ABSTRACT
It was under these unhappy circumstances that the reform elections were held in October 1920. Another unhappy feature of the operation of the reforms was the inevitable impetus given to sectarian strife. In response to the challenge of the Commission a party truce was arranged, and in 1928 an All Parties' Conference drafted a constitution of an interesting kind, resting essentially on the doctrines of full responsible government, though some effort was made to safeguard the question of defence preparations. The result of the first session of the Conference1 established the exemption from ministerial control of the issues of external relations and defence. In the House of Lords the reception accorded to the Bill was naturally even more conservative than in the Commons, though the principle of the measure was definitely homologated and any idea of serious change was ruled out.
