The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-06-12 00:00:00

NEWSPAPER OPINIONS.

The Times thinks that the rejection of the bill
speaks well for the independence and the courage of
the House of Commons, and bears strong testimony
in favour of the elicouraging belief that Englishmen
and Scotchmen are not yet ready to submit themselves
to the levelling influences of the " maehine politics"
of America. The first step—a long step, we admit—
towards deliverance from a fatal bondage has been
taken ; but it is only the first step. All the agencies
which were set at work to deceive, to confuse, and to
coerce the House of Commons may be let loose upon
the constituencies. No effort will, in that case, be
spared to prevent the nation from delivering a clear
ana emphatic judgment on the simple, though mo-
mentgus, issue which will be presented for settle-
ment! _ _

The Daily .News says that, by the late division
the dissolution of Parliament is rendered inevit-
able, and the country must decide between the
Ministry and its opponents. We do not believe that,
in spite of active and constant misrepresentation,
the constituencies will be deceived as to the true
nature of the issue now to be submitted to them.
The English people understand very well the ques-
tion they are now called upon to decide. Those who
are striving to give Ireland Home Rule do so, as
Mr. Goschen is perfectly well aware, because they
believe that it will strengthen the real bond between
the two countries, and indeed substitute a genuine for
a sham union.

The Standard says that the miserable consequences
which are likely to flow from the delusion which Mr.
Gladstone has encouraged can hardly be exaggerated,
and it will require all the firmness, all the statesman-
ship, and all the magnanimity of a united Constitu-
tional party to deal with them successfully. All these
troubles and inconveniences might have been spared
to us had either Lord Salisbury been permitted to re-
main in power, or Mr. Gladstone been bold enough
to decline an alliance with the Parnellites. His
punishment, however, is at least equal to his deserts.
He has wrecked his reputation as a statesman; he
has forfeited the support of his party; and, though
he may appeal to the constituencies, he will, we firmly
believe, discover that he has also lost the confidence
of the country.
The Daily Telegraph nixes that Mr. Gladstone's
scheme 13st be. judged of by the measure in which he
attempted to embody it—a measure which, even at the
risk of. its author's resentment, it has always described,
and must still describe, with absolute accuracy as a
Separation Bill. As such it has been regarded, and
as such branded by this memorable vote of the fullest
House ever assembled for division. The unity of
the kingdom has been preserved by a first great
declaration of the democracy come to power. For
the present that is enough; the country may be
trusted to endorse the patriotism of its representa-
tives.
The Morning Post says that the result will behailed
with satisfaction, not only throughout Great Britain
and by the loyal and law-abiding section of the Irish
people, but in all parts of the world where the unity
and the integrity of the British Empire are considered
as potent factors in maintaining the equilibrium of
the great community of nations. The peril which
threatened it was averted by the firmness and the
conscientiousness of those whom Mr. Gladstone
sought to influence, and the bill for the disruption of
the United Kingdom was definitively rejected by the
Commons of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Daily Chronicle thinks that we are left
with a clear issue. It must be taken between the
policy of Lord Hartington and that of Mr. Gladstone.
The first policy would give Ireland a liberal measure
of reformed county government, and it would revive
the two clauses in the Crimes Act which Lord Spencer
thought necessary. Mr. Gladstone's policy, on the
other hand, is to pe'rmit Ireland not only to ad-
minister, but to make her own laws; in other words,
to delegate to an Irish Legislature the legislative
power which the Imperial Parliament now enjoys in
respect to Ireland. Between these two policies the
country must decide.

Norning Advertiser says that "Justice to Ireland '
is a phrase which covers a multitude of sins. But it
is a cry that ought not to be invoked lightly, and to
go down with the people of England it must be used
honestly. It is because this cry, taken up by a poli-
tician fishing for a policy, wanted the basis of recti-
tude of purpose and of patriotism that it failed to re-
commend itself to the conscience of the House of
Commons, and will secure absolute condemnation
from the heart and mind of the country.
_

The World says :—lt is useless for tile Government
to flatter themselves with the vain imagination that
the malcontents are a small and feeble body animated
by persoral hostility, whom the flood of a General
Election would sweep away. If there is an appeal to
the constituencies, differences cannot be hushed up;
the two sections of the party will range themselves in
opposite camps, and things will be done and said
in the heat of the election contest which will render
perfect reunion impossible for a generation, if not for
ever.

