MR. J E. REDMOND'S LETTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIV, Issue 42, 11 February 1887, Page 3

MR. J E. REDMOND'S LETTER.

Dublin, December 23, 1886. When last July the Conservative Government came into power its friends predicted a long term of office for it. It was said that bo long h Mr. Gladstone lived the alliance between the Tories and the Unionist Liberals would continue. On the paper the arrangement looked very nice. The Conservatives, not possessing a majority of themselves, were to be kept in office by the kind assistance of Lord Hartington and Mr. Chamberlain, and in return are to conduct the Government of the country upon Liberal principles. This looked very fair and pleasant ; it only lacked one thing in the eyes of men of the world, and that one thing was practicability. A party so made up could not in the nature of things hold long together. Its only real bond of union was hatred of Mr. Gladstone and of Ireland Sj long as they confined themselves to a policy of opposition to Home Bule un.on was easy enough, but everyone foresaw that the moment they commenced the real work of government and of legislation union would become utterly impossible. Lord Randolph Churchill was the one hope of the Government. He saw a way to cor. fin ue the existence of the present admiuistration, and he very frankly •vowed his policy. Tbe cardinal principle, said he, of the Govern. ment policy would be to preserve theuaion of the " Uuionist Party." If tbe "Unionist Party" weie to be kept cogether.then eitherjof two things was quite inevitable. Mther the Radical wing under Mr. Chamberlain would practically vote Tory.or the Tories would vote Radical measures. Lord Randolph knew the latter was the only alternative possible Consequently he made his famous Dartford speech, in which he sketched a programme for the new Government which included almost every Radical project from free education to three acres and a cow. For a moment it seemed as if he had succeeded. The Tories made wry faces' but they swallowed the pill. The next question was J"^! V, , Kandol P h wißh *d at once to enter upon the attempt to dish Mr. Gladstone by proposing a Tory Home Rule Bill. This project was interfered with by the turn which affairs took in Ireland Tbe two forces at work in the Cabinet at once were divided upon the Irish policy. At first Lord Randolph triumphed. Mr. Parnell's Bill, it is true, was defeated, but the Government undertook to bring 41 presture " to bear upon the landlords to induce them to give reductions. General Buller went to Kerry to carry out the views of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the result that he stopped moon, lighting by stopping eviction. Lord Randolph determined at all cost to avoid a new Coercion Bill, and his entire policy was animated by this idea. As the agrarian trouble became more and more acute, the influence of Lord Randolph's enemies in the Cabinet became stronger and stronger, until at length tbe old Tory clique carried over his head the proposal to prosecute Mr. Dillon, and to apply to Parliament for a Coercion Bill. I have all along been of opinion that once this policy was determined on the destruction of the Government would be inevitable. I did not, however, think it would be as speedy as now seems likely. Yesterday Lord Randolph Churchill resigned his office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mr. Chamberlain has made an announcement which, in effect, means that the alliance between him and the Government is at an end. No words could possibly exaggerate the enormous importance of these events. They have completely changed the entire situation. The day before yesterday the Government seemed impregnable, the alliance between themselves and the Unionist Liberals seemed unshaken, and even the most sanguine Liberal looked forward to some years of Tory Rule. To-day the Government is to all intent and purposes shattered ; its gniding spirit, its very life, has left it in the person of Lord Randolph and its speedy doom has been pronounced by Mr. Chamberlain. There is some talk of asking Lord Hartington or Mr. Goschen to enter the Cabinet in the vacant place. The probability of either of them accepting such an offer is very remote, and even if either of them did, it would not materially alter the situation. Mr. Goschen is practically a Tory. He does not lead half a dozen Liberals in England and his entry into Lord Salisbury's Cabinet would make no difference to anyone. Lord Hartington, on the contrary, in spite of recent events, stands deservedly high in the estimation of a considerable number of Liberals. There has, however, always been lurking in the public mind a suspicion that at heait the noble lord was more a Conservative than a Liberal, and if he now joined the Government of Lord Salisbury that suspicion would be confirmed into a certainty, and he would at one stroke lose all influence amongst Liberals. If Lord Randolph were an ordinary man, who would consent tamely to take a back seat, the Governmen' might possibly drag on for the coming session. But Lord Randolph is nothing of tbe kind. He is fighting for his own hand. He i*» aiming at the Premiership, and his manifest policy will be to break l he Government as soon as possible. So clear iB all this in the public mind, that the ntwepupers are all full of predictions of a

dissolution before Easter and the general expectation seems to be that before many months are over Mr. Gladstone will once more be Prime Minister of England. Mr. Chamberlain's action is most significant. He has made an appeal for re-union in the ranks of the Liberal Party which is little short of a recantation and an apology. It is true, he says, that he cannot, "at present at any rate," fully agree with Mr. Gladstone's ideas of Home Rale. That much he was bound to say to save his own honour. But he is prepared to go a long way on the road to Home Rule, and then he is willing to see whether he cannot " go a step further still," in order to meet the views of his old leader. Here are his words :— " Even upon this question of local government, the difference recedes if you come to think of it. We are all agreed, I imagine, as to the nature of a scheme which should be applicable to England and Scotland. We are all agreed to apply it, in principle at all events, with such alteration of detail as may be necessary, to the sister country of Ireland. We are prepared, none more so than I, to decentralise the system of administration which is known as Dublin Castle, which I believe has given rise to great abuse, and has naturally and jußtly caused the greatest irritation. We are prepared to give any extension you can ask of what is purely municipal government ; and it is not until we have done all this that we reach the dnbateable ground upon which, at present at all events, agreement is lmpot-sible. Now, I ask you, as sensible and practical men, are we, the Liberal Party, to remain disjointed for so long with one .nother. figh'ing an internecine stiife for tbe benefit <<f -mi opponents, wi.eu there is so much good work tj be uone up>-u wmcu we are all agreed, and to which we are all anxious to lay our hands? (cheers.) Is it not possible, I say (and I am induced to malre this appeal by the circumstances to which I have referred in an earlier part of my speech)— is it not possible now once more that we may make an honest attempt, if not to agree upon every point, at least to agree upon this, that we will proceed to carry out all those vast changes, all those important reforms upon which there is no difference, and that we will leave it to time, to experience, and to free and frank discussion, to say whether, when we have accomplished all these, we shall not go one step further in the direction of the views of those who now, unfortunately, are our opponents (cheers)." The meaning of this is quite clear. Mr. Chamberlain has found his level. As a rebellious officer he has been a miserable failure, and he now desires to regain his old place. His proposition to postpone Home Rule until be has been allowed the opportunity of making his pet experiments in local government, is, of course, out of the question # It is not, however, the exact proposition he makes which is of import! ance.it is the spiritof conciliation in which he speaks, his evident desire for union, and his determination to cut short his alliance with the Tories. The Government have only been six months in office and already they are torn asunder with internal dissensions, and they see nothing before them but another appeal to the constituencies. Under these circumstances the prosecutions here in Dublin become quite farcical. Before the cases come for trial the Government may have ceased to exist, and in any ease such a thing as a conviction is an utter impossibility. Mr. Parnell, who for some weeks past has been prostrated by illness, has returned to London, and is about to summon a meeting of the Irish Members in Dublin, in an early day on the new year. Parliament reassembles on 13th January, and the coming session will be big with the fate of Ireland, and will probably witness the third overthrow of a Government by the votes of the Irish Party. J. E. Rbdmond.