Evening star., 1922-01-06

Mr.. De Valera said he could not ac-
cept the responsibility unless he had
the sole powers Of the government to
carry on his Office.
Michael Collins, the minister of
finance and leader in support of the
treaty, announced that he (Collins)
had offered his resignation, but that
Mr. De Valera had refused to ac-
cept 1t.
Mr. De Valera said he proposed ''to
lay down my Office and the house
must decide by constitutional means
who Is the chief executive"
Mr.. de Valera said he believed that
only by combining the treaty and his
alternative proposals could the coun-
try be kept together. II the treaty
went through there surely would be
rebels against the British govern
ment. he declared. ava,
Thank Cod" he exclaimed, I'll
never be a British citizen. I'll die
first"
Continuing. President De Valera
said:
Il propose to lay down my Office.
and the house must decide by con-
stitutional means who is the chief
executive"
He then offered the dali his resig-
nation, saying:
"And with it goes the ministry"
1t is reported that Eamonn De Va
lera, in seeking reelection to the
presidency, will do SO with a cabinet
of his own way of thinking. His re-
marks were construed to mean that
he would offer himself for reelection.
Peace Committee Fails.
The efforts of the peace committee
Of the dali eireann to bring about an
agreement on the Anglo-Irish treaty
failed today, and the dali. which had
met in private session this morning,
adjourned it's secret sitting at 1:1o
p.m. to meet again in public session
at 8 O'Clock this afternoon.
The daiI members as they came
from the chamber appeared depress-
ed, One Of them said the. committee
itself was divided this morning. al
though the members had been in
agreement on the plan which was
submitted to the leaders Of the op-
posing factions yesterday.
It was intimated to the correspond
ents that this plan had been rejected by
Dan Mccarthy said the whips on
both sides had been instructed to try
to bring the debate on the treaty to
a close this afternoon.
Il doubt" he said, whether a di-
vision can be taken today, but We
will certainly wind it all up tomor-
row. II we don't we all ought to be
thrown out Of the house"
Based on Collins Plan.
The political correspondent of the
Freeman's Journal says it is sur
missed that the committees plan fs
based upon Michael Collins sugges-
ton of last Monday. Mr.. Collins at
that time appealed to the treaty op-
pouents to allow the new government
to come into existence, reminding
them that they would thus not be
committed to its acceptance, being
free to act as its censors and as free
to oppose it should it fall short OF
Reports circulated regarding the
proceedings of this mornings private
session OF the dali indicated that the
MEMBER were hopelessly divided. 1t
was learned that President De Valera
had threatened to Design, and such
was the temper of the opponents OF
the treaty tnaL members OI tAc w
posite side said they would not be
surprised II he and his followers
walked out of the dali before the
vote on the treaty was taken.
before the afternoon session OPEN
ed Liam Roisite OF Cork said the
situation WAS extremely critical and
he feared civil strife might ensue
from the division Of the, country on
the treaty. 4 81. ~.
Dali Scored fer Delay. =; RS
Meanwhile sharp expressions Of i'm
patience at the delay Of the dali in
getting its business finished are heard
in some quarters. Thus the IrBh In
dependent, commenting upon the pro-
ceedings, says: There is no doubt
whatever that the country has become
tired and impatient at the long
speeches and tedious proceedings. The
deputies are faced by q definite task.
and instead Of tackling the task in .
business like way they have wandered
into all sorts Of excursions and made
speeches that could have been deliy-
ered IL no such issue as the treaty
were In question. There have been
countless Irregularities an6 irrele-