THE HOME RULE BILL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15902, 13 April 1912, Page 10

THE HOME RULE BILL.

’The broad features of the Home Rule Bill are presented in the cabled report of Mr Asquith’s statement in tho House of Common?, but in th© absence of many essential details it is not possible to form a very clear idea of the nature of the measure. The first impression given by the Press Association’s summary is that the concessions mad© to Unionist opinion are very much greater than had been generally anticipated. The Irish Parliament is to consist of a nominated Senate of forty members, and an elective House of Commons of 164 members, presumably based on a franchise similar to that of Great Britain. The Senate will be nominated in the first instance by the Imperial Government, and the members will hold office for eight years. After that period they will retire in rotation, and the vacancies will be fillod by the Irish Cabinet. In the event of a deadlock the two Houses will sit together for the purpose of taking a decisive vote. Mr Gladstone proposed that the Upper House should be elected on a liinited franchise, and the Radical opposition to this plan was an important factor in wrecking his Bill. At first eight the new device seems at least as unsatisfactory as the old one, since the Senate will be the dominant branch of tho Legislature whenever there is a strong Opposition, and the limitation of its membership will prevent it being ooerced by the representative Chamber. A difficulty of this kind has arisen in Canada, where the demand for constitutional reform is becoming louder every day. On the other hand, it is obvious that the Senate will provide in the early stages of Home Rul© a very important safeguard against the hasty and unjust legislation which the Unionists fear. The power of veto and postponement of legislation is going to rest with the Imperial authority, barriers are to be erected against religious intolerance, and tho control of all Imperial affairs and services as they affect Ireland will remain in London. The Irish revenue is still to be collected by Imperial officers, and will be transferred to th© Irish Government with a temporary annual grant of £500,000, and’ for some years, at any rate, the constabulary, the post office savings bank, the land purchase system, old age pensions and national -insurance are to continue within the Imperial domain. In some of these matters cautibn appears to have been carried to the pomt of injustice. Ireland has suffered cruelly from the burden of departmental services that are needlessly large and costly, and has hoped that Home Rule would enable her to effect economies. Last year her .police service cost £1,464,000. as compared with a charge of £600,000 in Scotland, while her expenditure on primary education was less than half that of Scotland. Under these conditions the retention by the Imperial Government of the control of the constabulary and of the collection of taxes will be a severe disappointment to the Nationalists. No doubt Mr Redmond and his colleagues are ready to accept compromises in tho hope that they may obtain something better later on, and we shall learn very soon whether or not they are content with the Bill. They are acquainted with all the difficulties of the situation, and are in a position to decide what amount of reform is immediately feasible. In the meantime it certainly looks as if the ! reasonable section of the Unionists ought t-o be very well satisfied with the recognition that has been given to the prejudices and fears of their pariv.