Page:The Irish Cause and "The Irish Convention".djvu/20

 regret that the Partition bargain of last year did not succeed.

I do not impugn the sincerity of those who may believe any compromise would be better than failure to secure an agreement, but am absolutely convinced, for my own part, that Partition under any disguise would mean the destruction of the ideal of Ireland a Nation, and could not, indeed, be enforced at all without bloodshed and disorder.

4. The solid majority—apart even from the aid of the direct nominees of the Government—which the Irish Parliamentary Party would thus be able to cast in favour of any such Partitionist compromise—would consist principally of Mayors and Chairmen of County Councils, all of whom were the choice of the Board of Erin wing of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and of the United Irish League, and could not have been elected without the imprimatur of these organisations. This fact might not be material if the Board of Erin Hibernians and the United Irish League could still pretend to enjoy the confidence of the country; but their leaders have owned that the contrary is the truth, and, as a matter of fact, have not attempted to hold a free public meeting anywhere throughout the country for more than a year past. The local governing bodies, like the Irish Parliamentary Party themselves, have outstayed their mandate from the country by several years. The greater number of those whom the Government arrangements will constitute a majority of the Convention would quite certainly be defeated if they were obliged to face their constituents at the polls. The will of the people is, therefore, rendered powerless to control the secret deliberations of the Convention, and would be forced to find other and regrettable means of resisting any such Partitionist 20