The debate on the Amending Bill in the Lords, adjourned
from last week, was continued on Monday. Lord Milner said that nothing would satisfy Ulster but a guarantee that she should never "at any time or in any degree" be subjected without her consent to an Irish Parliament. Lord _Roberts made a memorable speech—we might call it the best of his life—on the Irish issue as it affects the Army. We have written of this elsewhere. Lord Curzon said that, if a gash was to be made on the face of Ireland, better a clean cut than one with ragged, festering edges. He predicted that the Home Rule Bill and the Amending Bill would both prove unworkable. Then a Conference must be held and a more permanent settlement be reached. He demanded definitely to know whether the Government adhered to the time-limit and the impossible plan of voting by counties. Lord Crewe did not answer these direct questions, but replied that all serious amendments would be considered. The Government for their part wished to know whether the total exclusion of Ulster would be a guarantee against civil war. A Conference —especially one among the Irish leaders themselves—might be useful, but not before the Bill had been passed. The second reading of the Bill was then carried by 273 votes to 10. Lord Arran and Lord Willoughby de Broke were tellers for the tiny minority.
