Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-01-17
Conviction Growing That Way
Has Been Found to Appease
Ulsterites.
Religious Differences Can BE
Kept Out of the Business
Scheme.
HIS WORKING BASIS FOR PEACE

The more the press discusses the
speech made by the Foreign Secre-
| tary, Sir Edward Grey, in Alnwick
the more is the conviction growing
that by his development of the idea
| of home rule within home rule"
apropos of Ulster and Ireland. a way
mas been found to appease the
| sensitiveness OF Ulster without Of
Tending the Irish in the rest of the
Island. The passages in his speech
most frequently commented on run
as follows:
Il made a speech at Berwick
two months ago as to the way a
settlement might be arrived at. and
l asked, What is 1t in Ulster they
are afraid of under home rule? They
will not tell us what they are afraid
of actually. They say they do not
like home rule and they will not
have it. We knew all that. We
want to know what they are afraid
is going to happen to them. If
they Will not go into particulars as
to what they think home rule will
do to damage Ulster they can only
leave it to our imagination to sup
pose what it is in their minds which
10 tue Tedl ulIIlCulty.
II do not believe for a moment
that the difficulty is the difficulty
of race between Ulster and the rest
Ireland. They are all Irishmen to-
gether. | believe that the real root
of the difficulty is the difference of
religion, and that but for that re-
ligious difficulty you would not
find there was any difference OF
race or point of view or anything
else which made ii difficult for the
two parts of Ireland to work to-
gether. If that be so it a little
narrows the question down. The
religious difference will not affect
matters of business. II will not
affect the management of the
customs and so forth, into Which
denominational considerations do
not enter. Are they afraid that the
daily business of government in
Ulster will be carried on in
Roman Catholic spirit in the parts
OF Ulster where there is a Protestant
majority? If that be so, say it
would be not easy, but at any rate
it would be quite possible to meet
them. Take such a thing as educa-
tion, for instance. Are they afraid
that the Roman Catholic spirit will
regulate the educational system of
Protestant districts? If that be so,
1t is perfectly feasible, consistently
with home rule, for the Ulster mem
bers, or by whatever machinery
you like to arrange it-a grand
committee of Ulster members or
whateevr you please-to put their
own education in Ulster and things
of that kind of daily administration
entirely in their own hands. That
is perfectly consistent with the con-
ditions laid down by the Prime
Minister at Ladybank, perfectly con-
sistent with the establishment in
Ireland of one Parliament and an
executive responsible to that Parlia-
ment. for the whole of Ireland.
"If you do that and go further,
and as regards appointments in
Ulster, put those in the hands of
Ulster itself; and If you give them
in a word what | describe as home
rule within home rule as far as
all the administration OF their daily
lives is concerned, | really can not
believe there is any one looking at
the matter impartially who can sup
pose for a moment that the religious
difference is going to do an injustice !
to the Protestants in Ulster. III you
put their own. affairs as regards ad-
ministration and everything con-
cerning their conscience, liberties
and daily lives in their own hands,
that surely ought to be a guarantee
enough.
"Since | sketched out something
of that kind at Berwick, some one
made a speech and said that moth
ing had said was helpful. Why is
II not helpful? II 1t is not helpful
Il is simply because the Ulster peo-
pie will not look at the suggestion.
| have sketched out an offer that
might be made. We have no inten-
tion OF Withdrawing anything We
have said before the bill Is passed
into law a third time, and If in the
long run there is trouble II will not
be because we have not shown a
spirit of conciliation or compro-
mise. II will not be because we
have not offered things which
would protect the people In Ulster
as far as their daily lives are con-
cerned, and education and so forth,
but because they have refused that
and have persisted In pressing their
opposition TO home rule TO the
length of destroying the very hopes
of the settlement for which we have
worked so long"