_ SIR HENRY WILSON'S ADVICE TO ULSTER.
rr\frE Government and people of. Northern Ireland could • not have received better advice than that tendered to them by Sir Henry Wilson in his Report to Sir James Craig. It is a matter on which all concerned are to be congratulated. The art of asking advice is almost as difficult as the art of giving it. You must know not only the right person to consult, but also the right kind of question to put to him. As the writer in the Apocrypha says so well, beware of the man who will " cast the lot upon thee and say unto thee, ' Thy way is good,' and afterward stand on the other side to see what shall befall thee."
Sir James Craig, like the wise man he is, went to the right man and asked the right questions, and to, them Sir Henry Wilson gave exceedingly wise answers. Sir Henry Wilson, indeed, is )3o clear and so specific in his advice that any attempt to summarize it would 'fail. We must quote rather than make a précis. He begins by an excellent diagnosis of the situation. After describing the dangerous conditions_ which obtain in the Twenty-six County Area, he points out that the aforesaid dangerous conditions will increase and spread unless :- " (1) A man in those counties rises who can crush out murder and anarchy and re-establish law and order. With a thousand years of Irish history to guide us, it is safe to predict that this will not happen. And unless : (2) Great Britain re-establishes law and order in. Ireland. Under Mr. Lloyd George and his Government this is frankly and laughably impossible, because men who are only capable of losing an Empire aro obviously incapable of holding an Empire, and still more incapable of regaining it.'
Next his Report answers the question, What do you advise in the face of such a state of affairs ? Nothing could be better than the first item in the reply :— " (1) Get Great Britain warmly on your side.. There never was a more fair-minded, more generous people than the men and women who live in England, Scotland, and Wales. Get them on your side. Tell them and get others to tell thorn the real truth of what is now going on in the South and West, and what is really passing in Ulster. Get those splendid Britons on your side, for with Great Britain with you there is nothing which cannot be done—as witness the last great war. Whilst, on the other hand, with Great Britain indifferent, lukewarm, or hostile, there is but little that can be done."
This, indeed, is the essential part of the Report, which also contains some very sensible and specific suggestions for improving the Police Force and theSpecial Constabulary, and advises drastic action against the illegal iinportation and carrying of arms. We are wholly in agreement with Sir Henry Wilson on the importance of obtaining the sympathy of the people of Great Britain for the Northern State and its Govern- ment. For the past thirty years we have held the opinion that Ulster has suffered, and greatly suffered, from two things. One is her 'neglect—we had almost said inability—to put her own very strong case before the justice-loving people.of England and Scotland. The other is the extraordinary dexterity and ability the Celtic Irish have shown in camouflaging their own acts and schemes and representing themselves as the oppressed, and not as they really are—the oppressors. The Irish National- ists have consciously created a preposterous bogy, which they have called " The black Protestant of the North." This creature of a lively and unlicensed imagination has, through the spell-binding qualities which belong to the Celt, been imposed on a -vast number of English people. Hitherto, Unfortunately, the people of the North have been too proud to expose the sham and force the people of England to understand the truth. • Not perhaps unnaturally the people of Ulster have been inclined to say, " If you will believe such things about us, you will believe anything. It is not worth while to attempt to undeceive you. We are not going to expose ourselves to the humiliation of demolishing such monstrous fictions only to be disbelieved or denounced; What right have Englishmen to expect honest and decent citizens to defend themselves perpetually from charges of murder, arson, and the most hideous cruelties to the Roman Catholics and Nationalists ? These calumnies in truth bear false- hood imprinted on them. If the English people cannot take the trouble to distinguish the true•facts -they will not listen to us."
