Mr. Butcher in a powerful speech emphasised the die- - abilities
of the Unionist minority even under local govern- ment. In all Ireland, out of a total of nine hundred and fifty-one County Council members, only a hundred and thirty- f our were Unionists, and a hundred and sixteen of these were in Ulster. The leaders of national opinion in Ireland had never once uttered a word in defence of individual human liberty, and you could never build up the freedom of a nation on the servitude of the individual. After Mr. Barnes, on behalf of the Labour Party, had endorsed the Nationalist demand, Mr. Balfour denied the analogy put forward by Mr. Birrell between Ireland and the self-governing Colonies. Mr. Birrell's views as to what Home-rule involved were rather nebulous, and he appealed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a clear statement as to the policy of his party. Replying to the
challenge, Mr. Asquith, while declaring that his views on Home-rule had undergone no change, stated that he could not vote for the Motion because it contained no explicit recog- nition of the continued paramount supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. Again, Home-rule was not one of the leading issues before the country at the Election, and he and others were pledged not to proceed with it during the lifetime of the present Parliament. After Mr. Healy in a speech full of passion had described Mr. Asquith's attitude as deplorably retrograde, Lord Percy's amendment was rejected by 334 to 142, and the Resolution, with Mr. Simon's amendment safe- guarding the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament added to it, was carried by 313 to 157, or a majority of 156. Twenty Ministerialists voted with the minority.
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