Irish Minister

Sir Esme Howard, British Ambassador to the U. S., informed U. S. Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes that His Majesty's Government "deemed it desirable that the handling of matters at Washington exclusively relating to the Irish Free State should be confided to a Minister Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States Government."

The Secretary of State informed the British Ambassador that the U. S. Government was in cordial agreement with

His Majesty's Government's request and would be pleased to receive a Minister of the Irish Free State.

The formal approval of the British Government to the establishment of an Irish Legation in Washington was necessary before recognition could be extended by the Government of the U. S. to an Irish Minister.

The fact that the Free State contemplated sending a Minister to the U. S. was made known last month (TIME, June 23), when the name of Professor Smiddy was mentioned as its probable representative.

In England many voices were raised against the Government's action in permitting the Irish Free State to have a separate Minister.

The Sunday Times said in part: "Doubtless Ireland is entitled to take this step under the treaty. But to offer active welcome to this development of diplomatic complexities rather suggests that the Ministers are prepared to bear philosophically the troubles of those who will come after them.

"In Constitutional rights, the cases of Canada and Ireland may be the same, but in every practical sense they are widely different. Canada has a constant schedule of neighborly business to be transacted with Washington, to which Ireland has no parallel."

The political correspondent of the same paper stated that the Free State was also proposing to appoint a Minister to France: "The French Government was directly approached on the subject some time ago, but regarded the proposal with considerable dubiousness, and decided to ascertain the views of the Foreign Office. Even when our Foreign Office intimated that they would make no objection, they still hesitated to accede to the request, which they felt to be an awkward precedent. But now that Washington has given the lead, they will doubtless intimate their readiness to receive the Free State's representative."