On Monday the House of Commons was crowded to hear
Mr. Asquith's reconsidered scheme for circumventing the recent adverse vote against the Government. Mr. Asquith explained that the Government had decided that, instead of simply reversing Sir F. Banbury's amendment in Committee on the Financial Resolution of the Home Rule Bill, they would propose an entirely new Financial Resolution which would, of course, have to go through the whole Committee stage. They disliked very much the loss of time involved, but after the appeal from the Speaker and in order to avoid further disorder they considered that it was their duty to take
this course. The new Resolution would limit the payments to Ireland in three ways, which Mr. Asquith defined. After his
statement the old Financial Resolution containing Sir F.
Banbury's amendment was negatived unchallenged, and the House turned quietly to the Light Railways Bill. The Opposition were, of course, quite right to accept Mr. Asquith's new plan. It practically satisfies the forms of the House, which the first plan outraged by pretending that an adverse vote was a matter of no importance.
