The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-27
Lloyd Georges Reply


 as follows;
 Sir: The British government are profoundly disappointed by your let ter Of August 24. You write of the conditions of the meeting between us as though no meeting had ever taken place.
 T must remind you, therefore, that when l asked you to meet me six weeks ago, l made no preliminary conditions of any sort. You came to London on that invitation and ex- changed views with me at three meetings of considerable length. The proposals 1 made to you at those meetings were based upon full and sympathetic consideration of the views which you expressed.
 They were not made in any hag- gling spirit. On the contrary. ny colleagues and I went to the very limit of our powers in endeavori1g to reconcile British and Irish inter- ests. Our proposals have gone Tar bey ond all precedent. and have ueen approved as liberal by the whole of the civilized world. Even in quar- ters which have shown sympathy with the most extreme of the Irish claims they are regarded as the ut most which the empire can reasona- ply offer or Ireland expect.
 The only criticism of them I have yet heard outside of Ireland is rom those who maintain that our propos- als have overstepped both warrant and wisdom in their liberality. Your letter shows no recognition of this, and further negotiations, must, l fear, be futile, unless some definite prog 11 rda to a basis.
 You declare our proposals involve the surrender of Ireland's whole ra- tional tradition and reduce her 10 subservience. What are the Tacts? Under the settlement we outlined, Ireland would control every nerve and fibre of her national existence. She would speak her own language and make her own religious life; she would have complete power over tax ation and finance; subject only to an agreement for keeping trade and transport as free as possible be- tween herself and Great Britain; her best market
 Authority Uncontrolled
 %She would have uncontrolled au- thority over education and all the moral and spiritual affairs of her race; She would have 1t also over law and order; over land and agriculture; over conditions of labor and indus try; over the health and homes of her people, and over her own defsase.
 She would, in fact, within the shores of Ireland be free in every respect of national activity, national expression and national developme ent, The states of the American union, sovereign though they be. enjoy TO such range of rights.
 Our proposals go even further. for they invite Ireland to take her place as partner in the great common wealth of free nations, united by al- legiance to the King
 We consider these proposals com pletely fulfill your wish that the principle of government by consent of the governed should be the broad and guiding principle of the settle ment which your plenipotentiaries are to negotiate. That principle was first developed in England and is the handspring of the representative in- stitutions. which she was first to ere ate. It was spread by her through out the world, and is now the very life of the British commonw ealth
 We could not have invited the IT, ish people to take their place in that commonwealth on any other principle and we are convinced that through it we can heal old misunderstan ndings and achieve an enduring partnership as honorable to Ireland as to the other nations of which the common wealth consists.
 But when you argue that the re- lations or Ireland with the British empire are comparable In principle to those of Holland or Belgium with the German empire, I find 1t neces- sary to repeat once more that those are premises which no British gov ernment whatever it's complexion, can ever accept.
 Claims Impossible
 'In demanding that Ireland sho lld be treated as a separate sovereign power with no allegiance to the crown and no loyalty to the sis.er nations of tho commonwealth, you are advancing claims which the most famous nationalist leaders in Irish history, from Grattan to Parnell ,.nd Redmond. have explicitly disowned
 "Grattan. in famous phrase. de- clared that The ocean prot ssts against separation and the sea against union.' Daniel OCoanell. most eloquent. perhaps, of. ali the spokesmen of the Irish national cause. protested thus in the House of Commons in 1880:
 Never did a monarch receive more undivided allegiance than tho present King from the men who in Ireland agitate the repeal of the union. Never was there grosser cal umny than as to assert that they wish to produce separation between the two countries. Never was there a greater mistake than to suppose that We wish to dissolve the connec- tion.'"
 The premier then quotes a letter written In 1854 to the Duke of Wet lington by Thomas Davis. "a fervent exponent of the ideals of young Ire land." as advocating the retention of the imperial Parliament and the giv- ing to Ireland of Senate selected by the people; the right of levying cus- toms and excise and other taxes; the making of roads, harbors. railways. canals and bridges; encouraging man ufactures, commerce, agriculture and fishing and the settling of the poor laws, stithes. tenures, grand juries and franchises.
 "The British government" the text of the reply of MT. Lloyd George con tinues, offered Ireland all that o'Connell and Thomas Davis asked and more. We are met only by an | unqualified demand that we should recognize Ireland as foreign power. It is playing with phrases to suggest that the principle of government by consent of the governed compels rec ognition of that demand on our part. or that in repudiating 1t we are tstraining geographical considerations l to justify claims to ascendency over the Irish race.
 Limitat tions Vital
 There is no politicla principle, however clear, that, can be applied without regard to the limitations i'm | noSad hy physical and hisforica