Evening Star Newspaper, December 25, 1921, Page 17

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES Part 2—10 Pages UNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 25 Belief Prevails That the U. S. Senate Will Ratify Arms Conference Pacts| BY N. O. RESIDENT MESSENGER. HARDING, while ill confident that the arms and far eastern accomplish- ments will be productive of dofinite results set forth in treaties #2ad transcribed into the laws of the participating, believes that if nothing concrete should be written, there would still be an a of zreat value to the world. e Helieves that the conference has convinced the peoples of the earth of tie possibility and practicability or the nations settling their differences in council; that it has demonstrated the futility of the old order of things; that it has obliterated hatred between nations and removed and abated sus picion and that the conference in fact marks the beginning of a new era in world relationships. And this is not blind optimism, but the sober reflection of the practical optimist the President is and of the man of affairs. * Kk ok ok nations W ratify the work of the conference whea it is written into treaties? The best judgment in Washington registers an affirmative answer to query. The foundation of this belief is the consideration of the un- thinkableness of the proposition that five of the leading nations of the earth and four more acting in col- laboration could compose their dif- ferences of opinion and conflicting in- | terests after protracted conference, counsel and concession, only to have the work nullified by a small group‘ of senators. Such an outcome, it is hbld. would seem to crush the hope of the exiat- ence of human reasoning and appeal to humanitarianism. throwing the world back upon the last resort of force. prejudice, passion and sus: picion. * % %k A quiet canvass of democratic atti- tude toward the expected treaties made within the last few days show- ed that while the possibility of mak- ing political capital out of the trea- ties seemed alluring to some of the| political topliners in the Scnate, the thought gave way to larger and broader considerations, and that there is little or no real intention to try to force politics into the treaty ratifica- tion. What might be gained, it seemed to be the ruling opinion. would Be more than offset by the possibility of loss in the indcpendent vote of the country, that element to which party affiliation is sec- ondary to higher motives. * % % % One of the interesting phases of the week's event in connection with the con- ference was the reaction of public senti- ment in favér of France, after the first outbreak of deprecation of France's de- mand for ten capital ships in t held to be contravention of the spirit of the conference. The incident served, it i aid, to show the real depth ard extent of tie Amer-| jcan spirit of friendship for France. which was exitibited in the reception ac- | nd appreciation brilliant setting corded Marshal Foch of Premier Briand's forth of France's position in Furope. The first announc ¢ of the French demand was met with a storm of pro- test, amazement and indignation, “as the public visioned the possibility of the ob- ject of the conference being frustrated. "This was due in part to the unfortunate way in which the French suggestion reached the public. i hievement j Vill the Senate of the United States | Then witen explarations were forth- coming, a tide of understanding of France's desires set in. As soon as Premier Briand cabled assurance that he objective of the conference would not be defeated tie country lent a | friendlier ear to the Frencp explana- tions. But it was a ticklish situatign for awhile, and the cmens and portentt were unfivorable to the continuation of the {hatpy conditions existing up to that | time. : EE Tt will not be very long now until the conference will be over, the delegates departing for their fatherland and the United States will settle down to con- templation of its own homely issues and problems. The delegates are beginning to show signs of restiveness -and are {looking up steamship schedules. The British hoped to get away December 31, but were compelled to cancel their reser- vations when the French had their out- break on capital ships. The Japanese expect to depart en masse by the middle of January and other delegations will {foliow soon if things go as well as ex- pectations now indicnte. Atter all. the conference has heen a great experience for the country, a sortie | into the realm of world interests and a distinct departure from the humdrum, prosy details of taxes, tariff, prohibition, politics and the plenitude of home fairs. Back to Main street after a whirl on | Broadway. one might say X Well, there is one tiing certain; the iDeople can get just as interested and | excited over domestic questions as they can over “spheres of influence.” “agen- | da,” “communiques.” premiers, princes | and potentates, naval ratios and all that sort of thing. Mark the prediction: | | when tie flags have ceased to flutter on | ithe Pan-American building and Conti nental Hall and the last visiting digni- tary has wavad his farewell, the Yankee { multitude in that restiess spirit which ever inquires “Where do we go from here?” will find things to interest at i home. ] B | “Then I suppose they will begin to on me” Congress might bef limagined as muttering. Very likely, iit is a favorite pastime of the great | American_public, and one very much !to its liking in the years that begin Fwith even numbers, such as 1922, as the congressional elections impend. | This Congress was elected in No- vember. 