THE IRISH SITUATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15501, 7 January 1914, Page 4

THE IRISH SITUATION.

MR. REDMOND'S OFFER.

" WOULD WELCOME SETTLEMENT."

[FROM our own CORRESPONDENT.]

London', November 21. Mr. Johv Redmond has been addressing a crowded meeting ut Newcastle under the auspices of the local Liberal Association. He declared that no man living would welcome a settlement of the question more than he would. In the course of his speech, Mr. Red mond said:—"From the day the Irish people got the franchise five-sixths of In.di j representatives have come to Parliament to ask for Home Rule. At first repeal was demanded, and the restoration to Ireland of a sovereign independent Parliament. Then that was given up, and Homo Rule took its place, and the demand since 1373 and down to the moment is not for the repeal of the union, but for the readjustment of the union ; not for the restoration of a sovereign Parliament, but for the concession to Ireland of a subordinate Parliament subject to the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. "In 1886 Gladstone proposed that settlement. Put the country was not prepared, and it was defeated. In 1893 he again proposed that settlement. It was passed by the House of Commons : it was rejected by the House of Lords; it was never rejected by the people. Those who say so tell an untruth. When the Bill of 1893 was rejected in the House of Lords, Gladstone wanted to dissolve Parliament. His Cabinet, most unwisely I thought then, and think so still, declined. Gladstone went out of office into retirement. The Cabinet carried on for two years. The whole attention of the country during those two years was directed to what was called the Newcastle programme, and, when the election of 1895 came it was decided not upon Home Rule, but upon a multitude of other issues. " At the same, time I. must admit that in 1893 there was a British majority in the House of Commons against Home Rule. That is so no longer. To-day there is a British majoritya large, an overwhelming British majority, apart from Irish votes altogether, in favour of the Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons. There have been three general elections returning Home Rule Governments to power in succession. The Home Rule Bill has passed the House of Commons twice by majorities of over 100. It lias passed by large British majorities far larger than those which carried most of your great reforms during the last century. Let it pass once more, and it becomes the law of the land. The power of the House of Lords to wreck it is gone. All the old arguments have disappeared, and to-day there is absolutely no obstacle lin our path save one and that is of so I ridiculous and audacious a character as to I find no parallel in the history of constitutional Government in any land upon earth.

What is Ulster? " One small handful of men in one small corner of one province in Ireland declare that they will not allow this Bill to pass,'' proceeded Mr. Redmond. " This Bill, mark yon, which has a majority of Ireland at its back, a majority of Great Britain. at its back, and the whole Empire practically unanimous. If such an obstacle as that were allowed to prevail, if such- a threat as that were allowed to become effectual, there is an end of all constitutional government, aye, an end to all civilised society. " Wllat is Ulster? It is a province thatconsists of nine counties, which returns to Parliament 17 Hoine Rulers and 16 antiHome Rulers. Ulster to-day consists of a population, the majority of which is in favour of Home Rule. To exclude Ulster bodily therefore, is so patently absurd that our opponents have been forced to fall back on what are called the four counties —Down, Armagh, Antrim and Derry. In Down there is a percentage of 31.6 of Catholics, in Antrim 20.3, in Armagh 45.3, and in Derry 41.5, If Ulster Were Excluded. "The plain truth is Belfast and the four counties are more dependent for their prosperity on the rest of Ireland than the rest of Ireland is dependent for its prosperity on them. The exclusion of Ulster or any part of Ireland would mean trieruin of its prosperity. But to us exclusion would mean the nullification of our hopes and aspirations for the future Irish nation. It would mean the erection of sharp, permanent, eternal dividing lines between Catholics and Protestants, whereas our ideal has been an Irish nation in the future made un of a blend of all races, of all classes, and of all creeds.

"You have all, no doubt, seen a great ! dual lately in the papers about a settle- ! ment of this Home Rule question by consent. I am one of those who believe that it would be worth paying a large price to obtain a settlement by consent. I have always said publicly and privately that I wanted Home Rule to come not in the garb of a humiliating defeat for any section of my countrymen. We do not believe in this nonsense about a civil war and Provisional Government, but at the same time it would be of enormous and incalculable value to Ireland if Home Rule could come to a satisfied and united people. "We are willing, and always have been willing, to safeguard every possible danger to civil and religious liberty of every section of our people no matter how small. LeA these men say what they want; and I repeat what I have so often declared, there is no demand no matter however extravagant or unreasonable it may appear to 11s. that we are not ready carefully to consider so long as it is consistent with the principle for which generations of our lace have battled, namely, the principle of a settlement based upon the national selfgovernment of Ireland. I. therefore, do not shut any door on a possible settlement by consent. On the contrary, no man living would welcome such settlement more than I would ; but let it be clearly understood— mean what I say—we will not he. intimidated or bullied into the betrayal of Ireland. We do not deßire the exclusion of any Irishmen from British citizenship. On the contrary, what we are demanding is admission for ourselves I to the British Constitution."