Letter from Edward Carson to William Martin, 17 July 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Edward Carson

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Letter from Edward Carson (1854-1935) to William Martin (1855-1933). Carson was a prominent Unionist Politician. Originally a practicing solicitor from Dublin, Carson's opposition to the proposed third Home Rule bill made him the figure head of Unionism throughout the island. He was the centerpiece of the speaking tour that culminated in Ulster Day (28 September 1912), when just under half a million signed Ulster's solemn league and covenant pledging to use ‘all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a home rule parliament in Dublin’. Carson inaugurated the Larne gunrunning in 1914 which armed the UVF, many of whom Carson would encourage to join the British Army throughout the First World War.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Carson Papers, D1507/A/18/1/23 https://letters1916.ie/item/4359 English Edward Carson 1916-07-17 William Martin Hilden, Co. Monaghan, Ireland Male 1935 Politics Politics Country and City Life

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 HOUSE OF COMMONS July 17.1916. Dear Mr. Martin, I am very greatly obliged for your letter & the enclosures. I greatly appreciate the resolution which notwithstanding Major Somerset Saunderson's letter the Monaghan delegates have passed on the 13th .July,. Noone has suffered more than I have from the knowledge that it was impossible to include the 3 counties in the proposed settlement & I know well how deeply disappointed all our friends in those 3 counties must necessarily have been & I therefore value I all the more appreciate the resolution referred to. Will you thank the others for me & say how deeply impressed I am by their expression of confidence in myself. As regards Major Saunderson's letter it is I fear a tissue of misapprehension from beginning to end. He makes no reference to the statement made by the Prime Minister on behalf of all his collegues in the Cabinet on the 25thMay which expressed the unconscious desire for that a settlement of the future Government of Ireland should be arranged as a matter of Imperial & refer to the Imperial Emergency which had arise arisen. Nor does he refer to the fact that the Home Rule Act, comprising the whole of Ireland been is now upon the Statute book, and that no member of the Cabinet so far as I know has stated that it is any longer the possible policy of for the Unionist party to try and have it repealed._ [Major Saunderson is also under a misapprehension when he states that I told the delegates at Belfast that the particular proposals had the unanimous assent of the Cabinet. The statement I made, — which is borne out by the shorthand note, which is now before me, and by the resolution which was passed ,— was that the Cabinet desired a settlement, and had unanimously appointed Lloyd George to negotiate one, and that the terms I put forward were those submitted to me by Mr.Lloyd George after communication with the Prime Minister — Major Saunderson in his letter says that "five Unionist members of the Government are opposed to the settlement", — but as to this I can only say that no member of the Government has suggested to me thatat any time that I should resubmit the proposals to the Ulster Unionist Council. and Had they done so I should certainly have considered the matter See back & How little any part of Ulster could expect from a settlement after the war is shown by the fact that the Irish Unionist Alliance, with whose deputation Major Saunderson was joined — have passed a resolution deprecating the leaving out of the six counties. Major Saunderson had every opportunity of stating his views — as I encouraged him to do — to the meeting of the Council in Belfast and I fully resent his attempt to create a feeling that I have been Moreover, the statement of Lord Selbourne — the only Minister who has definitely dissented from the proposals — that the Home Rule must Act cannot be repealed, shows how little is to be expected from gained by any rejection of the suggested settlement. After making every allowance for Major Saunderson's the Soreness which Major Saunderson as a Cavan delegate evidently feels, I must say that I resent his attempt to create the impression that I have been deceived, or that the Ulster Council was misled in coming to the conclusion contained in their resolution — an impression which is in no way confirmed, as Major Saunderson seems to suppose, by the Statements of Lord Lansdowne & Lord Selbourne in the House of Lords. If the Irish Unionist Alliance The extent to which Major Saunderson misunderstands the whole situation may be seen in his astonishing Statement that the course of events has "made it appear that the Ulster Unionists have accepted the principle of Home Rule". He must have entirely forgotten the terms of the Ulster Councils' Resolution to which he was himself a party If Major Saunderson desires to have the proceedings in Belfast reversed, I suggest that his proper course is to call — PAGE 4 OF 4. deceived or that the Ulster Council has been deceived in coming to the conclusion contained in par their resolution and it seems to me to be