The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-08-01 00:00:00

MR. BRIGHT AND THE HUSH MEMBERS.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, Mr. Callan called :then-
lion to the speech of Mr. Bright at the recent banquet
to Lord Spencer, in which the right hon. member for
Birmingham said that the conduct of certain Home
Rule members was "disloyal to the Crown," and many
of them "showed boundless sympathy with criminals
and murdeeers." Mr. Callan remarked that when Irish
members attacked members of the late Government,
they did so before the House of Commons, and not at
private meetings of their own people. He might remark
that the Irish members liked the Conservatives for
their general fair play, but hated the Radicals for their
universal coercion. (Laughter.) He trusted that the
right hon. member would withdraw the remarks he had
made and apologise, thereby saving the House from
voting on a breach of privilege. He regretted to say
that this was not the first tima that the right hon.
member for Birmingham had had to answer to the
House for indiscreet speeches. Nobody had a greater
horror than he (Mr. Callan) had of crime. He con-
cluded by moving that the remarks made by Mr.
Bright on the occasion mentioned was a breach of the
privileges of the House of Commons.
Mr. Bright rose amid loud cheers from the Opposition
benches, and ironical cheering from Irish members. He
said—ln offering a few observations to the House, I
will begin by infcrming the hon. member who has
brought this motion forward that if there were repre-
sentatives from Ireland to whom my words applied, so
far as I know, they could not apply to the hon. gentle.
man who has taken exception to them, for I have not,
up to the time I delivered the speech to which he takes
objection, heard him say anything, either in this House
or out of it, that would justify me in including him in
the number of those whom I embraced in my remarks.
Not only did I not wish or intend to do the hon, member
any injustice when I made use of the words to which he
complains, but he has never been in my mind at the time
I brought certain charges against some of his country-
men. The hon. member, I presume, has, however, come
forward in the character of a protector of his
countrymen, and I have no objection that the question
raised by him should receive the notice of the House
and of the country, as it would do. (Hear, hear). At
the meeting at which this speech was made there were
nearly 200 persons belonging to both Houses, who had
assembled together for the purpose of showing the
general estimate in which the character of the late
Viceroy of Ireland was held, and for the purpose of
meeting some of the charges that had been made
against him. The House would know that in the
speech of Lord Spencer that nobleman referred to a
great many of the serious charges that had been made
against him, and he gave such answers to them as were
deemed satisfactory to those who were present.
(Cheers). I went into the question of those charges,
perhaps a little deeper, and with much fewer words
than the other speakers. There is no meanness of
which any man can be guilty, and none which can be
attributed to a Governor that has not been attributed
to Lord Spencer. (Irish cheers). And more than
that, in the Irish press it has been stated over and
over again, that Lord Spencer sent to the gallows a man
whom he knew to be innocent. (Irish cheers.) Was it
possible to make a more grievous charge against any
man? (Cries of "No, no," and cheers.) This charge
and others of a similar character have been brought in
this House, in Ireland, and by writers in the Irish Press.
The hon. members to whom I refer have called this a
foreign House, and they have called our Government a
a foreign Administration. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Devitt,
who, except when a landlord is in question, is a very
honest man, says he won't come into this House
because he cannot take the oath of allegiance, and
there are other able Irishmen who are disloyal to
the crown. I charged certain Irish members with
being disloyal, and I think from the way in which
they have received my remarks, they do not re-
pudiate the charge. Ido not defend the Legislation
of 1881 and 1882, and I do not blame the Irish
members for their obstruction, but that they did
obstruct nobody can doubt. (Hear, bear.) On one
occasion they went and sat in the gallery, in order
that the Government might be forced to adopt a
clause which they thought woidd render the law more
hateful. In Ireland they have assaulted the judges,
the law cfficers, and juries, and they have accused
Lord Spencer of hanging innocent men. (Irish cheers.)
It has all been done upon one line, that of sympathy
for the criminals in prison, or upon trial—hear, bear)
—and never, except in the one case of the Phoanix
Park tragedy have I heard them declare any horror of
the foul crimes which have been committed. (Cheers.)
Suppose I had said that the Irish members were loyal,
friendly, eager for the detection of crime, and for the
support of the administration of the law. That would
have been exactly the opposite of what has been read
at the table, and if I had said it the House and the
public would have laughed me to scorn, and the lush
members would have said I was a fool. (Laughter and
cheers). Ido not withdraw my words, as I know them
to be true. (Liberal cheers).
The right hon. gentleman having withdrawn from
the House, Mr. M‘Carthy reprehended the unfounded
accusations which he had levelled against the Irish
party, but observed that if Mr. Callan had consulted
him before bringing the speech before the House, he
should unhesitatingly have recommended him to take
no notice of it.