The Sheffield Independent declares that the dis-
crediting tactics pursued by the Radical malcontents
will not be able, when the full in-shedding of light
comes, to stand the test of honest political criticism.
Such another victory for them would not only be de-
feat—it would be political extinction. We very much
question whether that extinction will not be the im-
mediate fate of the majority of them even now. They
must be left to the Liberals in the constituencies
which they represent, who will doubtless have some-
what to say on the matter.
The Edinburgh Dully Review rejoices in the pro-
gress the Home Rule question has made under Mr.
Gladstone's guidance, praises the Nationalists for the
part they have so admirably played in the debate,
and condemns Mr. Chamberlain for postponing an
act of justice to Ireland, and for shortening the days
of a Democratic Parliament which had the capacity
to carry great and urgent reforms. The Gladstonian
sentiment is active not only in Midlothian, but
throughout Scotland, and • Mr. Gladstone's position
will be strengthened as the result of an appeal to the
constituencies.
The Dublin Freeman's Journal says a handful of
men who had not sufficient mental or moral strength
to make up their minds until the last moment upon
a measure in which the best interests of the Empire
are involved, momentarily defeated—but far from
killed—the principle. By their victory they are
themselves undone. The bill is lost, but Home
Rule triumphs. Three hundred and eleven Members
of the Imperial Parliament have affirmed its prin-
ciple, and who will say that there it rests? All
things considered, this defeat is salvation for the
really Liberal and Gladstone party. We are firmly
convinced that a narrow victory on the second read-
ing would have been worse for the ultimate settle-
ment of the Home Rule Question than the defeat
which has occurred. It would have been a nominal
success—a barren triumph. To unite the Liberal
ranks and to preserve the cohesion of the party, Mr.
Gladstone made concessions which it is by no means
probable the country will retain.
The Irish Times says the majority is too decisive to
warrant a dissolution of Parliament. It would be as
idle for the Loyalists to indulge in jubilant and ex-
travagant shouts of victory as it would be for the Na-
tionalists to deny the right of a majority to determine
the Imperial policy. The pretty general conclusion
which was arrived at equally by Nationalists and Con-
stitutionalists, that the bill itself, now dead, was a bad
bill in its tribute; its reserved condition, its complex
machinery, and its wholesale administrative danger,
ought to induce a feeling of diminished regret that the
first attempt to remodel our Irish Government has
thus signally failed.
The Dublin Express says: Deducting the Parnellite
Party, only 225 members were found to support what
has been rightly called the scheme of a madman. It
is, however, too soon to triumph. The Constitution
has won in the first pitched battle, that is all. But
the campaign has only just begun. There are many
of us still who have to buckle on our armour, and
look to our weapons—be they pen or tongue, or some
other kind.
The Cork Herald (Nationalist) Pays: The defeat of
the Home Rule Bill on the motion for the second
reading will hardly take the country by surprise. We
believe—we confidently believe—no Irish hope is lost
in the division of last n ght. We believe that the
Democracy of England will rally to the cry of peace
in such array as will scatter to the winds all the
champions of disorder, all the demagogues and all the
false Liberals that have so long imposed upon their
credulity. When England finally rejects a settle-
ment it will be time for Irishmen to nerve themselves
for the struggle anew. Now all should be dignity,
patience, and forbearance.
The Cork Examiner (Liberal) says: The defeat un-
questionably is a disappointment for Irishmen, but it
is only so comparatively. The progress of the cause
of Irish nationality has suffered a check, but it has, at
the same time, reached a point at which five years ago
it would have been deemed simply impossible to reach
within the period of time. The Irish question is now
in the forefront of politics, and the defeat cannot rele-
gate it to a minor place.
The Cork Constitutional (Conservative) says :—lre-
land is not to be degraded to the status of a tributary
province to the British Empire. The union upon
which the prosperity of our nation so largely
depends is not to be broken. A calamity for Ire-
land and a crowning disgrace for England have
been alike averted. A seditious plot against her
Majesty the Queen, assisted by the shameless ter-
giversation of the First Minister of the Crown,
has been defeated, and that Minister stands before
the world overwhelmed with disgrace and die-
honour.
GREECE AND THE POWERS.

The representatives of the Powers at Athens at the
Latter end of last week agreed upon a Collective Note,
informing the Hellenic Government that the blockade
is raised. Its presentation was delayed until the
Duke of Edinburgh, who had to communicate with
the other admirals, had replied to the intimation
sent him. The Powers received a Note from the
Porte asking that the blockade might be raised,
and replied acknowledging the forbearance of the
Ottoman Government during the cris,is now termi-
nated.