rically unwieldy.
Nine-tenths of its representation was drawn from the Ulster Party's
and the Irish Party's supporters, both of whom were pledged in advance
to the Partition settlement, and as far as the Irish Party
representation was concerned the last thing that could be said of it
was that it was representative. Of the seventy-five Redmondites who
composed three-fourths of the Convention only one escaped rejection by
his constituents as soon as the electors had their say! The Convention
laboured under the still further disadvantage of being at the mercy of
an Orange veto, which makes one wonder how it was that Mr Redmond or
his party ever submitted to it. The Ulster delegates to the Convention
were under the control of an outside body--the Ulster Orange Council.
They could decide nothing without reference to this body, and hence
the Convention was in the perfectly humiliating position of carrying
on its proceedings subject to an outside Orange veto.

Neither the All-for-Ireland Party nor Sinn Fein was represented at the
Convention, although Mr Lloyd George made a second appeal to Mr
O'Brien to assist in its deliberations. It says something for the
wisdom of Mr O'Brien's proposal for a small Conference that after
debating the matter for months the Convention decided to transmit
their powers to a Committee of Nine to draw up terms of agreement.
This Committee did actually reach agreement, only to have it squelched
instantly by the veto of the Ulster Council when the Ulster nominees
reported the terms of it to them. Lord MacDonnell, in a letter to
_The Times_, dated 2nd November 1919, makes the following
disclosure regarding Mr Redmond's view of this matter:--

"In regard to this episode I well remember the late Mr Redmond saying
in conversation that if he had foreseen the possibility of a proposal
made there being submitted for judgment to men who had not
participated in the Convention's proceedings, and were removed from
its pervading atmosphere of good will, he would never have consented
to enter it."

Mr O'Brien, however, saw this danger in advance and drew public
attention to it. In a speech in the House of Commons he also foretold
what the failure of the Convention meant: the destruction of the
constitutional movement and the setting up of "the right of rebellion,
whether from the Covenanters or Sinn Feiners as the only arbiter left
in Irish affairs. You will justly make Parliamentary methods more
despised and