ARMY OFFICERS AND THE ULSTER CRISIS.
[To rot EDITOR or Tap ..SpRomon.”1
Sin,—You published recently an article on the correct pro- cedure for officers who are determined not to fight against Ulster, either from family or conscientious motives, or because, if they did, they could never again show themselves on their Ulster estates. These fortunate people have only two questions to decide, both of them of secondary importance. First, how to avoid fighting against Ulster—whether to retire now, or to risk having their resignation refused later on, pre- pared to "desert" if necessary; or to get themselves posted abroad; or, when the time comes, to break a bone with decent naturalness, which is a question of detoiL And secondly, whether to fight for her or to sit on the fence: which is a question of degree. But most of us are by no means certain at to our primary decision whether to obey orders or not. Amateurs can afford to please themselves at the risk of losing a hobby but the professional, " bread-and: butter" soldier is in a far from enviable position ; on the one- hand, the instinct of self-preservation, common-sense, and a. livelihood of sorts ; on the other, sentiment, and not an active romantic sentiment, but mere passive resistance: for if he cannot fight against Ulster he most certainly cannot fight for her, united to her only by the bonds of prejudice, against his own brothers-in-arms. (Few, surely, will entertain the plan of " Fight, but fire in the air "—in either direction.) The choice seems plain: but bow many of us will be driven by the fear that to yield to worldly wisdom must be at best unconscioutt
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