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whom had pledged themselves not to go to Westminster] assembled in the Mansion House in Dublin, the lord mayor being an ardent advocate of Sinn Fein, and there solemnly calling the roll, even the name of Sir Edward Carson, they acted as a constituent assembly and proceeded to proclaim an Irish Republic, reading their declaration in Irish, in English, and in French."-E. R. Turner, Ireland and England, p. 466.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.-PROCLAIMED BY THE DAIL EIREANN, DUBLIN, JANUARY 21, 1919. -"Whereas the Irish People is by right a free people; And whereas for seven hundred years the Irish people has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly protested in arms against foreign usurpation; And whereas English rule in this country is, and always has been, based upon force and fraud and maintained by military occupation against the declared will of the people; And whereas the Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 1916, by the Irish Republican Army, acting on behalf of the Irish people; And whereas the Irish people is resolved to secure and maintain its complete Independence in order to promote the common weal, to reestablish justice, to provide for future defense, to insure a peace at home and good will with all nations and to constitute a National policy based upon the people's will, with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen; And whereas as the threshold of a new era in history the Irish electorate has in the General Election of De

cember, 1918, seized the first occasion to declare by an overwhelming majority its firm allegiance to the Irish Republic; Now, therefore, we, the elected Representatives of the ancient Irish people, in National Parliament assembled, do, in the name of the Irish Nation, ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this Declaration effective by every means at our command. To ordain that the elected Representatives of the Irish people alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland, and that the Irish Parliament is the only Parliament to which that people will give its allegiance. We solemnly declare foreign Government in Ireland to be an invasion of our National Right, which we will never tolerate, and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English garrison; We claim for our National Independence the recognition and support of every Free Nation of the world, and we proclaim that Independence to be a condition precedent to international peace hereafter; In the name of the Irish people we humbly commit our destiny to Almighty God, who gave our fathers the courage and determination to persevere through centuries of a ruthless tyranny, and strong in the justice of the cause which they have handed down to us, we ask His divine blessing on this, the last stage of the struggle which we have pledged ourselves to carry through to Freedom."

"In February, Prof. De Valera, who had defeated Mr. Dillon in the Nationalist citadel of East Mayo, and who while in an English prison had been elected president of the republic, escaped from confinement, and after hiding a while presently appeared among his followers in triumph. Sinn Fein sent a representative to Paris to see President Wilson. He could get no interview, but he addressed letters to the delegates asking that Ireland be admitted to the Conference and also to the League of Nations. . . . To the Sinn Fein leaders the people of Ireland had given

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the task of bringing about what they had encouraged the people to hope for; but no more had yet been attained than overthrowing the Nationalists previously in power and arousing illimitable hopes. So, the popular enthusiasm which supported Sinn Fein might have greatly diminished as time went on, with the leaders doing no more than make threats and complaints. But that enthusiasm was sustained and increased by encouragement received now from the United States. In February there was held in Philadelphia a Convention of the Irish Race in America, attended by many prominent men, which passed a resolution declaring, as had the Irishmen who proclaimed the republic in Dublin, that a state of war existed between Ireland and England, which the Peace Conference could not ignore, and proposing that the Conference apply to Ireland the principle of self-determination. They agreed to raise a large sum of money to assist in getting Irish independence, and shortly after a campaign was begun in the press to get attention and win sympathy for the cause. Representatives were sent by the Philadelphia Convention to Ireland, where they were received with wild ovation, since they... seemed to promise that the Peace Conference would take up Ireland's case, and that Irish independence would follow soon after. Their activities were regarded by many of the British people with considerable coolness and suspicion. It was believed that no other government than the British would have permitted such delegates Ireland and England, pp. 467-469.—“But not one to act as these Americans did."-E. R. Turner,

