Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1913-12-27
Certain That Nothing VIII Be
Approached Before
January.
Redmond and Asquith Can Eat
christmas Dinners i'm
Peace.
Everything Points to a Peaceful
Passage Bill without
BlOodshed.
GOVERNMENT LINES Are firm

This past week the Hon. T. p.
OConnor, M. p, in an encouraging
cablegram to the American press.
asserts that, as regards the battle
for home rule for Ireland, nothing
decisive will be known until Janu-
ary. There is, he says, a certain
division of opinion among home
rulers as to the period at which the
Government should allow any de-
cisive point to be reached. One sec
tion believes that time is fighting SO
much on the side of home rule that
the Tories should be allowed to stew
In their own juice until they reach
period when the passage of the
home rule bill into law is seen by
even the most partisan Orangemen
to be inevitable. 1t is calculated
that being then compelled to make
a choice between accepting Minis
terial terms or rebellion, they will be
much less arrogant than they are
today.
Another school of liberal thought
Insists that If nothing be done be-
fore the meeting of the House of
Commons in February party passion
will be greatly inflamed and the
Orangemen may resort to such vio-
lent proceedings in Parliament as
to make it difficult for them to re-
turn to reason later on. / do not
attach any Importance to these fears,
which think unreal, but this form
of pressure from their own most
staunch supporters may influence
the Ministry to hurry up negotia-
tions instead of allowing them to
take the normal and slow course. 1
take it as now inevitable that some
thing must be given the Orangemen
to save their faces and enable them
to abandon their present wild policy,
but IL is. difficult to say what the
concessions should be- Ther nost
Objectionable and impracticsble sug-
gestion, and the one which Irish
Nationalists especially abominate-
namely, the exclusion of Ulster from
the Irish Parliament believe may
be regarded as dead and buried.
An agreement that is more pos
sible is the withdrawal of Irish con-
troll of the Postoffice and perhaps of
the customs, as inconsistent with the
future scheme of federation and
home rule all round. There may also
be modification with regard to the
appointment of the high court
Judges by the Irish Government,
that being retained in the hands of
the Imperial Government for GER
tain number of years.
Home rule within home rule once
more is advocated by Sir Edward
Grey. 1t presents many difficulties
and must be carefully thought out
before agreed to, but 1t is certainly
less Objectionable in the opinion of
most Irish Nationalists than ex-
clusion. 1t is probable that Sir Ed
ward Carson will hold out against
any proposal except the perpetual
exclusion of Ulster, and the Irish
Nationalists would rather destroy the
bill and destroy the Government
than submit to any such arrange
ment. But Carson is known to be
anxious for a settlement and it is
thought he may adopt officially an
lrreconcilable position. This would
not prevent a settlement of the
Ulster question on more moderate
lines than he wants. 1t is pretty
certain that the whole force OF the
English Tory party will be given to
any reasonable arrangement and
Carson, deserted by the English
Tories, becomes impotent. Another
scheme thrown out is the temporary
veto by Ulster members in the Irish
Parliament of any legislation ap-'
plicable to Ulster.
All of these proposals are inspired
by a desire to prove to Orangemen
that they will be safeguarded from
all possible and impossible oppres-
sion by an Irish Parliament. They
are unnecessary OF course, but they
will answer a double purpose. First
they will relieve any anxieties whicn
are genuine and will be accepted; or
II they be rejected they will prove
to the English world the utter un-
reasonableness of the Orangemen
and that will get for the Government
the full support of English opinion
in taking any steps necessary TO pre-
serve law and order In Belfast.
Thus everything today points to a
comparatively peaceful passage OF
home rule to the statute book next
year. Settlement is in the air and
all racial instincts Of Englishmen, as
we'll as hatred even of the possibility
of bloodshed. make the result in
eyitable. Premier Asquith and John
Redmond both can eat their Christ
mas dinners in peace and comfort.