Let us say once more that separate treatment for Ulster
would no doubt produce a great deal of confusion and diffi- culty, and would be a thoroughly bad arrangement as compared with the maintenance of the Union. It would, however, be a great deal better than the only alternative,— the forcing of Ulster undera Dublin Parliament. We admit, of course, that if Ulster could prevent the passage of the Home- rale Bill by refusing to demand separate treatment she would be right to refuse; but as she could not, and as there is a very good chance that by asking for separate treatment she might prove to the people of England and Scotland the folly of the whole thing, and so smash the Home-rule Bill, she ought to use this weapon. If it smashed the Bill, she would have achieved her aim, and would have saved the Union. If, however, her argumentative demand did not destroy the Bill, but were accepted, she would at any rate have made the scheme so unworkable that it would be not only possible but absolutely necessary to repeal it in a very few years. If, on the other hand, because Ulster refused to ask for separate treatment, even as a pis-aller, the Bill passed and Ulster was forced under a Dublin Parliament, there would be a danger of English people misconceiving the whole position. They would say: "The Ulster people cannot really dislike the Bill as much as they pretend, for they definitely refused to ask for separate treatment."
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