particularly cruel to-day at a time when the hearts & homes of so many in Ulster are now sorrowing for the brave men who have won glory for the Province. If Major Saunderson desires to he can calla public meeting in Belfast & and lay his views before the Ulster people, and to whom he can explain to them how he proposes to get on better terms than I have been able to as obtain . & of If he can persuade them of the truth of the allegations contained in his letter I shall most willingly, if I am so requested, makeway for him or for any other leader that the Ulster people may choose. Yours very truly. William Martin Esq Hilden. Monaghan. William Martin Letter from Patrick Carey to William Martin, 29 November 1915Letter from William Martin to Edward Carson, 13 July 1916Letter from Edward Carson to William Martin, 17 July 1916 Edward Carson Letter from David Lloyd George to Edward Carson, 29 May 1916Letter from Sir Dawson Bates to Edward Carson, 2 December 1915Letter from William Robert Young to Edward Carson, 9 July 1916Letter from Alexander McDowell to Edward Carson, 20 July 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenerg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 31 May 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery to Edward Carson, 9 June 1916Letter from Frederick Hugh Crawford to Edward Carson, 8 March 1916Letter from Edward Carson to Thomas McGregor Greer, 12 July 1916Letter from Sir Edward Carson to Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, 10 December 1915Letter to Edward Carson, 19 November 1915Letter from William R. Young to Edward Carson, 2 November 1915Letter from J.M. Wilson to Edward Carson, 3 November 1915Letter from Turner Oliver Read to Edward Carson, 12 November 1915Letter from William R. Young to Edward Carson, 12 November 1915Letter from Harold Tennant to Edward Carson, 17 November 1915Letter from Henry Mulholland to Pembroke Wicks, circa November 1915Letter from Wilfrid Spender to Edward Carson, 25 November 1915Letter Wilfrid Spender to Edward Carson, 3 December 1915Letter to Edward Carson, 4 December 1915Letter from Robert Thompson to Edward Carson, 18 December 1915Letter from W.T. Bailey to Edward Carson, 22 December 1915Letter from General Nevil Macready to Edward Carson, 1 May 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 2 May 1916Letter from Horace Plunkett to Edward Carson, 4 May 1916Postcard to Edward Carson, 4 May 1916Letter from D.P. Barton to Edward Carson, 5 May 1916Letter from Edward Carson to Herbert Asquith, 9 May 1916Letter from Herbert Asquith to Edward Carson, 10 May 1916Copy of a letter from John Crozier to Edward Carson, 9 May 1916Letter from J.M. Wilson to Edward Carson, 11 May 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 15 May 1916Letter from David Lloyd George to Edward Carson, 3 June 1916Letter from G.L. Moore to Edward Carson, 6 June 1916Letter from sir William Robert Robertson to Edward Carson, 7 June 1916Letter from Nevil Macready to Edward Carson, 8 June 1916Letter from Arthur Warren Samuels to Edward Carson, 14 June 1916Letter from Frederick Stringer Wrench to Edward Carson, 15 June 1916Letter from Somerset Francis Saunderson to Edward Carson, 15 June 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 17 June 1916Letter from Somerset Francis Saunderson to Edward Carson, 17 June 1916Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 21 June 1916Letter from Ronald McNeill to Edward Carson, 22 June 1916Letter from John Crozier to Edward Carson, 26 June 1916Letter from Charles F. Down to Edward Carson, 28 June 1916Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 29 June 1916Letter from Archibald Salvidge to Edward Carson, 30 June 1916Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 1 July 1916Letter from Charles Clements to Edward Carson, 3 July 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 5 July 1916Letter from Horace Plunkett to Edward Carson, 5 July 1916Letter from Charles F Down to Edward Carson, 8 June 1916Letter from Herbert Samuel to Edward Carson, 13 July 1916Letter from William Martin to Edward Carson, 13 July 1916Letter from Travers R. Blackley to Edward Carson, 11 July 1916Letter from Travers R. Blackley to Edward Carson, 13 July 1916Letter from Pembroke Wicks to Edward Carson, 14 July 1916Letter from Somerset Francis Saunderson to Edward Carson, 15 July 1916Letter from Edward Carson to William Martin, 17 July 1916Letter from Herbert Samuel to Edward Carson, 21 July 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 21 July 1916Letter from John Strachey to Edward Carson, 27 July 1916Letter from Alexander McDowell to Edward Carson, 5 October 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 7 October 1916Letter from Sharman D Neill to Edward Carson, 7 October 1916Letter from John Strachey to Edward Carson, 7 October 1916Letter from Rosalind Hamilton to Edward Carson, 10 October 1916Letter to Edward Carson, 14 October 1916Letter from David Lloyd George to Edward Carson, 14 October 1916Letter from J. Beatty to Edward Carson, 16 October 1916Letter from Edward Carson to Richard Dawson Bates, 21 April 1919 Hilden, Co. Monaghan, Ireland Letter from William Martin to Edward Carson, 13 July 1916Letter from Edward Carson to William Martin, 17 July 1916