MR GLADSTONE ON HOME RULE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 45, 26 August 1892, Page 21

MR GLADSTONE ON HOME RULE.

Thi following is taken from the report given by the London Timtt of the speech made by Mr Gladstone at Edinburgh on Jane 30 : I am Tory glad to see what is the material of Lord Salisbury 'g addreti. (Hear, hear.) What are the considerations that he proposes to yon f For I feel sore that the more that address is read and the more it is studied the greater and the more conspicuous will be the Liberal victories at the polls. (Cheers.) I will do what I can in the conrse of these proceedings to make its merits known to tha constituency of Mid-Lothian. (Laughter and cheers.) But at present I will only treat yon to a single specimen of the political wisdom of the Prime Minister, my point being this— for the moment to impress upon you that the manner in which Ireland overshadows in that address every other question is a clear, distinct, and manifest token that in the estimation of the Government — and there, at all events, I think they axe right— the question of Ireland la the question of the day (cheers)— your question no less than it is the question of Irishmen. It is with that we have in the first instance to deal, and to make every effort for its solution will be the first duty of those who may be intrusted with the political destinies of the country* (Cheers.) What says Lord Salisbury f He uses these words, " That the antagonism of the National party is not imaginary, as it is contended "—that is, of the National party to the rest of their fellowcountrymen — and then he goes on to mention two important subjects. One of them is the Plan of Campaign end the other is the Land League. I wish to say one word to you on each of these subjects. And first the Plan of Campaign, and what is the Plan of Campaign, and who were the authors of the Plan of Campaign ? (Hear, hear.) I say that the Government were the authors of the Plan of Campaign 1 (Cheers.) Let me give you the concise but conclusive proof of that fact. In the year 1886 Ireland) suffered a disastrous agricultural season. The representatives of Ireland and the Liberals of England knew and stated in Parliament that many of the people would be nnable to pay their rents. The Government appointed a Boyal Commission to examine whether that was so or whether it was not. The

Nationalists of Ireland and the Liberals of England said, "Your Boyal Commission is very well, but bow are tha people to live while the Boyal Commission is inquiring 1 " And therefore they advised and urged in the strongest manner, not that a premature attempt Bhould be made to settle the question, but that a temporary Bill should be introduced to hold over for three or six months a crisis which vitually affected large masses of people, in order that they might live and remain in their holdings until it was possible for the Boyal Commission to report. (Cheers.) Was that an unreasonable proposition 1 No, but it was absolutely refused by the Government and by the House of Commons, whicn, I am thankful to say, has now at last just been dissolved, (Oheers.) The question was whether these people were to starve, and the Government and the House of Commons, I will say, contumaciously refused, in the face of the Opposition and in the face of the Nationalists, every plan that was proposed to them for making a temporary provision to hold over the question . In their despair some portion of the Irish people devised this Plan of Campaign to meet by irregular meanß that which the Government had refused to meet by regular means rather than ;that the people should be exposed to starvation. (Cheers.) If there be discredit attaching to the Plan of Campaign— and undoubtedly it was a rude and violent measure, indicating unhealthy circumstances in the country— it is on the Government which refused to make the required provision that that discredit recoils, and it is idle for Lord Salisbury to endeavour to escape the responsibility. (Oheers.) There is but one point further. Lord Salisbury is not content with the Plan of Campaign, but he also refers to the important combination which was called the Land League, and here I think I had better read to you the single sentence in which he deals with this subject. "It is said that the antagonism [of the National party is imaginary, and that the men who worked the Land League and the Plan of Campaign and whose methods of Government have been notorious " — for how long do you think t— mark the words that are coming— "have been notorious for the last fifteen years would be the most tolerant, the most honest, and mosflbigh-principled rulers. ' So that Lord Salisbury now, in 1892, informs us that he has been perfectly aware for the last 15 years that the men who could be trusted, that they were the foes of

