Sir HENRY DALZIELMay I ask the Prime Minister a question, of which I have given him private notice, namely: Whether, in regard to the conflicting interpretations which have been placed on the sentence in the King's Speech to the Home Rule Conference relating to civil war, he will be good enough to say what interpretation he himself placed upon it when it was first submitted to him?
§ The PRIME MINISTERWell, Sir, I rather deprecate a question of this kind, but I propose to answer it in the special circumstances. In my understanding the sentence in question was not intended, and ought not to be construed, to convey what is more than is obviously true, namely, that the apprehensions of civil strife have been widely entertained and expressed by responsible and sober-minded persons, among whom I may, perhaps, include myself.