Page:The Gaelic State in the Past & Future.djvu/79

 which time the subject of dispute would be laid aside) both Assembly and Senate would sit, debate and vote on the matter as one body, and the decision so taken would be final during the life of that Assembly.

It is claimed that a system such as this reflects the spirit of the old Irish State as translated into modern conditions, answering at one time the instincts that have persisted in the Nation and the surface-thinking it has since acquired. It gives no undue obeisance to the modern invention of parliaments, but draws the Government created by an Assembly of Representatives into definite relation with the interests it is supposed to study while making those interests the deciders of their own affairs within the limits of national agreement. It could not help but reflect the instincts and thoughts of the Nation. Being brought so closely into touch with its life it would at once react to the changes of that life. Yet the stability and central function of government would be assured. The utmost liberty would be given to the parts while ensuring the central action of the whole, as the limbs of the body have an independent liberty while obeying the rhythm created and disciplined by the mind.

Certain parts of government belong so essentially to the business of the whole that they would not come under the review of any special council. The Minister, or Ministers, in charge of these would be responsible to none but the Nation, for they would directly concern the Nation as a whole and not in any one of its parts. The chief of these of course is