The summary of the proceedings, presented by Sir Horace Plunkett, and the scheme of government as agreed upon by the majority, are of importance historically for a comparison with subsequent measures of home rule, which the British Government announces it intends to introduce before putting into force conscription in Ireland.
THE CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY
Sir Horace Plunkett's letter reads:
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of the proceedings of the Irish Convention. For the immediate object of the Government the report tells all that needs to be told:
It shows that in the convention, while it was not found possible to overcome the objections of the Ulster Unionists, a majority of Nationalists, all the Southern Unionists, and five out of the seven Labor representatives were agreed that the scheme of Irish self-government set out in Paragraph 42 of the report should be immediately passed into law. A minority of Nationalists propose a scheme which differs in only one important particular from that of the majority. The convention has, therefore, laid a foundation of Irish agreement unprecedented in history.
I recognize that action in Parliament upon the result of our deliberations must largely depend upon public opinion. Without a knowledge of the circumstances which, at the termination of our proceedings, compelled us to adopt an unusual method of presenting the results of our deliberations, the public might be misled as to what has actually been achieved. It is, therefore, necessary to explain our procedure.
Adopting the Report
We had every reason to believe that the Government contemplated immediate legislation upon the results of our labors. The work of an Irish settlement, suspended at the outbreak of the war, is now felt to admit of no further postponement. In the dominions and in the United States, as well as in other allied countries, the unsettled Irish question is a disturbing factor both in regard to war effort and peace aims. Nevertheless, urgent as our task was, we could not complete it until every possibility of agreement had been explored. The moment this point was reached—and you will not be surprised that it took us eight months to reach it—we decided to issue our report with the least possible delay. To do this we had to avoid further controversy and protracted debate. I was, therefore, on March 22, instructed to draft a report which should be a mere narrative of the convention's proceedings, with a statement, for the information of the Government, of the conclusions adopted, whether unanimously or by majorities.
It was hoped that this report might be unanimously signed; and it was understood that any groups or individuals would be free to append to it such statements as they deemed necessary to give expression to their views. The draft report was circulated on March 30, and discussed and amended on April 4 and 5. The accuracy of the narrative was not challenged, though there was considerable difference of opinion as to the relative prominence which should be given to some parts of the proceedings. As time pressed, it was decided not to have any discussion upon a majority report, nor upon any minority reports or other statements which might be submitted. The draft report was adopted by a majority, and the Chairman and Secretary were ordered to sign it and forward it to the Government. A limit of twenty-four hours was, by agreement, put upon the reception of any other reports or statements, and in the afternoon of April 5 the convention adjourned sine die.
The public is thus provided with no majority report, in the sense of a reasoned statement in favor of the conclusions upon which the majority are agreed, but is left to gather from the narrative of proceedings what the contents of such a report would have been. On the other hand, both the Ulster Unionists and a minority of the Nationalists have presented minority reports covering the whole field of the convention's inquiry. The result of this procedure is to minimize the agreement reached, and to emphasize the disagreement. In these circumstances I conceive it to be my duty as Chairman to submit such explanatory observations as are required to enable the reader of the report and the accompanying documents to gain a clear idea of the real effect and significance of the convention's achievement.
I may assume a knowledge of the broad facts of the Irish question. It will be agreed that of recent years the greatest obstacle to its settlement has been the Ulster difficulty. There seemed to be two possible issues to our deliberations. If a scheme of Irish self-government could be framed to which the Ulster Unionists would give their adherence, then the convention might produce a unanimous report. Failing such a consummation, we might secure agreement, either complete or substantial, between the Nationalist, the Southern Unionist, and the Labor representatives. Many entertained the hope that the effect of such a striking and wholly new development would be to induce Ulster to reconsider its position.
