BRITISH POLITICS. THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 30, 5 February 1908, Page 7

BRITISH POLITICS. THE ADDRESS-IN-REPLY.

IRISH AFFAIRS. DISCUSSION IN THE LORDS. By Telegraph. — Press AsfiocintioiL — Copyright. LONDON, 4th February. The debate on the Address-in-Rcply was continued in the House, of Lords yesterday. Tho Earl of Dudley, who was LordLieutenant of Ireland under the Balfour Administration, said he believed •that the Irish cattle-driving campaign had originated, not from th» drivers' covetousrfess, but from a patriotic devotion to national demands. While warmly advocating the governing of Ireland according to Irish ideas, Lord Dudley did not consider that that necessarily involved Home Rule. He regarded the application of the Crimes Act as inconsistent with the whole spirit of unionism. Lord Ashbourne, who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1895 to 1905, said that when the last Government left office Ireland was in a state of perfect order, and at the end of six months there was demoralisation and disorder, while intimidation was rampant, and cafctle-driving prevailed in ten counties. A system of fomenting disorder, which could have been stopped in a month, had now reached such gigantic proportions that the King's writ did not run. In his reply to these crivi';isms the Lord Chancellor, Lord Loreburn, insisted that the extent of the disorders had been much exaggerated, and that cattle-driving had greatly diminished. The Government had declined to apply the Crimes Act, because such a course of action would create exasperation and bitterness, and be productive of more evil than good. The Address-in-Reply was adopted GOVERNMENT'S IRISH POLICY DENOUNCED. CATTLE-"DRIVING" CHECKED. RESULT OF A COMPROMISE. "SITTING WITH FOLDED HANDS." (Received February 5, 8.3 a.m.) LONDON, 4th February. In the House of Commons, the Right Hon. W. H. Long, who occupied the position of Chief Secretary for Ireland in tho last Unionist Administration, moved the adoption, of a, regulation dealing with Irebnd. He said that though cattle"driving" hnd 1 bren checked, it was not as the result of vigorous administration, but of som» compromise between the ! Government and the Nationalists. H* dwelt on the increase in shcoting and agrarian outrages, and emphasised/ the fact that there was tarrible boycotting-. Yet, he said, the Government sat with folded hands when it possessed an effective instrument in the shape of the Crimes Act. , j The Right Hon. A. Birrell, Chief Secretary, for Ireland, made a vigorous defenca of his policy. H& affirmed that the permanent peace and prosperity \of Ireland depended on the settlement of the land question and the speedy acquisition of untmtnted land for distribution in economic holdings. Cattle-"driviDg" did not terrify him, but the price of land and stock, the ■ possibility of bad seasons, and tho fear of disappointing land-hungry people did. The executive had worked tho ordinary law with the utmost vigour. Tha Sact that juries sympat-hißsd with the cattlo-"driv«rs" did not, in his opinion, justify dispensing with jnrie3 and resorting to coercion. He indignantly denied entering into acorrupt bargain with the- Catholic bishops with regard to university education. He added that- ho wonld be n. monster if ho stood aside and allowed crime to continue in order to bolster up Homo Rule. The Crimes Act would not stop outrages, ar.d he flatly refused to put the statute into force. The debate was adjourned. FIGURES RELATING TO "DRIVING." (Received February 5, 9.1 a.m.) LONDON, 4th February. Mr. Birrell, in reply to Mr. H. Stare-ley-Eill, Conservative, said there had been 334 cases of cattle-"driving" since j June. Animals had been injured 1 in j twenty-seven cases, but none of the own- | ers had been personally injured. Last month, in a speech at Berwick, i Sir E. Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign iffaine, made a spirited defence of Air. liirrell's policy. He said tha-fc no greater .mistake c»uld be made than to assume that Mr. BirreFl was personally responsible for the present difficulties in Ire- | land. Oji the contrary, Mr. Birrell, by , certain raio and gracious qualities which he possessed, probably made the diffi- , culties less thin they would have been , under uny other Irish Secretary. In attempting to govern Ireland under ordinary law without resorting to exceptional measures of coercion, he was carrying out not only his own policy, but one which had the sympathy, assent, and approval of tho Cabinet. Underneath all thoso difficulties of whirh they heard so much was the difficulty of associating the Irish peoplft' with their own government in a way that would make Irishmen feel that they were responsible for tho welfare- and good government of their country. Those who asked them to adopt the Crimes Act and coercion overlooked tho fact that, though by coercive action they might repress crimo, yet they brought the solution of Irish disorder ao nearer. On the contrary, they weakened the sense of responsibility in the people themselves. Mr. Asquith, speaking at Aberdeen, suid that no one protended thnt tho condition of Ireland from tho point of view of Eocial order was saiisfactorv. Tho practice of cattle-driving ttrs "a peculiarly reprehensive and unpatriotic kind of offence. It was doing infinite, mischief to one of Ireland's most prosperous industries. 'It must be put down." He added, "It will be." The policy followed by Mr. Birrell of dealing with this offence under the ordinary law was a policy deliberately adopted_aud approved by tbj» Cabinet.