One noted imperialist fumed that Balfour’s enquiry was ‘a document’ the likes of which he ‘never thought to see an English statesman put his name to’. By washing their dirty linen in front of the Americans, the British cabinet had stooped to asking Wilson and House ‘to make up their minds for them’. But injurious though it may have been to national pride, neutralizing the possibility of a disavowal from the White House was essential. When Lloyd George announced Irish conscription to the House of Commons on 16 April 1918, he was able to present it not only as the quid pro quo for Home Rule.
