16 MAY 1914, Page 2

Mr. Bonar Law has been blamed for being unsympathetic, but,

in our opinion, most unfairly. The operative part of his speech shows that he has no sort of intention of wrecking an Exclusion settlement, provided, of course, that it Will do what it professes to do—avoid civil war. No other amend- ing Bill is worth having. Mr. Balfour vehemently protested against the plan of passing the Home Rule Bill before it was known what the amending Bill would contain. Mr. Redmond said be had heard Mr. Asquith's statement with concern. "If an amending Bill is introduced after the failure of peace negotiations, I hold myself free to deal with it." With that momentous declaration we have dealt at length elsewhere.