The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-05-01 00:00:00

THE ZENANA SYSTEM.

Missionaries are, undoubtedly, possessed by the
best intentions, and no praise could be too high for
the self-sacrificing spirit with which they. devote
themselves to their calling. Their chief weakness is
to allow zeal to run away with discretion, as was
shown the other day at Leeds, when one of them
advocated the immediate abolition of the zenana
system throughout India. He estimated that forty
millions of native women are now "prisoners for
life" through the operation of this Eastern usage,
which is, at best, only a sort of gilden slavery. Of
course, we do not uphold the system; its evils are
notorious, and reach far beyond the inhumanity
of life-long incarceration. But are we strong
enough to uproot this institution? Would
not that arbitrary act unite the whole people against us
as one man? It is very certain that this would be the
case; native gentlemen can no more contemplate the
idea of their women folk being at large than we can
of ours being shut up. Moreover, the institution
existed long anterior to our conquest of India, and
we accepted it as a part of the social structure. It is
one of the penalties of Empire that it forces nations
to recognise institutions that they regard as hateful.
For instance, Englishmen sometimes point the finger
of scorn at Brother Jonathan for permitting polygamy
to exist in Utah. Before uttering this taunt, they
would do well to remember that the Queen has more
polygamiits among her subjects than any potentate on
earth. There are some things that conquering races
must wink at, and we fear the zenana system will long
remain in that category.— The Globe.

_
A dandy, with a cigar in his mouth, entered a
menagerie, when the proprietor requested him to
take the weed from his mouth, lest he should teach
the other monkeys bad habits.
A young Parisian lady, after being relieved of a
tormenting tooth, laid down ten francs in payment.
Looking at the fee contemptuously, the dentist asked
if that was for his servant. "No, sir," responded
madame, with a sweet smile, g‘ it is for both of you."
"I think I have found out why so many girls wear
coats and ulsters iust like the men," remarked a
Clothes observer. "Why is it ?" asked his friend.
"Because there are so many more women than men
that the girls are compelled to take the shadow for
the substance."
A coloured carpenter in-.Savannah' fell backward
fram a third.storey scaffolding, turned a complete
somersault, struck square on his feet, and was back to
his work so quick that the boss only docked him three
ininutes' loss of time.
Mtunie "How can Lucille marry that Agana*,
_

dlosefist ? What if he is so rich? Sadie.: "Did
yfi.o know that he has heart disease so badly that the
slightest shock is liable to prove fatal?" Mamie :
" Ah, that's it." Sadie: "Yes, and Lucille thins
she will he able to shock him."

