MR.GLADSTONE AT THE CITY HALL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 246, 18 January 1878, Page 7

MR.GLADSTONE AT THE CITY HALL.

ii- Ju ng P^cts are taken from the report given by Ibo 71^^'wy ,^-NpV. iOffil&t, "of Mr. Gladstone's speech at the JJUblin thty -Halli:— But'itis impossible, mv Lord Mayor, to come to i i-SW some .reference to its position, for hard indeed mußt , -ty> 'hcthqariand dull and, obtuse Jlie understanding that can be drawn asifle even by beauties of sci-ncj;v .such as I have witnessed, even by antiquities of interest so. .profpinifl and comprehensive as I may say i-ntireiy surpassed niy anticipations— wlio can lie drawn aside either J>y the fascination dr by the real interest of the remoter history of -xrcland from eoiisidering its prevnt and prospective condition (.applause). Nor is it possible to consider that present and prospec- i wye condition perhaps without treading upon the borders of that sphere- of controversy which lam obliged alike by duty and inclination to avoid ; but I hope that J shall bo able to speak in the spirit winch i , ] ia v e endeavoured to describe in these few words (hear. hear). •My Lord, it is peculiarly agreeable to me to receive this honour at v L Uie uands of the Municipal Corporation— a Municipal Corporation which I may without extravagance regard as in some sense repre* J scntative ,of, the gcueral body of the Corporations of Ireland (applause). When I speak of the value of these institutions, I don't I use the language of form or of compliment. J am profoundly convinced that local government, not only in the shape of municipal institutions, but in all its other shaped in which it is known to our history or agreeable to the spirit of our arrangements, is a thing not to be viewed with tolcratipn, not to be viewed with misgivings, not i to be viewed either with a cool and calculating approbation; but j lliat it is fundamental to the greatness of the country and the safety : ot its i uslitntions (applause). Fox my own part, if, I put Ireland cnwrely, out of view— if, for .ft moment), I suppose that it does not even e^stT-if I look exclusively at the sister island— one of my chief regrets, one of. my chief convictions as to the shortcomings of "Parliament mid the inadequacy of its strenglh for the duties it has to discharge—(applause)— lies in the fact that for years and years we have J >een talking, and, I suppose, talking seriously, about the necessity of modifying— but modifying so as to extend our local institutions— the j Government in England ; and yet we have done nothing for the purpose. And not only have we done nothing for the purpose, but by j the system of paying away vast heaps of money we have been J abridging local institutions and taking powers which were formerly i local into the hands of a central authority. In my opinion we have , been moving, in that sense in a wrong' direction. Central control must undoubtedly accompany the grant of public money to local I institutions ; but instead of abridging the power of those local in»ti- ; Uitions we ought to extend it. and thai principle, in my opinion, lies , at the root of all sound policy— it, allied, indeed, to a fundamental i principle which I don't believe any one will question or deny. lam , persuaded that we are at one in holding that these three kingdoms ; .should be one nation in the face of the world— (hear. hear, and ap- I pluuse)— one nation for every purpose of duty and power — and that | one Imperial Parliament should give effect to those principles in all ! things that fall legitimately within its scope (hear. hear). Subject to these paramount and admitted principles, I, for my part, can set no ; bounds to the desire that I foci to sec all through these three king- , (loins the poeplc locally to learn in narrower spheres the public duties i which belong to these narrower spheres, and thereby to (it themselves ,' for those higher duties which arc involved in the imperial work of i government^- <l donit believe that anything has more contributed — j perhaps ;«o|hipg 'has sorhiueh contributed at this moment— to the solidity of-B|Htish, -institutions "as the fact that people are trained locally-iaji'abits .of -isefogovernmeiit— (hear)— that they understand , political rights, andyilMerstaud .political duty, and understanding the I relations which pro vail between right on one side and duty ou the i other, they carry with them a talisman, the safeguard in the main, i and iv the long run infallible, again -4 those danger.-, which have lacerated other great «nd distinguished nations (applause). Now. I think I ought not to travel one inch further upon that particular . topic (laughter and applause). I hope I have not offended thus far (cries of " No, no.'") I may, perhaps, venture to assure you that in , wavy measure which it has been my duty to introduce, or to share in J introducing, with respect to Ireland, my object has been the good of i the whole country (hear, hear), because I believed that by the estab- , lishment of political justice, even where it may .seem to press hard upon a party, such it, the value in knitting together the minds and hearts of iuen, that you confer even in the most extreme cases greater j beucfits ou the particular classes that thought themselves injured, ' Ihau they, previously enjoyed. We have now 1 to look on the condition of Ireland with & i educed population, and the circumstances j greatly altered. Greatly altered, let me tell you, in the words of a , jiciitlcman wuus,c name is well known among \ou, I mean Mr , Sullivan, the juouiber for Loudi (applause), who." in a work of great j }nfui,c-s.t. and in many point.s, I doubt not. of authority, that has just ' isvjuud. IVtiin ,tlte,pruhs, .gives us these words with respect to Ireland — I vCoimpaml ivdithher uwii dismal historic standard, shu has mado ' great strides within the pre*eut generation." That is the declaration of Mr Sullivan, and I ha\e no doubt it is in his mind the result of a good deal of inquiry (abpJuu.se). j •* ,- * ■-* # -I a- x * Well. Uio», my Jowl, -with respect to the Land Act. just let me <-ay one or two words. 1 ha\e. spoken of the gcueral conditions of Ireland, j 1 which appuarsi to iboisummed up tin this — that by a process most mournful and painlul^aud which I hope none of us will ever see re- I poated here 'Or elsewhere in whole or iv part (hear, hear) — you have in some degree escaped from what did at one time appear' hopeless embarrassment, and' you have achieved up to a certain point the condition of the material improvement of your people. The signs of that iflrci'vi-pon tho'faco of t/he land.- It i,s impossible, I think, to move about 'the Country by. your railways without being astonished at the amount df local 'traffic. Itiis not merely the movement of wealthy ' 'jtaopic, tdurists, and others, for' long distances in first-class carriages, TmfcTown T arn astonished, especially when I consider (and I hope that this will not be deemed uncivil to the railway, prpprietors who | 'hiifl long and long 1 to wnit for adequate dividends)-:— but I ?ay e.s- ,'

