1 Copy 15th June, 1916. My dear Willis, Till we see whether Asquith's announcement that Lloyd
George's proposal is a "provisional" one puts an end to
negotiations or not, the position is hardly worth arguing
about; but I write a line to say that I totally disagree with
you as to our having "absolutely protected our own interests,"
as I think the suggested six County Province, though easier
to defend than the whole Province, will be an exceedingly
uncomfortable salient to live in; but if anything comes of
the scheme, we shall be in a better position to help our
friends standing, as it were, on dry land ourselves, than
if we were all drowned together under an Irish Parliament. The question of the exclusion of Ulster was, I think,
very thoroughly considered by Unionists, North and South,
before the war, and I was under the impression that all Unionists
whose opinions were worth anything, were agreed that Ulster
Unionists were serving the interests of Southern Unionists as
well as their own in insisting upon exclusion. I do not think
the I.U.A. is at all likely to pass such a silly resolution as
you suggest. It would strengthen the hands of the more selfish
members of the Ulster community in devoting themselves altogether
to the safeguarding of their own interests and neglecting those
of Unionists outside their borders; a line the majority of us
have never hitherto taken; but we should all bitterly resent
such a stab in the back to Carson at a time when he is doing 2 his best to get the best available terms for all Unionists
North and South. We do not see what use we could be either
to you or to ourselves in a permanent minority in a Dublin
Parliament. I am altogether against schemes to strengthen
one rebel faction against another; but for many reasons I
should be well pleased to see Lloyd George's eirenicon rejected
by a Nationalist Convention. Barring a few Belfast men of
business, nobody likesthe position as we are now in; but I hold
that we chose the least of the evil alternatives with which
we were faced, in the interest of Southern Unionists as
well as in our own. Yours very truly,