THE IRISH PROBLEM.
EXPLANATION BY MR. GLADSTONE.
Mr. Gladstone writes to the Daily Chronicle, calling
attention to an allegation in a leading article in the
paper that he had heretofore taught that Home Rule
would be "a source of Imperial danger." He says:
"I will not challenge you for the proof of this asser-
tion, which I believe to be made in good faith, but
entirely in error. So far as I am aware of my own
teaching, it contains no such doctrine, but in general
calls for explanations of the meaning of Home
Rule, in order to clear up the question whether it
would or would not be a source of Imperial danger.
We have now learned the demand of Ireland
fror.. ihe mouth of five-sixths of her constitutionally
chosen representatives, and it shows that Home Rule
means the establishment of a legislative body in
Ireland for the management of only Irish affairs.
Such Home Rule is, in the language of my address
of last September, a source not of danger but of
strength. The danger, if any, lies in refusing it.
Probably the writer has had in his mind the scheme
of No Rent, which I denounced in strong terms in
1881 —terms which, were there occasion. I should
Use again. You will, I am sure, do justice on this
subject, I do not say to me, but to the great public
interests which are in volved."
THE " CHRONICLE'S " REJOIN'pEE.
In a leading article upon this letter the Daily
Chronicle says: It is possible for us this Morning to
make amsnds to the world for having once suffered
from that fatal tendency to misrepresent Mr. Glad-
stone which appears to be the common misfortune of
those who ever differ from him. He permits us to
enjoy the privilege of publishing the true meaning of
his teaching about Home Rule, during all these years
of weary controversy. His teaching it seems was
never expository or declaratory, as he would say, but
always interrogatory. Mr .Gladstone's contribution to
the rhetoric literature of Home Rule, it appears,
was designed to be not dialectical but Socratic. His
teaching, he says, was meant to ask what Home Rule
was, so that he might discover whether it was
dangerous or innocent of danger, and to that question
Mr. Gladstone would have us believe, he has now for
' the first at last got an answer. Mr. Parnell and his
followers have within the last few months told him
Home Rule means the establishment of a legislative
body in Ireland for the management of only Irish
affairs. In that kind of Home Rule Mr. Gladstone
gladly recognises for the first time a source not
of danger but of strength, and hence his Home
Rule Bill. The argument is ingenious. Its
defect is that its virtue lies not in an " if,"
but in an "only." If we did not wish to
be as generous to Mr. Gladstone as he has been to us,
we might in turn challenge him to produce a passage
from Mr. Parnell's teaching containing a binding
declaration that the Home Rule means "the estab-
lishment of a legislative body in Irelar d for the
management of only Irish affairs." But we conies;
that Mr. Gladstone's correction Of our presentment of
his teaching, taken with the interpreta ion of it which
he now gives, raises a very interesting question. Why
did he not support Mr. Butt and Mr. Shaw when
they begged the House of Commons to inquire
into Home Rule? It will not do for Mr.
Gladstone to say that Mr. Butt's idea of Home
Rule left us in doubt as to whether the Irish Legis-
lature should deal with "only Irish affairs." Mr.
Butt's programme differs from Mr. Parnell's simply
in this, that whilst Mr. Butt frankly declared that
his domestic legislature would confine itself to Irish
business, that is a declaration which has never been
extracted in binding form from Mr. Butt's successor.
He has, on the contrary, refused to set limits to the
march of the Irish nation, and his chief lieutenant,
Mr. Healy, has declared that their mandate is "to
give expression to the undying spirit of hostility which
animates us all to British domination in Ireland."

LORD FIARTINGTON'S OBJECTIONS.

