The Washington times., 1922-02-19

r oNDoN. Feb. 1s.-Not with
any certainty is II easy to
forecast the political devel-
opment Of the free Ireland. 1t Is
not easy because the servitude Of
Ireland, maintained for 20 many
centuries by methods frought with
such terrible Observation-Disclosures,
confiscations. religious persecu-
tons, economic catasrophes. vast
emigrations-has 80 starved, dis
torted. and retarded the natural
and healthy growth Of q Gaelic
civilization and overlaid II with
so deep and tenacious q growth Of
foreign ideas and institutions that
we hardly know ourselves what
direction our free instincts will as
sert themselves.
We shall have to Find our
selves" and a critical world must
give US time. 1t Is not as II there
had been q peaceful and orderly
evolution toward political liberty
during which native ideas could
find gradual realization and, at THO
moment Of full liberty, come to full
fruition. The Legislative Union
with England, now In existance
for one hundred and twenty years.
knd ,bn oo,tra -, af$a,t
BY depriving US Of our Parlia-
ment-foreign colonist Parliament
as II was, composed Of a corrupt
and exclusive Protestant clique.
the descendants Of our own Eng
lish conquerors-it nevertheless de-
prfved US Of the only Irish organ
Of government which we possessed
and through which we might with
better fortunes have achieved q
national emancipation.
HAD PERPETUAL AGITATION.
The brains and energies Of these
men. I'll as they replaced the brains
and energies Of our own expatriated
leaders since the terrible wars and
confiscations of the seventeenth
century, were at any rate more
useful than hurtful to Ireland.
But the union Of 1900 left ireland
without any native organ through
which the national will could ex-
press itself even for the purpose
Of averting appalling economic dis
asters such as the famine Of 1846,
much less for realizing native poll
teal ideas. We were driven back
into perpetual agitation-the worst
soil for orderly development-agi-
tation by violence at home and
by rhetoric and intrigue In q. for
eign Parliament at London.
Much, no doubt, was eventually
accomplished after infinite suffer
ing and misery by these methods
land refrom. Church reform, 10
cal government reform; but every
social reform bore on the face Of
II the English stamp. made in
England" and many vital social
reforms have never been made at
all. Attempts at political reform
bore the same stamp-Home Rule
Bills. drafted by Englishmen upon
English models to suit English no
tons and prejudices, and brist-
ling with safeguards for British
interests.
It Is not too much to say that
not a single original Irish idea
Is to be found in this array Of
still-born bills and repealed and
and imperative acts.
The Irish convention of 1917,
though It apparently had a fairly
free hand for framing an Irish
constitution. was In reality fet.
tered by the condition that the
constitution must DO within the
Empire" and must, therefore,
conform to certain models.
We are. furthermore, by tenn
One thing Is certain. however.
We are deeply conscious Of our
own individuality and Of the
urgent call to express It in our
own way unaided and uncon-
structed.
THE ULSTER PROBLEM.
How Tar can we sec into the
future7
One great problem. unsolved
as I write. meets US at the out
set and governs numerous other
problems. Ii the organization Of
the nation to be unitary. or fed
eral. or quasi-federal7 The ques-
ton would never arise-for we
are instinctively and additionally
a nation of the unitary type-but
for the Ulster difficulty. But It
seems certain that an accommo-
dation with the North will neces-
state giving a local autonomy to
an area in northeast Ulster. With
a legislature having powers SINH
lar to those conferred by he
British partition act.
This will involve q quasi-federal
organization with an all-Ireland
central parliament at the sum-