New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-11-30

ny lOTCe, anu Is OTSdillItu anu al iiou
TO resist Mr.. Asquith announced at
Ladybank a fortnight ago that If she
resists she will be subdued. Her one
crime is loyalty to the Union which he
is trying to destroy, and to the King
whom, by an unworthy trick, In No
vember, 1910, he made partner
in the passage of the Parliament Act.
There has been much talk OF Con-
ference. 1t was proposed by Lord
Loreburn, ex-Lord Chancellor and a
stanch Liberal. Mr.. Asquith categori-
cally rejects II. He will have no Con-
ference. He is willing to hold informal
conversations with Unionist leaders
which would bind nobody. He is
willing TO consider all proposals for
Ulster except the proposals which
Ulster holds vital. He tells Ulster she
must in any case submit herself to a
Dublin Parliament and that nothing
must be done which will erect a per-
manent or an insuperable bar In the
way Of Irish unity" In other words,
sooner or later Ulster must come to
heel. She must endure persecution for
conscience sake. She must pay the
penalty OF her industry and wealth.
Dublin will tax her TO the bone. Not
one right will be safe.
Mr.. Asquiths attitude is the attitude
Of Lord North when he resolved to CO.
cree certain colonies Of British origin
on the other side Of the Atlantic. Par
tisans then made light OF American
threats of resistance as partisans now
make light Of listers threats of re-
sistance. Ulster is, to say the least. as
much in earnest as we were in resist
ing the tea tax and the Boston Port
Bill. And Mr.. Asquth is perhaps as
much in earnest as Lord North was.
down the ages and for all time hand in
hand not only with Grenville, the au-
thor Of the Stamp Act. hut with the
hated Minister Of hated King VINO
between them drove us TO Revolution.
If to this day we eXecratc Gren-
vile. and execrate King George, and
execrate Lord North. with what feel
inGs ought we TO regard the British
Statesman who would enforce upon
Ulster the policy OF oppression which
these Ministers and this King sought TO
enforce upon us from 1865 to 1873?
Are their rights less than ours were?
! l.gs. 49,,
in America and mother in Ireland
Are the principles Of justice the same
or different on two sides Of the At
lantic? And, if they are the same, how
can we withhold from our kin in Ulster
the sympathies which Chatham and
Burke bestowed on ourselves; which
we ourselves have offered to the OPP
pressed Of all the world?
But Mr.. Asquith tells US that II he
emancipates Ulster from the rule OF
Dublin the South Of ireland will rebel.
Mr.. Redmond must have his will with
Ulster because without that great IN
dustrial province the new ireland will
be bankrupt at the start; as no doubt
II would. And at no cost must there
be a bar TO the unity of Ireland"
The answer is clear. There is no such
thing as unity In ireland. There is
no unity Of race; none OF interest, aOne
of religion, none in Industrial or social
life; none in litical doctrine. Ire
land a nation" Is a contradiction In
terms as well as a menace TO the King
dom and the Empire. Unity is a dis
honest pretence, n word OF sheer hy-
pocrsy; the thing does not exist.
Nevertheless, it may well enough he
true that the rejection Of this present
Home Rule bill, little liked as ii Is
anywhere in ireland, might be followed
by disorder in the Nationalist prov
inces. Violence, crime, cruelty, out
rage might once again break out: and
the shameful history of the last thirty
years begin over again. 1t might
amount to Civil War.
But if this be probable or possible,
what a comment on the Prime Min
isters policy. If he succeeds in forcing
through his Home Rule bill, 1t means
Civil War in Ulster If he fails, It
means Civil War in the rest of Ireland.
An American Adulator has lately de-
clared him TO be the Master Statesman.
He is a Statesman who has so ordered
the course of events that in one part
or another of the land over which he
rules Civil War is inevitable. That is
the Master Statesman and that the re-
suit OF his craftsmanship.
Nor is that all. Mr.. Asquith takes
for granted that he will be allowed to
kill Ulstermen for their loyalty. IT is
not certain that the King will be a
party to that process. 1t is not certain
that the Army would obey such orders.
Lord Wolseley long since predicted they
would not; and no man better than he
understood the temper of troops. 1t
&c very far indeed from being certain
that England would look on quietly.
A rifle shot in Ulster may find an echo
in England. Ministers lives in Lon
aor will not be safe. | do not believe
that English Protestants will be idle
snectators while Irish Protestants
ara shot down. 1t is probable, to say
the least. that the unionists are ma
iority Of the people Of England. They
stand pledged to support Ulster; peace