"You will get plenty," interrupted an Irish member.
Resuming, Lloyd George said "While we have one ship afloat we should not
accept a German peace. The men being taken now may be the means of a
decisive issue."
Mr. Asquith said he would suspend judgment until he saw the bill in
print. He invited every one to keep his mind and ears accessible to
reasonable argument. At the conclusion of Mr. Asquith's speech, Joseph
Devlin moved an adjournment and warned the Government that it was
entering upon a course of madness if it endeavored to inforce
conscription on Ireland. His motion was defeated later by a vote of 323
to 80.
Mr. Dillon said he hoped for the sake of the war and for the sake of the
empire that the methods of the War Cabinet in dealing with the war were
different from its methods in dealing with Ireland. A bill applying
conscription to Ireland, Mr. Dillon continued, would plunge the country
into bloodshed and confusion and would open a new war front in addition
to the western front. He urged the War Cabinet to inform itself as to
the state of Irish feeling before proposing conscription to Ireland.
Leave to introduce the Government's Man-Power bill was carried after
further hot debate by 299 to 80.