Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, who spoke on Tuesday at Stir- ling, said
nothing of any consequence except on a single point. He confirmed Mr. Asquith's view that Home-rule for Ireland is only a first step towards Home-rule all round, in other words, towards Federalism,—a return to the Heptarchy, in short. On this point his words were important, for Mr. Campbell-Ban- nerman is regarded as one of the most weighty and sober members of the Cabinet, "Any inconvenience," he said, "at- tendant on the retention of the Irish Members, was surely worth enduring for the sake of the great object in view. He was confident that the time was not far distant when the same process of devolution would be applied to other parts of the United Kingdom." And then he went on in the very next sentence to say : "As to the assertion that there had been imperfect discussion of the Bill and that it had been carried through the House by tyrannical methods, he replied that the man who made that statement was laughing in his sleeve at his audience." Now, was there a single hour's discussion in Par- liament of Home-rule as a first step in this mighty revolu- tion for transforming the whole Constitution of the United Kingdom into a loose federal system P It is Mr. Campbell- Bannerman who is laughing in his sleeve at his audience. Of course, many of the smaller issues of the Home-role Bill were sufficiently, or more than sufficiently,, discussed ; but some of the largest issues of all, and this the chief, were left totally without serious consideration. Are there so many as 2 per cent. of the electors whose mind it has ever so much as entered that this is the beginning of a complete dissection of the map of the United Kingdom ?
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