Mr. Bonar Law declared his conviction that the people of
North-East Ulster would prefer to accept the government of a foreign country rather than be ruled by Irish Nationalists. Taking up Mr. Asquith's challenge, he said that if the Home Rule Bill were approved by the people at another election it would make all the difference to the Opposition. He could not speak for Ulster, but in those circumstances the Opposition would offer no encouragement to the resistance of Ulster. But if the Government attempted to enforce the Bill against the wishes of the people of the country he should certainly encourage resistance. The debate was wound up by Mr. Churchill, who maintained that the amendment did not represent a new fact in the controversy, but was merely a manceuvre to wreck the Bill, and denied that the existing situation in any way justified threats of violence or rebellion. The closure having been moved, the amendment was rejected by 294 votes to 197.
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