17 MAY 1924, Page 2

The Government have taken no further action in connexion with

the Irish Boundary. It is reported that they may ask Sir Robert Borden to be Chairman of the Commission. The Commission, however, could not bring about a settlement unless Northern Ireland appointed a Commissioner. Mutual consent is the only peaceful, the only reasonable, the only possible way out of the difficulty. Mr. Cosgrave's argument that Northern Ireland, by refusing to appoint a Com- missioner, automatically ceases to have the right to stand outside the Treaty of 1922, is not tenable. Happily there are some signs that an arrangement between Irishmen themselves is not quite out of the question. Sir James Craig is always reasonable. Last Saturday he spoke of agreement between North and South as the only solution, and added :- " So strongly do I desire a proper and enduring settlement that I will do anything in reason to attain it. My wish for a settlement is so great and so real that if an agreement of the kind I have described could be reached, even at the expense of my dropping out of public life, I would be willing to make even that sacrifice."