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Mr. Chamberlain, speaking at the end of the discussion, in

effect asked the House to be patient. The real issue was whether we were going to stand by the Treaty and allow the Irish to manage their own affairs. We ought not to allow minor issues to interfere with the major issue. We confess to reading such words with dismay. These unhappy officers may be in the hands of murderers. Do the Government really mean to say, not merely that they can do nothing but that they need do nothing ? General Macready has, we admit, gone to Cork, with the sanction of the Government, to treat with the I.R.A. leaders, but they say (very likely quite truly) that they know nothing about the sub- ject. It is indeed an impossible situation. The nation certainly will not consent to it.

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