NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE prevention of civil war by the exclusion of the homogeneous portion of Ulster, and the avoidance of the crime of compelling Ulster by physical force to submit to a Dublin Parliament and executive, still hang in the balance. Three Cabinet Councils have been held this week, which it cannot be doubted were concerned with this subject. It is also believed that some" conversations "have taken place between the Liberal and Unionist leaders. We have dealt with the situation elsewhere, but must note to our regret that Friday's news seems to show that there has been a hitch in the negotiations, though that terra is perhaps too strong to describe what has yet taken place. The Times in its leader of Friday, as in previous issues, takes a wise and statesmanlike, and also a most serious, view of the situation. Thoroughly well deserved is its condemnation of the amazing leading article published in the Westminster Gazette of Thursday evening, an article which attempted to throw over Mr. Churchill and to browbeat Ministers who have had the courage to recognize the terrible import of what is going on in Ulster. Such Ministers, we are told, must abstain from "feelers thrown out on public platforms without previous warning. . . . For a few individuals to begin making schemes without consulting their colleagues and constituents would be to prejudice in advance the chances of agreement when the right moment arrives, and to risk the unsettlement of everybhing when the Bill comes again before Parliament."