1920, and came into being legislatively in April. 1921, It func- tioned in extraordinary session until late in the following November and then resumed in regular session on the first Monday in December. Early in January. after the Christmas ‘re- it will get its full stride, and have to do some tall stepping in the months preceding the fall elec- ticns of November, 1922, The nomina- tions will begin along abcut May or June and continuue up to a month preceding the elections. i * 1 | | % i Soon after the first of the vear the| |voters will begin to worry about sure, it does not become due untilj stallmepts, if desired, but most fore- handed folk will have it in their mind just the same. That is where Congress will come in—the first test of public opinion upon its legislation. Watch the per- spiration break out on the politicians’ brow as they vision Mr. voter, and Mrs. Taxpayer-voter also, the application of the! new law to the family pocketbook. But why gloat over their misery? figuring up LR Indications presage the farmers’ tagonism bloc and that the “bloc the other themselves into a compact ing and able to ty secure in their present considerable discussion in Congress this winter of po: to that organization. wise ones on Capitol Hill point out is well organized and that the opposition consists of ele- ments in rather a fluid state, difficult to assemble into an attacking force. So, the friends of the bloc say that | until fellows t votes House and Senate, they will feel pret- ‘t Taxpayer- WhO’S_ Who coerene ‘ XXXI—Baron Kijuro Shidehara. Atthe Arms * ARON KIJURO SHIDEHARA, ambassador from Japan to the United States, one of the principal Ja to the Washington conference, is diplomat among diplomats. He is in- clined. however, to the more frank and “open” diplomacy of these latter days than to the old order. During his three years' service as ambassu- dor to the United States, Baron Shide- hara has shown his willingness to jdiscuss, and to discuss with great frankness, any subject which either the United States government or his own government has desired to bring up. He.has done much toward a bet- ter understanding between the two people—the American and the Japa- nese. a ible an- The organize body, will- in the intrenched position. The others may talk and} 5 talk and inveigh, but the farmers | Although Baron Shidehara is only Bloc votes, and votes count, mot|NILY years old, before coming to tuis speeches. country as ambassador he served LI Senator Capper, recognized as one of the leaders in Congress in all af- interests of the ed his surprise the other day over the indignation of the fairs touching farmers, expr the business men who against the bloc. are He remarked that he had thought the business interests had. for years regarded themselves as being very close to the government. Senator Capper called attention to a letter from Otto Kahn of New York “summoning business men to rally around the American business men's committee and save the country from through five different “governments” or administrations as vice minister of i foreign affairs. He is not what might be called a party man. He is a train- ed official of the Japanese diplomatic service—has been in the service since a youth—and has been regarded as such by the succeeding governments and retained in office. In this con- nection it may be said that Prince Tokugawa, amother of the delegates, is also not a party man, and Admiral Baron Kato is a representative of the present government, as minister of naval affairs. The delegation has had the confidence of the Japanese pro- pie to a very great extent, and all of lining up the machinations of the farm bloc. |their recommendations to Tokio have “Continuing, Senator Capper said:|been approved by the home govern- “In it Mr. Kahn disclaims any intent {ment. Baron Shidehara has a re- to form a busine hand of government.” He other protests against the bloc com- g from flnancial sovrces. “1 doubt,” commented Senator Cap- imagine strangely all this reads to many peo- ple in the west who long ago have! per, “if one can s bloc where, I sume, it has long been popularly sup- posed that business sat on the right markable command ilanguage. He thoughts in of the English is able to speak his English with great ex- actness of meaning. He did not, how- iever, ever attend college in either {the United States or England. For a long time he acted