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Last week we pointed out that the Free State could not logically demand what she regards as a strict fulfil- ment of the Treaty in respect of the Boundary and yet regard as a scrap of paper that part of the Treaty which deals with her obligation to share in the National Debt. But it is not only in the case of the National Debt that the Free State is not keeping the Treaty. Under the Treaty the Army of the Free State is restricted to a certain size which is to bear a strict proportion to the size of the British Army. As everyone knows, the Free State Army at present greatly exceeds the per- mitted number. We can see many reasons why it is desirable that the Free State should have such an Army as she has now got—for the all-important purpose, for one thing, of trying to keep order. On the merits of the case it would be unfair to raise any objection ; but the fact remains that the Treaty is not being literally observed, and this is one reason the more why Mr. Cosgrave's argument about the literal observance of the Treaty has very little meaning.
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