NEWS OF THE WEEK.
NOBODY knows, when we go to press on Thursday, whether the bitter and defiant speech which Mr. De Valera delivered in Dublin on Wednesday is to be taken as a true index of the Irish situation. Literally interpreted, it means an uncompro- mising rejection of the earnest attempt of the Government to make peace. Generosity and conciliation are met with open taunts. Nevertheless, it is still possible that the Irish Sinn Fein leaders may intend to shift the onus of accepting the terms on to other shoulders ; they may mean at the last moment to refer the question to the people and ask for a plain yes or no. We shall summarize the grave and significant course of the Irish negotiations in its proper order, but before we do so we desire to say two things.