in a thousand of the Irish electorate realised that they were making such a claim as no great Power had ever submitted to except after defeat in war. Still less did those who voted for a Republican candidate stop to consider what the effect of such a vote would be upon the unity of Ireland. Ulster, of course, declared that this sudden development revealed the truth of Ulster's persistent contention-that Home Rule was only desired as a stepping-stone to complete separation; and that the question for every Protestant Ulsterman was one of retaining or forfeiting his birthright as a British subject. In support of this contention they pointed to the compact reached among Ulster Catholics, by which those seats in Ulster which a Catholic might hope to win were apportioned equally between Sinn Féin and the Nationalists. This proved, to Ulster's satisfaction, that it was merely a choice between alternative roads to the same end. It should be added that Sinn Féin had captured almost in its entirety the fund raised and the organisation created to fight conscription. land had subscribed for this as Ireland had never subscribed before."-S. L. Gwynn, Irish situation, p. 60.-"Meantime, the Sinn Féin organisation was instructed to become 'a sort of civil army to carry out the decisions of Dáil Eireann's Cabinet.' Part of the work of this civil army was to levy a sort of taxation. Appeal was made to Ireland for a quarter of a million. The Irish parliamentary party used to think they did well in raising ten thousand pounds within the year for their campaign funds. Evidently an organisation financed on this new scale was to be à very different affair. But the money came in. Old constitutionalists said that it came in under duress, and probably to some extent they were right.... There were by this time many men 'on the run.' Government, urged to display its authority by force, was making arrests, and Mr.

Ire

de Valera's 'civil arm' began to operate in rescue parties, carried out with a reckless indifference to life. The shooting of policemen became frequent, and in every case policemen were shot with impunity. These deeds were denounced by Catholic priests and bishops, but no one was found to take the part of giving evidence, or of attempting to arrest the assailants. Two factors operated to produce this abstinence. . . . Nobody would inform. Over and above this was the well-founded conviction that the informer's life would not be worth many hours' purchase. Yet, as the list of assassinations lengthened, men felt the need for finding a justification. It was explained that policemen were not merely the agents of an alien Government which was holding down Ireland by force; they were traitors to their country who joined actively in this work. What can you do with a spy but shoot him? And what is a policeman but a spy? That was the train of reasoning often used in speech by men who would in practice have recoiled from these deeds. . . . Matters were brought to a head in August 1919 by a singularly audacious stroke of violence. In Fermoy, where there was a garrison of some two thousand troops, a small party of soldiers going to the Methodist church were attacked by a body about equal in numbers who carried revolvers. The soldiers, who had their rifles but no ammunition, were overpowered and disarmed; the attackers drove off with their booty in three motorcars. Elaborate arrangements had been made to block the roads against pursuit by felling trees across them."-S. L. Gwynn, Irish situation, pp. 64-66, 68.

1919. Results of agricultural coöperative movement. See COOPERATION: Ireland.

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on the ground that they were not Irish courts and had no jurisdiction. In many places Sinn Fein assumed control of liquor selling, and hours of closing. Demands for payment of rates and taxes to representatives of the Dail Eireann instead of to the crown officials were made, and county and district councils undertook to carry out the decrees of the Dail. On the other hand it was announced by the crown that if no accounting were made for rates and taxes, statutory aid could not be given. By the close of the year attacks on the constabulary had become so persistent that the force began to crumble both in numbers and morale. Recruiting stopped and they began to resign in numbers. Accordingly men were recruited in England, and brought over to take their place. These men were the much hated "black and tans," who received their name from the fact that they arrived without kit and at first appeared in the khaki trousers of the British army rank-and-file, from which they were drawn, and the dark green cap and tunic of the Irish constabulary. The next body sent over was composed of British ex-officers, who were organized in companies under their own officers, occupied their own quarters, and from whom casualties among the constabulary officers were replaced. Bitter accusations were brought against these men for reprisals and actual, unprovoked cruelty. Many of these stories were true; many were repeated on hearsay; many were undoubtedly exaggerated or false; but one thing is certain, from the time of their arrival they were the worst liked men in Ireland; every known form of wickedness was ascribed to them, and they became the focusing point of general hate. In fact in some respects their presence aided rather than lessened the difficulties of the crown. In an effort to put an end to the deplorable condition into which the country had gradually drifted, a measure which provided for placing the whole of southern Ireland under martial law was passed in August. "The terms of the new measure, popularly known as the Crimes bill, were made public on Aug. 3. The bill proposed to turn over the duties of Crown tribunals in Ireland to courtsmartial, even to the extent of settling civil disputes, infliction of fines, and the binding of accused persons to keep the peace. Provision, however, was made for excluding Ulster from operation of the law. . . . When the Crimes bill came up for final passage on Aug. 6, Joseph Devlin, Nationalist member for Belfast, became the centre of a stormy scene, . . . defied the chair and was suspended. As he left the Chamber he was followed by the Irish Nationalists together with the majority of the Labor members. . . . The bill was adopted under closure by a vote of 206 to 18 [and received the royal assent after] passage through the House of Lords on Aug. 9."-New York Times Current History, Sept., 1920. Outrages continued to increase, and reached a climax on the evening of November 21, when fourteen officers and ex-officers were murdered in Dublin in houses and hotels where they were stopping. Later in the day, a football field, where a game was in progress, was the scene of a battle. The players and spectators declared that the police and soldiers, who were proceeding to search the grounds for persons suspected of the murder, fired first; the military asserted that on their approach they were fired on by scouts who had been posted around the field. About a week later plans for the destruction of the Manchester power house, and Liverpool docks were captured, and

