31 AUGUST 1918, Page 2

On Wednesday week Lord French made an important speech in

Londonderry. He declared, according to the report in the Times, that his statements must be accepted as " a correct expression of the Government's Irish policy." The most important of these statements were : (1) That any settlement of Irish affairs must be such that no part of the great Imperial whole will be coerced into forfeiting one iota of its birthright. (2) That if the appeal for voluntary recruits should fail, conscription would be enforced promptly and firmly. The first statement means, of course, that Ulster shall not be coerced. The second statement means, or ought to mean, that conscription will be applied in October if 50,000 recruits are not forthcoming.