Addressing his constituents at Rowtenstall, Lord
Hartington explained and defended his attitude in
the present crisis. In analysing and criticising Mr.
Gibladstone's Irish proposals, he said: I must say a
word or two upon one or two aspects of the measures
which have been brought before us. I cannot go fully
into details or touch upon many points, but I will ask
your indulgence while I say a few words on one or
two. These measures which have been presented to
us are said to be not measures of separation but
simply measures to enable the Irish people to manage
their own affairs: (Hear, hear.) It is said that under
these bills the unity of the Empire would be main-
tained. (Hear, hear.) It is said that the legislative
union won't be repealed, and it is also maintained
that the authority of the Imperial Parliament over
the British Empire will be preserved. Now, I think
that all these statements may be controverted. I
coutrovert, in the first place, the statement that
this is only a measure to enable the Irish people
to manage their own affairs. (A Voice "Quite
right.") That is a phrase which is a very convenient
one, which people get ho'd of very easily, which they
repeat because it gives them an easy and convenient
formula for doing that which may seem the most
convenient and the most easy at the time without
any great reflection upon what the ultimate con-
sequences may be; and it enables them to support
a policy without reflecting very deeply upon whit
it really means. I say, gentlemen. that this phrase,
if it is analysed, is full of fallacies, or at all events
that it contains a statement of very much less than
the truth. Now what do we mean when we speak of
the people of Ireland? The people of Ireland are
not one people. As I think Mr. Chamberlain pointed
out the other day, the Protestant population of Ire-
land, which is found chiefly in the north, in Ulster,
but which also exists in scattered communities all
over Ireland, is a population as much opposed to the
Roman Catholic majority of the people of Ireland—
(interruption)—is a population as different from
the Roman Catholic majority of the people of Ire-
land, as the people of Scotland or of England are
feinn the Roman Catholic majority. (A. Voice "I
beg your ?ardon, my lord.") I daresay, perhaps,
the gent:eman in the corner is going to tell me
that there are differences of political opinion in all
parts of the United Kingdom, and that it is
necessary that the minority should bow to the will
of the majority—(hear)—in Ireland as in England
and as in Scotland ; but, gentlemen, the Protestant
population of Ireland is divided from the Roman
Catholic population by differences which are far
more vital and deep-seated than any political differ-
ences which divide the people of this country.
(Cheers.) There are differences between them of
race, differences of religion, differences of ideas—
ideas on all that relates to property and individual
liberty and freedom. We have done something—
much, I am afraid, in times past—to aggravate these
differences which divide the people of Ireland. By
your system of laws by our system of government.
It was formerly intended to create a Protestant
ascendancy in Ireland, but we have done away
with all that. Protestant ascendancy in Ireland
exists no longer, but no one can believe that if
uncontrolled power, or power so little controlled
as is proposed in these measures, is placed in
the hands of the great Roman Catholic majority
in Ireland, that an attempt will not be made
—and I fear a successtul attempt will be made
—to replace the defunct Protestant ascendancy
in Ireland by a real Roman Catholic ascendancy in
that country. (Cheers.) Since when, gentlemen,
have we learned that the Roman Catholic population
over which the Roman Catholic hierarchy and
priesthood exercise a great political as well as
spiritual influence, is a tolerant or freedom-loving
majority? And I say, gentlemen, that we shall be
committing that which will be a shame and a disgrace
to us if, without taking full and adequate security
for the protection of the Protestant minority, we,
the vast Protestant majority of this United
Kingdom, hand over the minority, unprotected
and helpless, to the tender mercies of a
local Roman Catholic majority; and not only,
gentlemen, I say—(disturbance)—it would be
much more convenient, gentlemen, if the gentle-
man in the corner who so frequently interrupts me
would reserve his observations until he can come up
to the platform and address the meeting. (Cheers.)
But, I say, not only would it be a shame on our part
to hand over without adequate protection the Pro-
testant minority to the untontrolled domination of a
Catholic majority, but I say it would be a thing which
is impossible and beyond our power. We cannot
bind ourselves, much less can we bind our successors,
and I say that in time to come if the Roman Catholic'
majorities should abuse the gifts we are now lavish-
ing upon them, and commit injustice, or even if the
people in this country should believe any injustice
was being committed in Ireland, there is no law
which we can now frame, no constitution which we
can now construct, which will prevent the appeal of
that minority in Ireland being raised and being
heard before their fellow-countrymen in England, or
which could prevent the superior power and might
of England being involved and used in their behalf.
One of the greatest objections which I entertain to
this policy is that I feel certain that the authority
of the majority in England will be so invoked, and
that this measure which is introduced by Mr. Glad-
stone—l know in all sincerity as-ti message of peace
—will be one which will be fruitful in future time of
causes of disturbance, and of still greater disturbances
than have hitherto occurred. (Cheers.) Well, now,
gentlemen, I have said that the phrase "the Irish
people," in my opinion, contains a fallacy, because
there is no unity of the Irish people. What, then, do
we Mean when we talk about the affairs of' the Irish
people which they are to be allowed to manage for
themselves? I could understand that everything
which we recognise under the term "local business,"
everything in the shape of the municipal government
of Ireland, of its counties, of its cities, of its rural
districts, of the expenditure of. its local- rates—l can
conceive that such questions as education, or even
the question of relief of the poor and other
matters of that description, might fairly
—that in respect to these matters . the
claim might fairly be raised that the majority
of the Irish people should manage their own affairs,
and that the minority should bow in those respects to
the will of the majority; but the term "managing their
own affairs," as used in these measures,'extends a great
deal further than that. The whole of the law, the law
relating to property, the acquisition of 'property; and'
the disposition of property—the law relating to crime,
the definition of crimp, the detection of crime, the
.punishment of crime—the whole of that law, the law
which relates to indiiidual freedom, the law which
enables men to work or not to work, to employ their
labour, to give their time and their industry where.

