The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1921-12-09
WORLD WILL REJOICE
in RELAND'S PEACE
FREE STATE" Is STATUS OF
SEPARATION OF TROUBLED
ISLE.

According to cables from across
the sea on Wednesday "The Irish Free
State" has been born on the troubled
soil of that unhappy country, which
takes its place like the dominion of
Canada as to the mother country, The
announcement was made by the Brit
ish cabinet and representatives of
Iielanl after the world had begun to
despair of their conference amounting
to anything.
Only the fset that the final rapture
had not been announced and that the
negotiations were continuing gave
any hope Of success of the long series
of conferences in Downing street
Public AMI official circles appeared 60
have given up expectation of an un-
derStanding, and il bears Testimony
to the desperate straits to which the
negotiations had been reduced that
newspaper speculation in the past few
days has concerned itself chiefly with
the measures to be taken to enforce
order in Ireland. There has been a
recurrence, also, of the talk of an APP
peal TO the country by the British
parliament, following the tender of
cabinet designations.
Article IN OF the agreement pro-
vides that the oath to be taken by
the members of the parliament of the
llisll Free State shall be as follows:
do solemnly swear true faith and
allegiance to the constitution of the
ir1sh Free State as by law establish
ed and that | viii be faithful to His
Majesty King George V AMI his heirs
and successors by law, in virtue of the
common citizenship of Ireland with
Great Britain and her adherence to
and membership of the group of ma
tions forming the British common
wealth Of nations"
Ulster is included in the scope of
the new government, with the option
of withdrawal within one month, in
which case she will revert to the pres
ent status, with the vexed question of
boundaries to be fixed by a commits
sion. The new government will fix
its own customs duties, and satisfac-
tory arrangements have been made
regarding control of Irish ports by
the British navy. All military forces
are ts be withdrawn from ireland
uniefs aroPer safeguards.
The agreement reached must be
ratified at the British and Irish par
liaments, and Ulster will not be al
lowed to block the pathway to per-
petual peace The Sim Fein has been
pulling in one direction and Ulster in
another while the British government
has been making a desperate effort
to find a common ground for compro-
Iarv. he L.
! two Irish elements. With the slow
and at times Encouraging progress of
the repeated conferences held at the
call of Lloyd George, the reading pub
lie is familiar.
The conferences began in July.
Both sides have at times entertained
higher hopes of a final and satisfac-
tory settlement probably thap at any
other time since the Irish question
I became 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 Lloyd George
offered to De Valera at consultation
in London form of self-government
in Ireland something like that pre-
vailing in the British dominions. The
Dali Eireann utterly rejected this
pToposel on the ground that it dil
not afford even genuine dominion
rule. For the time it seemed that a
deadlock had been reached.
I Lloyd George endeavored to re-
sumo negotiations, but this move
seemed likely to be baked by De Va
lera's insistence that the Irish dele
gates to such a conference must be
accepted as having derived their au-
thority from free and independent
Ireland. The British premier refused
to concede that point, as, he said, il
would constitute a recognition at the
+ very outset of Ireland's claims TO.
separation from the British empire
This obstacle was overcome by the
two parties agreeing upon Lloyo
Georges formula that the purpose OF
the conference should be to ascertain
how lreland's association with the
empire might be best reconciled with
ITeland's national aspirations
/ Under that formula, meetings have
been in progress since early October