as “go between" |in the dealings between the principal |Japanese statesmen and Mr. Denni- n, an American, who for thirty- referred to how ac cp}l’d the idea that big business|seven years served as adviser to the and finance is an established. highly | Japanese government. From Mr. Den- powerful, highly efficient political | nison, a lawyer, Baron Shidehara ob- factor at Washington.” SOUTH CHINA AND INVITED TO ARMS FORUM Eight Countries and Groups to Be Represented at _ National Council. The National Council for Limitation will have at its inter-i of Armament national forum tatives of Sauth China, | Russia, bringing the number of coun- tries and political groups represented to eight, the other nations including England. Por- {tugal. New Zealand. Italy and North at the council’s forum China Princess Cantacuzene wi afternoon their taxes—their income tax. To be|the relation of the relief work of Rus- 0 ia to the peace of the w March, and is payable in quarterly in-| Moy, director of the China Trade Bu- !reau. will speak as a representatiy of the South China government Thurs and Frederick Moore, the forum Wednesda day, councilor to the Japanese fice, will come from New York Satur- to talk to the conference from the point of view of Japan. day LOYD GEORGE—Th IX—Lloyd George and Ireland ROM his earliest days as a politician Lloyd George has been an ardent home ruler. One of the first speeches which prought him into prominence was delivered in company with Michael Davitt, in the days when to be as- sociated with Davitt was regarded almost as would be association with Lenin and Trotsky today. Lloyd George has always been a home ruler because, as a strong Welsh naticnalist, he has had a fellow-feeling for nationalism in Ireland also. When he came to look into Anglo-Irish history he w that even overrepresentation of Ireland in a Tnited Kingdom parliament would never satisfy the fundamental Irish claim, and that nothing but Irish self-government could heal the ancient wounds and create friendship and real unity be; tween the peoples of the two isles. Ha was there fore, a passionate supporter of Gladstone's bills. k ok k Gk Home rule, however. was a dormant issue from 1893 to 1911. When the questién again game to the front in that year Lloyd George's attitude was significant. He was hotly for home rule, but from the first day that the subject came up to be dis- discussed in the cabinet he argued that some kind of special provision should be made for Ulster. e said then and he has said on countless occa- sions since that there was no possibility of uniting Ulster and nationalist Ireland by force. He was not concerned with abstract arguments from his- tory. He looked resolutely at the facts of the time, the facts which had to be dealt with, and he concluded that there were certain fundamental dif- ferences between the Ulstermen and the people of the rest of Irland which would defeat any at- tempt to treat them as if they, were the same. The foremost he considered was the difference of religion. As he has often said to me: *“I know the deep feelings of the little chapels of Wales. The Presbyterianism and Mathodism of Ulster is like it, only more tense because it is surrounded a.. Catholicism. I am as convinced as I can be that they will never submit to the control of the Roman Catholic majority in the south, ex- cept when their own consent has.been won. It may be lamentable, but it is a fact, and it is the duty of statesmen to face facts.” And when one goes to Belfast and finds the children scribbling oun the walls such #>xts as "Long live William III and the battle of tue Boyne,” one realizes that he is right, and that Ireland is still, in a measure, living in the days of the wars of religion. * k ok k In addition, Lloyd George feit that the re- ligious division was intensified by other differ- ances. Ulster lives on industry,.principally, ship- building and linen weaving, whose products are sold outside Ireland, reinforced by a form of farm- ing strongly remniniscent of the Scottish lowlands. The rest of Ireland is almost entirely agricultural. Belfast has the harsh but vigorous and progressive look of a prosperous western American town. Dublin and the towns of the south have something of the picturesque and easy-going beauty of south- ern Europe. And while the infusion of Anglo- Saxon biood is strong everywhere in Ireland ex- cept the extreme west, no one can travel in Ulster without realizing’ how unchanged are the Scottish settlers who have located there. Ulster is a part of Treland, but in its outlook and habits it be- longs far more to the north country across the sea than to the territory which lies to the south. It has always. therefore, been Lloyd George's convicition that, as in Canada, where there was no settling down while the British and French areas. Ontario and Quebec, were treated as one, so in Ireland the recognition that Ulster was dif- ferent was as essential to settlement of the Irish question as was the concession of home rule to nationalist