News of the Week
MR. DE VALERA'S surprise decision on a dissolution is an obvious stroke of political strategy, natural and legitimate enough in all the circumstances. De- pendent still for his majority in the Dail on the seven Labour votes, and seeing Labour support alienated by his determination to proceed with part, at any rate, of the projected Civil Service cuts, the President of the Council may well have considered that his only choice lay between defeat and dissolution. More important than that was the favourable -reception given to the two projects put forward separately last week by Senator Vincent and Mr. Alfred Byrne, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, for the fusion into a single organization of the various anti-Republican forces in Ireland. This would include, primarily, of course, Mr. Cosgrave's Cumann na nGaedheal and Mr. Frank MaeDermot's Farmers' League, but if the proposed fusion develops, they would no doubt be joined by many thousands of electors who voted for Mr. de Valera last year mainly in accordance with the swing of the pendulum, and a good many thousand more who did not vote last time at all but realize to-day the economic effect the policy of the present Government is having on the country.
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