Ulster Issue Unsolved
Perhaps unanimity was too much to expect. Be this as it may, neither time nor effort was spared in striving for that goal, and there were moments when its attainment seemed possible. There was, however, a portion of Ulster where a majority claimed that, if Ireland had the right to separate herself from the rest of the United Kingdom, they had the same right to separation from the rest of Ireland. But the time had gone by when any other section of the Irish people would accept the partition of their country, even as a temporary expedient. Hence, the Ulster Unionist members in the convention remained there only in the hope that some form of home rule would be proposed which might modify the determination of those they represented to have neither part nor lot in an Irish Parliament. The Nationalists strove to win them by concessions, but they found themselves unable to accept any of the schemes discussed, and the only scheme of Irish government they presented to the convention was confined to the exclusion of their entire province.
Long before the hope of complete unanimity had passed, the majority of the convention were considering the possibilities of agreement between the Nationalists and the Southern Unionists. Lord Midleton was the first to make a concrete proposal to this end. The report shows that in November he outlined to the Grand Committee and in December brought before the convention what looked like a workable compromise. It accepted self-government for Ireland. In return for special minority representation in the Irish Parliament, already conceded by the Nationalists, it offered to that Parliament complete power over internal legislation and administration, and, in matters of finance, over direct taxation and excise. But, although they agreed that the customs revenue should be paid in to the Irish Exchequer, the Southern Unionists insisted upon the permanent reservation to the Imperial Parliament of the power to fix the rates of customs duties. By far the greater part of our time and attention was occupied by this one question, whether the imposition of customs duties should or should not be under the control of the Irish Parliament. The difficulties of the Irish Convention may be summed up in two words—Ulster and Customs.
Customs and Excise Problem
The Ulster difficulty the whole world knows; but how the customs question came to be one of vital principle, upon the decision of which depended the amount of agreement that could be reached in the convention, needs to be told. The tendency of recent political thought among constitutional Nationalists has been toward a form of government resembling as closely as possible that of the dominions, and, since the geographical position of Ireland imposes obvious restrictions in respect of naval and military affairs, the claim for dominion home rule was concentrated upon a demand for unrestricted fiscal powers. Without separate customs and excise Ireland would, according to this view, fail to attain a national status like that enjoyed by the dominions.
Upon this issue the Nationalists made a strong case, and were able to prove that a considerable number of leading commercial men had come to favor fiscal autonomy as part of an Irish settlement. In the present state of public opinion in Ireland it was feared that without customs no scheme the convention recommended would receive a sufficient measure of popular support to secure legislation. To obviate any serious disturbance of the trade of the United Kingdom the Nationalists were prepared to agree to a free-trade arrangement between the two countries. But this did not overcome the difficulties of the Southern Unionists, who on this point agreed with the Ulster Unionists. They were apprehensive that a separate system of customs control, however guarded, might impair the authority of the United Kingdom over its external trade policy. Neither could they consent to any settlement which was, in their judgment, incompatible with Ireland's full participation in a scheme of United Kingdom federation, should that come to pass.
It was clear that by means of mutual concessions agreement between the Nationalists and the Southern Unionists could be reached on all other points. On this important point, however, a section of the Nationalists, who have embodied their views in a separate report, held that no compromise was possible. On the other hand, a majority of the Nationalists and the whole body of Southern Unionists felt that nothing effective could result from their work in the convention unless some understanding was reached upon customs which would render an agreement on a complete scheme attainable. Neither side was willing to surrender the principle; but both sides were willing, in order that a Parliament should be at once established, to postpone a legislative decision upon the ultimate control of customs and excise. At the same time each party has put on record, in separate notes subjoined to the report, its claim respecting the final settlement of this question. A decision having been reached upon the cardinal issue, the majority of the convention carried a series of resolutions which together form a complete scheme of self-government.
Parliament for All Ireland
This scheme provides for the establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland, with an Executive responsible to it, and with full powers over all internal legislation, administration, and direct taxation. Pending a decision of the fiscal question, it is provided that the imposition of duties of customs and excise shall remain with the Imperial Parliament, but that the whole of the proceeds of these taxes shall be paid into the Irish Exchequer. A joint Exchequer Board is to be set up to determine the Irish true revenue, and Ireland is to be represented upon the Board of Customs and Excise of the United Kingdom.
