Wednesday's and Thursday's debates were dreary enough, and except as
regards Mr. Winterbotham's speech, do not deserve notice. Mr. Winterbotham, a Liberal Unionist, and M.P. for the Cirencester Division of Gloucestershire, made a speech, however, of some importance, as showing that his Unionism is very shaky, and is ebbing away even faster than Mr. Chamberlain's. He declared himself quite willing to give Ireland a separate Legislature, on condition that the authority of the Imperial Parliament over everything that is done in Ireland should be supreme. That seems to us another way of saying that he is for Home-rule, on condition that theoretically we should retain the right to undo in Ireland what practically we should never think of attempting to undo, unless we were prepared for civil war. What is the use of that P If we are prepared for civil war, we can always abolish any Irish Con- stitution. If we are not, how could we practically refuse our
sanction to what an Irish Parliament has done, and an Irish Executive is prepared to enforce ? If these are Mr. Winter- botham's views, his Unionism is only an empty name.
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