Sixty-five members of the Irish Parliamentary Party met in private
at Westminster on Tuesday afternoon, and, after four hours' discussion, issued a Manifesto signed, on behalf of the party, by Mr. John Redmond. The Government, it declares, in framing their Bill refused to be guided by the advice of the Irish representatives, and, relying on "the persistent mis- representations of certain officials [? Sir Antony MacDonnell] in Leland, and of some Irishmen [P Mr. Healy and Mr. O'Brien] from whom better judgment might have been expected," introduced a measure which was unanimously and emphatically rejected by the largest and most represen- tative Nationalist Convention ever brought together in Ireland. The Irish Party will in future adopt a vigorous and aggressive policy in the House, "absolutely independent of English party interests," and if the Irish people are in earnest on these lines, "whatever Government may be in power will find itself at an early date coerced into introducing" an adequate measure of self-government for Ireland. Meanwhile, it has been decided to call a meeting of the National Directory for June 20th to discuss the situation. It will be interesting to see whether the Government will acquiesce in Mr. Redmond's reading of the negotiations between them and the Irish leaders previous to the bringing in of the BilL
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