The principle of representation in the Imperial Parliament was insisted upon from the first by the Southern Unionists, and the Nationalists conceded it. It was felt, however, that there were strong reasons for providing that the Irish representatives at Westminster should be elected by the Irish Parliament rather than directly by the constituencies, and this was the arrangement adopted.
It was accepted in principle that there should be an Irish contribution to the cost of imperial services, but owing to lack of data it was not found possible in the convention to fix any definite sum.
It was agreed that the Irish Parliament should consist of two houses—a Senate of sixty-four members and a House of Commons of 200. The principle underlying the composition of the Senate is the representation of interests. This is effected by giving representation to commerce, industry, and labor, the County Councils, the Churches, learned institutions, and the peerage. In constituting the House of Commons the Nationalists offered to guarantee 40 per cent. of its membership to the Unionists. It was agreed that, in the south, adequate representation for Unionists could only be secured by nomination; but, as the Ulster representatives had informed the convention that those for whom they spoke could not accept the principle of nomination, provision was made in the scheme for an extra representation of Ulster by direct election.
The majority of the Labor representatives associated themselves with the Nationalists and Southern Unionists in building up the Constitution, with the provisions of which they found themselves in general agreement. They frankly objected, however, to the principle of nomination and to what they regarded as the inadequate representation of Labor in the upper house. Throughout our proceedings they helped in every way toward the attainment of agreement. Nor did they press their own special claims in such a manner as to make more difficult the work, already difficult enough, of agreeing upon a Constitution.
Knottiest Question in History
I trust I have said enough to enable the reader of this report and the accompanying documents to form an accurate judgment upon the nature and difficulties of the task before the convention and upon its actual achievement. While, technically, it was our function to draft a Constitution for our country, it would be more correct to say that we had to find a way out of the most complex and anomalous political situation to be found in history—I might almost say in fiction. We are living under a system of government which survives only because the act abolishing it cannot, consistently with Ministerial pledges, be put into operation without further legislation no less difficult and controversial than that which it has to amend. While the responsibility for a solution to our problem rests primarily with the Government, the convention found itself in full accord with your insistence that the most hopeful path to a settlement was to be found in Irish agreement. In seeking this—in attempting to find a compromise which Ireland might accept and Parliament pass into law—it has been recognized that the full program of no party could be adopted. The convention was also bound to give due weight to your opinion that to press for a settlement at Westminster, during the war, of the question which, as I have shown, had been a formidable obstacle to agreement would be to imperil the prospect of the early establishment of self-government in Ireland.
Notwithstanding the difficulties with which we were surrounded, a larger measure of agreement has been reached upon the principle and details of Irish self-government than has yet been attained. Is it too much to hope that the scheme embodying this agreement will forthwith be brought to fruition by those to whose call the Irish Convention has now responded? I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
HORACE PLUNKETT.
April 8, 1918.
THE MAJORITY REPORT
The proposed scheme of Irish self-government referred to in Sir Horace Plunkett's letter is set out below, the majorities by which each section or subsection was carried being indicated in parentheses:
The Irish Parliament. (51 votes to 18.)
(1) The Irish Parliament to consist of the King, an Irish Senate, and an Irish House of Commons.
(2) Notwithstanding the establishment of the Irish Parliament or anything contained in the Government of Ireland act, the supreme power and authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall remain unaffected and undiminished over all persons, matters, and things in Ireland and every part thereof.
Powers of the Irish Parliament. The Irish Parliament to have the general power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of Ireland, subject to the exclusions and restrictions specified in 3 and 4 below. (51 to 19.)
Exclusions from Power of Irish Parliament. (49 to 16.) The Irish Parliament to have no power to make laws on the following matters: