In the House of Commons on Friday, August 10th, the
Prime Minister stated that the Irish offer was not " haggling terms." All the world except the Southern Irish themselves admitted that the Government had gone to " the limit of possible con- cessions." They had placed all their cards on the table. The proposals were not only perfectly genuine, but generous. If there were agreement upon principle, it would take time to thrash out the details. Those details would have to be framed in a Bill which would be submitted as soon as possible to the judgment of Parliament. If, however, the negotiations should unfor- tunately fail, the Southern Irish would have issued " an unmis- takable challenge to the authority of the Crown." " No party in the State," he added, " could possibly pass that over without notice." If the negotiations proceeded satisfactorily, the House would meet on October 18th for formal purposes only. If the negotiations collapsed, the Speaker would have authority, after consultation with the Government, to summon Parliament at forty-eight hours' notice. Mr. Asquith said that he entirely approved of this plan.
