Lord Macdonnell raised the question of finance. The Bill, he
said, was unfair to Ireland. Lord Buckmaster suggested that, instead of paying £18,000,000 a year for Imperial purposes, Ireland should pay nothing at all. Lord Peel in reply said that, if Ireland were given full control of Customs and Excise, the basis of a Federal system, as in the United States, Canada, and Australia, would disappear, and we should have no security for the Irish contribution. Under the Bill Ireland would pay only 14 2s. per head, while Great Britain would pay £14 13s. 3d. per head. Ireland would pay nothing towards the reduction of the war debt, though she would pay part of the interest. Lord Peel did not overstate the case. Ireland, almost alone amen the countries of Europe, has been enriched by the war, in which many Irishmen helped the enemy, and to relieve her of the whole burden of war taxation would be grossly unfair to the hard- pressed British taxpayer. Lord Macdonnell was beaten by 62 votes to 37.
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