The New York herald., 1921-11-02
Phrase 'Comradeship of
Great Parent Races Struck
Popular Chord.
BELFAST GROWING sANER
plebiscite on Peace OF War
May Be Taken in the
North.

Special Cable to THE NEw York HERALp.
Copyright, 1891, bv THE NEw York HERALD
New York Herald Bureau.
London, Nov. i.
The Irish negotiations will prevent
the departure Of Premier Lloyd George
for Washington on Saturday. But Il
is because he hopes to wind up the
Irish conference-andw wind 1t up sue
cessfully-that he has become recon.
ciled to the delay. THE New YORK
HERALD bureau is informed that there
is no basis in fact for the pessimisn
regarding the status OF the Irish nego-
tiations prevalent in many quarters ir
London to-day following the Prime
Minister'S speech last night.
In Irish circles there are high hopes
at the prospect of a settlement, and
among British officials the air o!
cheerfulness increases the closer they
are to the actual conduct of the nego-
tiations A committee of f1ve-Lloyd
George. Austen Chamberlain, Lord
Birkenhead, Arthur Griffith and
Michael Collins-met for nearly an
hour to-day, and although no date has
been set either for another meeting OF
this committee or for session Of the
entire conference, both events are
likely to take place on short notice
any time tomorrow. .
One official, close to the negotiations
said tonight that nothing had hap
pened within the last few days to war
rant the assertion that the conference
had gone either forward or backward
and while both sides are meticulously
careful not to discuss actual events
taking place behind the conference
doors and while British officials care
fully insist that there is ample ground
for the grave tone of the Prime Min
ister's speech last night, the general
reflection is one of hope.
Purpose of Speech.
Most observers to-day interpret Mr.
Lloyd Georges serious references tc
what would follow rupture In the Irish
negotiations as designed in the Trst place
to impress the House of Commons with
the very real gravity of the situation
and to make sure that no more Tories
would break from the coalition ranks
and join the forty-three malcontents. in
which manoeuvre he was eninently sue
cessful, ana, second, to rouse the country
to what failure means In the way OIL
sending new men to fight and raising
new money by taxation. -
Perhaps the most important result oi
the speech and one which MIR. Lloyt
George probably did not deliberately In
tend. is that Il has pleased most Irish
men. including those close to the Irisf
delegation in London. Aside from ;h'
fact that the speech clears the air. they
are fully alive to the lofty tribute tt
ireland in Mr.. Lloyd Georges .perora
tion. They call It celtic rhetoric. bu
it pleases them. The Frcemdh's Jonr7,d
says this morning Lloyd George strucl
the right note when he defined the prob
lem not in die hard terms as Dragon
Ing rebellious subjects, but as substitu
ton OF comradeship for enmity between
the great parent races II Lloyd George
would always think and act on tha
plane the obstacles in the way. OF ;
settlement would speedily diminish !
they did not wholly disappear. Unfor
tunately he seems to feel that It is nee
essary that he too should be allowed t
flourish the big stick"
ChambcrIain's Defence.
Another reference which has greatly
improved the Irish attitude toward tho
negotiations was Austen Chan1berlain's
defence of the integrity OF the Irisl
plenipotentiaries and their sincere eff
forts to avoid instances of breaking tht
truce. Imagine a leader of the Union
ist party calling Mike Collins man o.
honor" said one Irishman. with
merry smile to-day.
But perhaps the best indication tina
the negotiations have not reached any
thing looking like an impasse Is that th'
Government has not yet taken the slight
est step TO strengthen the Crown forces
in Ireland. Both the Royal Irish Con.
stabulary and the auxiliaries are each
about 500 men under strength at the
present moment, and no move has beer
made to fll the ranks.
Though neither side feels that 1t wants
to start hostilities should the truce END
It Is not believed that these gaps IN th'
ranks would be permitted IL the situa
tion was really desperate.
Ulster still remains the crux or tht
situation, as shown by the renewed pres
ence OF Lord Brkenhead at to-day
meeting despite the fact that Austel
Chamberlain also was present Thougl
there has undoubtedly been some dfs
cussion in regard to change In boun
daries it seems moro likely that TIN
Ulster question 10 revolving about tn
main question of sovereignty. and IL
settlement Is ultimately reached II VII
b. on the basis OF a real. united Ire
land.
May Reunitc ireland.
That means that the Sim Fein vii
make what Eamon de Valera called sac
rifioes to Ulster sentiment In return foi
listers accession to some single lfisf
rule. Though that is the settlement
which both sides in the negotiations are
seeking 1t must be admitted that there
Is still a serious difficulty In the way
OF any agreement between tho nortf
and the south.
Though there is a growing sentiment
among the saner leaders In Belfast tt
make reasonable concessions anc
though Austen Chamberiain'a callins
the Sim Fein delegates linen of honor
will undoubtedly have a favorable re-
percussion among the more Intelligent
people north of the Boyne. this very all
of conciliatiou has resulted In an in