GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND BILL. (To me EDITOR semi " SPECTATOR.")
Slit—Let us pass the Government el Ireland Bill, which appears to me to grant to Ireland all that Great Britain can reasonably be expected to give her. Supposing those who desire that Ireland be united under a single Parlia- ment could carry the day? What would happen? In the present temper of the people a Parliament would he elected of the most advanced and revolutionary character. A resolution would at once be proposed and carried separating Ireland from Great Britain and the Empire, and estab- lishing a republic. The voice of Ulster would be drowned by voices of an excited and bitter majority calling for revenge on England and separation from the Empire. What would Great Britain do under these circumstances? There is only one answer to this question. She would have to face civil war and reconquest. What is the objection to the present Bill? It is said that no party in Ireland is in favour of it. This is true, but it is also true that no party is in favour of the Act of 1914, nor has any popular support been obtained in Ireland for any solution of the difficulty short of that of complete separation, which Great Britain could not possibly accept.
The Prime Minister said on November 11th "There is nothing that Great Britain would be better pleased with than a frank reconciliation with Ireland." We all share this feel- ing. Where can you find a better instrument to bring about this "frank reconciliation" than the present Bill? Mr. Asquith and some others advocate what they call "Dominion Home Rule," but they know that they do not mean under this name the same kind of Dominion Home Rule which we see in our overseas sister nations, for Mr. Asquith has himself mid that he would not permit Ireland to have a navy, nor pre- sumably would he accord to Ireland the right to secede from the Empire. Although the right to secede froin the Empire is not mentioned in any statute, we all know that Great Britain would not forcibly oppose secession from the Empire on the part of Australia or of Canada, if they ever seriously demanded such a severance of the political connexion with the Mother Country. The loyalty of their populations, and the great geographical distances which separate them front the Mother Country, differentiate their case from that of Ireland, separated by only twenty-five miles from the coast of Scotland. It is therefore misleading to talk of Dominion Homo Rule when considering the question of Ireland; and if such a Bill were passed with the limitations mentioned by Mr. Asquith, Great Britain would be met by an outburst front Ireland saying that here was another instance of Great Britain's hypocrisy, cunning, and breach of faith in offering them Dominion Home Rule and giving them something entirely different—and we should be reproached by the whole world for sharp political practices in taking advantage of the ignorance and good faith of the masses of the Irish people. Mr. Asquith has agreed, on behalf of his party, that Ulster must not be coerced. Peopled as she is by a million inhabitants of entirely
different blood from those who reside in the Provinces of Con- naught and Munster, and in a great measure in Leinster, she is entitled, by all the most modern dicta of international Jurists, to the right of self-determination, and she claims this right with no uncertain voice.
Iii my opinion, there must, therefore, be two Parliaments in Ireland, whether we like it or not, until the two races of their own free will choose to unite in one Parliament. Now this is exactly what the Government of Ireland Bill does. It recognizes these racial differences, and gives the right to choose a Parliament of its own to each race wherever it can show a majority.
But it creates a Central Council in the words of Clause 2 of the Bill "with a view to the eventual establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland, and to bringing about harmonious action between the Parliaments and Governments of Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland." So that when- ever the Irish people desire to unite in one Parliament the machinery is provided which shall automatically carry out their desire.
What can be wiser or fairer? We all know that there is no possibility at present of an immediate accomplishment of the purposes of this or of any other Bill. The country is in too disturbed a condition, but already there are signs that the Government has obtained a mastery over the assassination gangs which have terrorized the people, so that no man dafed to speak or to act unless he belonged to the party of disorder. As soon as liberty of speech and action are restored, a great change will occur, and the conservative elements in the country will make it possible to obtain a free election—which at present would be an impossibility. Then, when the minds of the people have had the opportunity of understanding the really generous character of this Bill, they will recognize the immense benefits, especially those of a financial character, which are offered by the British Government.
Let us be fair and reasonable. England has in the past often meted out to the Irish race less than justice, but, forgetting bygone offences, let us not refuse to recognize that, in this present Bill, Great Britain acknowledges past errors, and is doing her best to win the confidence of those living across the Irish Channel who, by the exigencies of geographical position, are compelled to live in close proximity to her, and whose own happiness or misery must inevitably depend in large measure on whether they choose to live in deadly hatred or in friendly intercourse with their neighbours in England, Wales, and Scotland. Peace, blessed Peace. Let us have Peace !—I am,
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