Lord Grey has a remarkable letter on Federalism and Home
Rule in Monday's Times. His Canadian experience causes Lord Grey to believe that the federation of the various parts of the United Kingdom on Canadian lines would relieve the congestion of the House of Commons, would involve the necessity of a Second Chamber as a co-ordinate branch of the Legislation, thus safeguarding the liberties of the people and increasing the chances of good government, and would also reconcile Ireland with the Union. But his Canadian experience also causes him to realize that the present Home Rule Bill, if persisted in, "must lead to bloodshed and civil war ; for under its provisions Ulstermen are robbed at once of their autonomous rights and of their just share of repre- sentation in the Imperial Parliament." He concludes by declaring that his sympathies are heart and soul with the Ulstermen in their resistance to the Bill, and that he will unhesitatingly support them in their endeavour to prevent it from becoming law. This honest and uncompromising declara- tion is all the more important as Lord Grey has been hitherto claimed as a supporter of Federal Home Rule.
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