The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29
IRELAND MAY HIT
 BELFAST'S PURSE New Method of Attack Open
 to Nati0nalists BOYCOTT A WEAPON
Belfast Merchants Are Heavy Credi- tors of Remainder of Ireland and in Case of War They Might
 Lose Heavily
Rx F. x. CULLEN

DuDlln, september S.-topecldl- - it north is full of rumors about measures of retaliation which it is believed the south and west will adopt in case the Ulster die hards carry out their pro gramme of resisting home rule by force. So far as can be found out there is little foundation for them except the fears of the northern business men, who are be- ginning to realize that their prosperity is dependent on the good will of the rest of Ireland and who see that habitual de- nmciation of ones best customers is not the best conceivable business policy.
 So far the principal suggestions which have been made-and which come from Belfast itself-as a boycott of the Belfast traders by the west of Ireland a repudi- ation of debats to Belfast, and a hold up of improvement and development grants 10 the north by the Irish parliament. Rel- lasts prosperity rests on two foundations
 one is her linen manufacturing and ship building trades and as far as these are concerned she is to some extent indepen- dent of the rest of Ireland. The other. and almost equally important fourfda- ton, is her position as the wholesale dis tributing center for Ireland. Dry goods merchants, grocers, tobacconists, iron mongers and retailers of all kinds, in every corner of Ireland, buy their goods in Belfast Belfast commercial travellers are met in the villages of Connacht and the towns of Leinster and Munster. Bel last banks collect through their local agencies, the money of all Ireland. and distribute 1t again to finance agriculture, manufacturing and commerce in every corner of the land. A settled policy of boycott against Belfast would ruin this great trade. Irish traders could with lit- tie more inconvenience go to Manchester or London to buy and English whole salers will not be slow to send their agents after the Irish trade If they see a chance of capturing it.
 So far there Is no indication of any or ganized movement of this kind against Belfast but the travellers have been bring ing back stories of warnings from their' customers that have made the Belfast business men uncommonly uneasy. It Is said that a few orders have been can celed already.
 A natural coro1ary of this Is that Bel fast is in the position of creditor to all the rest of Ireland. It Is conceivable that if Ulster were in rebellion against the Irish government 1t might be good war measure" for the rest of Ireland to re- pudiate its debts to Ulster and one can hardly expect the Irish government to turn itself into collecting agency for a rebellious province.
 The third feature in the possible policy of retaliation is equally feasible The most active anti-home rulers in Ulster, for instance, are the farmers in the val >ley of the Bann. Now the Bann, like the men who live in it's valley, is q most un- ruly river, given to overnowins its banks at the most inconvenient seasons and in- hcting untold damage on the farmers. For years they have been appealing to the British government to carry out an extensive drainage scheme, including the canalization of the river, but nothing has been done. Naturally an improvement of this kind would be one of the first cares of the Irish government, but again why should it spend its money on helping rebels against it's authority?
 There are signs, however. that the seri- ous business men of Belfast are waking up to the danger of their position. A high official of one of the big Belfast banks, who said that he voiced the sentiments of this class, declared the other day that there had been far too much wild talk about resisting home rule.
 T don't like home rule" he said, and l believe we should do all we can In a peaceable way to defeat it, but l am no rebel. and I hold that once it is passed we should make the best of 1t.
 
 our nationalist and Roman Catholic fel- low countrymen. They are just the same kind of people as we and just as good and honest as we are. And If they wanted to discriminate against us they couldn't do it without hurting their own friends as much as they hurt us.
 "Suppose 1t were possible for them to nut an extra tax on Belfast or on the in 0ustres on which Belfast thrives. There are nearly as many Catholics as Protest ants in business there and they would be hit equally with us. Then 1t is absurd to talk about their trying to ruin our indus tries. Where would they get their taxes from if they did? Their policy, if they are sensible men. and I believe thcy are, will be to foster the prosperity of Belfast n every way. and through it the pros perity of all the rest of Ireland"
 The same man said that he and all the rest of the sane Belfast men thought that a terrible responsibility rested on Lord Londonderry and Sir Edward Carson for their wild talk of armed resistance to home rule.
 ''whatever happens" he said, T am afraid there will be some street rioting in Belfast and some of the other northern towns. If the home rule bill were to pass at once 1 am afraid there would be show of organized resistance but don't believe that they will be able to keep the ievel-headed, sens1ble men or the north worked up for two years in the pitch at which they are now. Our people are be- ginning to see the absurdity of it all and I hope and believe that in another year they will have made up their minds that resistance is useless and that the only thing for them to do is to mako friends with their neighbors and work with them for the general good of the country.
 "After all" he concluded with a smile we don't think England has made such a good job of governing us as she might I suspect that at bottom we wouldn't ob- ject a bit to home rule if we were to be the rulers. What we are afraid of is being ruled by the other fellows, who, we have been taught to believe, are ruled by their church, but I for one think we can trust to their Irish sense of honesty and decency." A
 Heredity