Letter from Sir Austen Chamberlain (9, Egerton Place [London]) to WSC on the Irish policy of the Conservative Party in opposing the Home Rule Bill. He notes that the Conservative Party had proposed that discussion of the issue should be postponed until the end of the war, but have been forced to accept a proposal by the Prime Minister [Herbert Asquith, later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith]. Chamberlain welcomes the news that force is not to be used against the Ulstermen and notes that the [Conservative Party] "will do all we can to support the national defence and nothing to embarrass the government in the conduct of the war", contrasting this with the actions of the [Liberal Party during the Boer War]. Signed manuscript.