HOME RULE BILL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXII, 4 May 1912, Page 5

HOME RULE BILL.

THE DEBATE IN THE HOUSE

MR BALFOUR AND SIR E. GREY

SPEAK.

8Y CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPY3IGHT. LONDON, May 3. Mr Balfour, speaking in the House on the Home Rule Bill, said that the restrictions to the Bill, though necessary, did not give Irishmen an opportunity of developing affairs on their own lines. Dual control was written large throughout the measure, neither protecting the minority nor giving Irishmen the advantages now derived in connection with the' United Kingdom. The Bill, he said, would prevent public-spirited men from entering the Irish Parliament, and would result in the return of inferiors, lowering the Assembly's status. The proposal to temporarily strengthen the representation at Westminster during the adjustment of the finances was amazing. He challenged Ministers to cite a case where a unified government was broken up to meet the demand of self-government wherein a stable community resulted. Was there, he asked, any precedent for starting federation on the basis of inequality, or where the ■ claims of a homogenenous fraction were Ignored? Was not the federal idea the creation oi general services, the abolition of fiscal division, and the desire for closer unity? The Government had not heeded these questions, and preferred to cut up the kingdom, while Nationalists probably regarded the partial independence of Ireland as a precursor t« complete independence. Sir Edward Grey dealt with the advantage of relieving the congestion in the House of Commons. In reply to Mr Balfour's question, he said it would require prolonged historical research, and he was not prepared to answer it off-hand. Sir Edward Grey concluded by remarking that Mr Balfcrar hadl said that the Transvaal was not a parallel case. The Transvaal was not mentioned as a parallel, but to show that the prophet of evil was not always right. He asked Mr Balfour if there was any parallel to the monstrous over-concentraftion of business in the House of Commons. The present system, he continued, had proved unworkable. Devolution was required, and not for Ireland alone. He admitted that the present plan was not a pattern for a federal system, nor could it be universally applied to the United Kingdom. He did not believe that perfect similarity was necessary for the Bill to give finality in the important sense that Nationalists accepted it as a fulfilment of Home Rule. If Ulster prevented the solution of the problem, some other method must be found to free the House of Commons and put the control of Irish affairs into Irish hands. He believed the present animosity would disappear when joint responsibility was established.