Lord Askwith then proposed that the Act should not come
into hiroe unless within a year a majority of the Irish members, returned at a special election, had accepted it. Lord Salisbury supported this form of referendum, but the Lord Chancellor opposed it on the ground that Ulster ought to be given an oppor- tunity of showing that some Irishmen, at any rate, were capable of governing themselves. The Government prevailed by 59 votes to 42. Lastly, Lord Omnmore and Browne secured the adoption of his schedules, defining the membership of the Senates. The Northern Senate would consist of the Lord gayors of Belfast and Londonderry and twenty-four Senators elected by the Northern House of Commons. The Southern Senate, on the other hand, would include the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the Lord Mayors of Dublin and Cork, seventeen Senators nominated by the Lord-Lieutenant, and forty-four elected by proportional representation by a select electorate comprising prelates, Irish peers and privy councillors, and county councillors.
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