ely asserted that the situation was thus
weighed deliberately by the Cabinet, or by Mr. Churchill himself. But,
if it was not, they must have been deficient in foresight; for there can
be no doubt, as several writers in the Press perceived, that the
transaction would so have presented itself to the mind of the public;
the psychological result would inure to the benefit of the Home Rulers.

But there was also another consideration which could not be ignored by
the Standing Committee--namely, the attitude of that important
individual, the "man in the street." Among the innumerable
misrepresentations levelled at the Ulster Movement none was more common
than that it was confined to a handful of lords, landlords, and wealthy
employers of labour; and, as a corollary, that all the trouble was
caused by the perversity of a few individuals, of whom the most guilty
was Sir Edward Carson. The truth was very different. Even at the zenith
of his influence and popularity Sir Edward himself would have been
instantly disowned by the Ulster democracy if he had given away anything
fundamental to the Unionist cause. More than to anything else he owed
his power to his pledge, never violated, that he would never commit his
followers to any irretraceable step without the consent of the Council,
in which they were fully represented on a democratic basis. At the
particular crisis now reached popular feeling could not be safely
disregarded, and it was clearly understood by the Standing Committee
that public excitement over the coming visit of Mr. Churchill was only
being kept within bounds by the belief of the public that their leaders
would not "let them down."

All these considerations were most carefully balanced at the meeting on
the 16th of January, and there were prolonged deliberations before the
decision was arrived at that some action must be taken to prevent the
Churchill meeting being held in the Ulster Hall, but that no obstacle
could, of course, be made to his speaking in any other building in
Belfast. The further question as to what this action should be was under
discussion when Colonel R.H. Wallace, C.B., Grand Master of the Belfast
Orangemen, and a man of great influence with all classes in the city as
well as in the neighbouring counties, entered the room and told the
Committee that people outside were expecting the Unionist Council to
devise means for stopping the Ulster Hall meeting; that they were quite
resolved to take ma