Even if it is natural, this is not a wise attitude. In the case of the North the position is undoubtedly intensified by the mentality of the people. The people of North-East Ulster and Belfast are very poor politicians and very poor wielders of controversial dialectic. Propaganda is the very last thing they can manage. They can build ships, establish linen factories, and play • a great part in trade and commerce generally, but in diplomacy, negotiation, and advocacy they have little ability. Indeed, they strongly resemble the English people in this respect. We have been extraordinarily unsuccessful in putting before the people of the United States our real attitude towards America, and we are still less able to make foreigners understand ns. In the same way the men of North-East Ulster have been unable to show theinselves in their true ccilours and destroy" the straw-stuffed effigy which 'b.ari the false and fantastic label, " This is an.ULster Protestant." The Boggart is no more like a real Ulster Protestant than; in the French satirical papers, the man with long whiskers, huge teeth, and- plaid trousers with enormous checks is like .the true Englishman. While the Union was maintained and their own con- sciences •were clear, the people of Belfast and North-East Ulster could safely indulge in their indifference to English public opinion and their willingness to be misunderstood. Now, however, matters are too serious for Ulster to main- tain this attitude. The moment has come, as Sir Henry Wilson sees so well; when they must put their case frankly, fairly, and fearlessly before the English people and force them to understand the case of Northern Ireland.
We note with strong- approval that, like a good soldier, Sir Henry Wilson is not content with standing on the defensive, but rightly counsels an offensive policy. In order to make people understand what is happening in the North, they must be- made to understand what is happening in the South-and West.. The enlightenment 'of England on the whole Irish question should be part of the duties undertaken by the North. And here let us give a word of warning, as -to the method of presentation. The people of the North must tell the facts, and the whole facts. They must.notpirt their case in a way that would enable the ingenious people of the South to twist it into what would 'appear. to be an attempt to break down the Treaty, an attempt to deprive the South of Ireland. of that right to a trial of complete autonomy within the Empire which the British people have pledged themselves to give. Owing . to the. inability of the Sinn Feiners to compromise and the Celtic Irishman's instinctive love of a faction fight, it is, we fear, probable that the experi- ment in the South will break down. But, remember, the Southern Irishman does not always like to indulge in faction fighting. When his head is sore and his wounds are smarting, he likes to pretend that he got into trouble through the fault of someone else. This shoving off of responsibility is pursued by the Southern Irishman with an ingenuity which can hardly be exaggerated.
The Northern-Government must, from the very beginning, determine not to allow the responsibility of failure to be shoved off to them. They must anticipate the cry that is sure to be made if _the g. reat experiment fails. The form which the cry will take is easy to suggest. " What a tragedy it is ! We could have formed so noble and so splendid a State, a. model of true idealism for the whole world, if it had nob been for those cold, cruel, hard, domineering, materialized Protestants of the North. Not content with the autonomy for themselves which we too generously allowed them, they insisted on wrecking the hopes and aspirations of the men who, in one- form- or another, have been 'their victims for seven hundred years, etc., etc. ! "
Let us specify how the North should put their case plainly before the. British people. Let us have a clear history of the way in which the attacks on men going to work in the shipbuilding yards began. Let us know precisely the number of Protestants, and, of course, the number of Roman Catholics who have been killed during the past four years. Let us know also what was the attitude of the Sinn Feiners of the North towards the German secret agents during the War, and, what is equally important, their. attitude towards conscription and recruit- ing. "Let us know what kind of things were said in Roman Catholic churches. in. Belfast about Irish sympathies during the War, and about our sailors and soldiers and the sailors and soldiers of America. We want also the views of Ulster Roman Catholics on such matters as Mixed .Marriages and the Ne Temere decrees. Above all, let the attitude of the Sinn Feiners towards autonomy in the Northern Area be made known. Even now people in England will not believe that the Sinn Feiners were at the same moment claiming self-deter- inination for the Southern Area, i.e., for themselves, and denying it to the Northern Area.
We will end by quoting the paragraph in which Sir Henry Wilson sums up his advice. We endorse every word said by the Field-Marshal :- " With Great Britain in active sympathy with you in your efforts to maintain law and order, and with the great addition in strength which I hope my proposals will give you, I -think
that in the very near future: on will see a: onderful:recovery in a situation which at the moment must cause you grave anxiety."
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