ULSTER'S OPPORTUNITY.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."3 SIR,—Now that Conscription fcr Ireland has apparently been dropped, there is offered to the men of Ulster an admirable oppor- tunity to acquire in a higher degree than ever the gratitude of the people of this country. It is quite well understood that in no circumstances will the Six Counties agree to join the rest of Ireland in any system of Home Rule. They demand loyally to keep to the British connexion, and if Home Rule is to be given to Ireland, I hen that they shall be left out. This being the case, whatever false argument there may be as to the rest of Ireland refusing to acme Conscription ou the ground of self-determination, no discussion can possibly arise as to the tight of the Six Counties to have Con- scription applied to their area. As you mentioned in a PeCelli article, we know that these Six Counties are, to use your own words, " fiercely desirous " to accept their obligation in this settee, and if their representatives in Parliament will now insist on Cote ecription being so extended their demand cannot be refused. and the most sceptical of people here will at last understand what Ulster loyalty really means. As matters stand at present, the figures recently given in Parliament showing that, including Nationalists, &e., there were only five thousand odd recruits from the whole or Ulster for the year 1917, are, it must be confessed, a little dis.
[The objection of Ulstermen to Conscription for themselves alone is that they cannot safely leave their country to 'traitors. That is the curse of the Sinn Fein and Nationalist polio), ; it not only refuses service, but prevents the full service of Ulster. The diffi- culty is met by Sir James Craig's proposal which we mention elsewhere.—En. Spectator.]
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