1 Copy 9th June 1916 My dear Carson, The contents of this day's Nationalist papers look as
if we might have a repudiation of Redmond's provisional
consent to the six county plan before Monday, which would
save us from a considerable difficulty. If this does not occur it will be obviously righ tactics
for us to authorise you to enter upon negotiations on the six
county basis. I hope, however, that you will arrange to have a resolution
proposed which will make it quite clear that we only do this
under great stress on account of the war, and that we are not
bound by what we do on Monday under any other circumstances
that may arise. The resolution should contain some plausible excuse
for breaking or stretching the terms of the Covenant, and (which
I think quite as important) for giving even an implied assent
to the setting up of Home Rule for any part of Ireland at the
present time, involving, as it does, most serious danger to the
Realm, and with which even implicit consent appears to me to
amount to an act of treason, which requires a very valid excuse.
I feel that it is as big a breach of my Oath of Allegiance as
the abandoning of the three counties is of the Covenant. I attended the Unionist Alliance meeting yersterday.
Some of them had been seeing Lloyd George, and had received certain 2 offers from him, after considering which, they passed the
resolution in to-day's papers. I got them to tone one part
of it, which I thought very unwise, down a little; but did
not try to prevent them issuing it. Not knowing, however,
what sort of resolution I might find myself obliged to vote
for on Monday, I left the room before the resolution was
put, and they have considerately omitted my name from the
list of those present. Yours very truly,