Mr. Lloyd George wound up the debate with an emphatic
speech which, if it had been made and acted on a few months earlier, would have eased the situation. He said that the Govern- ment would not permit either direct incitement to rebellion or organization for rebellion such as the Sinn Feiners were preparing. He said further that on no condition would Great Britain assent to the Sinn Fein demand, which involved the complete sovereign independence of. Ireland. Things have gone far when a Prime Minister feels it necessary to utter what might be regarded as a truism. Mr. Lloyd George then repeated his undertaking to give immediate legislative effect to any agreement formulated " between those who represent the various sections of Inch opinion as incor- porated in the Convention." But he is determined not to have a repetition of the Dublin rising of Easter, 1916.
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