§
Page 3, line 19, at end insert the following new subsection:
("(5) In order to give effect to an agreement as to the date from which the month mentioned in Article 11 of the said Articles of Agreement is to run, it is hereby declared that this Act shall not for the purposes of the said Article 11 be deemed to be the Act for the ratification of the said Articles of Agreement.")
§ VISCOUNT PEELMy Lords, on this, which is the fifth of the Amendments made by this House, I move that we do not insist upon it, but, in lieu thereof, agree with the Amendment made by the Commons in its place. That Amendment reads as follows—
This Act shall not be deemed to be the Act of Parliament for the ratification of the said Articles of Agreement as from the passing whereof the month mentioned in Article 11 of the said Articles is to run.Your Lordships will see that it has the same meaning, but makes the matter more clear, and it was agreed upon in that form.
§ Moved, That this House doth not insist on the said Amendment, but agrees with the Amendment made by the Commons in lieu thereof.—(Viscount Peel.)
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMay I ask a question? May I take it then that the ratification of all the Articles of Agreement is put off, or only the ratification contemplated for the purposes of Article 11?
§ VISCOUNT PEELNo, the only meaning of that Amendment is this. The ambiguity to which attention was called over and over again in this House, is to be made clear by this definition that this particular right of Ulster to contract out of the Free State Constitution shall run from the one date and not from the other. The Amendment does not carry us any further than what it actually states.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House adjourned during pleasure.
§ House resumed.