[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In its attitude towards
the Irish Free State, the Govern- ment is showing too much of the spirit that lost us the North American colonies. I do not know what success may attend the efforts of the Irish Free State to find other markets ; but the Government of this country is taking far too big a risk in pushing the Irish Free State to that extremity. Whether the Irish Free State remains part of the Empire or becomes an independent republic does not seem to me to matter at all. But the trade does matter. Great Britain is Ireland's natural market. Ireland is Great Britain's natural market. It should not be too readily assumed that Ireland cannot find other markets. I have eaten a good many eggs in Germany recently, and all have come from Finland, Holland, or Denmark. Why not Ireland ?
The secret of success in matters of this kind is to give people a little more than they expect. Remember Campbell- Bannerman and South Africa. But all the time we have been niggardly with Southern Ireland, and reluctant. I believe that until very recently all Ireland could have been kept willingly within the Empire by means of a little tact. The opportunity may have gone ; but an independent Irish Free State might still be useful to us by allowing us to demonstrate that the preferences we are prepared to give to the Dominions may also be given to another country similarly placed. It is not primarily because Canada is painted red on the map that we are prepared to give her a preference ; but because the trade requirements of Great Britain and Canada are naturally complementary.
There is the further possibility that a new arrangement might be come to with the Irish Free State that would enable her to shed her oath complex and still remain a trading mem- ber of the British Commonwealth of Nations. What is necess- ary is that the enmity between the two countries should
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