1920. State of the country.-Dail Eireann courts. Attacks on constabulary.-"Black and tans."-Restoration of order or "Crimes Act." -Fourth Home Rule Act.-Throughout 1920 violence increased, and during the whole year the country was in an exceedingly disturbed state. Police barracks were attacked and destroyed; policemen were killed, trains and mail cars were held up; raids were made on post offices for money; and on private houses for arms. In June, Brigadier General Lucas, commanding at Fermoy, was kidnapped. One of his two companions was seriously wounded, and the general was carried off and held for some time in captivity. In reprisal for this attack the soldiers stationed in Fermoy committed havoc which cost many thousands of pounds. In June the railway employees refused to serve trains which carried troops and ammunition. In the middle of the month Lloyd George threatened to close down the railways, with so little effect, however, on the strikers that at the end of the month the Great Northern Railway which had not previously been involved, was included in the strike against military service, and all southward trains from Dublin were stopped. By the middle of July trains from Limerick Junction to the west and south ceased to run, and members of the Sinn Fein began to kidnap men who took the place of dismissed employees. The strike lasted for six months, and was ended in December by the Labor party, upon the declaration of the government that, failing settlement, the railways would be closed. In the meantime the Dail Eireann had proceeded to function, and to set up courts in the south and west, which were held under the name of arbitration courts, and political prisoners who were arraigned before the crown courts steadily refused to plead,

IRELAND, 1920

a few days later incendiary fires were set, in Liverpool, which were, however, put out before very much damage was done. In December a patrol of seventeen auxiliary police was ambushed outside of Cork. Fifteen of the men were killed, one fatally wounded, and the other kidnapped. Following on this a number of village shops were burned. Later on a large part of the business section of the city of Cork was destroyed in reprisal for the death of one, and the wounding of seven cadets. The beautiful City Hall, the Corn Exchange and Carnegie Library were burned to the ground, and a total loss of about $15,000,000 incurred. In December, Cork, Tipperary, Kerry and Limerick were placed under martial law by General C. F. N. Macready, commander-in-chief, and crown forces were declared to be on active service. Yet life in the country took its normal course, except that suspicion was rife on every side, and care was taken that no chance word, which might cause trouble for the speaker or his family, could be heard.

In the midst of the turmoil in Ireland the Fourth Home Rule Bill was introduced in the British Parliament on February 25, 1920. The bill reached its third reading on November 11, passed through the House of Lords on December 23, and the same day received assent. The new act provided two parliaments, one for northern, the other for southern Ireland, both under the supremacy of the English king, and consisting of a house of commons and a senate, northern Ireland being defined as the parliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanegh, Londonderry and Tyrone, and the boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, and a council of Ireland to be composed of the king as president, and twenty members, chosen from each parliament. This council might be replaced by an all-Ireland parliament with a constitution determined upon by the provincial parliaments. Some powers were reserved to the Parliament at Westminster, chiefly peace and war, foreign affairs, customs, the navy and army, pensions, treaty making, naturalization, cables, wireless, aerial navigation, coinage, trade marks, copyright and patents. The postal service, savings banks, and public record office were reserved until the date of the Irish union. The Land Purchase Act was reserved, but not the Congested Districts Board or the Land Commission. Religious freedom was expressly provided for, and also proportional representation. All Ireland was to contribute a certain sum toward imperial liabilities. This sum for the first two years was to be £18,000,000 in the ratio of 56 per cent. for southern, and 44 per cent. for northern Ireland. The provincial parliaments were to have power to impose an additional income tax. Customs duties, excise, excess profits duties and the United Kingdom income tax were to be paid into a consolidated fund and "a sum equal to the Irish share of the reserved taxes" paid over to the Irish exchequers, after deduction of the eighteen million pounds, and the cost of the reserved services. The act was to go into operation on the "first Tuesday in the eighth month" after passage of the act; but might be hastened or delayed by order in council.