Ireland. He pleaded this view vigor- ously before the cabinet, but, doubtless largely be- cause Redmond would not agree to it, it was re- jected. * ok k% Lloyd George's sagacity was proved right. The home rule act was wrecked on the opposition of Ulster. So fierce was the determination of its population to resist incorporation with southern Ireland that with the tacit support of the unionist party they signed a covenant to oppose it by force, in defiance of law. The Ulster Volunteers, on whom the Sinn Fein Volunteers were later mod- eled, were formed, and it was only the dutbreak of the great war which prevented civil war in Ire- land, in which the two great English parties would have stood on opposite sides. Had Lloyd George's view prevailed with Asquith and Redmond in 1911 the terrible later chapters might never have been written. The great war.caused an immediate truce. The issue was so grave that all parties had to unite to deal with it, and everybody was glad of an ex- cuse to escape civil war and give time and reason a fresh chance. A compromise was reached where- by the home rule act was placed upon the statute book, but was not to be brought into ferce until some solution of the Ulster question had been found. * ¥ ¥ x Nationalist Ireland felt itself somewhat de- frauded, but despite certain untoward incidents connécted with recruiting there was a marked im- provement in Anglo-Irish relations.as both coun- tries threw themselves with enthusiasm into_the war. It really looked as f the great war was go- ing to heal the ancient feuds and make possible a generous and all-around settlement, to which Southern Ireland, Ulster and Great Britain could all willingly agree. 5 These hopes were rudely shattered by the abor- tive Sinn Fein rebellich of 191¢ and the proclama- tion of an Irish republic. The first effect of the rebellion was one of horror, in Ireland and else- where, 2t an act stabbing the allles In the back. i tained his knowledge of precise Eng- lish. At times Baron Shidehara has been charged by some of his countrymen with being too “pro-American.” But {he has kept out of politics and has RUSSIA Political this week represen- ! Germany is rapidly assuming a commanding position in the motion Japan and i picture export fleld. according to & report on the international motion picture industry made public ves- terday by the Department of Com- ! inerce. In the first nine months of this year more than 29.000,000 feet. or over 20 per cent of the total of I unexposed film entering this coun- | address on orld: E. & try, came from Germany. the report says. In the same period nearly 2,000,000 feet of exposed film have come from Germany. and it is esti- mated that more than 150 com- pleted pictures have been imported. four of these pictures—"Passion,” “Deception.” “Dr. Caligari” and “The _Golem"—have met with | | foreign | foreign of- anese delegates | { | gone the even tenor of his way, seek- | GE'RMANY RAPIDLY ADVANCES AS FORCE IN FILM INDUSTRY | BY Wi 1 ACRIFI or u traiped eng visfon that experience; mind and a organization. to $25, a score or more of men, each peace-tinve duty to bring about efli- towering seven-league boots. TBusiness Experts Make Sacrifices - To Help Put the Hoover Plan Across experts had to do—job spe and then went after men specifications Right here ILL P. K CING sakaries of $10,000 000 in private business, it must be st the specially qualiied within the department w h result- Hoover wanted men out who had made a success men with managerial an experience in certain He was looking for average The been providing men who nical. colossus © wearing Rather he is a the business world-wide er with comes of a of an analytical turn of highly developed gift for o the only magic in man. specific more commission Automotive—Gordon Lee: He has {been @ trade analsst for the auto-: [motive industries on behalf of u larg ated that in | financial institution. and has inves cifications to fit the in expert in his own particuwr | drafting his army of business experts | gated mirket co.ditions for the n- line, have come to work for the De- | the Secretary of Commerce has not d__u.\‘n in the far cast as well as in partment of Commerce, at salaries ignored the Civil Service Commission, | Furop He has lad an extersive S 0 to $6.000, as a patr nor has he at any time overloo experience #t Yome in the manitacs of132,7500 %0 man already | ture and sale of pleasure cars, mows ! trucks and ho could fit arm tractors. cient nomic reform— ant general prosperity—through es- | into these new positions. The trouble | eitrical Equipment—R. A. Luna- tablishment of “rhe ¥ was that the civil service commission ! qujcr: He Seikte R ‘A considerable volume of popular be- [ did not have the right type of men on i, ciectrical goods througnonc twe lief o the contrary motwithstanding, | its lists because it had previouslylpir cast, and more recently airwe Herbert Hoover is not a super-man [had no call for that sovt of men.