law and order and the foes of their own oountrymen. This he knows, and he has known it for J6 years. (Cheers.) Then, if he has known it for 15 yean, he knew it in 1886. (Loud cheers.) He knew it when he sent Lord Carnarvon to Ireland to see Mr Parnell, to entertain Mr Parnell, and to persuade Mr Parnell that the policy of the Government oonld be reconciled with his. (Cheers.) He knew it when he took the benefit of the Irish vote at every borough election in the country (oheers) and returned to Parliament a number of bis own supporters by that Irish vote, who, without it, could not have sat there. And now you are told — incredible as it may seem— you are told out of his own mouth that at that time the methods of government proposed and practised by these men were perfectly notorious, and that he himself was fully aware of them. (Laughter.) When was he converted t (Laughter.) I say when he sent Lord Carnarvon to Ireland. But that was not all* He made speeohes, in! which he conveyed, and which couid convey, no other idea than that he seriously intended to propose a plan of Home Rule for Ireland (Laughter.) He made a speech in which he pointed to the remarkable case of Austria and Hungary— a case of Home Bale and dual Government, the most extreme that could be conceived, a case which I have never recommended for imitation, because I think it goes beyond the limits that are safe and prudent. (Hear, hear.) Bnt in the autumn of 1885, with the election in prospect, Lord Salisbury propounded and recommended that oourse as one that would be useful in guiding the policy of England towards Ireland. (Cheers.) All that time he knew what daring desperadoes this Nationalist party consisted of (laughter and cheers) and therefore I told you I was very glad he had taken out of the hands of bis colleagues the business of presenting to us the motives by which he is governed and the policy of bis party ; but I own I think after all he might have acted unwisely if he bad left it in the bands of those Ministers who sat in the House of Commons, and who hardly could have managed the subject in a way so dangerous as his (laughter). That being the case of a single gem which I have picked out of the tiara of Lord Salisbury to exhibit it to you in its brightness, the question of Ireland stands before us in all its magnitude ; and I find from the address of Lord Salisbury that he evidently anticipates that

there will be a Home Bule Bill (cheers). But oomsider what that means. That means that you are to carry the elections (cheers), and that a change of Government must follow. Well, the Tories are sometimes right (laughter). lamby no means sure that Lord Salisbury may nut be perfectly right in both these respects. Let us go one point beyond. The question has been much discussed what this Home Bule Bill is to be (laughter). Some people have conceived that it was a dark and deep secret hatched in our breasts ready to be let loose upon the world, all prepared with its clauses and its sections, every important principle of it and every unimportant principle of it ready to spring as a surprise upon the country. That has been a favonrite doctrine of the Tories, and Mr Balfour, as leader of the House of Commons, told it us the other day in the House of Commons, He said, "At any rate the world knows what we are going to do, but as to what you are going to do (laughter) the world has not the smallest idea of it " (laughter). Let me appeal from the leader of House of Commons to other great men — well, 1 will take the Duke of Argyll (laughter). The Duke of Argyll is a oountryman of yours (laughter), a man in many respects in his private and personal character much to be regarded and respected (" No "). But the Duke of Argyll, going straight to issue with Mr Balfour, showed in a letter under seven heads, which I saw myself, that he knew all about this coming Home Bule Bill, and I believe he has since written another letter with even more, I am told, than seven heads, showing that in point of fact he has acquainted himself fully with all important par* ticulars. Here are two great authorities in utter contradiction. Lord Salisbnry comes between them, and he uses this expression — that the broad features of the Bill he is quite certain about, and although he cannot say that he has direct knowledge of them, yet he is absolutely sure that they mast be iniquitous and pernicious (laughter). Well, with regard to the Home Bule Bill, undoubtedly, in my opinion, the first duty and the greatest duty of a Liberal Government, if it should be formed, would be the preparation and the introduction of snch a Bill. It would be a violation of every principle we profess, of every pledge we have given for the last six years, if we were to propose to adopt any other view than that. With regard to the principles of suoh a Bill, pray let me remind you that even our opponents do not

