ULSTER AND HOME RULE

New Zealand Tablet, 26 January 1911, Page 147

ULSTER AND HOME RULE

A STRIKING MANIFESTO

. On December 5 an Irish Liberal manifesto was issued which supplied a much-needed antidote to the campaign of calumny and slander that was being carried on in Ulster, England, and Scotland against the Nationalists and Catholics of Ireland. The manifesto was signed by six gentlemen who are known all over the country for their integrity and honesty Lord Pirrie, head of the great shipyard of Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Ltd. Sir Hugh Mack, one of the leading Belfast merchants; Mr. Edward Archdale, of Castle Archdale; Mr. Thomas Shillington, of Portadown, a large employer of labor; Mr. Joseph Carr, of Killyleagh; and Dr. R. Keightley, of Lisburn, a leading member of the Irish Bar. The manifesto was as follows :—■ Manifesto of Ulster Protestants. At a serious crisis in the history of our beloved country, an attempt is being made to inflame the passions and kindle the fires of sectarian and racial .hate. All the devices which have been so long employed in keeping Irishmen asunder and dividing our pountry into hostile camps, are being used with a reckless disregard of consequences. We do not for a moment believe these methods will succeed.. In our opinion the time has at length arrived when the question of Self-government for Ireland —the fierce battleground of a hundred years of ceaseless strife— and will be wisely settled with a due regard to the unity and integrity of the Empire on the one hand, and to the just desires and aspirations of the Irish people on the other. Nor can any man exaggerate the importance of that settlement to our country. < For nearly a century the question of Home Government has barred with triple steel every door of progress. It has paralysed the energies of the country and diverted the current of national activity into the unfruitful channels of incessant political struggle. But, indeed, it could not fail to do otherwise. For a hundred years the vast body of the Irish people have had neither sympathy with nor confidence in the executive and administrative government of Ireland. That government has no natural root in the soil of Ireland. Bureaucratic government cannot soar on ampler wing. Forty-two Boards without correlation or connection, and almost without responsibility, control the destinies of Ireland. As Liberals, we prefer the Government of the People. Circumstances and conditions have greatly changed since 1895. The question of higher education has been definitely solved and permanently settled '-The greater part of the land of Ireland has passed into the hands of the tenants, and the history of landlordism has reached its concluding chapter. Serious crime as a consequence is practically unknown. But most important of all, twelve years' administration by Irish County Councils has proved by its wisdom and integrity and even-handed justice the claims of Irishmen to manage their own internal affairs. You will remember that Lord Salisbury—' clarum et venerabile nomen '—declared that he would prefer Home Rule for Ireland to the system of Local Government which has since proved so successful. Events have falsified his prophecy, and demonstrate that they who trust their countrymen are the best friends of their country. For our own par,t, zealous Protestants as we are, we have Perfect Confidence in our Catholic Fellow-countrymen. In the South and West of Ireland, good-will and brotherly kindness are universal. Religious dissensions are unknown. We confess with shame that it is only in Protestant Ulster that intolerance and bigotry have a vigorous growth. Yet even in Ulster many changes have taken place since 1895. Moderate men are everywhere awakening to a true sense of their responsibility, and we trust that the union of Irishmen of all creeds and classes is bein"slowly cemented in an enduring bond. Our position as 1 rotcstants and Ulster Liberals appears to us to be plain and clear. Our Nationalist fellow-countrymen desire no separation from the Imperial Union. We 'should listen to no such suggestion. We are proud of our share in the glory and renown of the Flag under which we were born and under which we hope to die. We are true Unionists in the best sense of the word. A sullen, discontented hostile Ireland is a source of weakness; a contented, pacified, and prosperous Ireland will give us a new strength and solidarity. Only a large and Generous Measure of Home Government. can achieve that happy result. We desire to see the wav cleared for social reforms. We desire to take our part in debating those great questions on which the true welfare of humanity depends. We desire to have a clear stage for material progress. We wish to be able to say, without a political meaning in the word, that we are Irishmen. We have faith in-the Liberal Party, which has alreadv done so much in the cause of justice and right. We have faith in our own countrymen, and we have faith in Ulster, which in the old days of oppression and persecution stood up i manfully for civil and religious liberty and the inalienable ! rights of the people