|,.q jnq Fio! srionanad) oo Gow of busines in busines: d executive lines. than the has tech- Electrical Engineering School of the University of Minnesota, and has had extensive experi€fnce as a consulting engineer in connectic with t souri Power, the Westinghouse and the LaCrosse Water Power Companivs, Foodstuffs—Edward G. Moa.wom- o are the touch with which he is i»eg;(-'-ink' ey 8 H tormerl sharae o1 to quicken American business lies in o A e R . 2 v The general procedure was to get his truly remarkable ability to rubl B i o : “iations or | PUTEAU of margets. Departmest of won the right way and to get them[in touch with trade assoeiations. Ofd heriouinre. in th 4 2 echnica & ith which | ! . In thal deparirasat he e orking wwith him: technical organizations, Wi ISR e 3 * K kX K the Department of Commerce “‘as:'.”:" s ”_‘ aon v A HARRIS - ENING v frsg] COMSUIUNE through contact commit- {00 g ool b Ry Seeretary Hoover studied out fitsth (T, T gore nose trade associa- | WoTI4wide production and consump- what was wrong with the eXISUE | oo S0 BT Ccations and ask {77 {“ru:n‘..nu..h products as @ industrial, commercial ;\ml!trun‘;)rx.\:-. them 10 recommend men qualificd in | b2 0 rmr.':..,m,.:..,‘n, Tn{.l with itiarion,. Tidn heseotiithe mavisel L its e A ohe M ety Jose of assisting in determin- N ] S| TH A . ciness men, view = jing the agric al policies o s BARON K LIURORSHIDENARA of scores of business men, viewing| S0 C5 L ewn personal knowl- | 8 gricultural policies of thi %D coun He is a graduate of the ing to bring about a better under- standing between his countrymen and Americans. He dissipated much of the suspicion which has ex- isted in the past in the minds of the | Japanese regarding the United States|0f # plan and its possible ambitions. Also he pepartment Psulting the how best t Next he sa the situation from all angles, together to put thi Having laid edge and acquaintanc of Secretary Hoover Secretary Claudius H. Hu: Digithinesaceos . | P le candidate: He 1 out the groundwork |, 6o e ong then listed for development of the, of Commerce, after con- practical business men, the situation. levs all work | remedy Now, o id, mended. making a card c: all the Best men in the ¢ hip and that nd them the names of the men recom- University of Nebraska and was for- merly & member of the faculty of that {institution and Fuel—Henry Assistant ston to find 4id out the 4 up under later of Cornell. { Morris: He | graduate of the M husetts Insti- | tute of Technology, and has had ex- iwnmr.- experience as a mining engi- « is a atalogue of ountry who has been responsible for disabusing | : P cas to find the right !neer. During the war he was con- the mind of America as to the alleged | DiS Dext step W i were available for these jobs. > o _ e oon : cort of men to help him carry out ) nected with the United States Ship- militaristic intentions of the Japa-|* o Beiker| The men who finally caine to the R fal nese. the program. He chose I 3% e deberimnént were chomenirromarga it Dcere 8= SNISRVIE g . mnd S as his personal representative 1o e e A seloted | Defore that he was with the fuel ad- Baron Shidehara is marricd and Bas{ 2 inor together these “Hoover Help- | Eroubs of Boseilinrien BA6 BN ministration as a mining engineer. : e work. two sons, fifteen and seventeen vears | oo™y iy that Mr. Feiker holds for their special fithens 107 -lind was later with the bureau of old. They attended Amerfcan schools | ' (o .o agsistant to the Secre- | Some of the best men in the Iloo\l-r'"‘ until about a year ago, When they| ., o pag heretofore been looked fonjjonEanization Syvele i3 ked flm;_r -'IOY\"t R ire sont backiis abanandiare Ber | o i S el icaT anavearsieaonly) Siteing he remi kI qw ot Rl SRR S e inis educated in Japanese schoois. The | 2% TCCT Cre Hoover wanted ajhad done Wih such bedick N8 INRL el skaliande susisaniis i Japanese ambassador ix tall for alp NECIEL L0 e man to AL that job, | War Trade Board, the War sitbininl VHIERE SRR e e Japanese, rather stocky in build. He| . 0 0 have that title beca juj Board, ete. The chiefs of several of| ! it wela e is genial and kindly, a little shy at{ co1q give his ssistant sufficient these commodity divisions have sev-|*t=" 2 o e times, say his intimates, but with a |y r 1 some of |eral assistants, similarly selected. | Eradustion from Lehish Enivershy e % S _|authority to carry through some g in 1903 he commenced his foreign keen sense of humor. His kindueart-| o reorganization work. He looked = e e edness is proverbial among his asso- ciates and in his home. He is a great walker, and on Sunday morn- ing almost invariably goes for a long tramp, frequently by himself. He is an omnivorous reader, and for a man some organ background phases of in Mr. Feike the McGraw Here are two ¢ of the high-clas who might be loaned by ization, and who had & of association with many dustry. r was vice president of _Hill Publishing Compan: type of s come to work for and Sam through gardless of the salarie nspicuous examples | that Secretary Hoover has induced to patriotic motives—re- paid: ing months of the Russian-Japanes war he participated’in the extensive sale and importations of American machinery and steel in that county: Upon Mr. Becker's return to the Uni- ted States he became associated with pectal talent with Uncle 1:::.