LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
MR. ASQUITH ON BILLS WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN APPROVED BY THE ELECTORATE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—All those who are opposed to a Dublin Parliament and Executive Government should note the statement made by Mr. Asquith in the debate on Mr. Dickinson's Woman's
Suffrage Bill on Tuesday, and Unionists should make it their war-cry throughout the land :—
"I assert," said the Premier, "that this Bill has never, either in principle or in detail, been approved by the electorate. I ask this question of honourable members in all parts of the House: Can they honestly say that this particular issue determined, or even substantially determined, whether they should or should not be elected? I ask the House, if it is to retain the confidence of the country, to think twice before it takes a step unprecedented in extent without the full and sure conviction that it has behind it the deliberate and considered sanction of the community."
We Irish Unionists assert that all Mr. Asquith says of the Woman's Suffrage Bill applies with far greater force to his Government of Ireland Bill. That measure "has never, either in principle or detail, been approved by the electorate." None of Mr. Asquith's British supporters in the House (except Mr.
T. P. O'Connor) " can honestly my " that the Government of Ireland Bill " determined, or even substantially determined, whether they should or should not be elected." In January, 1906, the question was Free Trade or Tariff
Reform. In January, 1910, the issue was the rejection of the Budget Bill; and in December, 1910, the restriction of the Peers veto as now embodied in the Parliament Act. At none of these elections did the Government of Ireland Bill determine, " or even substantially determine," the election of British representatives. Irish Unionists, then, claim the benefit of the sound democratic principle enunciated by Mr.
Asquith on Tuesday, which completely justifies their position. The setting up of a Parliament and Executive Government
at Dublin is "a step unprecedented in extent," not to mention the additional fact that, if persisted in, it will lead to civil war. They claim, therefore, that the House of Commons should not take that step "without the full and sure con- viction that it has behind it the deliberate and considered sanction of the community." Since the " People's Budget " and the Parliament Act each required the sanction of a special general election, and since no extension of female suffrage can take place without similar sanction, it follows that so unprecedented a step as the setting up of a separate Parliament and Executive at Dublin ought not to be taken except on the express authority of a general election ad hoc If the Government, after Mr.Asquith's declaration of principle,
and with the reiterated resolve of Ulster ringing in their ears, proceed to take "this step so unprecedented" without "the sanction of the community," they will stand self-condemned in their responsibility for the loss of life and property which will follow swiftly on the materialization of their Government of Ireland Bill.—I am, Sir, &c..
MICHAEL J. F. MCCARTHY.
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