. In this mist of difficulty one thing is certain—the
Ulster- men will persist in their determination to fight rather than go ander a Dublin Parliament. Here, at any rate, we have reached rock-bottom. Whether the Ulstermen will in the end.do as we should like to see them do--express their willing- ness to define " the Ulster area "as the six counties—we cannot say. We note, however, that in many Liberal quarters it is declared that even if the Ulstermen were willing to define the Ulster area as the six counties, the Home Rule party, let
alone the Irish, would not agree to such a proposal. Having reached such an impasse, would not one imagine that all sensible men would hold that the wise thing was to take the opinion of the country and let the ballot-boxes speak before the rifles P Yet this, we are told, is the thing the so-called democratic party is determined not to do at any coat. The excuse is that if a Dissolution took place the Bill would be lost. Yet everyone knows that this is a mere excuse. If Mr. Asquith were to tell the Opposition that he would advise a Dissolution if they would previously consent to a ten-line Act amending the Parliament Act so as to prevent the Home Rule Bill being killed by a Dissolution, the Opposition would, we feel certain, consent to the proposal.
