The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-11-27
QUESTIONS AT ISSUE
IN IRISH SITUATION
Developments Have Preached a Most
TickIish Stage in the Negotiations.
tBy The Associates Press)

The big questions at issue between
the British government and the repre-
isentatives of the Irish republican par
lament have been:
Shall Ireland become entirely indie
pendent, or, if it remain within the
lBritish empire, shall there be two sep
arate governments in Ireland-one for
Ulster and one for the rest of the
country?
Prime Minister Lloyd George has re-
fused to consider any proposal which
would put Ireland outside the empire
The Sim Feiners have refused to
admit that Ireland should be split in
two parts.
Ulster has refused to unite in one
parliament with the Sim Feiners. 1t
has organized parliament of its own
under the government of Ireland act
The Sim Feiners also refused to set
up a parliament for the south of Ire
land, as proposed in that act. They
adhered to their own Irish parliament,
called the Dali Eireann, which they had
set up independently as the governing
body of the Irish republic.
That was the situation when the
truce began last July, after King
George had made conciliatory speech
at the opening of the new parliament
in Ulster
The purpose of the negotiations now
I in progress as defined by Lloyd George
and accepted by the Sim Fein repre-
sentatives, is ito ascertain how the as
ISOLATION of Ireland with the commu-
nifty of nations known as the British
Irish national aspirations"
The conferences began in July. Both
sides have at times entertained higher
hopes of a final and satisfactory set
Element probably than at any time
since the Irish question became a thorn
in the side of the British empire, but
there have been several crises when
the negotiations seemed doomed to
| failure
| The first of these occurred when
+. Lloy 4 George offered to de Valera at
consultation in London form of self
government in Ireland something like
that prevailing in the British domin-
ions. The Dali Eireann utterly re-
| jected this proposal on the ground that
it did not afford even genuine domin-
ion rule. For a time it seemed that a
| deadlock had been reached.
Lloyd George endeavored to resume
negotiations, but this move seemed
likely to be baked by de valera's in
sistence that the Irish delegates to
such a conference must be accepted
as having derived their authority from
a free and independent Ireland The
British premier refused to eoncede
that point, as, he said, it would con-
stitute recognition at the very ouset
of Ireland's claims for separation from
the British empire.
This obstacle was overcome by the
two parties agreeing upon Lloyd
Georges formula that the purpose of
the conference should be to ascertain
how Ireland's association with the en-
pire might be best reconciled with
Ireland's national aspirations.
Under that formula, meetings have
been in progress since early October.
The proceedings have been secret It
has been reported, however, that Brit
ish representatives submitted plan to
give Ireland a status of association"
with the empire and to allow her an
almost complete measure Of self-gov-
eminent, to be exercised by separate
parliaments in Ulster and south Ire
land, respectively, and by a central
council Jointly chosen.
This brought Ulster again into the
negotiations and compelled Premier
Lloyd George to defer his trip to the
Washington conference on limitation
of armament, so that he could devote
his time to an effort to overcome I'll
ster's hesitation or objection to coop