We deal elsewhere at length with Mr. Asquith's Manchester speech
and his renewed offer to treat apparently on the basis of pseudo-Federalism or "Home Rule all round." It is clear
that such a vast rearrangement of our system of government could not be carried out in a burry, but must take a long time. But Mr. Asquith has always told us that the Irish question is urgent. The only method of reconciling these views would be to modify the Home Rule Bill in such a way that it would fit in with a Federal system if one were adopted later. Speaking generally, this means that the Post Office, as Mr. Asquith practically hinted, must remain an Imperial matter, and also that there must be no break-up of the Customs Union such as that proposed in the Bill. To pave the way for Federalism in this manner is also to pave the way for the prevention of civil war by the exclusion of Ulster.
