AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2151, 18 May 1914, Page 4

AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS.

Tftß contents of the amending Bill Have- now become the principal centre of interest in connection with the Soaw Hide coatroversy. _ Both the Nationalists and the Unionists are uneasy regarding its provisions. It is stated that the .House of Lords nuty delay the. division on the second reading of the original Home Rule Bill until the proposed amendments have been disclosed. The Lords do not Want to lose any strategical advantage-, and their attitude towards the principal Hieastiris will probably depend very largely on tluv nature of tho concessions contained in. the. supplementary Bill. The. Nationalists arc also waiting and watching for developments. They now realise that the "full speed ahead" policy is out of the 'luestion. and they are afraid that Mr. AmariTH may go further along the road of conciliation than they can follow him. They see, the danger of Hie Linava!& and Unionists coming lo terms which will include the per* j

mancnt exclusion of Ulster, and they declare that if such an andersttLnding should he arrived at they would ha compelled to withdraw their support from the Government. There can ho no doubt that opinion among .the Liberals is tending in the direction of cutting Ulster clean out of the Howe Jtttle scheme. In this connection, the statement of the- British Weekly, the well-known Nonconformist journal, that the Nonconformists demand a renewal of Ulster's option of exclusion at the end of the six.year period is most significant. The British Protestants have all along felt the strain of having to choose between their loyalty to the Liberal pn'rty and their sympathy with their fellow-Protestants in the North of Ireland, and. it now seewts probable they a-.re bringing strong pressure to hear on the Government to prevent the- coercion of Ulster. It is possible that tho amending Bill may be carried with the assistance of Unionist votes in the teeth of Nationalist- opposition; but tho Cabinet probably realises that a general election cannot bo postponed for long, and hopes that whatever complications may result from friction with their Irish supporters will in some way be smoothed out by the appeal to the people. In any case, Mil. AsqiHTh may find himself compelled to submit either to the demands of the Nonconformists or the threats of the Nationalists, and the chances are that ho will choose the former alternative.