The Prime Minister, observing that the Labour Party was committed
to the recognition of an independent Republic in the South of Ireland, said that it was idle to talk of other alternatives to British rule. He reminded the House that the raising of the Auxiliary police had not caused the disorders. Before they were raised a hundred policemen had been murdered. In the new force some undesirable men had enlisted, but they had been weeded out. Allowance must be made for the police who were doing their duty under most trying conditions. Much had been done to re-establish law and order. The railways were open, the police went everywhere, Sinn Fein " courts " were no longer held, murder was being punished. The United States had fought Secession for five years. We should have to fight Secession in exactly the same way. The new Home Rule Act would be put in force. If the Southern Irish refused to work it, the responsibility would be theirs. If any Sinn Fein members, except three or four who were suspected of murder, cared to discuss Irish problems with him, he would be glad to receive them. But the Government would not allow men who were or had been servants of the Crown to be murdered with impunity.
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