when, and how they please—all this law is, under this
measure, treated as one of the affairs which the Irish
people are to be left to manage themselves; and what is
a great deal more not only are the Irish people to say
what hereafter is to be the law, but they are also to say
what is to be the Government which is to administer

that Jaw; and everything relating to property, to the
security of life, to the security of liberty, to the
security of personal freedom is hereafter, ,if this bill
Frees, to be placed at the disposal of an Irish legisla-
ture, and a Government responsible only to the
Irish legislature. Now, we know something of the
ideas of, I am afraid, the majority of the Irish people
in respect to these matters. We know the doctrines
that have been instilled into them_ by their leaders,
_ .

and I am afraid have been accepted Sy a large por-
tion of the Irish people. We 'know that for some
time past the National Leagno has been in many dis-
tricts of Ireland the real Government of Ireland, and
we know that under that Government gross injustice,
gross cruelty—A Voice: "No ")—gross oppression
has been inflicted; and, gentlemen, I ask
whether it is not tiomewhat too much to
ask us to believe that a moment after the passing
of this bill, that merely by the making of this conces-
sion to the Irish majority, all these ideas are going to
be changed, and that the principles of justice and
liberty which, having been trampled under foot by
the National League wherever it has had the power
to do so, are again to be restored when we give to the
Irish people a national and responsible Government.
(A Voice: "Yes.") Gentlemen, I know that Mr.
Gladstone has said that the Irish people object to
our law because it comes to them in a foreign garb.
(Hear, hear.) Is it quite certain that it is only the
foreign garb to which the Irish people object, or have
they not some antipathy and some objection to the
substance which is covered by that garb. Gentle-
men, I am told that I have no trust in the Irish
people, and that I attribute to them a double dose
of original sin. (Laughter.) I entertain no such
theory; but when I am accused of entertaining
such a theory, I reply by the illustration which Mr.
Gladstone has given. Mr. Gladstone quoted a speech
of Lord Russell, in which he said that "the question
really came to this: that as the people of England
were English, and the people of Scotland were Scotch,
so the people who lived in Ireland were Irish." Well,
gentlemen, I think it is not Very unreasonable to
suppose and believe that what the Irish people have
done before they will do again.- (Cheers.) We have
seen an Irish minority, when it possessed the power
to oppress the Irish majority; and I do not think it
is unreasonable to believe that when the Irish
majority is given uncontrolled power, it will oppress
the Irish minority. We have seen the Irish people,
under the direction of the National League, set at
defiance the principles which we believe to be the fun-
damental principles which direct and control the laws
for the maintenance of life and for the security of pro-
perty. We have seen them set these laws at defiance
when there was some risk and some danger in such de-
fiance, and it is asking too much of us to believe, that all
these ideas will be changed, and that all these ideas
will be abandoned as soon as it is in their powei to
put these principles into execution, without any
danger, and without any risk. No, gentlemen, I feel
that I am detaining you—(Cries of "Go on.' A
Voice: "Aye, sit down," and laughter.) I feel lam
trespassing very much upon your time, and I shall- i
trouble you very little further. We are told, gentle-
men, that the unity of the Empire is going to be pre-
served. Well, now, how is the unity of the Empire
going to be preserved? Far too much importance
has been attached, in my opinion, to the legis-
lative functions which are going to be conferred
upon the Irish Parliament. Far too little attention
has been paid to the actually important point
that hereafter the government of Ireland is
to be placed exclusively in the hands of
persons who are responsible solely to the Irish
legislature. The Imperial Legislature, the Imperial
Parliament, which is now the sovereign authority in
these realms, would remain nominally the sovereign
authority if this bill passes; but it will have lost its
practical sovereignty. (Cries of " No" and " Hear,
hear.") The government, the executive government
of Ireland, will be a government, and can only be a
governme t which possesses the confidence of the
Irish le • ature ; and however much you or your re-
i
present 'yes in Parliament may disapprove of the
conduct or the policy of that Irish executive govern-
ment, you would be powerless so long as this consti-
tution lasts to replace it or to correct it. That
government may be in the hands of Mr. Parnell.
It may be controlled by Mr. Egan. It may be con-
trolled by any -member of the National League, or
to the Fenian Society. (Cries of " No, no.") Well,
.gentlemen, I am only putting it as a possible case.
Ido not say it would be so, that constitutionally
'under this bill the head of the executive author* in
Ireland, may, if he can obtain the confidence of
the Irish legislature, be a member of the Fenian
Society—(" No, no,")—and there is nothing which this
Imperial Legislature and Parliament can do which will,
short of revolution and the repeal of this measure, be
able to replace him, or to check the policy in which
he may be engaged. I say that that is not preserva-
tion of the unity of the Empire. That, gentle-
men, is the retention of a nominal responsibility—
% responsibility to which we shall be hold in the
face of our own countrymen, and in the face of the
world. That is a concurrent surrender of all the ex-