‘::&:1: pt:l‘r::‘ca:’i‘:nn: a:rx :,, ‘"‘:,: of New York, publishers of trade jour-| There is Judice W. E. Lamb. from| e Bethlehem Steel Company and : : i o Mo resigned that position to !one of the most important law firms| C.s sales agent in its St Louis di Dlographygand isiory D down here, on leave of absence | in Chicago, who gave up an income of [ (it offics. After five years of dome from his company, to work on mat- |$40,000 to $30.000 a year to held|yj. activity he spent the greater pari ot of reorganization. personnel, ete. | Hoover. He accepted the position of(of the nexs seven years in the Dutch He has been a sort of contact man be- | solicitor for the departme: nt at $5.000.| gt Indies and in Japan. ax mana tween business and those three bu-| Again, there Is D. B. Carson. former- | o¢ the foreizn offices of the T° Teams of the Department of Com-|ly general manager of the Nashville,{States Steel Broducts Company in merce which have the most direct!Chattancoga and St.-Leuis railw chone Diasee and intimate touch with busin and | who came here as chief of the :IlrI au Lumber—Axel H. Oxholm e s h have, been enlarged and reor-|of navigation at $6.000. where he had ), i st Mg e report. At the same time the cost | C° 0% 10 e deral department's re- | outside business. Mr. Carson eame S0 Gt S T e market s of production in Germany was less in ;h,:“w,ng,‘;;,";d have been inthe | g gomestic commerce and stand-|bilities of the department : i i tards - retary Hoover's direction. Ixact and veliabie feures con s His cerning the German industr i | * not to be had” the re says. T finding of just the rizht sort{ A brief individual noti “It is certain that duri 1o thren | of mon 10 be chiefs of the commadity | of these men will show the h vears sineo the armis man industry has received a great division cf lof organiza ice the Gers lations to business — census, foreign who have ted under Jhe new scheme | of sexpe tion for the bureau of|“Hoover Helpers because of his confidence in the possi- they ca et s As: v oof n import concern in or of a lumber firn He 1 the 4 la ain tant man, under Sec- has conducted Jumber industey about sois h grade northern nd export and | the | ater was Luropein ma joined v ) of Ame thein- expn stimulus.” foreign and domestic commerce was | selves | had graduate training at the 1 Imports of motion picture film |an especially difficult task. Under the | Agricultural Implements — Gearse | Univers of Christiania and into the United States h in- | plan of the commadities division. Mr. { B. Bell: He has made trade inve: visited most of the important lumber creased enormously as a whole in | Feiker had to find contact men who | gations in Europe. the West Indics|producing countries and consuminz the last ten years. Imports have |were experts in different lines of land Mexico. He was formerly direc- markets of the world expanded from 11,725,000 feet. |products and also who had some |tor of foreign sales for Bateman &| Machinery—Walter H. Rastall: H- valued at $685,000, in 1911, to 150, 000,000 feet, valued at more than $4.000,000. in 1921. foreign tyad e experience. In consul-|Co., Inc., and before tha tation with Secretary Hoover he laid jager of the New York and eastern | out specifications for the work these | export offices of Avery & Sons, Inc. { nine vears of experience in in_conrection with _machinery (Continued an_Third Page.) t was man- | has had The second was that a new attempt should be made to induce all parties to settle the Irish ques- tion once for all. Lloyd George, on the point of starting for Russia, on the journey when Lord Kitchener was drowned, was deputed as the obvious man to try to negotiate an agreement. In a very short time he had secured the consent of the Irish parties to a compromise whereby the home rule act was to be brought into force immediately for twenty-six counties, while the six counties of Ulster were to be excluded. He has always held that if this agreement had been forced through. the Irish problem might have been solved during the war. But disputes arose as to the duration of the com- promise, objections were raised to some of its provisions, there was no firm will at the head of affairs to force the agreement through, and the negotiations failed. S * Kk ok But the rebellion was a turning point in Ire- land. The exhibition of reckless courage in the street fighting in Dublin and the execution of the seventeen leaders had revived the memories of an- cient wrongs. and stirred the ybuth of the country with a new spirit of independence. ,The failure of the negotiations added strength to the Sinn Fein movement. Recruiting for the imperial army fell away and the old mationalist_leaders began to find their authority on the wane. ‘When Lloyd George became prime minister he made an immediate