say that it wotrtfJiw wise or practicable to set out all those particulars ; bat they sometimes complain that they know nothing about the principles upon which it is to be founded. Now I state that they know a great deal about the principles upon which it is to be founded, and for that purpose Igo back to the declarations of 1886. Those declarations it was my duty to make on the part of the Government of that year, and they have never been retracted, never disowned, not a word has ever been spoken in the way of recession of any one of them (cheers). What we stated then was this— that the object of such a Bill was to give to Ireland full and effective control of her own properly local affairs (oheers). And then it was my duty to state the conditions under which, and under which, as far as we were conoerned, alone, that control oonld be given, and the conditions named by me were five. The first of them was the full and effective maintenance of the supremacy of Parliament. Now shall I say one word to yon upon that important phrase " the supremacy of Parliament " ? Lord Salisbury Bars it is or will be in the case of Ireland a ■ham. Well, is it a thins; unknown to us now beyond the limits of dor own country? Have we not scattered over the world a number of States, colonial in their origin, which have in more thab one case swollen to national dimensions? (cheers). Is it not true that every one of those is subject to the supremacy of Parliament ? And I want to know whether you consider that that aupremacy is or is not a ihldow or a fiction (cheers). In my opinion it is a rest, overshadow' ing. controlling power (cheers), a power which is meant to be cailed Into action should occasion arise, but with respect to which the prayer of every man is that such an occasion may not come, and tbe belief of every rational man, founded: on experience, is that such an occasion need not come and will not come (cheers), I mesn the supremacy, the occasion for the exercise of which imports the smallest interference with tbe local freedom of such States as tbe Dominion of Canada and tbe colonies of Australia (obeers). If we had been debating this question 60 years ago undoubtedly it might have seemed insulting to Ireland, which then had eight millions of people, to compare her witb Canada, which at, that time I do not think had two millions— hardly, perhaps, one— or with Australia, which was likewise limited to a very small number of hundreds of thousands. But both Australia and Canada— Australia is in separate States, but still I may very fairly speak of them as a political unity— both Australia and Canada have grown into national dimensions. Ireland, owing to a variety of circumstances, among which I am grieved to say I cannot bnt reckon as one tha unhappy system of government that has too often been panned towards her (cheers), Ireland has sunk in population while they have been rising, and they are now in point of magnitude not unfit to be compared together. Probably at this moment while I speajf. tbe Dominion of Canada has a larger population than the ancient kingdom of Ireland. It would be monstrous in my opinion to suppose that either in Canada, or Australia, or Ireland or any of these which are under constitutional local autonomy, that in any of these the majority should practise gross injustice against the minority (cheers). That is a disposition tbat nowhere exists. It exists no more io Ireland— it exists if possible less in Ireland than it does or might in some of the colonies. It is not for a moment to be supposed tbat such injustice will be practised, but neither is to be supposed— if you are to bring into view the monstrous and almost incredible case of its being resorted to — neither is it to be supposed thst then Parliament would remain inactive and suffer such oppression to remain' without a remedy (cheers). Now that may be described as the case of the supremacy of Parliament, which in 1886 we declared to be the first and essential condition of the granting of autonomy to Ireland . The second condition was a fair adjustment of pecuniary burdens. That seems to have been not made in principle the subject of objec. tion. The third condition was the special care of minorities (cheers). We declared our intention to go all possible lengths in considering— aye, io adopting— every reasonable method of guarantee to defend the minority as against the possibility of injustice, by wise provision in t: c local constitution. We made those declarations without the smallest objection from tbe Nationalists. We even went the immense length of snyini? tbat possibly the counties of Down and Antrim, the only two counties in which the Orange feeling appears to be so dominant, tbat the language held aid tbe temper indulged about the Nationalists of Ireland — tbat is, about the body of the nation — seem to present the greatest difficulty in the way of permanent reconciliation—we even went the length of sayiDg that if a proposal were made by Ireland— by these counties of Ireland in particular — for the purpose of severing them from the rest of their countrymen and keep* ing them under the British Parliament, even tbat proposal ought to bo entitled to respectful and tender consideration (cheers). That was the third of these conditions. But I am bound to say, and I say it in honour of the inhabitants of these counties, that, as far as they made any declaration, their declaration was " No ; we refuse to be severed from the rest of Ireland." The two counties — they did not call themselves the two counties, but tbey are the two counties which return the principal part of the anti-Irish members (laughter) from Ulster — said, " No ; we don't want to be severed from tbe btber tbree provinces of Ireland, What we desire is tbat the counties of Ulster which return nothing but Nationalists, four or