ecutive power which enables us to-discharge ade-
quately the responsibility. (Cheers.) Now there
are many other topics connected with this great
question on which, if I had time, I should have
been glad to have addressed you ; but I must reserve
them for other occasions. There is the question
which has excited so much attention of the exclusion
or the retention of the Irish members from the Par-
liament at Westminster. That, I admit, appears to
be a dilemma from which there is no escape; but I
maintain that it is not for us who oppose this measure
on principle to provide solution of this dilemma. It
is rather for Those who have raised the difficulty—
(No)—by the proposal to create that which, I be-
lieve, under our Constitution, it is impossible to create
—a separate Legislature for Ireland. Gentlemen, I
do not feel called upon to take part in that dis-
cussion. I admit the force of Mr. Gladstone's
argument for the exclusion of the members from
Westminster, but at the same time I am strongly of
opinion that if we insist upon the payment by Ireland
of that large tribute which is provided for in this bill,
that it will be a new source, and a more fertile source
than any we have yet had of future difficulty and
future friction between this country and Ireland.
(Cheers.) Then, gentlemen, there are financial
arrangements. It seems to me that in those also, we
have provided for in the future a plentiful store of
lifficulty and disturbance, and trouble between the
people of the two kingdoms. Then we have the land
purchase scheme, which, as your chairman has told
you to-night, there is no One who is found to approve.
An attempt has been made to reconcile the people of
England by reducing the " sum to £50,000,000, hitt
the principle which is conts 'gain that bill is that
every landlord is to haveth e- ..:,* o* disposing to
the British taxpayer ofsPhis* - slroperty. If the
aption is made use of, L. on• # which you will
oecorne responsible is very lit icirrity, for the Irish
aovernment will be much it.a.nrsos 200 than 50 mil-
dons. Well, gentlemen, I*on's attempt to dwell
upon those subjects to-nig* All that I will say
further with reference to this measure is that it
-sppears to me that it solves none of the difficulties
which have always hitherto appeared to every
English statesmen who has considered the ques-
;ion to be insoluble. As against a proposal to create
S separate Legislature, a separate Executive
Glovernment for Ireland, I maintain that this
measure is not a delegation of authority by the
tmperial Parliament, but that it is a separation—
separation widely in the present, but with far wider
possibilities and probabilities of separation in the
fature. " I believe, gentlemen, that this is a measure
which will not heal any of the controversies which
have so long distracted the attention of the Imperial
Parliament. I believe that it is one which is rather
3alculated to perpetuate and to intensify them. If I
were convinced that some maasure of this character
was inevitable, I at all events should not be able, I
should not hold myself able to be a party to it. Rather
than be a party to it I should resign the trust which
you have placed in my hands, and I should feel bound
to tell you that I could not be a Party to a measure
which I believed was so opposed to all my
former professions and my present opinions.
(Cheers.) But lam not so convinced—l am not con-
vinced that a measure of this character is inevitable;
and when we are asked for alternatives—when we are
told that we have no alternatives to offer—l reply
that no one knows better than the members of the
present Government at the present time and in the
present position, when the Liberal party is divided,
distracted, bewildered, by the sadden change of policy
which has teen proposed to it, it is not possible for
me or for any man to propose an alternative. I
believe that much, everything, depends on the attitude
which may be taken in this crisis by the great Liberal
party. If the vast mass of the Liberal party adopt this
measure, not because they are convinced of its merits
or of its value, but in deference to the opinion of
Mr. Gladstone, however eminent he may be, then,
indeed, gentlemen, it is useless either for me or for
any other man to attempt to propose an alternative.
(Cheers) But, gentlemen, if on the other hand the
Liberal party apply an independent judgment and
consideration to these proposals if they pass after that
consideration a mint and a fearless verdict upon them,
then, gentlemen, believe me, it will be possible, not
by means of the genius or the inspiration of any one
man, but by the collective counsel and help of many,
that a collective policy for the future government
of Ireland shall be proposed, which shall be more
safe, more honourable, and more beneficial in the
future of , the people of Ireland themselves than
the policy which has now been propoied to us.
-(Cheers.) Gentlemen, I thank you with all my heart
for the patience and the forbearance with which you
have listened to me. I :know that great difference
prevails amongst you ;. I know that many- of . yow
cannot approve of the course which-I have thought -it
my duty to take. (Cheers.) I, gentlemen; do-not
seek to say one word of reproach as to those who take
a line different to that I have thought it my duty to
take ; but I trust, and I believe, that from the reception
which I have had from you to-night,- you in return
wilt-give to me, and to those•who take the same Niel
-
of this-question as I do, an equal credit for having
been actuated in the course which we have taken not
by any personal, not by any party, nor by any selfish
consideration, but with the -sole view of the good and
prosperity of our country, of Great Britain and Ire-
land. (Loud cheeting, during which the noble lord
rearmed his Float.)

