The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-04-27

II :
Redmond, the Bishop of Raphoe, Mr.
Devlin and George Russell, in which
they emphatically insisted upon their
| demand for fiscal independence, and
crystalliZed their arguments in the
following terms:
We regard Ireland as a nation on
economic unity. Self-government
does not exist where those, nominally
entrusted with the affairs of govern
ment, have not control of the fiscal
and economic policy"
The report declares in opposition to
this demand for fiscal independence:
| Ulster takes a firm stand on the
basis of the peoples common pros
! perity, and maintains that the fiscal
unity of the United Kingdom must be
preserved intact, carrying with it, as
it does, the sovereignty of the I'm
perial Parliament and due represen-
tation therein
| The report points out that, while
Ireland's contribution to imperial
| taxation for the current year was
about 913,000,000, an important Sec
ton of the Nationalists opposed any
contribution, but the majority favored
a contribution ranging from G2,500,-
| 900 to G4,500,000 yearly.
The Bishop of Raphoe's fifth pro-
posal was supported by a majority
vote of the convention.
The report continues:
Eve regard as excessively danger
Gus the Nationalist claim that the
Irish constabulary shall come under
the control of the Irish Parliament at
the end of the war, instead of remain
| ing under imperial control for six
years, as provided in the 1914 act.
Failing any evidence of an ap-
proach to the narrowing of our diff
ferences, and in view of the new de-
mands of the Nationalist, we were
finally forced to declare that Ulster
is unable to participate in any scheme
of self-government for Ireland. We
can not overlook the strong prob
ability that the controlling force of
such would today be the Republican,
or Sim Fein party, which is openly
and aggressively hostile to Great
Britain and the Empire.
"a proposal was brought forward,
under which, in the Irish Parliament,
the Unionists should have temporary
representation largely in excess of
what they were entitled to on a popu.
lation basis. While approaching the
spirit of the offer, it was said, after
full consideration, that the undemo-
cratic character of the proposal rem
dered it wholly unacceptable"
For listers Exclusion.
The report shows that the Unionists,
with the object of meeting the Ma
tionalists, presented an alternative
scheme for the exclusion of Ulster,
based on lines, agreed to by the Off
cial Nationalist Party in 1916, and
continues:
The discussions proved beyond
doubt that the aim of the Nationalist
is to establish Parliament in Ireland,
which would be practically free from
effective control by the Imperial Par
lament. 1t is only necessary to draw
attention to modern political move
ments to realize the unwisdom of
establishing within the United King
dom two Parliaments having coequal
powers. All other countries have
fought against this disintegration
policy"
Declaring that the Nationalist policy
would be a constant menace to the
Empire, the report continues:
Had we thought that majority of
the convention intended to demand
not the subordinate powers Of previous
home rule bills, but what is tanta-
mount to full national independence,
we would not have agreed to enter the
convention
The report cites, among other
examples, that of the United States,
which established, at the cost of
much blood and treasure, national
unity, when the confederacy claimed,
like the Irish Nationalist, the right
to set UP an independent government, y
and adds:
with these and other examples be-
fore us, we can not help feeling that
the demands put forward, if conceded,
would create turmoil at home and
| weakness abroad. One of the many
| objections to the scheme presented is
that it would have made the future
application of federalism to the United
Kingdom impossible. For the reasons
stated we could not accept the Ma
tionalist proposals.
We desire to record our apprecia-
ton of the uniform courtesy and good
feeling, which characterized the pro-
ceedings of the convention through
out