Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7656, 5 June 1886, Page 4

It would appear that the division on the Home Rule Bill, which was expected to have been taken last night, has been put off till Monday. And indeed it is doubtful whether it will take place even then. In making an announcement on the subject, Mr. Gladstone, with his usual habit of reservation, only expressed the hope that the House would bo able by that time to go to a division. He thus loft room for further postponement, if he wished it; and, judging from the way in which hitherto he ha 3 contrived to prolong the debate, it need occasion no surprise if further delay were to occur. Still, the probabilities are that he will avoid giving occasion for an increase of the irritation which the House and the country are boginning to manifest at the unnecessary delay which has already taken place. So far, indeed, as the House is concerned, the members may be said to have been prepared for the division weeks ago. Since the first few nights immediately succeeding that one on which Mr. Gladstone gave his exposition of the Bill, the debate has excited no interest, nothing new has been adduced in its favour, and the discussion has been protracted to such absolute weariness as to give rise to the suspicion that this has been purposely resorted to in the hope of surprising the House into a favourable decision. Should this species of statecraft have been attempted, it is very likely to defeat its purpose, and cause the record of votes against the measure to be greater than otherwise it might have been. This at all events is certain, that the minds of members are by this time fully made up as to the course they mean to take, and no good or honest end is to be served by any longer protracting the discussion. Of this Mr. Gladstone may be assured that, sick of the delay though they may be, members will not leave their posts until the vote on this measure is taken. With the prospect of a dissolution before them, no one of them can with safety be absent when the division on so vital a question takes place ; and, though Mr. Gladstone may be naturally unwilling to see his Irish policy rejected, the sooner the result is dared and made known the better it will be for him and for all parties concerned.