The Chimcellor of the Exchequer dep coated the
establishment of a precedent for interfering on the
grounds of privilege with remarks or writings made out
of doors not against an individual member but against
the members of a political party. The adnption of
such a course would only tend to embitter political
differences, delay the transaction of business, and be
creditable neither to the House nor the country.
The Marquis of Hartington entirely concurred with
the conclusion at which the right hon. gentleman had
arrived, but regretted that he had not a word to say as
to the conduct or the language used by those to whom
Mr. Bright had referred. There was nothing in the
allegations made by his right hon. friend which was not
capable of proof, and he could not admit that they were
inopportune. He did not believe that the motion had
been brought forward with the general assent of the
members of the Irish party, or that men who habitually
allowed themselves such licence of speech as many of
them indulged in should come whining to the House
upon the first occasion when one of its greatest orators
expressed in language the truth of which was admitted
by nine-tenths of the people of this country his opinion
as to their conduct.
Mr. T. P. O'Connor expressed satisfaction that the
head of the Liberal Party had adopted the language of
the right hon. member for Birmingham, and that the
Irish voters in this country would now be able to judge
accurately of the position which the Liberal Party
assumed towards them.

Sir P. O'Brien made some remarks, and
Lord R. Churchill, referring to Lord Hartington's
speech, expressed apprehension that it would be incon-
veni( nt if it were held that such epithets as "disloyal,"
"rebel," and "sympathizers with crime" were
legiti-
mate expressions in debate. What would Lord
Hartington say, for instance, if the epithet of " rebel "
were applied to Mr. Chamberlain; and yet, as he showed
by quotations from Mr. Chamberlain's speech at
Islington, he had spoken of the system of government
in Ireland in quite as strong language as the Irish
members.
Mr. Chamberlaini retorted that, if he and his friend
had been unduly sensitive, Lord R. Churchill's speeches
out of doors would have afforded breach of privilege
complaints about once a week for the last five years.
He regretted that the Irish members had thought it
necessary to raise this discussion, and, though he did
not accuse them of sympathy with crime, they cer-
tainly had never condemned it as they ought to have
done.
Mr. Sexton justified the charges against Lord
Spencer, and regretted that advancing years had not
moderated Mr. Bright's proneness to resort to licen-
tious language in abusing his opponents, which was
combined with extreme sensitiveness when attacked
himself. _ _

Mr. 0' Brien, Mr. J. H. 151‘Carthy, and Mr. Sullivan
spoke, and Mr. Callan, who said that he had attained
the object he had in view, of enlarging the freedom of
discussion, asked leave to withdraw his motion. This
was refused, and, a division being taken, the motion
was negatived by 154 to 23.

SUPPLY.

The House then went into committee of Supply on
the Civil Service Estimates.

On the vote for the Queen's Colleges, Ireland, Mr.
DlCarthy called attention to the disadvantages ex-
perienced by Catholic students, and asked for a grant
of £6OOO for the Catholic University of Dublin. Mr.°.
Lewis opposed the proposal; and, in the course of the
discussion, which was continued by the Irish members
throughout the whole of the evening, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, having alluded to the advantages which
had accrued from the Education Act of 1878 and the
University Act of 1879, pointed out that the line upon
which the question had then been successfully dealt
with was that the State should pay According to results
of secular education, whether given by private tuition
or denominational or mixed colleges. He was unable to
accede to the grant tufted for, but promised to consider
the matter with a view to legislation next session
which should still further extend Irish University
education. _ _

- Satisfaction at this announcement was expressed by
most of the Irish members, with the exception of Mr.
Meldon, who vindicated the action of the late Govern-
ment. Mr. Newdegate feared that the influence of the
Irish hierarchy would prevent any settlement of this
question on a satisfactory basis, and in the end the
vote was carried OD a division by 87 to 29.
There was also a long conversation on the Irish
Prisons Votes, and several other estimates were agreed
to. -
The Customs and Inland Revenue Bill was read a
third time, and, after some further business had been
disposed of, the House adjourned at two o'clock.--