HOME RULE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144351, 16 March 1914, Page 3

HOME RULE.

MR. CHURCHILL’S VIEWS. I BLOODSHED BETTER THAN COWARDICE. BT EUSCTEIC TELEGRAPH COPYRIGHT. LONDON, March 15. Mr. Winston Churchill, speaking at Bradford, said that an agreement aionc would make it worth wiiiie to re-cast tho Homo Rule Bill. Tho Unionists duty was clear, if they disliked the Act they must agitate for a majority. If they won they could amend or repeal the law-. _ ... The Liberals, he said, sought to allay the old hatreds in Ireland, not to create new ones. They wanted to give them what they wished, not to force upon them what they disliked. Mr. Asquith’s offer on principle was tho last the Government could or ought to make. If the Tories rejected this, it would only bo because they preferred shooting to voting. Ho was certain that the first British soldier or bluejacket killed by the Orangemen would raise such an explosion os tho Tones little appreciated, and which would shako the foundations of society. Sir Edward Carson was wrong on the merits of tho question, and history would prove him so. Sir Edward Carson talked of the Ulster convention which was to graciously consider tho matter, while fho Imperial Parliament stood on tiptoe outside awaiting the verdict. When he (Mr. Churchill) looked at the situation as now unfolded, ho felt they had had about enough of this sort of thing. Mr. Churchill, concluding his speech, said;— ‘The Government will not allow themselves to be bullied. Doubtless bloodshed is lamentable, but the cowardly abdication of tho executive’s responsibility would bo worse. Law and order must prevail. Wo are not going to have Great Britain sunk to Mexico’s condition. If Ulster seeks peace, she knows where to find it. But if every concession is spurned, if Ulster becomes the tool of party calculations, if civil and Parliamentary systems are brought to tho crude challenge of force,, if reckless chatter ends in tho disclosure of sinister revolution, then let us go forward and put these grave matters to the proof.” Sir Edward Carson, in a letter says; * tr We are going to make good in action -all we have been saying. We have been preparing for two years for a struggle so grave as to be almost unprecedented in recent history.” Mr. Devlin, in an article in Reynolds’ Magazine, argues that tho Carsonites are irreconcilable, and that tho Bill should bo passed as it stands, and the Government enforce tho law against the aristocrats who are plotting for rebellion. A hundred personal friends, dining at tho Ritz Hotel, presented Sir Edward Carson with a sword and a book of sig. natures attached to a copy of the covenant. Mr. Acland, in a speech at Acton, commenting on the recent debates, says he has never heard speeches more lacking in statesmanship, a sense of responsibility, or a feeling of human decency than Sir A. Bonar Law’s. He added that the Government did not intend to make any further modification of tho Homo Rule Bill, which would only lead to further demands. Nineteen Nationalists wore absent during Thursday's critical division. Several went to Ireland without leave, and Mr. Redmond has severely rebuked them. SPEECHES BY POLITICIANS. (Received March 16. 8.45 a.m.) LONDON, March 15.Mr. Illingworth, Chief Liberal Whip, speaking at Bradford, said there would bo no general election until tho Homo Rule, Disestablishment and Plural Voting Bills had been passed. Mr. Dillon, at Newcastle, said ho was convinced that the compromise was tho best calculated to secure a victory. If the Unionists won the next election they could repeal it. If they dared to cut out Ulster, then tho Nationalists would renew tho struggle, with an Irish Parliament at their back. At tho “All for Ireland” Conference at Cork, Mr. O'Brien stated that the Irish Party had accepted tho modified Bill and covered itself with infamy. Full speed ahead was tho order, but tho party had swallowed full speed astern and was now rotten. Tho bark was flying for its life, and tho Hibernian crew were waiting for an opportunity to throw the trembling captain overboard. Over ten thousand places have been opened in England for signing tho British Covenant.