five ooantiei of Ulster, ud the whole of the counties of the other three provinces, should adopt oar way of thinking, tarn all their own ideas npeide down, read backwards everything that they hoped, everything that they wished from the time of their fathers, and join with us in renouncing that which has hitherto been the dearest passion of their hearts " (cheers;. I think yon will be of opinion— l oertainly cannot bat be of opinion— that that is a little too much (laughter), and that to invest a handful of persons with that supreme control over the destinies of a nation is an extravagant that no serious Parliament can undertake to pat into effect. Those were three conditions. The fourth condition was— and here we had Scotland especially in view— that no principle should be laid down for Ireland with respect to which we were not to admit that Scotland, if she thought fit, was entitled to claim the benefit (toad cheers). 1 day nothing further upon that subject. The same coarse applied to England. What we meant and what we contended was that the principle of political equality between the three countries in every substantial respect, and subject to Imperial laws and considerations, was to remain absolute and inviolate (cheers). The last condition was that we should not propose a mere piecemeal or hallway measure, but something which should really constitute a substantial settlement of a long and inveterate controversy and should give reasonable hope of peace and satisfaction to the country and freedom from the frightful strife and from the intolerable burden which that controversy has imposed upon us for the last 6Q years (cheers). He who knows those five conditions of a dome Bule Bill knows already^ a great deal abWt the Home Bale Bill. One other condition has been suggested to* us by the voice of public opinion, and in respect and deferenoe to that voice has been adopted by us. You will readily perceive that I mean the retention of an Irish representation at Westminster (cheers). That was not our opinion, bat it was an opinion with respect to which we felt these two things— first, that the country was entitled to impose It upon us if it thought fit ; and secondly, that the motive upon which it was founded was a motive in which we our* selves entirely and absolutely shared — namely, the desire that everything should be done to testify to the unity of the Empire and the supremacy of Parliament (cheers), Again, it has been supposed that we have invented some ckbalittic scheme for the retention of these Irish members which is to be wilder and to alarm everybody, as if it was in our power, forsooth, to do anything ezcepc grapple in an honest and a practical spirit with the practical difficulties that all political problems present. We have never concealed — I do not conceal now — that while the retention of Irish members has a most valuable meaning as a living assertion of the unity of the Empire, it will, and must be, attended, as far as we can see, by certain inconveniences. Now I will just point out to you some of the questions that arise in regard to this retention of Irish members. As to the mode in which they are to be retained, one question that arises is, are you to retain a portion of them, or are you to retain the whole of them? lam not going to discuss this subject now ; it would be too long, and must be ineffectual. lam only going to state them as lying on the surface of the case, being palpable to every man who gives it a moment's serious or practical consideration. The first is, shall you retain the whole of the Irish members or shall jou retain a part? The next is, shall those who are retained vote on all questions coming before Parliament, or shall you ecdeavour, if you ban, to make a division of questions, and to limit them to one portion, excluding them from another portion ? The third is, will yon have for Ireland one set of members or two ? As yon call it, I think, in the arrangement of a mine, will you have one shift of labourers or two ? And another is, will you proceed upon the basis of the present Parliamentary system iv Ireland, the present division of the country into districts, and the present number of its members, or will you endeavour to reconstruct that system and read jußt it with reference to its relations with England and Scotland or witb reference to any other consideration ? Now you will at once see that all these are practical matters which must be approached in a practical spirit. They do not raise difficulties of a character to be compared