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fusing to release the strikers. . . . So great was the excitement that the Government ultimately receded from their attitude and released fifty-six of the hunger strikers on April 14, and twentyfour more on the following day. . . . On April 20 the Irish Government issued a statement . . [that] in future prisoners arrested and imprisoned for political offences were to be tried as political prisoners. Their places of confinement and treatment would be different from those of persons Poimprisoned for ordinary criminal offences. litical offences, however, were not to include homicide, burglary, riot, unlawful assembly, etc. . . . This did not, however, remove the determination of a number of prisoners to compel their release by a hunger strike, and attention was specially directed to [Terence McSwiney] the Lord Mayor of Cork, who was confined in Brixton prison, and whose case, became a test case both for the Government and for its adversaries. . . . On September 3, after the hunger strike had been in progress for three weeks, an influentially signed appeal was addressed to the Government by prominent Labour leaders, insisting that public sentiment had been outraged and that the death of the Lord Mayor would bring about a terrible explosion of anger which could only lead to further bloodshed in Ireland. In reply to this appeal Mr. Bonar Law wrote pointing out that the Lord Mayor was one of the leaders of the Irish Republican Army, which had declared itself to be at war with the forces of the Crown, and according to his own written word in one of the seditious documents, for the possession of which he had been convicted, he and his followers were determined to pursue their ends, asking for no mercy and making no compromise. He had been arrested while actively conducting the affairs of a rebel organization under cover of a mayoral court. Had he been taken at his word and dealt with as an avowed rebel, he would have been liable immediately to be shot. Instead of that he had been tried by a legally constituted tribunal, sentenced to a moderate term of imprisonment, and given at once all the privileges of a political prisoner. From that moment he had sought to defeat the ends of justice by refusing food in the belief that this course would lead to his speedy release. To release him would be a betrayal of those loyal officers on whose devotion to duty the fabric of social order in Ireland rested. . . . Among the Irish prisoners confined for political offences the hunger strike continued notwithstanding the firm attitude of the Government. On October 17 Michael Fitzgerald died after having refused food since August 10 when he had been lodged, with ten other prisoners, in Cork Gaol. He had been arrested in connexion with the shooting of a soldier at Fermoy and was awaiting trial on the capital charge. . . . On October 25 [Alderman McSwiney died] in Brixton Prison on the seventyfourth day of his hunger strike. . . . The body was taken from Brixton Prison to St. George's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark, after an inquest had been held at which a verdict was returned that Alderman McSwiney had died from the results of exhaustion due to prolonged refusal to take food. On the 28th a procession went through the streets of London in which the coffin was conveyed to Euston to be taken to Cork for burial. . . . The Government . . . feared the risk of political demonstration, and placed a special steamer at the disposal of the relatives and friends to proceed direct to Cork without landing at any other place. [They preferred, however, to

1920 (April-November).-Hunger strikes.Case of Terence McSwiney, lord mayor of Cork. -"Meanwhile the Government were further embarrassed by a hunger strike which took place among the Sinn Fein prisoners in Mountjoy [Dublin] Gaol. Mr. Bonar Law expressed the intention of the Government of resisting the strike and re

proceed to Dublin where a stately service was held. Meanwhile the body of the lord mayor was sent to Cork by sea.] The death of the Lord Mayor of Cork had made clear that the Government did not intend to be coerced by the policy of the hunger strikers, and the lesson was taken to heart by Sinn Fein. Up to the middle of November prisoners in Cork Gaol were still on hunger strike, but on November 11 a telegram was received from Mr. Arthur Griffith, the acting President of Sinn Fein, calling off the strike."Annual Register, 1920, pp. 45-46, 106, 118-119, 133. See also PAPACY: 1920-1921.

