Dec, 29.
Ir is, perbiaps, permissible to point with some pride to the comments of English newspapers on the outrage on Lord French and to their united desire that the outrage shall make no difference to the spirit in which the British Government and people deal with Ireland. Except for the greater position that he holds, the attempted murder of the Lord Lieutenant is nowise different from the actual murders of Irish constabulary and soldiers which have darkened the recent pages of Ireland's history. Such crimes by individuals cannot and must not affect the essential rights and wrongs of the whole case, nor lessen the sincere wish of all Englishmen to devise for Ireland a settlement acceptable to her. If repressive measures have been found necessary—and let it be remembered that they are enforced even more in the interests of the Irish themselves, the great mass of peasants and farmers, than in. that of British authority—it is widely recognized that no country, Treland least of all, can! be ruled for ever by repression, and that the present regime must be strictly limited by the time required to evolve that system of Home Rule which has been promised and will be granted.
That the scheme unfolded by Mr. Lloyd George goes far to meet all reasonable demands, and more, is clear even from the telegraphed summary printed today. In all essentials of finance and administration Ireland receives the fullest possible measure of independence and self-responsibility. Certain powers are retained by the Imperial Government: and what dispastionate onlooker will question the righteousness of. the reservation in view of Ireland's geographic cal position and, it must be regretfully added, her present tem-
{per? But even of these powers, considerable portion will pass ito Treland as she shows herself ift to wield them. Meanwhile it is highly satisfactory to note that the rights and safety of the Protestants are to be preserved by means of dual legislatures, one in the south, one in the north; and that there is to be no separation. It is well that the Irish should realize that if they cannot goad Great Britain into vindictiveness, neither can they terrorize her into weak submission. That they will express the slightest satisfaction at, still less gratitude for, the Prime Minister's plan, no one of course expects. But it may be that as time passes and the merits of the scheme are better realized, the force of that earnest adjuration of Mr. Lloyd George's will come home to them—that the question now is not who is blameworthy but how to set matters right.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.