Lord Iddesleigh, in answer to a correspondent,
writes: "I think the measure Mr. Gladstone intro-

duced, for though there be two bills they form one
measure, is fraught with much danger to the Empire,
while it will do no good to Ireland. We are told it is
not a measure for the 'repeal 'of Union. I will not
. .. .

quarrel about phrases, but it is certainly a measure
for the dissolution of the Union. It proposes to dis-
solve the existing Imperial Parliament in which
England, Scotland, and Wales are fairly represented,
which is the supreme authority over the whole
British Empire, and substitute for it a new Imperial
Parliament in which England, Scotland, and Wales
are only to be represented, and which is not to exer-
cise over Ireland the same authority as over the
_ _ _ _

other portions of the kingdom. It' seems to me
clear that any constitutional revolution involving a
dissolution of the Legislative Union between Great
Britain and Ireland must seriously weaken the heart
of the Empire, and will almost certainly lead to
further changes tending to the degraiiation, and pro-
bably destruction, of the whole, and that we should
speedily feel its evil effects in our relations with
foreign countries, in those with our own- colonies and
dependencies, in our trade and industries, and con-
sequently in the condition of our great and ever-in-
creasing home population. What we should gain in
return for these losses it is extremely difficult to dis-
cover. There are some who appear to think we
should gain the affection of Ireland. I admit that
it would be worth considerable sacrifice if we could
hope to do so, but there is nothing in the history of
the past and nothing in the circumstances of the
present which seems to me to encourage such
an expectation." After discussing the two grounds—
one sentimental and the other terrorist—which have
been laid for the measure, and denying that the
`maintenance of the Union must lead to coercion in
any other sense than that which implies that law and
order must be upheld, Lord Iddesleigh says :—" But
surely the lesson we should learn from the history of
the past is that instead of dissolving we should rather
try to cement the Union, and by firmness, steadiness,
and as far as possiple unity, both in legislation and
administration, do our best to give the Sister Isle her
fair share in the prosperity of a country with which
she is indissolubly connected. There is a great deal
more to be said, but it is not necessary to say more
now. If this dangerous scheme is rejected we shall
have plenty of matter for consideration worthy of the
high theme which we have been somewhat hastily and
very imperfectly called upon to discuss."
Mr. Childers, M.P., spending the Easter recess on
the Welsh coast, on Saturday walked over the.hills
from Haverfordwest to St. David's Head—a distance
of 16 miles—in company with his son, Major Childers.
At St. David's the Home Secretary was presented
with an address from the local Liberal Association.
In reply the right hon. gentleman said for years he
had advocated local government for Ireland and for
English and Scotch counties. He considered that the
short suspension of Parliamentary duties during the
Easter recess would materially affect the position of
the Government either to greatly
_strengthen or
weaken its hands. If they had the country's confi-
dence, Mr. Gladstone would be able to deal effectively
with the proposed legislative measure for Ireland. He
attached very little importance to the details of the
bill, as he looked upon it as a whole. He thought
that when the removal of the Irish members from the
Imperial Parliament had been accomplished, legis-
lation could be dealt with far more effectively than
hitherto, and without that obstruction which had
impeded every progress.
Mr. Michael Davitt, addressing r -)ublic meeting in
Aberdeen on Monday night, said that the Nationalist;
accepted Mr. Gladstone's scheme as a recognition of
the rights of the Irish people, and it would be
accepted subject to the amendments proposed by Mr.
Parnell as a final settlement of the difficulty. The
example of Canadian loyalty to the Empire was the
best example of what the country might expect from
Ireland. Local legislative rights should be given to
England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, to enable the
Imperial Parliament to attend to Imperial affairs.
This was the beginning of a great common-sense.
movement, and, pending the carrying out of such a
scheme of federation, the country should not insist
on a double representation of Ireland.
Sir Henry M. Havelock-Allan, M:P., has addressed
a letter to his constituents in South-East Durham,
declining to support Mr. Gladstone's Irish proposals.
The hon. member says: "You will, I have no doubt,
do me the justice to believe that if I now separate;
myself with the greatest pain from those with whom
it has been my pleasure and my privilege to act, I do
so in opposition to and at the sacrifice of all personal
interest, and only at the call of the highest considera-
tion that country should be put befqre party, and that
the vital interests of the great British Empire are
dearer to every true Englishman than the reputation
or success of any statesman, however eminent."
Viscount Wolmer, M.P., has intimated his inten-
tion of voting against the Government's Irish pro-
posals, and at a meeting of his principal supporters
held at Alton on Saturday at which he was present,
his resolution was approved of but with one dissen-