for one instant witb the dreadful difficulties of the present Irish controversy (cheers). We scout wholly the preposterous representation of those who— mark my words — when we get into this discussion, will take np these difficulties and exaggerate them and endeavour to raise' them as objections to the principle of the scheme which we all have at heart (cheers). They are not of that character at all. They are secondary difficulties. They may involve, as almost all practical adjustments do involve, certain inconveniences. And how are those to be dealt witb ? Why, gentlemen, they are to be dealt with by the responsible Ministers of the Crown, aad if the result of your action and the result of the action of other constituencies Bbould be that a Liberal Government is to be established (cheers), then it will be the obvious doty of that Government to consider this* important subject of the retention of tbe Irish members in connection with every other part of the case, to make to Parliament the propositions which in detail they consider upon tbe whole the best, and to use every effort in their power to carry it into law (cheers). Now I hope you will be able, both in your own minds and in discourse with others, to see how this question stands— a purely practical question, a question that

ought not to be prematurely decided, a question in respect to whioh ' so far as we know, the country holds to the principle, bnt baa not given any maiked preference to any particular form of detail. A Liberal Government would hare to acoapt that responsibility, and wonld meet; that responsibility, as I hope we hare in other times met like men the responsibilities that hare fallen upon as. There is Another question with regard to this Home Bale Bill in respect to which I wish to say a few words and to bring to your minds the extraordinary contrast between thebebavionrof the Irish nation npon this subject and the behaviour of their opponents. You are told that education, that enlightenment, that leisure, that high station, that political experience are arrayed in the opposing camp, and I am sorry to say that to a large extent I cannot deny it. Bat though I cannot deny it, I painfully reflect that in almost every one, if not in every one, of the great political controversies of the last 60 years, whether they affected the franchise, whether they affected commerce, whether they affected religion, whether they affected the bad and abominable institution of slavery, or whatever subject they touched, these leisured classes, these educated classes, these wealthy classes, these titled daises, have been in the wrong (loud and prolonged cheers, many persons rising and waving bats and bandkeroniefs). And it hasten reserved for the broad, manly sense of the nation and its strong sense of justice to cast an effectual light npon the path that we ought to pursue and to l«ai us through all difficulty and through •11 contentions to a happy consummation (cheers). In what spirit have these educated classes met our proposals T When we bare offered conciliatory suggestions they have been burled back with mockery. When we have offered this or that proposal it has been subjected to a jealous examination, whiob, considering the mixed oondition of human affairs, would, if everywhere indulged in, be fata* to all legislation and to every stage of progress 'cheers). And while they have done this, they have continually boasted that to them both in Ireland and in England were reserved these high honours and prerogatives, and that industry, that commerce, that good order, that the Protestant religion (laughter) were the property of those who in Ireland weie opposed to Home Rule, and that nobody bat the violent and irrational, the impoverished, aye, and as Lord Salisbury dares to insinuate, the disloyal nation (hisses), were the friends and the champions of autonomy for Ireland. So that, gentlemen, according to these representations we have before us the two portions of a nation both in Ireland and in England. We, the uninstructed, and uneducated (laughter), the men without landed property, the men without titles (laughter), the men without privilege, aod in Ireland, worse than all these, the disloyal men described by the Prime Minister— we are on one side. On the other side, everything that is graceful everything that is intelligent ; and this beautiful, graceful] virtuous, and intelligent party (laughter) acts on the principle of receiving in a Bpirit of savage hostility every proposition that we make, and of overturning with mockery whatever concession we have made, as, for example, in the retention of the Irish Members at Westminster (hear, hear).