HOME RULE.

Evening Star, Issue 8118, 18 January 1890, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOME RULE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Allow me a litt'e further space for a few words in reply to " CD.'a " letter in your issue of the 11th inst. It is quite refreshing to see with what supreme contempt he treats everybody's opinions and knowledge except his own. There is a selfsatisfied chuckle almost audible in the last paragraph of his letter, in whJoh he qhoots a Parthian arrow at my ignorance and that of the public generally". Well, I daresay it pleases him, and it hurts nobody. My last letter consisted almost wholly of quotations from statements made by three or four of the leading men of Great Britain —viz., Mr Bright, Mr Chamberlain, Lord Hartington, and last, but not least, Mr Gladstone himself, when in power, and when, it may be presumed, he spoke with that_ proper feeling of responsibility his official position as Premier imposed upon him. That was before he had gone over to the camp of the enemies and maligners of his own country. Well, sir, if the statements made by the gentlemen named above are "ill-digested effusions," and " a convenient peg" for "CD." to hang himself upon, he is quite welcome to it. So 1003 as my ignorance is merely a reflection of the "opinions of such men, coolly and deliberately uttered and acted upen by them, I think I need not be ashamed of it. Mr Gladstone had lived to be seventy-six years old before he found out that he had been acting wrongly all his life in regard to Ireland, I suppose! I appeal from Mr Gladstone out of office to Mr Gladstone in office—from Philip drunk to Philip sober. So muoh for his "right about face." It would have been better for his political reputation if he had retired long ago ; but the fascinations of office were too much for him to resist. He is a great man, undoubtedly, and so was Bacon ; but there are "spots " even on the sun J "CD." quotes a good deal of "ancient history "; but the witnesses he puts forward really prove nothing—unless, indeed, that Home Rule is undesirable even in the interests of Ireland. In fact, he admits that they are not in favor of it Lee anybody read carefully what they say, and see whether it means anything else. There is one paragraph, however, which is so exoruoiatingly_ amusing that I should like to reproduce it —viz. : "Wretchedness, the cause of misgovernment, has caused thelrish to multiply with the recklessness of despair," "C.D.'s" jokes are inscrutable, but this sentence as an argument against Home Rule

is a real poser ! It is the masterpiece of the whole concoction he haß been pleased to level at my offending head ! It outMalthuses Malthus ! It is unanswerable ; he has me there !

But we are not dealing with the question of population, nor with the history of times long past. The subject is Home Rule. The very heading of "CD.'a" letters is absurd. It, sounds as if it related to a cricket match. No one attempts to defend all that has been done generations ago either in Ireland or elsewhere. But I pass by such rant as he has indulged in. The public will not be deceived by it. lam aware also that a war of words in your paper will not affect the result by one atom. But " sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander " ; and I take it that we in New Zealand should not feel well pleased to find that subscriptions were being made in Australia to help the Maoris to obtain that "Home Rule" which I referred to in my first letter. I cut the following paragraph from the SIAS "C.D.'s" edification in reference to his remarks as to "nonsensical statements about what Ulster men will do or what they Jwill not do," and leave him to digest it at his leisure, in connection with the information published in the ' P. M. Budgets' mentioned in my previous letter. Here it is:—"This time the incipient treason is from a Unionist source. Colonel Sanderson, M.P., has declared publicly that Scotch merchants have offered him L 40.000 apiece for defensive purposes in Ireland if Home Rule should be granted." He will find these matters are not a myth. They are facts, and a very sorry prospect they afford for Ireland if Home Rule should ever be granted. la conclusion, may I add that I think it is a pity "C.D.'s" light should be hidden under a bushel! He ought to take off that extinguisher, and go home and shine in Great Britain. There is a fair chance for him there in its benighted condition. And besides, in the event of Home Rule being conceded, and his valor being equal—as I have no doubt it is—to his "prave 'ords," he may possibly have an opportunity of converting them into deede. I can, in fancy, see his sword emit flames as he will lay about him when he faces some of the two millions Mr Bright refers to in the words I quoted from his address to his constituents. "CD." will never say—

Oh, cursed spite, That ever I was born to set It He will no doubt " set it right" and cover himself with glory. Let him take the next steamer Home and complete his destiny. I must leave the rest to history. Now, I have finished, and I leave him to pelt me with all the rotten eggs he can find in New Zealand. It is an ovation he will bo delighted to give me, and as I fancy he also haila from my country, I wish him a happy new year and a hearty good-bye.—l am, Btc i' An Englishman. Dunedin, January 13.