The Dail and the Oath
The introduction into the Irish Dail of the Bill for the abolition of the Oath of Allegiance on Wednesday was .a comparatively tame affair, since Mr. de Valera decided that as he would have to speak on the second reading he need not speak on the first. The debate, however, such as it was, did evoke a speech of con- siderable spirit from an Independent member from Roscommon, of whom more should be heard if lie calf maintain the level he reached on Wednesday. Ile faced the President of the Executive Council with the inevitable dilemma with which other critics outside the Dail have faced him ever since the General Election. The Oath Bill either goes too far or not far enough. If Mr. de Valera wants to go out of the British Common- wealth he should say so frankly and go. If he wants to stay inside he should meet Ireland's fellow-members of the Commonwealth, Great Britain not excluded, with normal courtesy, not crude defiance. That criticism is unanswerable, and Mr. de Valera will have to try and meet it as best he can in the second reading debate next week. A statement of his consideied views as to the Free State's future position in the -Commonwealth will clear the air a good deal. The claim to have it both ways is easier to entertain in private than to defend in public. The folly of the whole business is that the Oath question could almost certainly have been settled peacefully by quiet negotiation if Mr. de Valera had not preferred bluster.
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