— And what has been the temper shown upon the other side 1 How did the Irish nation receive our proposal t It is on that point that I wish to lay before you one or two brief remarks on one or two brief, but very important, subjects. While, in my opinion, the hostility shown on the one side has surpassed almost all expectations and come up to the limits of possibility, on the other side— on the side of those poor men who constitute the Irish cation with their few and disparaged leaden — we have found a consideration, a calmness, and a liberality of view, a disposition to interpret everything in the best sense, and to make every concession that could possibly bring harmony about, which have been as gratifying as the circumstances in the other quarter were sad and painful (cheers). I take an important case, I cannot deny that Customs legislation and Excise legislation are local affairs and not Imperial. Canada enjoys Customs and Excise legislation as a local affair, yes, and lays on protective duties against English goods in certain cases (laughter). Ireland, by the unanimous assent of her representatives, at once assented to what she knew to be the wish of the English people, and, although Customs and Excisa were local affairs and not Imperial, she freely agreed that we should, in our Home Rule Bill, reserve Customs and Excise legislation, for the sake of the unity of the commerce of the three kingdoms, absolutely to the Imperial Parliament (cheers). lam far from thinking that that was a course adverse to the true interests of Ireland. I think it was for the true interests of Ireland, but what I want to point out to you is that— that it was a large surrender of the rights of autonomy, and that according to those rights of autonomy this concession to Ireland would have been fairly included ; but that the considerateness and the practical wisdom of the Irish peoplei guided by the Irish leaders, at once induced them to make the concession (cheers). Well, gentlemen, there was another proposition that we made. We actually proposed, and the Irish national party at once agreed, that in order to give ub the fullest and most absolute certainty of receiving every penny which tbe British Treasury could be entitled to, whether in respect of Imperial contributions or on whatever grounds, the Irish members representing Ireland agreed without a dissentient voice that we should, by the Home Rule Bill,

appoint a public officer in Ireland to whom every sixpence of pnblie money was in the first instance to be paid. Out of that public money he was to discbarge the British olaim, and when that claim was dieoharged be was to pay over the surplus to Ireland (cheers). In arriving at such a conclusion they were disposed to acoord to us suoh confidence that they were willing in this way to place, on the guarantee ot oar honour, their pecuniary security and solvency and indepedence entirely in our hands. I have not quite done. You may have beard cruel charges, frivolous beyond all frivolity, and cruel beyond any cruelty that the mere steel can inflict on the barbarian's heartt charges against the Irish nation that they are seeking by this change to acquire power by means— look, gentlemen, look at tbe spirit of wise, of considerate, of generous trust which governs that people— of which they are to trample down the rights of their Protestant fellow subjects (hear, hear). Oh I gentlemen, ought not the inventors—l will not say the inventors of these cbarees,ifor I believe the violenoe of passion induces men to imagine things in the teeth of reason (a laugh), so that it is folly an* not wickedness which unhappily leads them astray— but ought they not in decency to recolleot that , the Irish members themselves in 1886 willingly and sealously concurred in this, that we should insert in a Home Bale Bill a provision forbidding absolutely tbe erection of any national church establishment whatever ? (hear, hear). And see what a strange state of things it is. The Irish agreed to that security in order to disarm Protestant apprehension and suspicion , and, though they have agreed to it* that is not considered enough. Who are they that are called upon to prosecute these suspicions against them to the uttermost ? They are the people of England and of Scotland, and the people of England and of Scotland, both of them up to this date haviog church establishments themselves (laughter), it is supposed, are to find fault even with the Irish renunciation, and, after the Irish have voluntarily excluded themselves from that privilege— or whatever else any of you may think it to be (cheers)— even after they have dona that you are asked by Belfast conventions and by all tbe dnkef and marquises in Ireland (laughter), and all the people that they could persuade to follow them— though not very numerous— we are asked still to prosecute against the Irish this most unjust, most false, most fictitious charge of bigotry and religious tyranny, and the intention to trample Protestant rights under foot (cheers). Well, I reallf think that I have done pretty nearly enongh to exhibit to yon the spirit in which the Irish have met cs on this occasion ; bnt there if one other subject which is really a sore subject— a very sore subject —the subject of tbe land. Have they there besn jealous and exclusive f No. It was the proposal of Mr Parnell himself— it was, if I remember right, bis last proposal, a proposal after the lamentable downfall of a man who, whatever his srrora, did in his day, good aod great service to bis country (cheers)— his last proposal was this, that we should, if we liked, reserve In tbe hands of the Imperial Parlia* ment for a limited time tbe whole power of legislation upon Irish land, and, until we had fixed that legislation in the way we thought right, should not hand over that subject to the local Parliament of Ireland (cheers). 