Sir Edward Carson addressed a meeting at the New Theatre,
Manchester, on Wednesday, and made a notable speech. We can only notice two passages. In the first he laid down the conditions preliminary to a settlement of the Ulster question. To begin with, in satisfying the parties interested first the United Kingdom must be considered and then Ulster. No settlement must humiliate or degrade Ulster, but Ulster must not get any treatment different and exceptional from the treatment offered to any other part of the United Kingdom. Even more remarkable was the passage in which he in- dignantly repudiated the charge that Ulster Unionists were trying to tamper with the British Army, and which we give in his own words: "It would be a bad day for the country if the Army in any circumstances were to refuse to obey lawful orders Of course, they must obey them, but it is for that very reason that statesmen and politicians ought to look ahead and to see where their acts are leading them. No one would blame the Army for shooting upon Ulstermen. The country would hold responsible the Government that put forward the Army. The first time the Government tries by means of the Army to enforce the Bill, that moment will the manhood of England rise and declare, 'You shall not do this terrible thing.'"
Previous page
