10 APRIL 1926, Page 9

. The Minister Plenipotentiary of the Irish Free State to

the United States has been making speeches in the Middle West. -During a visit to Chicago he gave a pleasing picture of improved conditions in Ireland and incidentally paid a tribute to the manner in which Great Britain had carried out the provisions of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in the spirit and in the letter. Professor Smiddy also affirmed his belief that the recent Boundary Agreement paved the way for the ultimate reunion of North and South Ireland. How times have changed ! One cannot imagine the official spokesman of Southern Ireland seven years ago saying such agreeable things about Great Britain to a Chicago audience.