1920-1921.-Sale of bonds in the United States. -"The position assumed by and given to Eamonn De Valera as 'President of the Irish Republic' was, in 1920 and 1921, a rather notable. one. . . . During 1919 [he went to the United States] avowedly to raise $10,000,000 by the sale of bonds of the 'Republic'; his reception by municipal bodies, State Legislatures, Governors, the Roman Catholic clergy and Irishmen in general was all that he could possibly desire. [See also U.S.A.: 1921: American friendship with England jeopardized.]. . . [In February 1920 the bond selling campaign was started, and at the end of the year Stephen O'Mara said that the bonds issued and sold in the United States was slightly more than $5,500,000.] Other millions were raised by private subscription to Relief funds. As to this latter point, there were several funds, including the Belfast Expelled Workers' Fund which was earnestly backed up in a published appeal by Bishop MacRory of Down and Connor (Aug. 12, 1920); the American Committee for Relief in Ireland which, by February, 1921, had collected $350,000 and allotted $50,000 for aiding victims of Belfast riots; there was, also, the Irish White Cross Fund. . . . Meanwhile, the statements made by the Committee to the effect that famine was about to add thousands of victims to the hundreds of thousands already in need of bare necessaries, that in every Irish village and town sickness, pestilence and death had invaded humble homes and that children of tender years were ragged, wretched and hungry, were vigorously denied, and, eventually, the British Embassy at Washington (Mch. 30, 1921) issued an official statement which said: 'Banking and trade statistics and tax returns show that Ireland as a whole has never been more prosperous than at the present time. Millions of pounds have been made available from money raised by taxation in the United Kingdom to build houses, to encourage land settlements and to promote employment schemes and the general work of reconstruction, but the Counties and cities of Ireland which are Sinn Fein in sympathy refuse to accept this money and prefer to appeal to America for charity. Particularly it should be emphasized that there is no shortage of food in Ireland.'"-J. C. Hopkins, Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1921, pp. 286, 290-291. 1920-1922.-Trade union strength. See LABOR

ORGANIZATION: 1920-1922.

1921.-Irish conference in London.-Free State Treaty.-The beginning of 1921 brought no lightening in the night of terror and of fear in which Ireland was shrouded. In January, Clare, Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny were placed under martial law, which brought no lessening in the number of outrages, or of reprisals. But, the crown forces had been declared to be on active service, and reprisals were officially carried out, only to be met in most cases by counterreprisals. The situation had become impossible,

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and it was recognized that either a settlement must be reached, or a systematic military campaign carried out against Sinn Fein, and from the thought of the latter alternative every part of the British Empire shrank. In January, the lord lieutenant, and Father Michael O'Flanagan, vicepresident of Sinn Fein, (the latter of whom had been in communication with Lloyd George for some time) were summoned to London for a conference, and at the same time Eamonn De Valera hurried back from the United States where he had for some time been conducting a campaign of agitation. Negotiations fell through, and for some months following nothing serious was done in the way of conciliation, although personal attempts to bring about a peace were made, and the appointment in May of Viscount Fitzalan

(Lord Edmund Talbot), a Roman Catholic, to replace Viscount French as lord lieutenant might perhaps be looked upon as an effort to create an atmosphere for peace. Immediately after the king's Belfast speech, however, Lloyd George wrote to De Valera (June 24) asking him to attend a conference in London with Sir James Craig "to explore to the utmost the possibility of a settlement." The invitation was accepted by Sir James Craig. De Valera replied that he saw no basis for peace, except in the essential union of Ireland, and national determination. He then summoned a conference at Dublin, which Sir James Craig refused to attend; but at which four southern Unionists were present with Arthur Griffith and Eamonn De Valera (July 4). General Smuts, of South Africa, who was in London for the premier's conference, then crossed to Dublin, to confer with the leaders, and "on July 8 the Prime Minister's invitation was accepted, tentatively, by

