but England cannot in those of Ireland; if we have what has been called the “in-and-out” scheme as proposed by Gladstone in 1893—­that is, for the Irish members to vote on all questions of an Imperial nature, but to retire when matters affecting England only are under discussion—­then, even if the line could be drawn (which is doubtful) we might have the absurdity of an English ministry which possessed the confidence of the majority of Englishmen and whose management of England met their approval, being turned out of office by the Irish vote, and England being governed according to a policy which the majority of Englishmen detested.  Of course it may be said that there ought to be a number of small Parliaments in the British Isles, like those in the Provinces of Canada or the States of Australia, with one great Parliament supreme over them—­in other words, Federation.  That might be a good thing, although it would in its turn start many difficulties which it is unnecessary now to discuss, for it is not Home Rule nor does Home Rule lead to it.  Federal systems arise by the union of separate States, each State giving up a part of its power to a joint body which can levy taxes and can overrule the local authorities.  In fact, when Federation comes about, the States cease to be nations.

(I must here remark in passing that constant confusion has been caused by the various senses in which the word “nation” is used.  Thus it is often quite correctly employed in a sentimental sense—­we speak of Scottish National character, or of the National Bible Society of Scotland, though Scotland has no separate Parliament or flag and would on a map of Europe be painted the same colour as the rest of Great Britain.  Quite distinct from that is the political sense, in which the Irish Nationalists use the word when speaking of being “A Nation once again,” or of “The National Independence of Ireland.”)

It might be possible for the United Kingdom to be broken up into a Federation (though it is strange that there is no precedent in history for such a course); but that would not be “satisfying the National Aspirations of Ireland.”  In fact, as Mr. Childers, one of the ablest of English advocates of Home Rule, has stated:  “The term Federal, as applied to Irish Home Rule at the present time, is meaningless.”

But when we come to examine the existing Bill, which will become law in 1914 unless something unforeseen occurs, we find that it is neither the Colonial plan nor Federation but an elaborate system which really seems as if it had been devised with the object of satisfying nobody and producing friction at every point.  England (by which of course I mean Great Britain; I merely use the shorter term for convenience) is not only to pay the total cost of the army, navy and diplomatic services, including the defences of Ireland, but is also to grant an annual subsidy to Ireland commencing with L500,000 but subsequently reduced to L200,000.  Whether the English taxpayer