attempt to bring about a settle- ment. He made an offer, either to bring the home rule act into force at once, but excluding six Ulster counties, or to set up'a convention of represent- ative Irishmen to try to find a solution, on the understanding that if the convention reached sub- stantial agreement on any solution leaving Ireland within the empire the government would pass it into law. Redmond rejected the first and accepted the convention, and in the middle of 1917 it began its sessions. * %k 3k X The convention fafled. To begin with, Sinn Fein refused to send representatives, thus leaving the strongest movement in Ireland unrepresented. On the other hand, the Ulster representatives, while they attended, were very uncompromising and issued an unyielding minority report. And in the end the nationalist members split into two bodies, signing different reports. B During its deliberations came the German offen- sive of March 21, 1918. In the desperate necessity of the time the British parliament passed a new conscription act, calling every able-bodibd man from eighteen to fifty to the colors. Public apin- ion—already tested to the utmost—was restive at the idea that boys and old men should go to the trenches from Great Britain while young men idled in Ireland’or toyed with plans for a new German landing. -Ireland had been exempted from the first conscription act. She was included in the second. 5 Immediately - the- Sinn Fgin leaders and the Roman Catholic hefrarchy made common cause to defeat it. They met at Maynooth and manifestos were issued in the name of both calling upon the people to resist the application of the act. Lloyd jeorge felt that there were not the troops left to enforce the act—every available man being in Franée—the German thrust had been stayed, the American troops were pouring over. the desperate need was passed, and the cabinet decided to allow the act to remain a dead letter so far as Ireland was concerned. 5 * % K X Things now drifted steadily from bad to worse. The Sinn Fein movement swallowed up everything else. Young Ireland and the younger clergy swung steadily to the left. They sympathized openly with Germany. They repudiated utterly the constitu- tional methods of the nationalists, and preached war as the only solution of the Irish problem. The results were clearly seen at the elections in Novem- ber, 1918. Sinn Fein swept the country every- where outside Protestant Ulster. The nationalists had, to all intents and purposes, disappeared save for a few who got in under an agreement with Sinn Fein in the Ulster counties. Sinn Fein's policy was to win an independent republic. It had some hopes of the Paris confer- ence, but these were early dispelled. It then pre- pared to secure its object by a trial of strength. It began to organize the Irish republican army. It raised funds in the United States. It attempted first in one way and then in another to challenge the machinery of British government in Ireland. Meanwhile Lloyd George's energies were concen- trated on the .peace conference in Paris until the autumn of 1919. On his return, however, the cabi- net set to work to consider a,settlement of the Irish question. * ok ok X At Christmas Lloyd George announced his plans. He proposed a new home rule bill, designed to meet what hé regarded as the three essential ele- ments in the situation—the first was that British opinion would not tolerate the separation of Ireland from the empire; the second was that Irish nation- alist opinion would not tolerate Ireland being gov- erned from Westminster as part of the United Kingdom; the third was that Ulster would simi< larly not tolerate being governed from Dublin. His solution was a federal solution. There Were to be two parliaments in Ireland—one for the twenty- six counties of the south,” the other for the six counties of Ulster—with a council of Ireland repre- senting "both equally to adjust common affairs, while Iréland was still to be represented by forty- six members at Westminster for imperial questions, such as forelgn affairs. The two Irish parliaments were also to have the power to unite on any terms they chose without further reference to Great Britain. He recommended the proposals because, in’ his jtidgment, 1t was only by starting frgm & recognition of - the ‘essential facts that any Jfagl e Man and His Times progress toward Irish unity and Anzlo-Irish recon- ciliation could be made. Parliament accepted this view and an act creating the two parliaments was carried in July, 1920. Sinn Fein, however. repudiated the home rule bill as being incompatible with a republic. X tionalist opinion repudiated it on the ground that it involved the partition of Ireland. The introduc- tiaqn of home rule, therefore, became the signal for the opening of an unrestricted campaign of violence for a republic. In view of the negotiations now proceedins nothing but harm could come from a detailed con- sideration of the events of the ensuing year. The methods adopted by Sinn Fein huve been described