ke for must have a voice in the House of Commons--however they got
it; and there was general desire to give it them, even by methods which
no one could justify for general application.

In short, it became increasingly clear as the debates proceeded that we
could come to an arrangement with Unionists if Lord Midleton represented
Unionism. But he did not. Ulster was there; and the Ulster men made it
plain that their business was to hear suggestions, not to put them
forward. Two facts, however, emerged about Ulster's attitude. The first
was that in coming to the Convention the Ulstermen had expected to
negotiate on the basis of taking the Home Rule Act as the maximum
Nationalist demand. The only compromise which they had contemplated was
a mean term between the provisions of that Act and Ulster's demand for a
continuance of the legislative Union so far as Ulster was concerned. The
second was that Belfast regarded as ruinous to its interests any
possibility of a tariff war with Great Britain, and believed that if
Ireland were given the power to fix its own customs duties the dominant
farming interest would seek to find revenue by new taxation on imports.
Hence, the proposal to give Ireland full fiscal powers could not be
acceptable to Ulster. Here lay the main rock in our course.

As the discussion proceeded, one category of proposals was summarily
dealt with--those which contemplated the setting up of some provincial
authority intermediate between the central Parliament, which all
postulated, and the existing local bodies in the counties. This policy
did not lack advocates. But the County Councillors were solid against
it: evidently their private meeting discussed and decided against an
expedient which they held would detract from the dignity of the central
Parliament and from the dignity of the County Councils. Those who
defended it as a plan which might meet Ulster's difficulty got no
backing from Ulster; that group said neither for nor against it. In the
rest of the assembly there was a strong feeling against anything that
looked like partition or might in public be called partition. Several of
us had thought in advance that this was the most likely path to the
solution; and looking back, I think it ought to have been much more
fully explored. But encouragement was lacking.

Another anticipation proved illusory. We all realized that in the
circumstances Ireland could come to a financial arrangement with Great
Britain