tient.
It is stated that some military, officers serving in
Ireland who have family connections in the country
have applied to the War Office to be transferred to
India. The reason for the request is that they wish
to avoid the necessity of acting against Ulster Loyal-
ists in the event of the latter resisting thq
,introduc-
tion of Home Rule into Ireland.

The following letter from Mr. Bright was read by I
the chairman of Lord Hartington's meeting at Raw 1
tenstall : "I cannot attend any meeting during the '
recess, but I feel an interest in your meeting at which
Lord Hartington is to speak. There is a division in
the Liberal party on the subject of the Irish bills now
before the House of Commons, and to which bills
your representative is opposed. To me he seems to
have acted in a manner at once consistent and
courageous, having done in the House of Commons
exactly what his constituents might expect him to do
from his speeches during the election contest. The
Irish bills are of that magnitude and importance that
difference of opinion was unavoidable. Does any one
imagine that such bills could become law without a
manifestation of the differences and doubts which they
have created? It would be a calamity for this country if
measures of this transcendent magnitude were to be
accepted on die authority of a leader of a party or of
a Minister, however emieent, and that no other mem-
ber of the party was to be permitted to hold or to ex-
press strong doubts or even adverse opinions of the
measures proposed. For constituencies to accept this
system would be to betray their value in the working
of representative institutions. The sad party division
has arisen from the introduction of measures of vast
importance without sufficient preparation of the public
or the party mind to accept them. The measures
themselves, and the time and the manner of their in-
troduction in Parliament, are the causes of the divi-
sion of the Liberal party, and not the opinions and
criticisms of honourable men. The party may be
shaken for a time, but it will recover; for consistency,
and courage, and honour will never be without value
• in the estimation of our countrymen.' " •
On luesday afternoon Lady -Randolph Churchill,
accompanied by Lord and Lady, Brooke and Lord
Charles BereSford, inspected the new premises of the
Dunmow Conservative Club and declared them open..
Speaking aka meeting in the National Schools in the
evening, Lady Randolph Churchill said that there
were burning questions which the country would soon
have to settle, and the most important was Mr. Glad.
stone's mad and dangerous scheme in refereace to the
Government of Ireland. England must soon pro- •
nounce upon it, and she devoutly hoped with an
emphasis that would result in Mr. Gladstone being
turned out of office. Lord Charles Beresford said
that Mr. Gladstone had the courage of an uncon-
trolled brain in reference to Ireland. Mr. Morley
had stated that if the Arms Act were renewed it must
be against the people of Ulster, whose only sin had
been loyalty to their Queen. As an Irishman he
warned the man to beware who talked in that strain.
Lord Charles went on to protest against coercion,
and said he would rule Ireland if they would let him
have his own way.. Englishmen, Irishmen, and
Scotchmen had built up the Empire; they had fought
together, bled together, and they would prevent its
fall. Let all unite to attain this end.
The Duke of Argyll writes as follows to a corre-
spondent on the Irish question: "I regard these, pro-
posals of the Government as fatal to the prosperity of
Ireland and to the unity of the United Kingdom. Up
to the last general election Mr. Gladstone himself was
loud in his denunciations of the Parnellite policy, both
social and political, and his sudden wheel round owing
