Election as Craig seeks a renewal of confidence
CAMPAIGNING for the 1925 Northern Ireland general election had begun in earnest reported the News Letter. The first Parliament of Northern Ireland had been dissolved on Saturday, March 14, on the request of the prime minister Sir James Craig who believed that it was time for "a renewal of confidence".
Accordingly the Northern Ireland prime minister had published his manifesto, which was reproduced in the News Letter on March 16, in which Craig said that his administration had faithfully carried out the pledges given in 1921 and his administration had placed Northern Ireland "on a fair road" to being in an "impregnable position".
The "supreme issue" of the election was the policy he had adopted with regards to the "Boundary Question".
Craig declared in the manifesto: "It is now four years since I was chosen as your leader and called upon to form Ulster's first Government and after careful consideration I have arrived at the conclusion that the time has come to appeal for a renewal of confidence in the Government which has guided the Province through that anxious period and to seek approval of the attitude I have adopted regarding the Boundary question with which we are immediately faced.
"It has caused me intense ever since the Treaty was signed. The Ulster Government's consistent policy has been a refusal both to recognise the Commission and to appoint a member, but the coercive action of the late Socialist Government constituted that body over our heads and against our solemn protests, and it is now seeking evidence actually within the Ulster area, causing perplexity and confusion to local authorities and to the inhabitants as a whole."
It was Craig's view that only with a renewed mandate that his government could tackle the issue and combat "the forces of dismemberment, disruption and disorder".
He said that he was "desirous" that the people of Ulster should constitutionally "make manifest" in the most effective manner their "solidarity on this supreme issue".
He remarked: "Consequently, I am affording them an opportunity to demonstrate forthwith that they are more than ever determined to remain within Great Britain and the Empire. I therefore earnestly appeal to every Loyalist to make it a sacred duty to work from this day forward to secure a triumphant victory over the forces of republicanism, Socialism and Sinn Fein."
Craig also expressed his thanks to the members of the outgoing government for their vigour in pushing ahead with the administration's programme for government despite the difficult times they had to work through.
He remarked: "My grateful thanks are tendered to the members of the Cabinet and Government and to my other Parliamentary colleagues in both Houses, who, through a period of unparalleled danger and difficulty, established and maintained law and order, and secured that settled Government necessary for a peaceful and progressive people."
Sir James continued: "As a Parliament we have faithfully endeavoured to carry out our pledges enunciated in 1921, and, taking a broad and generous view, I am satisfied that the work was well done and that we are on a fair road to establish Ulster in an impregnable position. I am quite sure that, given a fair and reasonable trial, the two principal measures of educational and licensing reform will prove of inestimable blessing to the people. Their passage into law, and that of other minor measures, marks the end of our first administration, and closes a chapter of four years of Ulster history which will ever redound to the credit of the Province."
Craig then turned his focus to the future policy of the second Northern Ireland government, of which he was confident that he would lead, and outlined in the manifesto his intention after securing victory at the polls.
He said: "In regard to the future, the policy of the Government will be to continue, while abstaining from vexatious interference, to do all in its power to encourage industry and commerce, and in this and in every other practicable manner to find useful employment for those, including our gallant ex-Servicemen, who for varying periods have, unfortunately, been unable to obtain it during the unparalleled industrial depression through which Northern Ireland, like almost every other country in the world, has been passing since the war."
The Ulster PM continued: "I propose to aim at a minimum of contentious legislation, and in this connection, undertake that no further educational or licensing measures will be considered during the lifetime of the next Parliament, and no further amendment of either of the two new acts."
The Ulster PM conceded that there had been some pledges made in 1921 that had not been fulfilled.
He commented: "I had hoped that it would have been possible to have passed an Act establishing single member constituencies, but circumstances are such that I must appeal to the electors to face the forthcoming contest under the system of Proportional Representation.
"The policy of the Government, however, is unchanged, and when the opportune moment arises a measure to this end will be submitted to Parliament.
"It must not be forgotten that when the Boundary crisis is surmounted there are still outstanding problems of supreme importance: the settlement between the British Government and ourselves of our future financial arrangements, the transfer to the Ulster Government of those services originally reserved to the Council of Ireland, the reamalgamation of the Unemployment Funds of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the provision of a permanent force of Special Constabulary adequate to our needs while within the range of our resources.
"Not until these weighty problems are solved can anyone say that the foundations of Ulster's new Constitution are well and truly laid."
Craig concluded his manifesto with a renewed appeal to the electorate to choose him as their leader and to give him a strong majority.
"It is my firm belief that we can accomplish this task to the entire satisfaction of the Ulster people which warrants my appeal for a renewal of your confidence, but I venture to point out, as I did in 1921, that such important work can only be carried through if I am backed by a strong majority of united and loyal followers in Parliament," he remarked.
"Once more, therefore, I place myself unreservedly in your hands. Ulster is yours to treat as you please. Rally round true and tried champions of the old Cause, save Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh, Newry and the Border, and enable me to stand firm with a united loyal Ulster behind me to combat all forces of dismemberment, disruption and disorder."
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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