DISCUSSIONS ON THE HOME RULE BILL, 1913

The following material is taken from The Times for September 1913. The Home Rule Bill had been passed by the House of Commons in two successive Sessions and rejected by the House of Lords in each of those Sessions. The discussions below took place before the beginning of the third Session, during which the Home Rule Bill became law under the Parliament Act, 1911.

Mr George Cave to The Times

The passage of the Home Rule Bill in its present form means the division of the kingdom, the impoverishment of Ireland, the use of British troops to dragoon a part of that country into submission to a new authority, the probability of that most bitter and lamentable of all forms of conflict—civil war. It must profoundly affect the future of Great Britain as well as of every part of Ireland. Is it so foolish to suggest that, before action such as this is taken in the name of the people of England and Scotland, they should be asked whether they assent to it or not? I confess that, founding myself on my estimate of the character of the Prime Minister and some of his colleagues rather than on any spoken word, I have hitherto inclined to the belief that before making themselves answerable to the country and to history for consequences so tremendous they would themselves desire to have the plain sanction of a direct popular vote.