HOME RULE

New Zealand Tablet, 9 April 1914, Page 36

HOME RULE

SECOND READING CARRIED. The cables this week indicate that the crisis arising out of the resignation of certain officers of the Army has practically passed, and that matters arc rapidly approaching normal. The chief events of interest have been the remarkable ovations accorded to Mr. Asquith in the course of his journey to East Fife, a Unionist demonstration in Hyde Park which was subjected to a good deal of interruption, a firm but conciliatory speech on the subject of the Army by Mr. Asquith, and the carrying of the second reading of the Home Rule Bill by a substantial majority. Following is a selection of the more interesting messages: : ;> ■' SPEECH BY MR. ASQUITH. April 5. Mr. Asquith, speaking at Ladybank, ridiculed the legend that the Government had selected the moment to engineer a plot to provoke Ulster. There had been a genuine misunderstanding, but honest mistakes had been made regarding the army, and he had good reason to know that zeal and devotion to duty pervaded the military and naval forces. •

‘ I am certain,’ he proceeded, ‘that they can be counted on from the highest to the lowest, without exception, to undertake the duties which they may be required to discharge. I pray that the army may not become a political instrument. It has no place and no voice in framing our policy or in moulding our laws. The true doctrine of army administration was laid down by the elder Pitt 170 years ago, when he said: My duty is to see that the army is fit in the ever-, shifting conditions, and it is my primary duty. The army will have nothing of politics from me, and in return I shall expect nothing of politics from, the army." The responsibility of preserving domestic peace lies with the magistrates and the police. The army’s aid cannot and ought not to be invoked, except in an emergency, which is happily rare. When such occasions arise it is the duty of a soldier to comply with, the demand of the civic power. The present Tory doctrine strikes at the very root, not only of the army discipline but of democratic government.’ April 6. Mr. Asquith, continuing his speech at Ladybank, said : ‘lf we were to recognise the existence of a dispensing and discriminating power on the part of officers we must also recognise it in' the men, and also in our judges, magistrates, and civil servants. These new dogmas will, in fact, be invoked whenever the spirit of lawlessness claims to stop the ‘machinery of society.’ The Prime Minister quoted from his speech at St. Andrews on December 7, 1910, when he dealt with Home Rule, as a justification for dealing with the Bill under the Parliament Act. ‘ Settlement by consent ’ would be desirable in the interests of the country, but it must be a case of ‘ peace with honor.’ He concluded by advocating that a policy of devolution should be applied to other parts of the United Kingdom. He also regretted that the split in the democratic party had lost them several by-elections. With such great issues ahead it was a time to put aside their comparatively trivial differences. United, the democracy would be irresistible. * MR. REDMOND’S ATTITUDE. In the House of Commons, Mr. Redmond said that Sir E. Carson had made no step towards a compromise. The talk of Federalism was misleading and mischievous. He sympathised with Federalism, but as a solution of the Ulster difficulty it would be necessary to be more precise. The House owed a duty to Ireland to pass the Bill undeterred by threats of resistance. April 7. In the House of Commons to-day, Sir E. Carson remarked that regarding Federalism he was not prejudicedl as to whether Ireland should be one -unit or two. Mr. Redmond said the Nationalists would not listen to a suggestion that Ulster should be excluded until a federal scheme was completely worked out. PROSPECTS OF A SETTLEMENT. The Liberals have tabled eight federal amendments, and the Unionists four, including Mr. J. C. Lyttelton’s, which favors the exclusion of Ulster and the establishment of a Liberal Commission. There are indications that before the third reading is reached the Government will provide a suggestion stage for the formulation of plans for a settlement. SECOND READING CARRIED. The second reading of the Home Rule Bill was carried in the House of Commons by 356 votes to 276. The Hon. T. Agar-Robartes voted against the mo- ' tion. The O’Brienites and- Mr. Pirie abstained from voting "• Seven Liberals were unable to secure pairs. Sir e"! Grev and Mr. Lloyd George paired. The voters included Mr. Samuel Young, aged 93. .