ML. JAMES STEPHENS ON THE BILL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 12, 11 July 1884, Page 9

ML. JAMES STEPHENS ON THE BILL.

Mb. Jaubs Stephens, the well-known Fenian head-centre, contributes to the May number of the Contemporary Review an article on " Ireland and the Franchise Bill." It is written entirely from the point of view of an Irish Revolutionist, and a great portion of it is devoted to an eff irt to discredit Parliamentary a.sitation such as that which Mr. Parnell's party has pursued during the past few years. He recognises, however, that the tactics initiated by 4Jr. Biggar, and subsequently followed by Mr. Parnell, have kept Parliamentary agitation alive. " Were it not," be sayp, " for Messrs. Parnell and Biggar, and their obstructive tactics, Parliamentary agitation would be now as ' dead as a door nail ' — to use a very expressive vulgarism— throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. Their experiment raised the expectations of tbe people. It showed them that through it Irishmen could exasperate British legislators in their own citadel, and such, exasperation was sweet to Irish palates. It proved, moreover, that it was shattering the respect so generally entertained for the House of Commons, which had become a bear garden or something worse under its malign influence. The bate of England and of English institutions was so strong in the breasts of thousands of Irishmen at home and abroad that it was with undisguised joy they witnessed the assaults on tbe prestige of a chamber which was so highly esteemed and honoured almost everywhere, but which was only known to them as the Legislature where laws were enacted for the coercion of their native land. " A belief, therefore, in the efficacy of Parliamentary methods being far stronger in Ireland than ever it was before, the fate and fortunes of Mr. Gladstone's« Franchise Bill must have more than a passing interest for the Irish people. That bill will, if it become law, have practically the effect of sensibly increasing the revolutionary vote in Ireland. It is true of Ireland, as it is of many other countries, that the deeper you go into the strata of society the more Radical is the material you will be sure to find. The Irish artisans and mechanics have been always thoroughly devoted to what they Bincerely believe to be their country's cause. They were the bone and sinew of '82 Clubs established in Dublin in 1846 and the preceding years. They were tbe firmest and staunches* members of the I. R. B. Gifted with no ordinary tact and intelligence, they have behind them that formidable power which is derived from education, and they have shown on many occasions what proper organisation can do almost spontaneously and on the spur of the moment. Mr. Gladstone's measure will provide many of these men with votes. They are now mere zeros in the arena of Parliamentary agitation : they will be in the future important factors to be taken into account. As long as they care to use the power accorded them they will use it in the interest of tne most advanced Irish Parliamentary candidates who court their suffrages. The same prediction may be almost as safely made in reference to the petty shopkeepers in towns and cities who will be put for the first time in possession of an implement they will know well how to wield. In addition to these we have the small farmers, who have been always more accentuated in their patriotism than their affluent brethren, for tbe former see many things to be gained by adopting the Radical programme, while the latter fail to discover what material advantages Home Rule or even an Irish Republic would be likely to bring them. Welding all these various classes into one on behalf of any cause, and bestowing on them the right to vote, means practically tbe additiou to the Irish Parliamentary Party of members before whose violent harangues and extreme view< those of Mr. Biggar and Mr. Healy will shrink into comparative insignificance. Mr. Gladstone, lam satisfied does not directly mean such a result as this, but nevertheless it is certain to follow. And as what is known as 'extreme policies,' Parliamentary or otherwise, are sure to be popular in Ireland, we may expect in tbe coming Parliament an Irish policy as far advanced on the present one as tbe present was on those which preceded it. "It is at least certain that Mr. Parnell must either go with the tide, or retire altogether from public life. Mr. Biggar's obstructive tactics were bailed with unmixed feelings of satisfaction by the Irish people. His talking against time and the all-night debates were looked on as feats of which heroes themselves might feel proud. Mr. Parnell's co-operation and subsequent control of the campaign rendered At somewhat respectable and increaeed tbe number of 1 fighting ' men who burned with ardour to meet ' hated Saxon windy discourses on the floor of the House or with grim and wry faces in the lobbies. But we hear no more of Mr. Biggar's obstruction ; he seems to have utterly forsaken bis toy r and to have left it in the hands of Lord Churchill and the Fourth Party. Mr. Parnell himself now never obstructs, nor do those who work with him. " If Mr. Parnell had all the Irish representatives (which is impossible as long as Ulster remains in its present mood) following his programme in the house, he would not still sway even the one-fifth part of the entire body of its members. How, then, in the name of common sense, can he hope to bring British legislators to their knees f They would, if such a contingency were likely to arise, coalesce to a man to crush him. If he joined the Conservatives to oust the Liberals and subsequently allied himself to- the Liberals, in opposition to oußt the Conservatives, both parties would see at a glance that they were being made the mere instruments of Mr. Parnell's caprice and they could easily come to some definite arrangement to defeat his purposes and ignore his power and following altogether. " Possibly before such an eventuality does take place the position of affairs in Ireland may be materially changed. The new Franchise Bill, if passed, may lessen Mr, Parnell's popularity by bringing to the front Parliamentary candidates of extreme views who will be probably elected in many places, and who, once elected, will consider him too conservative in his views and principles to be their leader. They would necessarily secede from him, and he should be content to lead a fraction of the party or withdraw altogether from the public stage in case be cannot conveniently push his , political opinions forward far enough to satisfy the aims and aspirationt of the most eatftugiiistic of the new comers."— Dublin Freeman