The Home Rule Bill was read a second time in
the House of Commons on Wednesday week by an overwhelming majority; after a vigorous speech by Mr. Lloyd George. The figures of the division were 348 for and only 94 against the Bill. The minority included twenty-three Unionists, the two members of the National Party, forty-four Labour Members, and a score of Independent Liberals. The Prime Minister challenged the Opposition to fmd any practicable alternative to the Bill. Would they propose on any platform to coerce Ulster, our most faithful ally in the war ? Would they propose to set up an Irish Republic or a " Dominion " that might be turned any day into a Republic ? Did they want to force Ulster to entrust her destinies to a Sinn Fein Parliament in Dublin ? Mr. Lloyd George's questions were unanswerable ; but Mr. Asquith and his followers have never condescended to face the realities-of the Irish question.
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