On Thursday Lord Curzon put the case against the Bill
with the force and brilliancy to be expected from so great a master of public eloquence. Quite admirable was the way in which he dealt with the question of Ulster. " He questioned whether the Government had yet fully made up their minds on this subject." We feel sure that Lord Curzon is righ t here or rather we may put it that we feel that the Prime Minister —as we explain elsewhere—has come very near to making up his mind that he will not involve himself in the terrible, dangers of coercing Ulster without a special mandate to do so from the electorate. Lord Lansdowne in an able speech summarized the debate, which he declared, and with reason, bad shown that the Bill was ill-considered and was bound to prove unworkable. In his opinion the voters in the South of of Ireland had been profoundly misled as to the results of Home Rule. To the Irish peasant the land was the essential point. Had not Mr. Birrell himself pointed out that land purchase was more necessary than Home Rule P After Lord Morley had wound up for the Government in a speech in which he refused absolutely to entertain the idea of a referendum on the Bill, the division was taken and the motion for its rejection carried by a majority of 257 (326-69). It is worth while to remember that the Home Rule Bill of 1893 was rejected by a majority of 378 (419-41).
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