THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1912. ULSTER AND HOME RULE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15094, 10 September 1912, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1912. ULSTER AND HOME RULE.

■ ■» _ • The Irish Home Rule question has become .startingly complicated by the unprecedented movement in Ulster. By very many people, certainly by the great majority of colonists, Home Rule has been regarded as & political question, pure and simple, to ' be settled ■ one 'way. or another by the action of the Imperial Parliament. It, has now become evident that the. large and populous districts of. Ulster, .which have steadily sent to Westminster members opposed to any legislation that will have the effect of separating them from their kinsfolk of England and Scotland, are stubbornly determined to continue their opposition to the uttermost. The members of the Asquith Cabinet, which has made . of Home Rule one of the most prominent planks in its platform and has announced its* intention to use the recently acquired

power i of. the House of Commons to overcome '• any resistance . offered to the Home Rule Bill by the House of Lords, refuse to take very seriously the attitude of Ulster. They apparently imagine that; the Ulster movement is being engineered for party purposes and that the leaders of the Unionist Party are making political capital out of an agitation which will collapse like a bladder at the first prick of the Homo Rule bayonet. It is inconceivable, however, that a responsible statesman like Mr. Bonar Law would have made common cause with the Ulster Covenanters, and would.be delivering warnings .of approaching civil war at, great English meetings and from his seat in Parliament, were he not convinced both of the intentions of Ulster and of the justice of 'its cause. Mr. : Bonar Law, Sir .Edward Carson and other equally i outspoken Unionist leaders are no inexperienced and irresponsible agitators, but are thoroughly well aware of the meaning of their words and of the imperishable character of rash and unfounded declarations. Said Mr. Bonar Law in Parliament, defending the Blenheim speech , wherein he had asserted "if the; Government attempted, in existing conditions, to drive the people of Ulster by force out of the protection of the House and British law, he could imagine no means too strong for them to" take to prevent it," that he was so conscious of the words he uttered that he had not only carefully considered them but had.actually written them down. He claimed not only that Ulster would resist by force the application of the Home Rule Bill if passed into law, but that the Unionist party " which represented more than one half of the people of Great Britain", —would not allow the Bill to be enforced " as long as there is.no evidence that the Government is supported by the people of. the country." From this, it will be recognised that to say that " this is the most serious situation which has arisen in the United Kingdom since 1642" is not an exaggeration.. . If Home Rule were demanded by a dominating majority in Parliament \ and in the British electorates there could be little hope of success for ! the Ulster protest, but the fact is : that an overwhelming majority of members and electors are quite indifferent to the issue. The question has been forced to the front by the shrewd tactics of the Nationalist Party, whose leaders have openly and undisguisedly devoted themselves 1 to the task of making Parliamentary government impossible until the price of peace is paid. British Liberals have become quite sure that it is advisable to get rid of Nationalist ; obstruction in English and Scotch affairs, and have covered their policy of J expediency and their 'need- for Irish Nationalist votes by perfervid professions of belief in the sacred principle of Home Rule. Irish Nationalists have never accepted these profesi sions at their face value antTTrave ; rarely hesitated to point out that : the Liberal adoption of the Home Rule cause is a testimony and a* tribute to . the strategic ability of Nationalist leaders. It is quite true that the British Liberal Party has formally placed Home Eule for Ireland" upon its banner,- but it 'is none the less true that it has been generally accepted as a matter' of treaty and not as a' principle.. Welsh members seek disestablishment, Labour members a minimum wage; English members wish to '• strike at the House of Lords, Scotch members to rid themselves of a disturbing element; and they accept " Home Rule" as one' of the ! logs in a gigantic system of legis- | lative log-rolling. The arguments ; for' and against Home Rule are in no way affected' by this sectional attitude, and were Ulster to submit meekly to the voice of Parliament as formulated in' this fashion it might easily be regarded as the: outcome of the most earnest and sincere' deliberation. If Ulster will not submit and insists upon remaining under the Parliament \at Westminster until expelled by horse, foot and artillery, the pleasantness of the log-rolling ceases. The Nonconformists of England will certainly think twice before applauding the dragooning of their brethren in Ulster, and it is doubtful if Welsh hatred of the Establishment and Scotch dislike to waste of Parliamentary time will make them proud of a compact by which Ulstermen may be forced into "rebellion." Even without this calling of deep to deep, the inclination of the United Kingdom to exempt Ulster from Home Rule has been very marked. Only the votes of the Nationalist members prevented the inclusion of this exemption in' the Home Rule Bill, and it is extremely probable that the first military demonstration designed to overawe the Ulster opposition to Home Rule would be followed by secessions which would destroy the Government's majority. None can question that it is threatening law and order for men to speak and prepare as men are speaking and preparing -in Ulster. In these days the majority must rule. The difficulty is that party politicians who patch up Parliamentary majorities out of a dozen discordant elements often forget that the popular majority is not thus obtained. If a poll of the people of the United Kingdom were taken to-day it is tacitly admitted by the;. Asquith Government that- a majority would not be obtained for the Home Rule BiU.