It was to overcome these and other differences that Premier Lloyd George invited representatives of the convention to London to confer with the Cabinet. The Premier's letter, dated Feb. 25, 1918, is published in the report. It discloses the fact that some of the Nationalists had been willing to set up an Ulster Committee in the Irish Parliament to veto the application of certain legislation to that province, to make Belfast the headquarters of the Irish Ministry of Commerce, and to let the Irish Parliament meet alternately in Dublin and Belfast.
GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE
Dealing with "the difficult question of customs and excise," Lloyd George wrote:
The Government are aware of the serious objections which can be raised against the transfer of these services to an Irish Legislature. It would be practically impossible to make such a disturbance of the fiscal and financial relations of Great Britain and Ireland in the midst of a great war. It might also be incompatible with that federal reorganization of the United Kingdom in favor of which there is a growing body of opinion. On the other hand, the Government recognize the strong claim that can be made that an Irish Legislature should have some control over indirect taxation as the only form of taxation which touches the great majority of the people, and which in the past has represented the greater part of Irish revenue.
The Government feel that this is a matter which cannot be finally settled at the present time. They therefore suggest for the consideration of the convention that, during the period of the war and for a period of two years thereafter, the control of customs and excise should be reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament; that, as soon as possible after the Irish Parliament has been established, a Joint Exchequer Board should be set up to secure the determination of the true revenue of Ireland—a provision which is essential to a system of responsible Irish government—and to the making of a national balance sheet, and that, at the end of the war, a royal commission should be established to re-examine impartially and thoroughly the financial relations of Great Britain and Ireland, to report on the contribution of Ireland to imperial expenditure, and to submit proposals as to the best means of adjusting the economic and fiscal relations of the two countries.
The Government consider that during the period of the war the control of all taxation other than customs and excise could be handed over to the Irish Parliament; that for the period of the war and two years thereafter an agreed proportion of the annual imperial expenditure should be fixed as the Irish contribution; and that all Irish revenue from customs and excise as determined by the Joint Exchequer Board, after deduction of the agreed Irish contribution to imperial expenditure, should be paid into the Irish Exchequer. For administrative reasons, during the period of the war it is necessary that the police should remain under imperial control, and it seems to the Government to be desirable that for the same period the postal service should be a reserved service.
CONSCRIPTION IN IRELAND
The announcement of the British Government's twofold plan of home rule and conscription for Ireland caused an outpouring of protests from the whole of the Nationalist population. Preparations for resistance were begun, a great anti-conscription fund was opened, resolutions from public bodies began pouring in, and the Sinn Fein clubs renewed their activities.
The most striking feature of the opposition to conscription was that it welded together all the Irish elements represented by the Nationalist Party, the Independent Home Rulers, led by William O'Brien and Timothy Healy; the Sinn Fein, and the Labor organizations, which in recent years had not been very friendly to the Nationalists. Representatives of all these parties were present at a conference in Dublin, held, under the Chairmanship of the Lord Mayor, on April 18. The Catholic Bishops, at a meeting in Maynooth the same day, adopted a declaration against conscription. This meeting was attended by five representatives from the Dublin conference—John Dillon, Edward de Valere, Timothy Healy, a Labor delegate, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
A majority of the Nationalist members of the House of Commons decided to abstain from attendance in Parliament during the crisis, thus adopting the attitude of the Sinn Feiners who were elected to the House but have never attended. Fifty-five of the Nationalist members met in Dublin on April 20, with John Dillon presiding, and passed a resolution in which they declared that the enforcement of compulsory military service on a nation without its assent constituted "one of the most brutal acts of tyranny and oppression of which any Government can be guilty."
Fifteen hundred delegates of labor unions met at the Mansion House, Dublin, on April 20, and pledged their resistance to conscription. They also fixed April 23 for the stoppage of all work as an earnest of this resolve and to enable all workers to sign the pledge of resistance. The complete stoppage of work was duly observed on the day mentioned, and passed off for the most part in a quiet and orderly manner.
Sunday, April 21, was observed throughout Catholic Ireland as the day for the administration by the priests of the anti-conscription covenant. From every Catholic pulpit conscription was the subject of discourse, and the action of the Bishops and political leaders was explained. The assemblies where the pledge was taken were generally outside the churches, sometimes in the open air, sometimes in a hall. The practice followed in many cases was for the priest to read the pledge, sentence by sentence, the people reciting after him. In other cases the pledge was given by the raising of hands or the signing of a paper. The Bishops took part with the inferior clergy in administering the pledge, addressing the people and generally warning them against isolated and unconsidered action. They urged obedience to the orders of the recognized leaders, who act in co-operation. All classes, including lawyers, bankers, and merchants, as well as farmers and workmen, took the pledge.