The Irish standard., 1918-12-28
IRISH PEOPLE Resent -
Defeat IN COMMONS


Motion to Settle Irish Question Re-
jected-What the Irish and
= Other Papers Have
to Say.
BY 1876 votes to Is the House of Com
mons on Tuesday rejected a motion
that in view of the. Peace Conference
it was essential that the Irish ques-
ton should be settled without further
delay, in accordance with the prin-
ciples laid down by President Wilson,
and principles which, in the words of
the Prime Minister, the Allies were
ostensibly fighting for in every other
country.
Mr.. T. P. O'Connor, who moved the
resolution, remarked that he brought
1t forward to enable the Government
to complete the cycle of the liberation
of Europe.
us the Government of this country"
asked Mr.. O'Comor, Ito appear at the
Peace Conference to demand the liber-
alton of the small nations of the world,
and at the same time refuse the de-
mand of their own small nationality p"
Having referred to the urgency of
the question, Mr.. O'Connor went on
to say. 1T is as nation we make our
demand, and any settlement of the
Irish question must be a recognition
of Ireland as nation"
The Irish papers are all chagrined
at the tone of the debate on the Irish
Party's "acid test" motion, while the
Unionist papers regard it as an ex.
pose of the utter bankruptcy of the
Party's policy.
Under the heading 1.-THE Pharisees,"
the Freeman's Journal says: 1.-THE
fates decreed that the debate should
be a dramatic exposure of the Pharisa-
ism and hypocrisy of the present rul-
ers of Great Britain in their character
as the champions of small nationali-
ties. i. . BY all the logic of Presi-
dent Wilson's principles Great Britain
fs bound for her own sake, as much as
Tor Ireland's, to go into council with
clean hands. Had the Government
searched through the ranks of the
British representatives to discover the
member that should make the defense
OF the British usurpation in Ireland as
mean and pettifogging as it could be
made, the Government could not have
made better selection than the pitt
full Mr.. Short. The irony that plays
upon the relationship of Great Britain
and Ireland was never more manifest
than in the fact that at the present
revolutionary crisis in the history of
the world, Mr.. Short, X. c., member
for Newcastle, should be the spokes-
man for British tyranny before the
world.
Mr.. Shorts Arguments.
ireland, he says, in effect, cannot
have liberty for two reasons. First of
all, one per cent of the Nationalist pop
ulation are engaged in the preparation
of revolutionary outrages. How many
of the new nations of Europe would
disappear from off the map if freedom
from revolutionary outrage were con-
dition of their new status? The Sec
ond reason is that small minority of
lrishmen are opposed to the liberation
of their country. Where is the liber-
ated country ir which minority did
not exist opposed to it's liberty?
such arguments reveal no mind;
they are only the cloak for the invet-
crate instincts of tyranny, which al
ways seeks to clothe itself in some
part of reason, and was never more in
need OF cloak than today.
Mr.. Bonar Law had the courage to re-
proach the Irish members with failing
to initiate the example of Mr.. Red
! mond. The name of the dead Irish
leader ought to scorch the tongue of
any member of the Coalition who in
vokes it. They 1t was who let him
down and betrayed him. They it was
: who intrigued to defeat him, not only
in his attempt to bring the Irish anu
British peoples together, but even in
his efforts to keep Constitutionalism
alive in Ireland. AS a contributor to
the grammar of anarchy Mr.. Bonar
Laws reference to Mr.. Redmond's
name and work was an exercise of
sublime audacity."
"shameIess Juggling"
IF the vote," says the Cork Exam
liner, "is to be regarded as a repudia-
tion by the Government of it's obliga-
ton to this country, and of it's pledges
to the Irish people, it will take more
than the glib utterances of Mr. Short
to justify such shameless and discred-
liable political juggling. That
Ministers fear an appeal to the Peace
& Conference was indicated by Mr.. Laws
A.