LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.]
TEE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND: WORDS OF WARNING. (To THE Einem or THZ " SPEcruaoa."J Sm.—Tb.8 Home Rule Bill of 1920 has in England received little, discussion. Many respected Unionists inside and outside the Cabinet have shown a surprising readiness to confer Home Rule upon Ireland. This circumstance has given rise to a wide- spread belief that the people of the United Kingdom have come to an agreement that a definite form of Home Rule embodied in the Bill ought to be at once established in Ireland. and that the- duty of the present House of Commons will be the easy- one of ratifying, after as little debate as may be, a Bill which will produce contentment among Irishman and put an end to the secular misunderstanding between the two islands which make up the United Kingdom; and that this result can be effected without imperilling the safety. either of Great Britain or of the British Empire. This popular idea is, I am, in common with many Unionists; convinced, a delusion, and a delusion full of danger to the credit and safety of England and of the Empire. My reasons for this conviction may be thus summarized:— First—Never was there a time more- ill-starred than the present day for the establishment in Ireland of any form of- Home Rule.
The treason of the Sinn Feiners has degenerated into the attempted creation of a reign of terror throughout a great part of Ireland by means of outrage, crime, and assassination. This endeavour has been far from unsuccessful. Our Govern- ment has rightly employed the forces of the State in order to protect the lives and property of loyal citizens. The protection hai turned out inadequate. Even in England the absurd complaint has sometimes been heard that the Government has by its action created the very crimes which it is the main duty of any civilized ruler at any cost to prevent and punish. Note the necessary result of this condition of affairs. To Sinn Feiners, and to many Irishmen who are not Sinn Feiners, the graflting of Home Rule will seem to be a concession extorted from England by conspiracy and by murder. But such tolerance of criminality can, from the nature of things, never excite gratitude, and must arouse contempt. The passing further of the new Home Rule Bill will directly or indirectly involve an amnesty for hateful crimes which may have contributed to the attainment of Home Rule. It will be fortunate for England if after the passing of the Home Rule Act, 1920:we do not see Irish Members seated in the House of Commons at Westminster by admirers who believe, whether rightly or not, that these honourable M.P.'s have committed on behalf of so-called Irish independence crimes which in the judgment of the civilized world ought to have met with capital punishment. It is worth while to consider how far the triumph of lawlessness in Ireland may not affect public feeling in Great Britain. The revolutionary spirit is at work amongst us. It already teaches the most odious of anti-democratic heresies —the alleged right of minorities to oppose by physical force the undoubted will of the nation. Is it not possible that to a few desperadoes the free use of what are miscalled "political crimes" may seem a sound method for the enforcement of Socialistic ideals ?
Second—No Irish party willingly accepts the proposed form of Home Rule.
The Protestants of 'Ulster desire, as did every English Unionist as late as 1916, the maintenance of the Act of Union. They never asked for a separate Parliament representing a separate Ulster. They may accept this form of Home Rule. but they admittedly feel no gratitude for it. The Sinn Feiners wish for the complete independence of Ireland. A small and most respectable body of Irishmen led by Sir Horace Plunkatt ask for the status of a Dominion, or "Home Rule as in New 70eland." He knows what he means, and I doubt not means what he says. But I distinctly question whether the mass of his followers understand that Home Rule as in New Zealand will deprive Ireland of any representation whatever in the British Parliament, and will also deprive her, speaking broadly, of the right to any aid from the reeouroes of Great Britain towards the expense of carrying on the administration of Irish affairs. Where again are we to find the party, either of Irish- men or of Englishmen. who wish that Ireland should be governed under the Government of Ireland, Act, 1914, as it stands in the Statute Book? To ask the question is ta answer it.
Third—The Home Rule Bill of 1920 does not in any effective manner safeguard Great Britain or the British Empire against the perils of establishing in Ireland an independent or semi- independent form of Parliamentary government.
The Bill contains more than one well-sounding clause (as did every other Home Rule Bill, and does the Home Rule Act of 1914 now . on the Statute Book) for maintaining the unquestioned supremacy in Ireland of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is unfortunately my conviction, as it was the conviction of every Unionist till a few years ago, that this statutory maintenance of the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament means very little. An illus- tration best explains my thought. Let us suppose, what is quite possible, that, the present Home Role Bill having become an Act, the Parliament for the South of Ireland is in 1921 duly elected, and, what is probable, the majority of its Members are Sinn Feiners. A Bill is at once brought forward by a Sinn Fein Ministry to declare the independence of at least Southern Ireland. The Bill is at once supported by- an armed mob in Dublin. What in these circumstances will be the conduct of the Lord-Lieutenant ? He may conceivably, under the advice of his Irish Ministry, thank the patriots who are giving moral support to the friends of Irish liberty. He may far more probably, under instructions from the Government at West- minster. dismiss the Sinn Fein Ministers and dissolve the Irish Parliament. In the one case the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament is all but nullified; in the other case the existence of genuine Home Rule in Southern Ireland is at an end. I da not ask, as I do not want to discuss, .whether Irish armies will obey the commands of the Lord-Lieutenant or of the Irish Parliament. My whole and sole object is to point out that this Bill, in common with every other Home Rule Bill I have seen, is less likely to lead towards permanent peace between Great Britain and Ireland than towards civil war.—I am,
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