FUTURE OF IRELAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 293, 4 September 1908, Page 2

FUTURE OF IRELAND.

—4~— ; ' • . MR, BIRRELL IN" AN OPTIMISTIC - • \ . . . . - ..MOOD. ' ' REFORM AND, HOME RULE. : Mr. Birrell, Chief-"Secretary"': for'lreland,;;on. Saturday, July.. 18, fulfilled two important engagements in -tlid .'Wirral . district . ..of.' -Cheshire, which is represented in by Mr. W. H. Lever. . . i In tho afternoon Mr.' Birrell opened:' : higher elementary' schoolj""which has bee? erected, at New anil infiEe^oourf) of his said that! since he left tt t Board of Education he now regarded it wil 1 the impartial eye of the - taxpayer,, and .1 admitted that it deserved-a good deal o the criticism which it received. (Laughter.) All schools, in his opinion, were, the same, : he cared not what name the' Board; of Edu- .• cation might use. • The elementary school / ! was the most important of all, because ."it ', laid tho foundation, first .of. character, an 4 - ■ then -of knowledge. - Ho ' emphasisod ■ the • ■ necessity.. of parents allowing children" to remain at school as long as possible. , ;' . Rejoiced at the faot that, despite cqntro-, versy'education happily was progressing,. Mr. , Birrell said, that if a great many of those who took an'active part on the political' s ; do of educational questions ; wpul(i..only spend a week .or two in ~one of <the . ' schools',b{ :,the ■ cpuntrj. ,;. there,,would, not -be , so muclr heard about the religious problems, v Let': sonie of the leading politicians'on'both " iides take part in education for a week--,0t;,:,-two; and if thoy did so it mnrlity voi-y, . - much the extravagance""of ; 'the uttefqnce6' I bf •politicians on-both sides. : ' '(Applause.)/', •'y' . not.a'path of peace., -•< In the _ evening the Chief . J the principal speaker, at a great, dewopstra- , tiop of, Wirfal Liberals at- Porti Sunlight. The chair was occupied by. Mr ."Henry N. ' Gladstone, presiderrt of the Wirral Liberal Association. 1 • ' " .< • Mr. Birrell; who-h'ad &n enthusiastic re- . ception, said there was a time when he was ' in tho very thick'of tho Liberal fight-in. England. ' His Education Bill must ■ have : been forgotten by a good'many people, but he did not forget'it. (Laughtor.) Whatever /. may ha'vo been its fault, in his judgment, it • proceeded on 'the' principle of fair play all' round. It got througK the House of Com-', mons, not without midnight oil, but it met its death in that other place. - (Laughter, and'applause.) Ho did hot kriow_ that'his political opponents spoko now -with Such, ; severity or the measure 1 as they thought , fit to do, at the time they might havo had' 'it , for the nskin'g. ! ...... . Since then he (Mr. Birroll) had passed ' away to another and equally troubleso'me: place. (Laughter.) No one could say- of him that his path had been placed in. tho direction of either peace or quiet'!' (L'augfc ter.) He did believe that justice should ,J . always be done to Ireland, 'and he wis there to , maintain that at this present moment, !in many quarters and many newspapers," jus- ■ ' tice' was not being done to Ireland'. . ■ At this point tho speaker was -interrupted by a woman shouting, " It's not-being"done-' to women either." While the interrupter was being ejected the chairman intimated ■ that Mr. Birrell would answer questions after his speech. t ' ■ Mr. Birroll, resuming, said they wore led -• to believo that the state of Ireland was of > iin appalling character, that prime pre-r : dominated, that lawlessness almost universally prevailed, .and -that it was a country of woe and 1 desolation. All ho could say . was a more cheerful land was nowhere to be ' , found. (Applause.) One would think that . in leaving England he was leaving a land of . peace and- no crime for a land of crime jind disorder. Nothiug of the sort." (Applause.). . • irish reform. : The, Irish people, Mr. Birrell went on to say, wero intent and eager on the settle-- : ment of tho Irish land question. Regrettable disturbances had happened in Ireland during tlie last two'.years -associated with cattledriving—a thing he never approved of, and which lie cordially disapproved and regretted, i because it had thrown and continued to ; throw great difficulties in his path. But all tho disturbances they heard about in Ireland were due and attributable to the ono cause:-that of withholding grass lands from tho operation of the land purchase . proposals. ' ' Lord Dudley, a Tory Lord-Lieutenant, and his colleagues on the Commission which re-' , cently sat had unanimously come to the .conclusion that.after all these poor people were right, and tlie Government was wrong in withholding tho land. (Applause.) He quite \ agreed.that that was no justification for lawlessness. At. tho same time it was some justification for the demand which these people had made, and entitled the Government of winch, he was a humble member to go forward in that direction, and introduce legislation at tho earliest -possible moment, not fpr carrying out Radical'designs and evil and predatory schemes, but tho recommendations of a Commission presided over by a Tory Lord-Lieutenant of .'-Ireland. • (Applause.) When once-they had cured this great evil, Ireland would then,-indeed, from its length and breadth, be a peaceful country, bent, it might be, on Home Rule. • (Applause. V ' | .."I, at all eveuts," said Mr. Birrell. ."bear no grudgo in tji.it .matter. Tho sooner, they gc.t it, in my "judgment, tho better. it'will ! bo not only for them, but for us." (Loud . i applause.) '■■ . . '>■ \