When the Irish Bill was returned to the House of
Lords on Monday, the Lord Chancellor persuaded the peers to accept the Commons' amendments, with slight modifications. Lord Midleton protested to the end, but Lord Crowe went over to the side of the Government, who won on a division by 91 votes to 48. The offset of the amended Clause 70 is to leave the Government free, until June, 1924, to select a suitable moment for summoning a Southern Irish Parliament. Any order of the kind must lie on the table in each House for thirty days, and if the two Houses resolve that a Southern Irish election is inexpedient, the order will lapse. That is to say, Parliament will have a veto on the proposal, but will not have to initiate it, as Lord Midleton suggested. The House of Commons agreed on Tuesday to the final amendments.
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