Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1889.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8437, 9 August 1889, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1889.

THE COLONIES AND IRILAND. Many people in the colonies ompletely fail to see the difficulties^ in tie way of England granting to Home RUers what

they require. Paid ngicators trtvel round Australasia and plead for assistance, and if any objection is made to theii demands

it is considered a sufficient ansver to say, '"Ireland only wants what the colonies have got, and surely those who enjoy the blessings of self-government vould not

deny them to others !" This is, however, but a plausible bit of sophistry vhich will not bear examination for a moment. To show that this is so it is on'y neees3ary to roughly delineate what it is that the colonies have got, as when that is done it will have been shown that toaccede to the Irish demand for the samoprivileges wonld endanger the safety of tlie British

Empire. To commence ■with, the constitutions granted to the colonies allow them to make their own Customs tariffs altogether irrespective of the wishes of England ; to negotiate loans to be spent how the colonies choose (even

in cannon and other military equipments) ; and to raise and maintain an army and navy, to build fortifications, &c., and generally to act as though there were no connection with tho Mother Country. Now, however desirable it may be that the colonies, situated as they are, and where they arc, should possess these privileges, it is certain that the case would bo very different if as colonies they had grown up within a few miles of the coast of Great Britain. Suppose New Zealand to have been raised from the sea in Captain Cook's time, about a score of miles from Great Britain, instead of being discovered ljy that Davigator at

14,000 miles distance from his native land, and that Great Britain had obtained a footing on tho new territory, and that British capital to the tune of more than a hundred millions were invested in it— in a word, suppose New Zealand to be what it is, but as close to England as Ireland is— and then try to imagine tho fate of ,'proposals that England should give to New Zealand wbat she now has. Yet that is what the Irish agitators now in Australasia say should be granted to Ireland, and they say so with the assurance of men who appear to suppose that to claim for Ireland what the colonies! possess is to ask a very moderate thing indeed. Yet, when the subject is fairly considered, the demand involves, as we" have said, the integrity of the Empire.

To commonpe with, let us suppose Ireland with legislative powers enabling her to make her own Customs tariff, as the colonies make theirs, and that, as would most certainly be the case if the utterances of the Irish agitators are worlh a

ii«li, duties wore imposed upon g«ods iniving in Ireland from England. Udder

licso clroumstances what would England ie expected to do 1 What she wouli do

hat is, what her millions o£ workers ho found their products shut oft of ;eland, would do), would be to forcibly

open Irish ports to English goods by the aid of a.few men-of-war. A country that has spent millions of pounds and poured out Wood lavishly ta secure entry for goods into China $ that occupies India and Egypt chiefly in the Interests of British capital;; arid that is now fousily engnged te making ''the 'flag" thojtdreI'ttnntir of trade all over the World, would not sit down quietly under a state. of things designed to prevent English manuj if(fcttfn;'s entering Ireland. It may be said that if Ireland were granted tho power to make her own Customs tariff she Would not make it hostile to Great Britain. That is simply fudge. Power to make an frtsh tariff, as distinct from a tariff for the United Kingdom, is tmly dfeteM because Ireland is "groaning under a policy of equality^ wn'ich treats her, from a fiscal point of view, as all other parts of the United Kingdom are treated. That is the dreadful tyranuy Ireland is subjected to in relation to tariffs, and to crush the tyrants she wants to be able to keep their goods out, or to let them in only upon payment of heavy diles which would form "a revenue for the new-borh Irish nation." And then Scotland wouH want a tariff, and Wales, and sd on. Tlte whole idea is absurd i£nd preposterous. To take another aspect of the question, the 'colonios 'nave power to negotiate loaas^ to 'be spent how the colonies please ([■even to buying munitions o r f war and in j maintaining fortifications and soldiers), ' altogether irrespective ot the wishes of | ike Mother Country. N6w, as the i Colonies have talked about repudiating their debts, it is evident that if an Irish Parliament weVe created, with power to borrow ktebney, that Parliament might ■aWo talk of repudiation. And then what would happen ? The question is open to but one answer— England would step in, as she has done in Egypt, and see that repudiation and the would-be repudiators went out of politics at a rapid rate. It may be depended upon that that course would be followed in the colonies if they attempted to repudiate. In public and private indebtedness this, colony has at the least a hundred million pounds lent by England, and while England remains a powerful nation she will see that those ot her peoplo whose money is held are not robbed. For New Zealand to resolve to repudiate would be followed by the arrival in these waters of a strong force, the abolition of representative government, and the control of the public revenues by a Royal Commission. With Ireland matters would be different. Being part of the United Kingdom, even if allowed to borrow her borrowings would always be the subject of comment in England, and long before she had dared to put repudiation into words an English fleet would have settled the question. It may be said that Ireland would not want to borrow, or that if she did want to borrow she would not wish to repudiate. The answer to that is, as in the c"ase of the Customs tariff, that if Home Rulers do not wish Ireland to have power to borrow, they should ceaae to clamor for it. And in reference to the possible answer that she might borrow, but would be honest, the reply is that, giving credit to Irishmen for being more virtnous than all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth, for Ireland to have power to borrow on her own account would lead to at least two national debts for tho United Kingdom. Then the question arises, if there were two or more national debts for the United Kingdom, would not the United Kingdom be responsible for them both ? Of course it would, and that would involve Irish finances being subject to Imperial control, as is the case now, and therefore would involve, as it now involves, the impossibility of giving to Ireland what the colonies possess— the right to manage their own finances.

In a word, the more the demands of the Home Kulers are examined, the more clearly they are seen to imply the break up of the United Kingdom. The very idea that Ireland should have the right to line her coasts with fortifications, r aise an army, and equip a navy— all of which things the colonies have power to do— necessarily involves the possibility of England having to step in and by force of arms again make Ireland an integral portion of the United Kingdom. But no British Government will ever grant to Ireland what the colonies have that is, the right to make tariffs, borrow money, and raise and equip military forces. And if it be retorted that Ireland does not want these things, not only is there the reply that she will not get them if she does, but that if she does not want them the cry of the Home Rule delegates, that Ireland only wants the legislative powers the colonies have, is meaningless unless meant to mislead. What Ireland really needs is facility for the fullest local self - government, and every patriotic man must hope that she will soon get i,t. In other words, every patriotic man must hope for the downfall of the paid agitators now trying, as they boast openly, to render the government of Ireland impossible. But for them the whole ot the United Kingdom would be in possession of fuller powers of local government than is the case at present.