Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7593, 24 March 1886, Page 4

To all appearance the prediction of the Times that, in present circumstances, the leadership of Mr. Gladstone would result. in the breaking up of the Liberal party, is on the eve of fulfilment. The only hope of averting thie misfortune seems to lie in the mission of reconciliation undertaken by Mr. John Bright, who is now attempting to heal the breach in the Cabinet occasioned by the resignation of Messrs. Chamberlain and Trevelyan. The world will await with some anxiety, not unmingled with curiosity, the rasulc of his efforts. It must be admitted *hat the chances of his euccesu are not great. Most men will agree in the opinion that the power of suasion, either with the multitude or with individuals, is possessed in a higher degree by Mr. Gladstone himself than by any other influential member of the House of Commons ; and, if he has failed to induce tbe seceding Ministers to resume their posts, the prospect of their being persuaded to alter their determination, even by the solicitions of Mr. Bright, is not by any means promising. The only thing which, apparently, could render this possible is an essential modification of Mr. Gladstone's Irish policy. That policy, it is true, has not yet been fully made known, and Mr. Gladstone, according to a recent telegram, has asked members to be sceptical about the authenticity of any reports concerning it until he ha.s expounded it, which he has promised to do at an early date. This much is already known of it, however, that one distinguishing feature of it is that the administration of the proposed land-purchase fund shall be placed in the hands of an Irish Parliament. On this point there can be no doubt, because this is what has caused the withdrawal of Messrs. Chamberlain and Trevelyan; and these gentlemen are not likely to be mistaken as to the nature of the policy they dissent from. The question, therefore, on which the renewed cooperation of these leaders of the lUdieal party depends, is whether Mr. Gladstone is prepared to abandon that central point in his policy. Central, we call ifc, because on this point mainly depends the acceptability of the policy with Mr. Paxnell and his followers. And hence we are inclined to think that concession here is apparently beyond Mr. Gladstone's power, if the satisfying of the Home Rule party is his aim.

It is, of coarse, within the limits of possibility that Mr. Parnoll, to secure the aid of Mr. Chamberlain and the Radical party in passing Mr. Gladstone's proposals, might consent to leave the administration of the Irish land purchase fund in the control of the Imperial Parliament, in the belief that, a national Parliament being once granted to Ireland, the right to deal with the above fund might be secured through subsequent agitation. x\.nd not improbably it will be in this direction that, under Mr. Blight's mediation, a solution of the difficulty may be looked for. Any attempt of this nature must, however, be made with not only geat delicacy but also perfect frankness. For the suspicions of parties are evidently aroused, and anything Like subterfuge would immediately result in greater alienation than that already existing. If an arrangement of this nature can honestly be agreed to as a finality, the split in the Cabinet may be healed, but the slightest appearance of reservation, denoting the mere postponement of the question about the control of the land-purchase fund would have as i±s immediate consequence the wrecking of the Government and the division of the Liberal party into three hostile sections. A few days hence the cable messag;ea ought to inform us whether Mr. Gladstone's promised statement of his Irish policy is calculated to avert such consequences.