HOME RULE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 202, 28 August 1886, Page 5

HOME RULE.

Air J. E. Rcd-Cond M,P,. on tbo Sltaatloi.

Mr J. E. Redmond, M.P., writing to the Melbourne "Advocate" on July 12th, soya :— " We are iv the midst of a great strugglo, and I snatch a few moments to write my impressions of how the cause of Ireland is faring in the country. One thing ia already plain : a decisivo defeat of Home Bule is absolutely out of tho Question. The very worst which could !result fro_tb. timidity of English voters would be a state M things in which the Tapparty and the Liberal deserters would slightly outnumber the supporters of Mr Glad stone.s policy. Tbis.indeed, would be a lame halting result. It would, of course, necessitate a change of Government, and the formation of a strong Ministry would, under the circumstances, be an utter impossibility. fhe only possible Ministry would bo a Conaervativ. orte, and its tenure of office would depend ripon bow long it could secure the support of Mr Chamberlain and his friends. With such a Government, a policy of Coercion for Ireland would be an impoßSibilu}, for its Badidal allies are deeply pledged against i it. It could have no distinct policy of its i own in either English or foreign affairs, ! and look, at it how you will, it coul.. i not,-1 believe, last six months. A succession rf weak and shortlived Ministries, a complete css_t_n of the necoseary legfs-latlo-s for tbo needs of Englishmen and Scotchmen, and an Ireland becoming moro difficult to concilHato and moro impossible to govern overy day-those would be tho sure consequences of a defeat at the preaent election of |tho policy of Home.rlule. The ultimate victory, oven our enemies ocknowledge, between a settlement now, when it will be accepted with gratitude and goodwill, or hereafter, when passions will again have been roused and when Ireland will bs dispoeed_ to regard Home Bule, not as fl concession to justice, but as a concession to fear. Whatever the result may be tho election of 1886 wi<l ever be memorable in the history of the two peoples. It will be memorable as offordiog a striking instance of the extraordinary pluok. industry and powers of endurance of the aged statesman of 77 years. Mr Gladstone 'has during the past fortn.ght performed an astonishing feat. Mo has travel'cd far andlwide pleading.the cause of Ireland. With an eloquence which|bas ever surpassed even is his most vigorous days he has fought tbla battle. In Glasgow, in Edinburgh, in Liverpool and in Manchester bo has placed bis case, before the electors, and everywhere he boa brushed away all side issues and placed clearly before the nation the one great question, "Conciliation or Coercoin? Ho was fighting against terrible odds, tord Hartington nnd Mr Chomborlain alone were sufficient to draw into the antiHome camp a body of Liberals large enough ißmanycasestoturnthescaloagainst Ireland, but now Mr John Bright has taken the same side. After a p(.iod of apparent hesitation, he has at last thrown in his lot with tho enemies of Irish liberty. It is a sad ending to an illustrious career On the night of the division on the secand reading of the bill I saw the old Tribune of the people Walk up tho floor of tbo House of Commons amid tne silence df the liberal paity and the loud cheers Of tbe Tories. It was a strange sight, and his own son (who is also a member oi Parliament, and who voted in_ favour of the bill) has since stated with what humiliation he witneseed his venerable father the recipent of an ovation from those who, during his whole life, had been his bitterest opponents, Mr Gladstone is undoubtedly fighting against terrible odds. Tho question haa to most Englishmen come op for settlement so suddenly, there has been so littlo time for its elucidation and for the the oxplainio^awayofdoubtsanddifficulties which arise frem old-etarid?ng misconceptions and deeply-rooted prejudices, that alarm and uncertainty are widespread to-day in J-ng-land. And yet, though lorn not sanguine enough to expect a sweeping and overwhelming victory at the Bpoils, which indeed, under all the circumstances, would be uothing short of a miracle, I am satisfied that the lesult of the struggle will be modeaately satisfactory to Ireland. Enthue. iasm is a great force in an election contest ; and never probably in tbe lifetime of the oldest Englishman has there been witnessed such popular enthusiasm as exists to-day on the side of Mr Gladstone. Those who sat down John Bull as an unimaginative and unemotional being ore strangely astray. Mr Gladstone is fighting this election on a sentiment, and it is perfectly clear that he has profoundly touched the hearts of the masses of the people. He has made many different ap peals to Englishmen ; .he has appealed to their prudence and shown them how Home Bule will at once Eet free the Fnglieh Lcgielatare from that bondage which pro--ents it from proceeding to the consideration of thethousandjand onepurelyEnglish questions awaiting settlement; he has appealed to their eelfish interests and asked English workingmen to consider whether it if to their advantage that a huge military, establishment should be maintained In Ireland, or that they should pay a miilion and a half a year for a military police to Collect rack-rents for Irishlandlords. He has pointed o-ihow the distruction of Irish industries has driven Irishmenfrom Ireland, and it has flooded the labor marketa in England with cheap Irish labor. But not any one of these appeala haß been as powerful as the appeal to the generosity and the honour of tho nation. In glowing wofds he has told England of the wrongs she had inflicted npon Ireland in the past ; he has depicted her poverty and her helplessness, and has appealed to the str«og to havo mercy upon the weak, and for the sake of England s honour he appealed to Englishmen to atone for the wrongß of the past. His appeal haa gone to the hearts of the masses, and extraordinary enthusiasm will go far to carry him to the victory."