The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1914-02-16
TIL: IRISH CRISIS.

New York Times: The most sig
nilcanl feature Of the situation in
ireland. and in the United Kingdom
government is treating 1T with great
seriousness. The language of tho
kings speech is, Of course. that rf
his ministers, hut tho intense feeling
with which it Was uttered, tho plain
desire ON the part of the king thai
it should be impressive. a evident
~ due 10 his Owl realization of tho
grave issues involved. In the debate
that followed. members of the house.
on The one side and on the other, did
war;" some rs a threat. others us an
accusation. And the words OF The
speech, whilc avoiding this explicit
phrase very plainly implied it.
The ultimate question is tho cocr-
'riun "f tho larger part of Ulster. This
is brought ON by the conduct and the
ut,crances OF the mon of Ulster aud
tho the English eol"nists. They have
declared that they will resist the
aNay Of Il Dublin parliament by force.
They have made many preparations
tn do So. It tho home rule measure
is 10 he passed, the government will
either have to persuade the Ulster
men. by concessions. to yield at any
rate for = tilaC. or they will he conf
PEELED to overcome forcihlc resistance
by tho Use of tho army. Mr.. As1uith
aud ms associates arc evidently .triN-
Ing earnestly It" devise concessions
that Ulster will accept. So far the
effort has failed. The government is
not prepared to grant exclusions; u
Ster has shown no sign of accepting
anything short of exclusion. Mean
while the unionjsts present. as a prac-
tical alternative a dissolution OF par-
lament n Il general election.
Tho alternative is ON the surface,
logical enough. and would he nlc-
%'nlnatc were il possible to hold y gem
oral election on tho single wcll-d~-
fined issue OF the inclusion or cHclu-
sion of Ulster. but thai is not prac-
ticable, other issues would lie
brought into tho canvass, the radical
social measures of the present gov
eminent, tho heavy increase in taxa
tion. the aims OF tho labor party, tho
the increase of the navy, and, before
the canvass was oNe tho question of
protection. With such confused and
contentious matters before the elect
crate. tho bearing on tho Irish que
ton of either party would he far
from conclusive. Neither party could
be said to have i. clear mandate on
that question, which would be left
very much in the condition it is now
in. MOI must it be forgotten, what
eve their professions. that the lead
crs of each party are powerfully i'll
nuenced by the desire for office. That
does not mean simply Office for them
selves, as to Which the chiefs are
fairly disintercsted, but Office, ernoll-
lent, honors for their lieutenants
and followers. IN an election all tho
devices. even the tricks, of practical
politicians would come into use to
cvade or sopllisticate the main issue.
Mr.. Asquith is quite within bounds
in saying that an election would not
be decisive.
Judging by some chapters in Eng.
lish history, VIC are justified in pre-
dieting that the present crisis, serious
and anxious AS it undoubtedly is, will
be settled by some form of compro.
mise. 1t is not easy to see along
what lines compromise can be reach
ed, hut it is inconceivable that civil
conflict will he allowed to occur. 1T
is obviously OF the horizon. and. log
ically, H. seems to draw nearer. Yet
we cannot but believe that before it
actually takes place, before blood is
shed. a path to peace will be opened.
\ TOKEN OF ESTEEM.
The Minnesota state Fair officials