IRELAND AND AMERICAN POLITICS.

No question in the world today is more complicated and difficult to solve on a sound and permanent basis than that of Ireland. It is undeniable that the English have blundered in their treatment of the Irish in the past and will in all likelihood be compelled to give Erin a large measure of autonomy before there can be the slightest hope for peace. But as to the details of an arrangement that will be equable to both sides, it is not for us, but for the Irish and the English, to say. One thing is certain, that for American Congressman to interfere in a semi-official way is both improper and dangerous.

When the Senate added the presumptuous Gerry resolution to the Lodge reservations on the Peace Treaty, it started the ball rolling for a series of acts of international impropriety that have strained to the limit the friendly relations of Great Britain and America. The Mason bill, proposing that complete diplomatic and consular service be established with the Irish Republic, increased still more the weight of international misunderstanding. And now 88 members of Congress have enabled Lloyd George, criticising the treatment of political prisoners in Ireland.

Anyone with half an eye can see beneath the pretense of love for Irish liberty to the selfish political motives that prompted these actions. Not Ireland, but the Irish vote is their inspiration. The sooner the Irish-Americans realize that their cause is being made but the tool for Congressional politics and personal aggrandizement the better. America must realize that meddlesome interference by a few vote-seeking politicians is not going to settle the Irish question; it will only make matters worse. The Irish problem must be settled by the Irish and the English. If the legislators at Washington refuse the League of Nations, instead of jeopardizing international goodwill, they should stick to the course of domestic affairs that they have chosen to follow.