Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-27
in the back of the neck and join the ma
tionalist forces.


The army is sorely puzzled. 1t is
tory institution. SO far as the officers
messes are concerned. and incapable OF
understanding the folly of the radical
government. They remember that irish
nationalists cheered Boer victories in
South Africa. and they are convinced
that the only loyalists in ireland are
Ulstermen. That they should be EXPECT
ed to use their swords to force Ulster
out of the United Kingdom is something
quite beyond their powers of under
standing.
So much for Ireland In England,
Scotland and Wales the trouble is differ
ent only in that it
Issue Is Political. is altogether politi-
cal without relig
Not Religious. ious or sectional
complication. The trouble in England is
that if the army refuses to obey the
orders of a radical government simply
because the army Is tory and doesn't
choose to regard the present government
as loyal, then the labor men will take
hand.
Within the last two weeks a hard and
fast agreement has been made by the
three largest unions in England, repre-
senting the dock workers the railway
workers and the coal miners. If the army
should refuse to put down rebellion in
Ulster, these three unions would at once
order general strike that would paralyze
transportation and industry In England,
and bring London to the verge of starva-
ton within week.
Over against these elements of danger
one must set the marvellous British ca
pacity for compromise. Not even a Chi
nese statesman will do more to save his
face" than an Englishman, but granting
that there be no loss of dignity. the Eng
lishman prefers a peaceful settlement to
a fight. The only trouble is that some
questions are so deep that compromises
only plaster over wounds, not healing
them.
In all probability the struggle will be
long. Ten years or twenty will be re-
its remolding into a more democratic
form. The olgarchic governing class
must yield in the end. and it is largely
with this class whether they will recog-
niZe the inevitable and sacrifice their
privileges to save the country, or whether
they will attempt to hold what they have
and force a revolution of blood and fire.
AS for Ireland, the future brightens.
No matter if there is a war, it can have
but one end, and that
Bright Future the triumph of the new
Dublin parliament. Ire
lor Ireland. land will be a nation:
not separate from the British empire, in
deed. but still a nation even Canada
or Australia. The breaking of seven
centuries of alien domination unquestion-
ably will result in a new birth of hope
and power that will cause Erin to re-
gain it's loss and take front rank among
the nations of Europe.
What the future holds for Britain al
fects, of course the whole wide world.
The greatest empire among men lives
not to itself alone. When the French
revolution changed forever the current
of political and social affairs in Europe,
England resisted. and but slowly. slowly
during the century after did it admit the
changes that had their birth in the last
quarter of the eighteenth century. Now
she is paying the price of what was then
her prudent conservatism. If she can
settle her problem peacefully, the whole
world should rejoice, for other countries
have difficult problems ahead, and no
one believes they should be settled by
force
On the other hand. the danger is that if
the conflagration should break out In
staid and conservative Britain, nothing
could prevent explosions from the great
body of unrest and discomfort to be found
among the working class of nearly all
European countries
Despite the dangers, which may not be
blinked, one feels instinctively that some
how British craftsmanship will find
way out, and that which now seems to be
a threat of terrible disaster will in the
end prove but tempest in teapot.