THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION IN ULSTER
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In 1794, in a time of great peril, an Act was passed suspending Habeas Corpus for one year and was continued till 1801, when the peril being over, the Act was.not renewed. The Prime Minister, Mr. Pitt, did not ask the Act to be made permanent ; he knew it was inconsistent with the ordinary law and the British Constitution.
In 1922 a much more drastic Act was passed by the Northern Ireland Parliament. When it came up for renewal the Prime Minister made this very extraordinary and unconstitutional statement in May, 1928 : " I do not mind admitting frankly to the Committee that I was in favour from the beginning of making this Measure one that would be part and parcel of our law for all time. I was in favour of making it perpetual from the beginning."
Imagine a clergyman admitting that he was in favour of making an article permitting atheism to be part and parcel of the Christian doctrine for all time ! Is atheism more inconsistent with that doctrine than a law permitting arbitrary arrest is with the British Constitution ?
Yet the Prime Minister stated a few days ago that while he held that place the Special Powers Act would be a permanent part of the law of Northern Ireland.—Yours truly,
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