NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Government's " final " answer to Sinn Fein—let us hope that it is really the final answer—is not yet pub- lished when we go to press on Thursday. Rumours are fairly unanimous, and they are certainly supported by Mr. Churchill's recent speech, that the Cabinet have decided not to stand on any logical punctilio, but to have a conference if the Sinn Feiners will come to it without any conditions except the all-covering declaration on the part of the Government that Irish inde- pendence and sovereignty will never be recognized. This seems to us much the most sensible course, and we hope that rumour may be right. Now that the principle of a conference has been long accepted, it would be absurd to let the meeting break down merely because of the logic-chopping of Mr. De Valera.
