Carson ended by saying that he did not intend
to take a vote--he "could be no party to having Ulstermen vote one
against the other." What was to be done must be done by agreement, or
not at all. He offered to confer separately with the delegates from the
three omitted counties, and the Council adjourned till the 12th of June
to enable this conference to be held.
In the interval a large number of the delegates held meetings of their
local associations, most of which passed resolutions in favour of
accepting the Government's proposals. But there was undoubtedly a
widespread feeling that it would be a betrayal of the Loyalists of
Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal, and even a positive breach of the
Covenant, to accept exclusion from the Home Rule Act for only a portion
of Ulster. This was, it is true, a misunderstanding of the strict
meaning of the Covenant, which had been expressly conditioned so as not
to extend to such unforeseen circumstances as the war had brought
about[95]; but there was a general desire to avoid if possible taking
technical points, and both Carson himself and the Council were ready to
sacrifice the opportunity for a tolerable settlement should the
representatives of the three counties not freely consent to what was
proposed.
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