and international policy conform as nearly as possible with the policy of the Mother Country, and to retain British traditions, British currency, British ideals, and the British language, and in this way render the disadvantages entailed by her separation from Great Britain as slight as is possible. We are resolved to set such an example of good government and just administration within our jurisdiction as shall inspire the minority in our midst with confidence, and we hope lead eventually to similar conditions being established throughout the rest of Ireland. Our position having been made perfectly clear in this and our former letter, if you hold the opinion that any good purpose can be served by my seeing you for the interchange of ideas I shall be at your disposal when I return from the dedication of the Ulster Battlefield Memorial at Thiepval on Monday next. In conclusion, my colleagues and I desire again to represent with all respect that in our opinion it is of great importance that full publicity shall be given to our respective views forthwith, so as to put an end at once to the campaign of misrepresentation in the press to which Mr. Austen Chamberlain, equally with ourselves, takes great exception. Yours sincerely, JAMES CRAIG. The Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, O.M., M.P. THE PRIME MINISTER TO SIR JAMES CRAIG. My dear Craig, I am very sorry to see from the papers that you are suffering from an attack of influenza. I can only hope that it is not a severe attack, and that we shall soon hear of your complete recovery. In these circumstances I do not propose to trouble you with a lengthy answer to your letter of yesterday. When you are fully recovered let us meet, as you suggest at the end of that letter, for an informal talk. We can then see how to get over the difficulties which seem to stand in the way of a conference free from all conditions. I should be greatly obliged if you would leave over the question of publication until we meet. There are obvious difficulties which ought to be discussed fully between us before any decision is taken. I am yours sincerely, The Rt. Hon. Sir James Craig. D. LLOYD George. SIR JAMES Craig to the Prime Minister. Grosvenor Hotel, S.W.I., My dear Prime Minister, 20th November, 1921. Very many thanks for your letter of the 18th instant, and for your kind inquiries after my health. I am better and hope to be able to return to Ulster on Thursday night. I shall be glad to meet you for an informal conversation before I go back any time you may appoint on Wednesday. I readily agree to defer publication until after our meeting, but in view of the assembly of the Parliament of Northern Ireland on the 29th instant you will, I feel sure, agree with me that publication is essential before that date, and that all the correspondence should be published, beginning with your first invitation to me and my reply thereto. By this it will be made quite plain to the public that it is not on our part that there has been the refusal to enter into conference with you, but that it is the Sinn Fein delegates who have refused to let us take part unless we do so in a subordinate position to themselves. I should also have to let our Parliament be informed whether Sinn Fein was prepared to give allegiance to the Crown without reservation, which was one of the conditions of your invitation, or whether their consent to do so is still withheld and made dependent on your first having procured the consent of Ulster to an All-Ireland Parliament. Yours sincerely, JAMES CRAIG. The Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, O.M., M.P. THE PRIME MINISTER TO SIR JAMES CRAIG. My dear Prime Minister, I enclose Articles of Agreement for an Irish Settlement which have been signed on behalf of His Majesty's Government and of the Irish Delegation. You will observe that there are two alternatives between which the Government of Northern Ireland is invited to choose. Under the first, retaining all her existing powers, she will enter the Irish Free State with such additional guarantees as may be arranged in conference. Under the second alternative she will still retain her present powers, but in respect of all matters not already delegated to her will share the rights and obligations of Great Britain. In the latter case, however, we should feel unable to defend the existing boundary, which must be subject to revision on one side and the other by a Boundary Commission under the terms of the Instrument. I have only to add that I shall be glad to arrange for an early meeting of the conference contemplated in Article 15, or for any preliminary or less formal discussion which you may desire with my colleagues. and myself. Ever sincerely, The Rt. Hon. Sir James Craig. D. LLOYD GEORGE. II ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT ESTABLISH- STATE (Reprinted from the London Times, December 7, 1921) ARTICLE I 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. ARTICLE II 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. |