The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-04-03 00:00:00

THE IRISH PROBLEM.

RESIGNATION OF MR. CHAMBERLAIN AND
MR. TREVELYAN.
_ _

The following official announcement was made last
Saturday: Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Trevelyan have
tendered their resignations, which have been accepted
by the Queen.
Her Majesty has been pleased to approve of the
following arrangements consequent on their resigna-
tions: Mr. Stansfeld, as President of the Local Go-
vernment Board, will resume the position he held
during the latter years of Mr. Gladstone's Administra-
tion of 1868-74. Lord Dalhousie becomes Secretary
for Scotland. The numbers of the Cabinet will thus
be reduced by one.. _

Mr. Gladstone has addressed the following letter to
the Record, respecting the statements of the Irish
clergy published in that paper as to the effect of a
Land Purchase or Home Rule scheme on the Irish
Church: I am directed by Mr. Gladstone to acknow-
ledge the advanced proofs of the Record of the 10th,
which you were good enough to send him, and
at the same time to say that he hopes there are
reasons for a more favourable view of the situation
than appears in the correspondence which they con-
tain.—l remain, sir, your obedient servant, J. M.
CARMICHAEL.

The Prime Minister will on the Bth inst. move for
leave to bring in a bill "to amend the provisions fir
the future government of Ireland." On the 15th
prox. the right hon. gentleman will also ask for leave
to introduce a measure "to make amended provi-
sion for the sale and purchase of land in Ireland."
It may be interesting, now that Mr. Stansfeld
is in the Cabinet again, to recall his opinion on
the Irish question, as explained in the October
number of the Contemporary Review: "I begin
by the most ample admission, or rather the state-
ment of the strongest conviction, that Ireland is en-
titled at the hands of the larger population of Great
Britain to absolute equality of treatment; and that
we ought at once to agree to give her the cornpletest
possible self-government consistent with the rights of
minorities and with Imperial unity; meaning by
Imperial unity not merely the being united under
one Crown, but the securing a unity of policy and
action in all Imperial questions. But, subject to
this, Ireland should be governed by the Irish, and
not by officials, political or permanent, imported from
this country." Mr. Stansfeld then went on to say:
—" The question is to me one of method; and the
method of a separate Parliament does not appear to
me to be the only one or the best."

It is now understood that Mr: Chamberlain and
Mr. Trevelyan will make their explanations imme-
diately after Mr. Gladstone's speech on introducing
his Homo Rule proposals next Thursday. In the
event of the Premier's proposals being altered in
their character during the interval yet to elapse
before they are submitted to Parliament, Mr.
Chamberlain will, the Press Association understands,
be prepared to read the letter in which, a fortnight
ago, he intimated his inability to support Mr. Glad-
stone's scheme.

At the fortnightly meeting of the Irish National
League, held on Tuesday in Dublin, Mr. Michael
Davitt presiding, Mr. T. D. Sullivan, M.P., Lord
Mayor of Dublin, said before the next fortnightly
meeting of the league an event would have taken place
which would marls a new epoch for all time in the
history, of Ireland. In a few days Mr. Gladstone
would bring in a hill for the future government of
Ireland. They knelt' nothing of the details of that
measure, but Mr. Gladstone's words "to provide for
the future government of Ireland" foreshadowed that
the past system of government in that country was
doomed It meant that the dhastrous experiment of
governing that country under provision of the so-
called Union was about to come to an end. The
validity of tha Union was referred to from time to time,
and it was referred to as a transaction of the most
sacred and binding character. They contended that
they knew, on the contrary, that a more foul and
fraudulent transaction was never recorded in the his-
tory of any country. They were often referred to the
deplorable state of the country. Well, he asked, if
the National League had a greater hold on the people
than the law of the land what did that prove? That
the Union was a sham, and that it did not exist at all
—that it was mere waste paper, and that it had no
hold on the people whatsoever. The Irish Loyal and
Patriotic Union had, it appeared, furnished Mr.
Gladstone with a statements of facts referring to
Ireland. Mr. Gladstone would know how to turn
those facts against the Patriotic Union. He might
say it was under the Union that all this took
place, and, that being so, the Union was
abolished, and they must substitute something in
its place. The chairman said the act of the Union
was an act of disunion. It had been tried by time,
and that unerring judge found it wanting and de-
manded its repeal. Referring to the proposed Home
Rule legislation, he (the chairman) observed that Mr.
Chamberlain would not carry the English masses
with him in his opposition to Home Rule. It was ,
earnestly hoped that Mr. Bright would now take his I
place by the side of his former leader, and have the
patriotic views which he expressed some years ago in
Limerick embodied in the legislation now proposed.
(Hear, hear.) It was announced during the proceed-
ings that £6OOO had been received from America for
the Parliamentary fund since the last meeting.
On Tuesday, at a Nationalist meeting, held at
Knock, a resolution was adopted thanking Mr. Glad-
stone for the able manner in which he had managed
to steer his course, regardless of the opposition of Mr.
Chamberlain and Mr. Trevelyan. The action of the
Prime Minister was highly praised, and the hope was
expressed that his colleagues would support him in
the hour of need.

A deputation from the recent Belfast Conference
had a private interview with Mr. Chamberlain, at his
residence, Prince's-gardens, on Tuesday afternoon, to
urge reasons for the maintenance of the legislative
union between England and Ireland. During their
visit to London the deputation, which consists of Mr.
Sine:air, Mr. Duffin, and Mr. R. T. McGeogh, have
also waited on Mr. Morley, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr.
Goschen, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Trevelyan, and others.''
The course which the Opposition will adopt on the
motion for leave to brine in the Irish Government
Bill will not be decided till the return of Lord Salis-
bury to London. There is, however, a strong dispo-
sition among the Conservatives to insist on the
adjournment of the debate on the motion for leave to
bring in the bill until after the presentation of the
Land Bill, it is expected, in any event, that the
debate on the introduction of the bill will last two
days.
There is reason to believe that Mr. Chamberlain's
plan for the settlement of the Irish question, and that
of Mr. Trevelyan are distinct. It is understood that
Mr. Chamberlain adheres to his original project of an
Irish National Council, while Mr. Trevelyan is pre-
pared to grant the Irish people a large measure of
self-government upon a less centralised basis. It is
stated, however, that in principle there is nothing
irreconcilable between the two schemes, and the friends
of the ex-Ministers in the House confidently expect an
eventual agreement.