The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-08-31

DuDlln, july ol.-lreland is land o.
contradictions. The late Sir John Ma.
haffy, provost of Trinity college and a
famous wit, once kaid: ireland is the
land where the inevitable never happens
and the impossible is always happening.
Today it is not belying this character
At the moment when the greater part
of the country has declared for an in
dependent republic and Sir Edawrd Car
son is banging the Orange drum in III
ster more loudly than ever, there is more
real hope of a reasonable Settlement OF
the age-old Irish question than there
has been for years.
This is my deliberate conclusion arrived
at after week spent in interviewing
leaders and rank and file of all parties.
Never have l experienced such an at
mosphcre of sweet reasonablenesS and
common sense among the men who mat
ter, as is to be found in Ireland today.
Never have 1 seen less bitterness on the
part of the various political factions, and
never have 1 known the objection to Sc
cession from the British empire more
freely expressed on all sides.
l must except, of course, from this
statement two elements. One is political
Ulster and by political Ulster | mean
not the same sober business men and
workingmen of Belfast, but the men who
pose as political leaders, but who will
from the real people of the province.
The other is the political Sim Fem lead
ers who again have no real influence,
but who will have. to fall in line when
the labor end of the Sim Fem party
makes up it's mind to a rea6Dpable ar
rangement. between these two extreme
factions one finds the various brands
Of old-fashioned nationalists, the south
ern unionists, the old Irish landlords, a
Ia the Ulster business
men, the Dublin labor element and even
the officials of Dublin castle substantial
ly in agreement on some form or other
of dominion home rule as adumbrated by
Sir Horace Plunket. l do not mean by
this that all or even any of theme are
ready to accept the Plunkett scheme in
its entirety as it is now before the coun-
try. Nearly every man and group has
some detail to which he objects or some
details which he would like to add. But
all the differences are in non Jesse ntials
They are agreed on the main idea of the
dominion relationship of Ireland to the
British empire and it ought not to pass
the wit of man to devise some schen
which will satisfy them al
But hear many people saying: What
about the Sim Fein republicans who are
pledged to an entirely independent Irish
republic? Will they accept the dominion
settlement and eat all their words?" My
reply is that they will. or rather that
all that matters in the Sim Fein party
will, and all that matters is the labor
movement which is ruled by shrewd hard
headed men from Liberty hall. Political
Sim Fein ruled from s Harcourt street
by De Valera and Arthur Griffith has
no more influence in the control of Sim
Fein without the labor element than the
party has in the affairs of
the nation without the solid south.
/ base my belief that Sim Fem will
accept dominion settlement on con-
versation which l had with Tom John
son, treasurer of the I.Ish labor party
and Trade Union congress. who is III
my opinion one of the really big labor
leaders of the world. Johnson is So
cialist and a republican, but he is a
practical man. He realizes the impossi-
bility of hostile trade relations, such as
would almost inevitably arise between
an independent Ireland and England, and
while he departs in no way from his
republican principles ! am sure that he
is willing to wait for their realization
until some far future date if by doing
so he can secure the immediate improve
ment of conditions in his country. When
1 asked him the direct question whether
In the event of a lg3na fide offer Of
&c ninion home rule BY Britain his party