the North. On such conditions the Act of 1920 would never have been accepted by Ulster. *- *
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