The Free State Situation .sx The situation in the Free State is now sufficiently clear .sx The old stream of uncompromising Republicanism which justified the use of physical force and challenged the validity of Irish property rights based on conquest and confiscation has been reinforced by the influx of the new stream of Communist ideas .sx The two streams had in common hatred of British Imperialism and a readiness to deny the Irish property owners' title .sx That enabled them to unite and the younger force , which could draw support from abroad and direct the older , to organise their common activities in accordance with the approved tactics of revolutionary Communism to get control of the State .sx Faced with this conspiracy , Mr. Cosgrave has persuaded his Legislature to insert in the Free State Constitution an article which permanently equips the Executive with the most drastic powers to deal with seditious activities , and he has followed this up by declaring unlawful a dozen linked associations which were working hand in hand to subvert the Anglo-Irish settlement and to substitute for the Free State an All-Ireland Republic based on Communistic principles .sx Now that these associations have been declared unlawful , membership of them becomes an offence triable by a military tribunal and punishable at its discretion by any punishment up to and including death .sx Presumably the Cabinet will give a few days' grace to allow men to break away before proceedings are taken against leaders who show signs of being stubborn .sx But there are men already under arrest for illegal activities whose case will probably be taken before the military tribunal under the retrospective provisions of the new legislation .sx It seems unlikely that the associations aimed at will attempt any counter-attack in the face of the formidable batteries which the Cabinet has so rapidly brought to bear on them .sx Not at least till they have taken some months to devise and prepare their counterstroke .sx Meantime they rely chiefly on the efforts of more or less sincere peacemakers whose proposals are likely to be rejected by the Government with a rigour which the country may be disposed to condemn .sx Already a meeting of certain representatives of local bodies has been held in Dublin .sx Those present seemed to consist mainly of political opponents of the Government , and the meeting served as an anti-Government platform .sx It passed a resolution inviting the Papal Nuncio to convene a conference of the hierarchy , all political parties , and the associations now declared unlawful " with a view to securing a solution of our difficulties along Christian lines .sx " It seems unlikely that the present Papal Nuncio , who is an experienced and cautious diplomatist , will accede to this invitation .sx The last occasion on which a Papal Nuncio interfered in Irish politics was in the great rebellion in Charles the First's time , and the results were scarcely such as to encourage imitation .sx In all probability the Free State Cabinet will be left free to use its powers till the general election , which is due next autumn , and it is quite probable that Mr. Cosgrave's calculations will prove correct and that the very fact of his having at his disposal a tyrant's strength will make it unnecessary for him to use it like a tyrant .sx What are we to make of it all ?sx To begin with , we must remember that the Free State Cabinet no longer consists of inexperienced and not the least intelligent Cabinet in Europe , and its policy therefore deserves to be considered with respect .sx Examining its latest move , we cannot but conclude that the Government of this Catholic State has deliberately come to the conclusion that the need of the hour is not to confirm or extend the principle of popular government but to strengthen the hands of the Executive in dealing with subversive organisations .sx We shall understand better how this conclusion has been reached if we bear in mind two facts - first , seen from Ireland , the great drama of the modern world is the struggle between the Catholic Church and the Communist International , the one standing for a Christian culture which is held to imply the sanctity of private property and family life , with thoughts of another world , while the other is the Church's mortal foe , the most formidable champion of modernist organisation , which cares for this world only , which is about to substitute a new form of community life for the traditional family system based on private property , a system which appears indispensable to enable the priest to hold his own against the schoolmaster .sx Hence , the influence of the Catholic Church has been all in the direction of uncompromising war against the apostles of the new gospel .sx Mr. Cosgrave , however , is not easily influenced by the priest , and he might have risked tolerating the new doctrines if the foundations of the Free State had been a little sounder .sx But there are notoriously two sources of weakness in view .sx There is too much explosive matter still hidden in the breach made by the separation of Northern Ireland , and for many years to come it will be unsafe to allow revolutionists or statesmen to meddle with it .sx Then there is the appalling story of the Irish conquest confiscations and penal laws , which leaves little respect for the origins of private property in the minds of those who have heard it .sx Hence , even to-day Mr. Cosgrave may feel that the beginning of an agrarian campaign must be checked by timely severity , while on the constructive side he is putting forth new efforts to help Irish agriculture and to heal that ancient running sore the Dublin slums .sx He knows Irish conditions and Irish psychology , and perhaps he judges rightly of the needs of Ireland .sx Yet one cannot but feel that his trust in the moderation and humanity of his own Executive and of all future Executives is something rash and not warranted by human experience .sx Paris and New York .sx The relations between French and American banks - the surviving twin pillars of the gold standard - have now reached a crucial point .sx European banks , mainly French , have already withdrawn from New York