The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-10-04
"IrreeonciIabIe Views"

> intentions that Lord Loreburn has In
4 his proposals for a conference the very
fact of a thoughtful, reasoning man.
{, as his letter shows, making these pro-
,posals demonstrated to me that he did
q not yet grasp the rudiments of this
question. 1t is no question of petty
g detail with us. It is no question of the
? actual provisions of this bill, if 1t were
"a question of considering the best
"a Government of Ireland, of removing
grievances, of doing something more
for the economic progress of the coun-
!, try. If it were question for the ex-
Il pansion Of local government, or doing
something which might unite the peo-
: pie in one common cause for the prog
ress of Ireland, would be the first to
say above all things let us have q
conference But my Lord Loreburn
shall I say for shortness, between Mr..
John Redmond and myself upon this
question. We shall never give up the
principle for which we have fought of
being governed by an Imperial Parlia-
ment' with an executive responsible to
it. On the other hand, Mr..
Redmond would say, am sure. with
perfect honesty. The question to me
is not the good government of Ireland,
I would rather Gas heard him say in
the House Of Commonly have ireland
free and governed badly by ourselves
. than we'll governed by an Imperial
Parliament Therefore, it Is not al
question of good government to him;
1t IL a question Of separate nation
atty. You cannot reconcile these two
different views Of what is best for the
preservation Of our freedom. Until
you can reconcile them there is not
the slightest use Of our pretending to
meet in conference which must prove
abortive. I myself would make many
sacrifices to come to an agreement;
but I would be indeed false to those
who have made me their leader IL Il
gave the slightest encouragement to
the idea that any single loyal man in
Ulster Is prepared to give up, ever to
the smallest degree, the protection Of
the Imperial Parliament"
This means the rejection of Lord
Loreburn's proposal rs useless. be-
cause Of the impossibilfty of reconcile
ing the views of the Ulster Union
lists with those of the Irish National
lists. Sir Edward speaks for the I'm
ionist party, no doubt. and SO the lat
est proposal for conference may be
taken as at an end.
The Unionist Press on the Proposal.
BY the Unionist Press generally,
Lord Loreburn's proposal was regard
ed as a climb down and sign of
weakness on the part Of the Liberal
party and the Government The Lon
don Times referred to the letter as "a
public confession Of his (Lord Lore
burn's) belief that, as permanent So
luton, the Irish policy Of the Govern.
ment is indefensible," and went on to
say:
mo Unionist will agree that Ireland
must have National Parliament with
an executive responsible to 1t, and then
enter Conference to discuss the adj
r1inistration of bill which estab-
fishes such Parliament
The Globe says: Under no condi-
ditions can the Unionist Party join in
a conclave which is merely directed
towards the modification of the details
Of Home Rule scheme"
The Pail Mall Gazette says: There
can be no promise in a conference I'M
less Mr.. Asquith and his colleagues
are prepared to go back to the point
where they began. the connection Of
the present bill in collaboration with
Mr.. Redmond. and under the duress of
his Parliamentary resources"
The Standard says: 1.-THE Liberal
desire for a compromise is the meas
ure of their distress. But the COM
promise will have to begin on the Lib
eral side. There is no temptation to
Unionists to take part in another farce
like the abortive conference of 1910.
II Mr.. Asqutth chooses to
withdraw the bill, and invite Union
,ists to confer upon the Irish question
without e-judging the issue. the Of
fer would deserve, and no doubt re-
sceive, careful consideration"
And the Irish Times Gays: "But the
(, Immediate effect Of Lord Loreburn's
letter in Ireland is already clear. It
has fallen like a bombshell among the
onhcial Nationalists. They realize that
ri must deal heavy blow at the pros
gnsctss Of the bill, and it publishes at