Mr. Bonar Law declared that the Prime Minister's speech showed
that he utterly misunderstood the whole position with which he had to deal. He had said that the final word would rest with the House of Commons, but forgot that the House of Commons was, after all, supposed to represent another body outside, and that body was the final tribunal that would settle the question. Mr. Bonar Law put the true situation with great clearness :— "I do not doubt that the right hon. gentleman has desired a peaceful settlement, that he desires it now, and that he would try to get it if he could ; but from first to last, whatever proposals he may himself have entertained, the moment he comes up against his Parliamentary majority that moment his views fall to the ground and he considers only what will give him a majority. It has been so from the beginning. The right hon. gentleman at Ladybank made a speech which really showed that he did desire to recognize the condition of Ulster and to treat her fairly. A month afterwards, at Leeds, he flew back to his original position, and made a speech which, as we all thought and as one of his own colleagues (the President of the Board of Agriculture) said, went completely back on any proposal to exclude Ulster. What do we find in the House of Commons P On the first day of the session again he spoke of the exclusion of Ulster in a real sense. The tempest rose again. He found that he could not command his majority, and in two or three days be brought forward a pro- posal which no man on the Government benches does not know in his own mind is ludicrous and could not be accepted."
Mr. Bonar Law ended his speech by declaring that it was farcical to discuss the third reading of the Home Rule Bill under existing conditions. "I can see absolutely no use in taking part in this discussion."