in the past month gold balances amounting to some $600,000,000 .sx They still have about as much again on deposit there .sx The rate of interest paid on these deposits was raised twelve days ago from 1 to 1 per cent .sx The Bank of France ( so it is reported from New York ) has asked for a further rise , to 2 per cent at least , failing which the remaining deposits will be withdrawn .sx American bankers have so far refused to comply .sx It is too early to say whether they will , or can , persevere in firmness .sx Their attitude must depend largely on the demand for credit at home .sx A week ago the threat of wholesale withdrawal might have been impossible to resist .sx But to-day the internal situation is rather easier .sx The National Credit Corporation , formed to ease the strain upon the smaller banks after talks between President Hoover and leading bankers , has got to work .sx The desperate selling of securities by banks has been checked ; fewer deposits have been withdrawn .sx As a result of this improvement many American bankers believe that it is now possible to weather the storm at home , or what remains of it , without the help of the foreign gold invested in New York .sx Some think , indeed , that the money market would be healthier without it .sx Nor , again , can one be sure that the French threat of withdrawal would materialise .sx The Bank of France does not hold all the foreign gold in New York , and , with the American situation steadier , there is no certainty that the Dutch and Swiss bankers would follow French example .sx And even the French must wonder what on earth they could do with the money if they did withdraw it .sx For these reasons there seems to be a fair chance that New York will stand firm and let Paris take its own road .sx Such a decision would not be unwelcome politically .sx For if the French bankers have already shot their bolt before M. Laval reaches Washington , then M. Laval will have less to offer President Hoover in return for political support .sx The Tariff Issue .sx Sir Herbert Samuel put the position fairly last night when he said that many Liberals seriously think that if the Conservatives outnumber the other parties combined they will not hesitate to discard their present allies , break up the National Government , and , with an Administration formed on a narrow party basis , dominate the country for the next five years and carry through a Conservative and Protectionist policy .sx But neither Sir Herbert Samuel nor Mr. MacDonald , who spoke in the same strain yesterday , is sufficiently reassuring that the fear is not justified .sx Both appeal to Mr. Baldwin and are confident that it is not his intention so to use a Conservative majority .sx Mr. Baldwin shirks a direct answer and has , indeed , gone so far as to say that " the character of the National Government must be largely determined by us Conservatives because of the size of the party .sx " Can anyone read Mr. Baldwin's vague talk about a " Tariff Commission " or Mr. Chamberlain's correction of Mr. Snowden without feeling that they intend , with all the energy of which they are capable , to press their policy on the Government ?sx There is hardly a Conservative candidate in the country who is not preaching full-blooded Protection .sx Among the Conservative members themselves there will be no doubt whatever about the mandate , and Sir Herbert Samuel's experience in trying to head the Tories off an election should have given him some idea of their strength and persistence .sx Mr. MacDonald suggested yesterday that the doubt which Mr. Lloyd George and others have cast on the sincerity of the Conservative intentions has itself weakened the resistance which can be maintained to a Protectionist drive in Parliament .sx He might just as well have said that to warn would-be tamers of the carnivorous habits of lions is to do them a disservice because the lions would never have thought of man-eating for themselves .sx A Fallen Hero .sx Still , amongst more solid news , are to be found references to the great Capone .sx His immense publicity has left him a little soiled , and if his name is occasionally given in heavy type the type is less prominently displayed than formerly .sx He whose sordid exploits were swollen by " sob-sisters " into epic grandeur has fallen mildly before a charge of evading income tax , and now even curiosity is almost sated .sx It is , perhaps , too much to hope that he should go to prison , though such a possibility is not quite out of the question , since he has been convicted of a felony .sx When that happened , we are told , he sobbed and murmured brokenly that an aged mother would never sustain the blow .sx She may bear up .sx There is still the law's delay - not , indeed , adequate to clear the family name of the shame of a conviction , but , suitably exploited , quite adequate to ensure her the pleasure of her son's company for many months to come .sx The aged lady will be familiar with such possibilities since , it appears , another of her offspring - a certain Ralph " Bottles " Capone - was long ago sentenced to three years' imprisonment for income tax violations without this involving any interference with his personal liberty .sx If " Bottles " has the wit to keep out of prison in spite of a conviction , she will reason , why not the " Scarface , " whose intelligence and whose influence are certainly not less than his ?sx There is no reason to suppose that the domestic harmony of the Capone family is in any danger .sx Capone's fears for his mother were premature .sx It is true that all his property , including his country seat , has been placed under lien , but this will not prevent him from living quietly on his Florida estate .sx A Compromise on Manchuria ?sx Some progress has at last been made towards a settlement of the Manchurian dispute .sx The Council of the League of Nations will shortly adjourn for three weeks on terms which , according to our present limited information , have some satisfactory features .sx It is true that during the interim Japan and China are , if they both accept the Council's resolution , to undertake direct negotiations , which hitherto China has steadily refused .sx