1 have feebly endeavoured to place tbe truth of this case before you and the strange contrast between tbe jealous* exacting, fierce, and implacable spirit in which tbe opponents of Home Rule have looked at every particular of tbe question, and the confiding, tbe temperate, the wise and just, I will go a step farther and say, the Christian, spirit in which it has been considered by the poor Irish nation (cheers). And, gentlemen, I believe it is that poor Irish nation with which tbe wisdom lies, the truest wisdom. It is one of those cases which occur in the mysterious councils of Providence, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings praise is ordained* (cheers), and those who ought to know better, who pretend and profess to be the safe and authorised guides of the people, are using their utmost efforts to lead them astray (cheers). I will only say one word more, and there is one word more that I feel I cannot dismiss you without the saying. I hope that you will feel that the importance of this subject justifies the length— the merciless length I admit— of my remarks (cheers). What, gentlemen, is our condition with respect to the pledges given 1 lam afraid that I must inflict upon some other meeting of my constituents more and longer remarks than any that lam now going to trouble you with. I will only say that the year 1886 was a bad harvest year in Ireland. Ido not remember whether it was a very good one in England and Scotland, but it was a wonderful harvest year so far as Parliamentary pledges were concerned (laughter). For you will recollect that the choice lay between Home Rule and coercion, that declaration of ours was indignantly repudiated (bear, hear), and it was stated that our opponents bad in their benevolent bosom plans which, whether they were called Home Rule or not — and some of them did not at all stick at the phrase— would give to Ireland all the advantage of free local institutions. There were other pledges, and more will be heard of them before this election is over. You will remember the iniquity of pledging British credit for Irish land.and you know what has taken place. But, above all, there waa to be no coercion. There has been coercion. British credit is pledged for Irish and. Now what about the local institutions 1 Local institutions—all those brilliant and bounteous gifts that were to be conferred by the liberality of Toryism and of what v called Liberal-

Unionism (laughter and cheers)— all these bounteous gift! hare dwindled and shrank into limited dimensions. What was this year oaltod an Irieh Local Government Bill (cheers)— Ah ! bat, gentlemen, that Local Government Bill, instead of being a late or too late of even the meanest of the pledges given in 1886, was, in my opinion, a new injury and gross insnlt to Ireland (cheers). Now listen to me for one moment. I am not going through the Bill. I will confine myself to one single provision of the Bill, and yon will judge whether 1 am right in saying that that Bill was an insult and a grievous wrong to Ireland. I will not say it was the greatest wrong that ever was inflicted. No ; the pages of history are too full of wrongs, the gravest and most shameful that man can perpetrate on man, to justify me in making so bold an assertion. But I will say that in my judgment it was the grossest and the most wanton insnlt ever offered by a Legislature to a people. County councils were to be elected in Ireland. County conncila were to frame schemes for local county business or legislation. The schemes of the county council were to go befoie a joint committee. We know something of those joint committees in England and in Scotland, and there again I shall have something to say, for we of the Liberal party do not approve at all of the manner in which they have been used» partly in Scotland, more in England, for the purpose of limiting the just prerogatives of the representative bodies (hear, hear). How are they managed in Ireland. In Ireland tht joint committee was composed of co many— say six— l do not recollect the exact number-— six representatives of the county council and six representatives of the grand jury, the grand jury being invariably Tories, partisans of the highest order, and to in Bare the defeat of the popular principle it was provided that this joint committee should be presided over by the sheriff. The sheriff in Ireland is habitually, and almost necessarily, a partisan. He belongs to a class, the whole of whom, I may say, are partisans. I assure you that I am not aware of more than three among the peers and landed proprietors of all Ireland who represent and coincide with the popular principle. So that an anti-popular majority was thus absolutely secured on every joint committee in Ireland. Now, lam coming to the important point. The schemes prepared by the county council were to be sent to the joint committee, and it was provided in the Bill that they should be null and of no effect without the assent of the joint committee. 