to the success of the Parnellite conspiracy in the Irish
elections is a strategic movement by which he not
only calls upon us to surrender to those whom he has
1 before treated as enemies, but also to take up arms
in their cause, put on their uniform, and adopt all
their arguments. So monstrous a demand has never
been made by any leader upon his party."
Lord Derby writes: "I do not believe the Irish
- Bills brought in by Mr. Gladstone can pass, or that if
they did pass they would bring about a better state of
things than new exist. I do not believe the system
of restrictions by which it is sought to prevent the
intended Irish Parliament from abusing its power
could be kept in force for more than a year or two,
and I feel sure these restrictions would not be ac-
cepted by the representatives of Ireland, except under
the expectation that they, will speedily be got rid of.
It seems to me equally objectionable to leave Irish
landlords to be plundered as to save them at the cost
of probably more than a hundred millions, to be de-
frayed ultimately by the English.- I cannot think it
just, considering how strong arid long-standing are
the mutual animosities of Catholics and Protestants
in Ireland, to leave the Protestant minority, in Ulster
at the.mercy of their old opponents. Lastly, I con-
sider the constitutional changa=anore important than
any which we or our fathers have witnessed—ought
not to be made by authority of Parliament alone
without reference to the electors, whose opinions have
never been elicited or asked. I am oonfirmed in this
belief by the notorious fact that,many members who
now advocate the concession of all or nearlyali, Mr.
Parnelrs demands were returned to Parliament On
the strength of their public dedarations that they
~would oppose these demands, whereas. if they had
avouted themselves Home Rulers during their can-
vass the result of the elections would probably have
been very different. For these and many other
reasons, impossible fully to explain in a few words, I
I am against the proposed Irish legislation."
Mr. P. Rylands, M.P., in a letter to one of his con-
stituents, says: "Most Irish measures have such a
scone that they must necessarily create difference of

opinion. -Among Ode Liberals, on the one ham are
those who think that the proposed restrictions of the
Irish Government Bill would prevent an Irish Parlia-
ment becoming a separate and independent body; and,
on the other hand, those who, like myself, are con-
vinced that the establislithent of such a Parliament
and Irish exclusion would eventually lead to ft separate
Irish Government, probably hostile to England and en
dangering the peace of the two countries. • I think
there aught to be no difference of opinion as regards
the Irish Land Bill. The 50 millions is only an instal-
ment, and we should have to pay 150 millions and
burden our industrial community for generations. For
what? To buy out the Irish landowners who since
the Union, with excessive and unjust rents, have
robbed the tenantry of money equal to the fee-simple
value of their estates. What claim have they upon
you or upon me? They have done more than any
other class to blast the prosperity of Ireland and to
create crime and destitution.'
Mr. T. B. Potter, M.P., addressing a crowded
meeting of his constituents in the Town Hall, at
Rochdale, on Tuesday night, accorded his hearty
support to the principles of the Prime Minister's
Home Rule scheme, which, he said, offered almost
the only outlook from the darkness of the past to a
brighter future when the people of Great Britain and
Ireland might be reconciled to each other and the
union of the two countries made real and permanent.
He would certainly, he added, vote for the bill on the
second reading, and leave the settlement of details to
Committee. A vote of confidence in Mr. Potter was
passed.