by their opponents as the brutal and cold-blooded assassination by civilians of policemen and sol- diers, and the terrorization of all Irishmen into co-operation with themselves. Sinn Fein have justified their methods on the ground that they Were not recognized as belligerents, and that they were the on'y methods by which they could hope to secure their end. * ok kK By the middle of 1920 Sinn Fein were so near to success that the police were practically confined to barracks, and Sinn Fein courts were operating everywhere. The British government were faced with the choice between surrender and war. Lloyd George was absolutely against yielding to such methods as Sinn Fein had employed, and considered that no settlement was posdible until it had been proved that such methods could not succeed. He, therefore, decided that special powers must be given to military and police such as would enable them to deal with the Sinn Fein campaign. Hence the Black and Tans. Here again their enemies describe their operations as a brutal and militarist campaign of repression against a people rightly struggling to be free, while their friends justify them as absolutely essential if the unity of the empire was to be preserved and if law and order were not everywhere to be at the mercy of those willing to use assassination as a weapon. The campaign on neither side was decisive by the spring of this year. It was clear that Sinn Fein could not secure a republic or an united Ire- land by force. But it was also clear that if the British government was to succeed in putting down Sinn Fein new resources must be raised. The only alternat{ve to an. intensified camphign was that an attempt should be nade to reaeh a settlement by consent. Lloyd George, after some hesitation, de- cided that the time was ripe to make this attempt. The visit of the king to Belfast to open the north- ern parliament created the opportunity. The King made an appeal that everybody should “forgive and forget” The goveFnment followed it up by an invitation to De Valera, as “chosen representa- tive of ‘the Irish people,” and to Sir James Craig, as representative of the Ulstermen, to come to a 3o see if a-way of peice could mot be By Philip Kerr (His Secretary, 1917-1921) is fresh in everybody's mind. After preliminary conversations with De Valera, Lloyd George. with the consent of his cabi- net, invited Ireland to wipe out the past and make friends on the basis of becoming a free self-govern- ing dominion on the model of ada or Australia, subject to certain restrictions about the navy, free trade. the war debt and subject also to the relu- tions between Ulster and the rest of Ireland being decided by free negotiation between the two. The whole world was surprised at the boldness of Lioyd George's offer. For a week or two there was correspondence as to its meaning, and then it w revocably” rejected by Sinn Fein. This re- jection came as hock to British opinion, and to public opinion abroad. But Llovd George, having undertaken the role of peacemaker, was not to be denied. He persisted in his efforts, and, after many weeks, it gradually became known that the fir: zreat difficulty had been overcome and that Sinn Fein was willing to accept in some form or other the substance of Lloyd George's proposal, provided that Ulster agreed to form part of the Irish do- minion. Then the other great Irish difficulty, the Ulster opposition to union with the south, came to the front. Lloyd George proposed that this should be solved by Ulster retaining the parliament and the powers conferred upon it under the 1920 home rule act, but subject to certain safeguards, sending rep- resentatives to the all-Ireland parliament, instead of to Westminster. This proposal, however, the Ulstermen rejected with the same emphasis th: De Valera originally rejected the offer of dominion statu The subsequent histo * ok k% There at the moment of writing the matter stands. Tt will not be easy to find agreement The three parties are separated by the fears and feuds of many centuries. They cannot be healed in an hour. But if anybody can find a way it will be Lloyd George. Despite his ability as a fighter, perhaps because of it, he has always been a con- summate peacemaker. He has settled more dis- putes, political, industrial and international, than any man alive. Nobody but a man of his cour- age and decision, and with his authority as ac- cepted head of a coalition of political parties, could have gained general support for the dominion offer He will certainiy not fail for want of trying, for if he can heal the feud which has poisoned British life fof 700 years he will feel that he has achieved a work hardly less worth while than that which he accomplished in the great war. Y (Copyright, 1921, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) [Editor's Note: Since this was written events have justified Mr. Kerr’s prediction that if any one could bring about a peaceful settlement of the Irish question, it would be Lloyd George.] WEXT SUNDAY—Lloya %