Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Only a few words of explanation require to be said in introducing this book. It must not be inferred from the slight references made to the Irish party that I do not sympathise to the full with the Nationalist movement. The democracy of Ireland has set a noble example to our slower moving peoples on this side of the water, and nothing seems more certain than that the coming of Home Rule will be the prelude to a far more rapid advance in Ireland than anything we have experienced in the past. The progress of Ireland has been delayed, not by the Irish themselves, but by us. But the problem of Irish self-government should have been solved fifty years ago. In itself, it is a problem of the type facing politicians in the days of purely political Liberalism. As such it is not typical of the modern struggle, which is the true subject matter of this book. Thus it was no part of my task to develop the point of view which led the Nationalists into the Coalition, and I have dealt almost entirely with the other two bodies concerned - Liberalism and Labour.

Only a few words of explanation require to be said in introducing this book. It must not be inferred from the slight references made to the Irish party that I do not sympathise to the full with the Nationalist movement. The democracy of Ireland has set a noble example to our slower moving peoples on this side of the water, and nothing seems more certain than that the coming of Home Rule will be the prelude to a far more rapid advance in Ireland than anything we have experienced in the past. The progress of Ireland has been delayed, not by the Irish themselves, but by us. But the problem of Irish self-government should have been solved fifty years ago. In itself, it is a problem of the type facing politicians in the days of purely political Liberalism. As such it is not typical of the modern struggle, which is the true subject matter of this book. Thus it was no part of my task to develop the point of view which led the Nationalists into the Coalition, and I have dealt almost entirely with the other two bodies concerned — Liberalism and Labour.