NEWS OF THE WEEK.
LAST week we warned our readers to be prepared for a fresh outcry that Ulster is standing in the way of an Irish settlement. Since then events have developed con- siderably in the direction we feared and expected. The latest Information is explicit enough that the Cabinet contemplate taking the rulers of the Six County Area to consent to a plebiscite, Dr some similar device, for deciding whether it is possible to detach Tyrone and Fermanagh from the Northern area and add them to the Southern area. Sir James Craig will probably be called into the Conference, and from what he has already said in Ireland we imagine that he will not refuse. He has stated several times that he would accept such an invitation if only to prevent the interests of the Northern loyalists from being given away in his absence. It will really be outrageous if the nego- tiations are managed in such a way that the onus for a failure of the Conference is placed upon the only loyal and law-respecting part of Ireland. No doubt Mr. Lloyd George will not attempt to coerce Ulster, for he has promised not to do so. Other methods, however, are possible. We have discussed these in our first leading article and shall say no more on the subject here. L.