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De Valera in order 'to discuss on what basis such a Conference as that proposed can reasonably hope to achieve the object desired'; arrangements at the same time were made between General Sir Nevil Macready and R. C. Barton and E. J. Duggan of the Republican Army for a period of truce."-J. C. Hopkins, Canadian Annual Review, 1921, p. 229.-In August 1921, Lloyd George called a conference with the leaders of southern Ireland; offered the country Dominion status, and proposed that a settlement should be made which should be "embodied in the form of a Treaty, to which effect shall in due course be given by the British and Irish Parliaments." A long correspondence followed with Eamonn De Valera, in which De Valera took the ground that Ireland was independent of the British Empire, and the premier stated explicitly that no claim to repudiate allegiance to the king would ever be acknowledged. De Valera insisted that Ulster should come into any arrangement made. Ulster, who already had her government in function, refused, and the British government refused to coerce her. On the eve of his departure for South Africa General Smuts addressed a friendly letter to De Valera in which he said: "I do not ask you to give up your ideal, but only to realize it in the only way which seems to me at present practicable. Freedom will lead inevitably to unity; therefore begin with Freedom-with a Free constitution for the 26 counties-as the first and most important step in the whole settlement. As to the form of that Freedom, here too you are called upon to choose between two alternatives. To you, as you say, the Republic is the true expression of national self-determination. But it is not the only expression; and it is an expression which means your final and irrevocable severance from the British League. And to this, as you know, the Parliament and people of this country will not agree. The British Prime Minister has made you an offer of the other form of Freedom-of Dominion status-which is working with complete success in all parts of the British League. . . . What is good enough for these nations ought surely to be good enough for Ireland too. For Irishmen to say to the world that they will not be satisfied with the status of the great British Dominions would be to alienate all that sympathy which has so far been the main support of the Irish cause. The British Prime Minister offers complete Dominion status to the 26 counties, subject to certain strategic safeguards which you are asked to agree to voluntarily as a free Dominion, and which we South Africans agree to as a free nation in the Union of South Africa. To my mind, such an offer by a British Prime Minister, who-unlike his predecessorsis in a position to deliver the goods, is an event of unique importance. . . . In fact, the British Government will have no further basis of interference with your affairs, as your relations with Great Britain will be a concern not of the British Government but of the Imperial Conference, of which Great Britain will be only one of seven members. Any questions in issue between you and the British Government will be for the Imperial Conference to decide. You will be a free member of a great League, of which most of the other members will be in the same position as yourself; and the Conference will be the forum for thrashing out any questions which may arise between members. This is the nature and the constitutional practice of Dominion Freedom."

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"On Sept. 7th Mr. Lloyd George made another effort and sent a note from Inverness to Mr. de Valera which, after stating the impossibility of separation or a republic, proceeded: 'You will agree that this correspondence has lasted long enough. His Majesty's Government must, therefore, ask for a definite reply as to whether you are prepared to enter a Conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations.' The reply (Sept. 12) accepted the invitation but reiterated the position of Ireland as a 'Sovereign State.' The Prime Minister's response was a telegram from Scotland (Sept. 15) cancelling arrangements for the Conference and pointing out that the Government had always refused to recognize this claim and must continue to do so. Further despatches were interchanged and, on Sept. 19, the Irish leader intimated his willingness to enter a Conference free on both sides, and without prejudice should agreement not be reached. Finally, on Oct. 11, Mr. Lloyd George issued a new invitation which was at once accepted. The Conference opened at No. 10 Downing Street on Oct. 10 with D. Lloyd George, Lord Birkenhead, Winston Churchill, Sir L. Worthington-Evans, Sir H. Greenwood and Sir Gordon Hewart as the British representatives; Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, R. C. Barton, E. J. Duggan and C. Gavan Duffy were the Irish delegates. Thomas Jones and Lionel Curtis were the British Secretaries, Erskine Childers and John Chartres the Irish ones. At the same time Mr. de Valera issued an Appeal to the people to stand by their principles no matter what the result in London. . . . Then came the De Valera cable to the Pope which threw fresh difficulties in the way of the Conference by repudiating allegiance to the King; this was met by the Delegates declaring its terms to be not binding upon them. In the Commons on Oct. 31 a direct mandate was given the Government to proceed with its negotiations, by a vote of 439 to 43; Mr. Lloyd George had, meanwhile, to reconcile British policy and Southern Ireland proposals in the Conference and, any result achieved, with Ulster sentiment outside the Conference and with views of his Unionist supporters in Parliament. On Dec. 6th it was announced that this difficult task had been measurably accomplished; that a Treaty had been arranged and the Agreement signed by all the Delegates. By the Agreement an Irish Free State was to be created with the following as the basic and fundamental clauses: 1. Ireland shall have the same constitutional status in the Community of Nations known as the British Empire as the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa, with a Parliament having powers to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Ireland, and an Executive responsible to that Parliament, and shall be styled and known as the Irish Free State. 2. Subject to the provisions, hereinafter set out, the position of the Irish Free State in relation to the Imperial Parliament and Government and otherwise shall be that of the Dominion of Canada, and the law, practice and constitutional usage governing the relationship of the Crown, or the representative of the Crown, and of the Imperial Parliament to the Dominion of Canada shall govern their relationship to the Irish Free State. 3. The representative of the Crown in Ireland shall be appointed in like manner as