8o far, good. What you would naturally suppose is that the matter was to be debated between the two parties and settled in some way or other as they could best arrive at a settlement. But no. The provision of the Bill— though you will hardly believe me, but it is in print and you can refer to it —the provision of the Bill was this — that the scheme should be of no effect without the assent of the joint committee. Therefore, of course, it was cf effect with the assent of the joint committee. Yes; but what was that assent? The Bill provided that such assent may be given conditionally or unconditionally, and may be given in whole or in part. What does that mean 1 It means that this joint committee might tear a scheme to pieces and make one part of it law, casting the other to the ground, and then it would become law without any further intervention of the county council. That is an astonishing provision, and there can be no doubt about the fact. I stated the nature of it myself in the strongest and clearest, and, I must say, in the most indignant, terms in the House of Commons. The leader of the House replied to me, and met my different objections as be best could ; but that subject be never mentioned, and be, therefore, by his silence, admitted the justice cf the accusation I made egiiost him (cheers). So that this Bill which, after six years of wanton delay, was offered to the Irish people in the redemption of pledges made a hundred or a thousand times, instead of being a gift was a wrong and an insult in itself, and would have placed upon the statute-book a piece of legislation such as no people could, and, I must say, no people onght to, endure (cheers). Ido not mean that they ought necessarily to go about the matter in the way that the Prime Minister has recommended to the people of Ulster ; but I mean that they ought, like men, to exert themselves to prevent such a consummation. That is the way in which Ireland has bten dealt with. A large majority of the House of CotnmoDß was brought down to vote the second reading of that Bill with that shameful provision. It was not carried forward, but c me members, gome candidates, I think, on the Tory side, have been wise or unwise enough to say that they believe that that Bill will be introduced by the prpsent Government in the next Parliament. Ido cot believe they will have that opportunity (cheers and laughter), and I must say I dcubt whether bo shameful and so shameless an arrangement as that which I have endeavoured to describe, which, in point oi fact, gave absolute power of legislation to the grand jury, witb the sheriff at their head, I do not believe that even the last Parliament, perhaps, would have had courage or audacity enough to adopt such a proposal. That was a Igross and a monstrous breach of faith. Consider what a breach of faith if>, especially to a people that has been long oppressed, a breach of faith to a people with respect to whom Lord Salisbury once, in wieer moments— possibly it was when he was wanting the Irish vote (laughter) — set up the case of Ireland in terns of pellucid clearness, and said that the miseries of Ireland were difficult to account for. It was not owing to her being poor, not owing to her

being populous, not owing to her being Boman Oathollo, not owing to her being Celtic, bnt that there was but one peculiar circumstance in the case of Ireland to which her misery could b« referred, and that was that she bad been ruled by England. Ah, whatever wo do, do not let us come to this breach of faith to Ireland. There never was a more gross breach of faith than the offering of this Local Government Bill to that still distracted country. You are, I dare say, aware that when the Union was passed the solemn promise, uttered and echoed from every side on the part of the proposers of the measure, was that Ireland, whatever her losses— in the loss of her ancient Parliament, in the disappearance of national traditions, in the violation of the national will — whatever these were, she was to enjoy one inestimabte benefit which would outweigh the whole— the benefit of eqnal laws. And these which I have been describing to yon are the equal laws that were offered to Ireland. Let us go forward in the good work we have in hand and let as put our trust, not in squires and peers (cheers), and not in titles or in acres ; I will go further and say, not in man, as such, but in Almighty God, who is the God of justice, and who has ordained the prinoiple of right, of equity, and of freedom to be the guides and the masters of our lives (loud and prolonged cheers).