The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-07-16 00:00:00

MR. GLADSTONE AND HIS AMERICAN

ADMIRERS.
A HANDSOME PRESENT.

On Saturday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
gave a garden party at their residence, Dollis Hill,
Hendon, previous to which the presentation of a
testimonial to the right hon. gentleman "from 10,689
subscribers in America," took place on the lawn, in
the presence of a number of ladies and gentlemen,
ipcluding Mrs. Gladstone, Miss Gladstone, Mr.
Herbert Gladstone, M.P., Sir Charles Foster, &c.
The testimonial consisted of a trophy in oxydised
silver three feet high, and weighing 900ozs. It was
surmounted by a well-erecuted miniature bust of the
right hon. gentleman, and comprised a representation•
of "Erin," together with Mr. Gladstone's coat of
arms and family motto, an inscription, and the
words "Home Rule," in close position to evenly
adjusted scales of justice. The presentation was
made on behalf of the subscribers by Mr. Joseph
Pulitzer, editor of the New York World, and a
deputation of other American citizens; and Mr.
Pulitzer stated, in his address, that 10,689 people
of the tirst city of America asked the "first citizen of
England" to accept this gift, as a token of their
personal adn_iration and as a tribute to his great
public services in the cause of civil and religious
freedom. He also expressed the sympathy of the
subscribers with Mr. Gladstone's efforts in the cause
of Home Rule for Ireland, and said that, though
Americans had no desire to interfere in the relations
between England and Ireland, yet, knowing how
England had granted more than Home Rule in
America, Africa, and Australia, the,: considered it
most strange that the demand for less in Ireland
should be refused. Mr. Richard Walters next read
another address to Mr. Gladstone, who, in reply, said
it was no less with surprise than ith a sense of
his own unworthiness that he first learned of the
intention to present him with the testimonial,
which he accepted with a peculiar sense of
acknowledgment, on account of the profound and
irrepressible interest of America in the great Irish
cause. (Cheers.) While he would not dwell on
himself further than to say that while in public life
generally, good and evil are pretty impartially distri-
buted, and praise and blame come from all quarters
with great freedom, the case of America was peculiar
in this, that from the first he had never had anything
but the most generous treatment, unmixed indulgence,
and unmixed appreciation of whatever effoits it had
been in his power to make—the best and most
generous interpretation of everything he had said
or done. It was nothing new to them to
know that there was hardly a greater consolation
that the unvarying and unanimous support that
he received from America in the present struggle.
A portion of his countrymen, in the false position
which they had unfortunately placed. themselves,
express at the present moment a certain amount of
jealousy of American interference in English affairs,
and on that jealousy he must comment. Was he to
understand that the interference of one nation, by
the expression of opinion in its affairs, was a thing
unjustifiable and intolerable? If so, the weight of
that sentence would fall upon none so heavily as
upon England, because England had interfered in
everybody's concerns, and had been instructing all the
nations of Europe as to how they should conduct
their own affairs. On the whole, the general feeling
among rnen was that by that freedom—perhaps we
should say that license—England had done some good
to mankind. It would be unnatural—even monstrous
—if America had not advised us on Irish affairs. We
had been for a long time—and the world should know
it—the recipients of America's alms. We—this great
and wealthy nation—had not been at all ashamed
to partake of the growing wealth of America to
lighten the charges of famine in Ireland, which it was
our duty, if possible, to prevent, and our business to
bear the cest of after they arrived. We had received
alms also for the removal from Ireland to a happier
land of a large portion of the population of Ireland,
whom the present Prime Minister of England had
recently designated as burdensome obligations upon
the soil, and there was no class which had received
American alms so largely and so freely as the Irish
landlords. Millions and millions had been sent from
Irishmen in America to help their relatives to pay
rents which could not otherwise possibly be dis-
charged. Men saw, not with the regret that they
should have felt, but with too much satisfaction,
the depopulation of Ireland, which might
have been• a necessity, but a painful necessity;
and men saw these abundant supplies sent to great
landed proprietors without raising a word of complaint.
Now we had reached another period, when the sym-
pathy of America took another form in administering
to the wants of Ireland for the purpose of asserting a
constitutional right in a constitutional manner, by pro-
viding pecuniary means, which is inseparable from
every public struggle. Now there was surprise, there
was regret, there was indignation, there was horror,
and there was an assertion of foreign conspiracy. We
had received without complaint American money for
our landlords, for our emigrants, for the costs of
famine; but when America began to assist our fellow.
subjects in fighting a constitutional battle for liberty,
we immediately expostulated, and complained to the
world about such interference with British its stitutions.
He had challenged anybody to produce a single his-
torical author of repute who had not severely con-
demned the conduct of England towards Ireland. No
reply had been given to that challenge. The variety
and freedom of human opinion made itprobable that in
al most every case there would be a minority. There was a
minority even now in favour of squaring the circle
but he could not find any minority in favour of Eng-
land's conduct towards Ireland in the mournful, long,
and almost, though not quite uniform, disgraceful
period of 700 years for which we had been responsible
for her affairs. He hoped thus whatever strength
divine mercy might vouchsafe to him might be
devoted to prosecute the cause in which he so gladly
recognised the aid of the American people as col-
leagues, friends, and fellow-labourers. (Loud cheers.)
He was sorry that they had come over here when
they were engaged in passing what was termed a
"Coercion Bill" by a large majority. There were
one or two points in that Coercion Bill which be
wished to mention. One was that it had been passed
by a Parliament, the majority of whose members
had declared themselves opposed to coercion when
elected. The second was that the Government
had dispensed with all obligations to show
exceptional crime and outrage in Ireland.
A gereral profession was made that if there were a
state of crime and disorder in England a similar bill
would be proposed to the Crimes Bill; but the Go-
vernment were asked by the late Attorney-General
that the same protection should be given to the Irish
occupier in his associations and combinations as was
given to the members of English trades unions. That
had been positively refused. The House of Commons,
too, had been tampering with trial by jury. By the
present bill they established the right of imprisonment
by the Viceroy, or by his chief adviser, the Chief
Secretary, on a multitude of counts, to be interpreted
and applied only by them, not liable to review
in a court of justice, not liable to appeal, and
not liable to public discussion. America, by her con-
stitution, permitted the suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act, but only in cases where public order was
immediately and grayely endangered. But in.
Ireland a very different state of things was to pre-
vail, and the Viceroy would have at his mercy all
the associations and members of associations which
be might feel himself justified in declaring illegal.
He could have wished in that glorious season, when
the earth was teeming with promise of harvest, that
the deputation had come among them to find a
political spectacle such as in almost every year of the
last 50 years they would have found. They would
have been able to see Parliament patiently labouring
in the extension of liberty, and in securing the insti •
tutions of the country, appealing to the right judg-
ments and convictions of the people; but instead of
that they had come during a period of retrogression.
There was one consolation, they found signs of a
change of opinion in the country. They would
hardly expect him to go into figures, but he should
like briefly to paint out that in 'the two recent elec-
tions—at Spaldieg and North Paddington—there had
been a change from one side to the other of 12 per
cent, of the electorate; and if there should be a
general election, and that change should be found to
be universal, the result would be to
.exactly reverse
the position of political parties; and if aftem. such an
election this miserable bill bad been passed into law,
they might be sure before three months had elapsed
it would have disappeared from the statute-book. In
conclusion, the rigkt hon. gentleman expressed his
'appreciation of the sympathy sown by Americans in
the struggle. He felt confident they would succeed
in the end, and then mankind generally, and
.espes
daily British mankind, would 1 aye cause to rejoice,