Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-16
GHOSTS OF THE PAST STAND
BETWEEN IRELAND AND PEACE
LLOYD George and De Valera Alike are
UndoIne the Work Of Wrong
Minded Predecessors

NHIIJJOSS of amateur statesmen uh-
W trouh,ed by a knowledge of history
unmoved by any recognition OF the IRE,
mendous mart that emotional and spiritual
forces have come to play in the affairs Oh
nations will sit down now and write Dl'St'r-
inc ipdictments of Lloyd George and tamon
do Valera. They know how the business IN
Ireland should be settled They are worlus
away from the scene and from the iac'"
but they know! We have had their word
for it in the past. l..
One army will demand to know what
could be more reasonable than the Claims
advanced SO lucidly by Mr.. de Valera an
other will demand to know what coulu oe
more reasonable than the reply OF the hritish
prime Minister. And both schools of criu-
c;sm-thc pro English and the pro- Irish
will have justification for their partiShh-
shin Mr. LLOYD George and Mr.. de NaIera
are alike infinitely reasonable in the state
ment of their cases. That is why the
.'deodlock" of which a large part OF the
world is talking may be no d"adIorK nt a"'
hut nm inevitable preliminary to new discus
sions and peace.
The trouble, meanwhile. is that reason
nlone appears to have only limited po-
tcntiality in the world affairs OF the mo-
ment. Governments are just beginning 10
learn that other factors have to be rcckoheu
with in every great human crisis.
The terms and conditions suggested to the
Dali Eircann by Lloyd George asSur" to the
nconle of Southern Ireland all the practical
advantages of national independence ana
self government. But it happens that the
Irish question is like no other political
ouestion in the world. 1t Is too old. 1t
has been too long neglected and mishandICd.
II Is complicated by passion and cIouded nS
bitter tradition and thousand tcrrlDlc
memories.
The inhabitants Of ireland. especially
those in the South, are not lacking in I'M
agination Things that might be said TO
be Of the heart often can coun! more heavily
with them than things that can be weigh'u
and measured in practical ways lhey
want more from the British and from the
world than autonomous government They
want recognition of their racial entity thelr
racial spirit and their own national ideal
ism. They want to realize an ancient hope
and to attain what in their view is an un-
questionable moral right.
With such aspirations as these 1t would
be difficult to quarrel in an Ideal world BUT
YOU have only to look around little, at
peoplc close to your elbow or in the hlgher
seats of civilization, to understand how
difficult it is for any nations or, indeed, any
men. to achieve and enjoy all of what they
NAV know to be their moral rights.
The complexities of social and national
relationships which make compromise nee
essary at every step In the progress OF hoV-
ernments and individuals may be amcntable.
| Rut they are present. They have to be
| dealt with. The Government of Mr.. Lloyd
| George didn't create them any more than
| Mr.. de Valera and the present generation In
| Southern Ireland created the f"vcrish desire
| to be rid of English control. The dead past
| Is forever complIcating the problems OF the
| living present.
English ministers and administrators
Numbered cruelty and blindly in Ireland.
| The insurgence and desolation of the present
are inevitable results of their work. The
cry for independence is a cry against theo-
ries of rule long buried with the British
statesmen who originated them. All the
| songs and legends and traditions and ht"ra-
| ture Of Southern Ireland tend to preserve the
| character and the ambition and the race
consciousness of a people Of distinctive
traits and talents and tcmperament-and to
| preserve dislike unforgiveness and prejudice
| as well.
| A people that has endured so long and
| survived so much may reasonably demand to
| be the master Of its own destiny. Yet Mr..
! Lloyd George would be traitor if, as Prime
Minister in England he were not cautious
and tirelcss to safeguard the empire at its
| very foundations.
1t may be true, it probably is true. that
| an independent Ireland would never aid in
| war against England. The fact remains
that it would have the power to aid such II
var II it willcd to do SO and that the seat
! Of the British Government might, at the
whim of an Irish President yet unborn. be
| pnD,DallnI IN fupp pDpmipS i'm tlr ron us
| well as enemies in front. Such II pUSSi-
| bility, no matter how remote ii may seem,
| is what Irishmen and EnglishmCn alike must
recognize now.
The temper and the terms suggested in
the Prime Minister'S letter to Mr.. dr Valera
| are suggestive Of Il revolutionary change IF
| front in downing Street. In comparison
with the Home Rule programs Of tine past,
| Mr. Lloyd Georges program represents a
| long advance in generous and progressive
| thinking. 1t does not propose an ideal
! peace or perfect settlement Of the age old
conflict of desire and feeling between the
| Irish and England. 1t does propose q peace
which is us near perfect as it can be in the
imperfect world with which we are immc-
diately concerned. Moreover, on its face il
! Is obviously not an exclusively English
pence.
1t is clearly evident that the new policy
here revealed was inspired by the recent
conference Of Prcmiers and that it reflects
the feeling of Canada, Australia New Xen
land and the Union Of South Afrra-grpat
and free COmmOnwealthS that are pioneering
magntCently in the democratic philosophy
II is peace that is broad as it may
safely be made IN world of repressec
tumult and crOwding uncertainties.
Time might, and probably wilt, bring i
nearer to the ideal peace in which the Irisl
p"opI" could stand absolutely alone. Irish,
men who profess to see in it only an inyi,
taton to n new surrender may be clinging I,
very nigh and brave hope. They migh
conceivably tear loose from the British Elm
rirc, but wouldn't they then be driftjn,
dangerously toward n sort Of isolation which
most nations shun in times that are teachinI
all democratic peoples that they must elm
together or risk disaster?
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