At a meeting of 400 Unionist delegates held on Monday,
presided over by Lord Londondery and addressed by Sir Edward Carson, it was resolved to make arrangements for a provisional Government of Ulster. A Commission was accordingly appointed " to take immediate steps, in consulta- tion with Sir Edward Carson, to frame and submit a constitu- tion for a provisional Government for Ulster, having due regard to the interest of the loyalists in other parts of Ireland, the powers and duration of such provisional Govern- ment to come into operation on the day of the passage of any Home Rule Bill, to remain in force until Ulster shall again resume unimpaired her citizenship in the United Kingdom and her high position in the great British Empire." Sir Edward Carson, speaking at Portrush on Tuesday, contended that this decision was the most constitutional course they could have taken. He was not preaching disorder, but promoting a policy designed to prevent anarchy and blood- shed. They were not going to fight the Army or the Navy, but if the Army or the Navy came out to displace them they would displace them at their peril.
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