Mr. Balfour, who opened the debate on the Home Rule
Bill on Monday, ridiculed the notion that safeguards had been provided for the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. The Bill was admittedly an instalment of Federalism, and
every clause ought to be considered in its application to England, Scotland, and Wales. For an indefinite time we should be left with a lopsided Federalism, unworkable and unworthy of the statesmanship of the country. Mr. Balfour next pointed out the anomalous position of the Irish Constabulary under the Bill and the prospect of customs barriers being set up between Ireland and this country. All the difficulties which the Government were preparing for themselves arose from their resolve to invert the true process of national and Imperial development, which was towards integration, not disintegration.
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