pecially when I consider that the fares are by no. means low (laughter and loud applause)— by no moans low, for I think your third-class fares, as far as I understand, if taken upon the average, will be found higher than those of England and Scotland (hear, hear) — being as they arc, it is to m • a matter of immense gratification to .see that at every rural station such considerable numbers appear to be both willing and able to pay (hear. hear). That is another sign of industrial life which is among the hopeful circumstances of the country. Now. what relation lias the Land Act to those circumstances I That is tone powerful, nciivc cau->(! among many other causes. I have spoken of the intentions of v her men -urea : now. let me speak of the intentions of the Land Act. which in the main contemplated the condition of the occupiers of the soii. Its main object was to improve their state, to give them confidence in the pursuits of their industry, to enable them to go about it without distracting care, to give them fair play, which they have never had (applause). But, my Lord Mayoiyl will say boldly (and I hope I shall not lose any ground in your favour if I say it — I am sure I shall not lose it)— that while the benefit to the occupiers of the soil was the main object of that act we hoped and believed, and I did not hesitate to savin introducing it, that I never could regard it as completely successful unless it was found to be beneficial along with the occupiers to every other class interested in the soii (hear, hear). H what we gave to the tenant had been merely taken from the landlord, I do not say we should not have improved the condition of Ireland, but I say we should not be on the road to complete success. The means which the Laud Act sought to employ was to give increased security and confidence to all ; to give the landlord better security for his rent than he had before, and by no means to exclude him from the opportunity of increasing that rent when there was a fair ground and a cause for its increase. Buthas that been achieved 1 My lord. lam convinced that it has. The landlord is better, the farmer is better, the cottager is better, the labourer is better. The labourer, who was getting six shillings a. week, is now getting larger wages. 1 do not mean to ascribe that mainly to the Laud Act— it is part of the general progress. But Ido say the general tendency of the Land Act has been "towards giving better profits to the whole of those clashes, through the means which were adopted, namely, through legislative provisions intended to establish and give a fair definition of their respective rights — to enable each .and all of them with security and confidence to act upon those rights, and to pursue, in their .several positions, the measures that were necessary for cultivation of the soil. If there is any part ol' the couutry in which an apparent sorenes.s prevails among some, at, any rate, of the landlords of Ireland, it i.s Ulster. There, the tenant had. before the Land Act. a very considerable protection in the shape of the Ulster Tenant-right— a tenant-right which, I must say. I do not believe to have grown out of the simple indulgence of the owners of the land, but which I do believe to have been grounded on the origin \l grants to the settlers in the seventeenth century (applause). There fore I shall concede that it represented rights which arc in the nature of proprietorial rights as much and as truly, though in a totally different shape, as the title deeds of the landlord (hear, hear). Bill there is one assertion, 1 believe, made by the gentlemen who have been good enough to present an address to me. ghing their views upon the workhm of the Land Act. and they, say agricultural produce has increased. This is the language of the address :—: — '• ltents have risen, and have been, more punctually paid and better secured ; and the statistics oE sales show a large addition to the marketable value of landed property:. Thus ..have the landlords themselves shared in the advantages which the legislative changes have conferred upon their tenants." * * * * -.i * * * I am .struck by the different modes in which the clauses of the Land Act and those of the Church Act have worked. It appears to me that the working of the provisions of the Church Act have not been unsatisfactory (hear, hear), and that we arc indebted to the commissioners appointed under the Church Act. for the great judgment, as well as energy, with which they have fulfilled their task (applause). But it is with satisfaction that I learn that a body of rive thousand purchasers of all varieties has been created under the Church Act, which, though it contemplated results of the kind, we never thought capable of producing them upon a very large scale. What I think is more satisfactory is this — that that intelligent and able gentleman, Mr. Denis Godlcy, who is secretary to the Church Commissioners, has been able to give distinct evidence before a committee of the House of Commons with regard to the results of those purchases. Those who observed the working of perpetuities in Ireland, and who consider how slight is the difference in the abstract made, according to the laws of political economy, between perpetuities and the possession of a fee. arc, perhaps, not unnaturally inclined to doubt before actual experience whether the acquisition of property by small owners iv Ireland will be always satisfactory — whether it Will tend to develop the energy and enterprise of the people. We have, under the Church Act, got some proofs to allege in this matter, for these sales and purchases have been spread all over Ireland — they are not many in tl c North, wheic the question was comparatively a simple one — they aie spread over Ireland and they go down to the smallest properties, ai»d iv all these cases Mr. Godley has been able to assert before a coinioittce of the House of Commons, with the experience and information he possesses, through the. onieers, of tho Commission — iv all thefts classes of moderate purchases, the result of the acquisition of lauded property by small holders has been most satisfactory (applause), «nd lias tended to the development of industry and enterprise in a. remarkable degree. Under the Land Act I am afraid I cannot say to much. We might have hoped more, but I am glad to find that a committee of the House of Commons, conducted by Mr. Lefcvre, a gentleman of great intelligence, whom I am happy to call my friend, has been investigating the matter, and I think we may reasonably entertain the hope that something may be done to make the application of those clauses more easy and effectual than they have hitherto been (applause).