The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-02-25 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

THE SAF= OF THEATRES.

In the HOUSE OF LORDS on February 17th, the
Marquis of Salisbury, in reply to the Earl of Stafford,
stated that in the opinion of the Home Secretary, the
Metropolitan Board of Works, and the Lord Chamber-
lain, it would be unwise to produce the report made by
Captain Shaw in the year 1882 on the condition of the
London theatres and their probable safety from fire.
Since that date much had been done in the way of in-
creasing the means of safety from fire.
TRITRO CATHEDRAL.
The Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe moved the second
reading of the Truro Cathedral Bill, the object of which
was to provide a fund for the repair and services of the
cathedral by enabling the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
to appropriate in perpetuity an annual sum of £.300431
for the cathedral. Viscount Cranbrook having sup-
ported the second reading, and recommended that the
bill should be referred to a Select Committee, it was
read a second time, and their lordships rose at ten
minutes past six o'clock.

THE DEBATE ON THE
_ADDRESS.-DIVISION ON MR.

PARNELL'S AMENDMENT.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS the adjourned debate on
:. Parnell's amendment was resumed by Mr. A.
Balfour, who traversed the assertions of Mr. Parnell
with regard to Lord Carnarvon's statements on the
subjects of Home Rule and the Crossmaglen prisoners;
characterised as childish Mr. O'Brien's attitude in
regard to the wearing of prison clothes, and ridiculed
the complaints of the Irish members that they should
be subjected to the same prison discipline as their mis-
guided dupes. He animadverted severely upon the
speeches of English politicians to Irish audiences, and
deplored the gradual degradation of the morality of the
Radical party which they disclosed. He contested the
boastful assertions of the Irish members as to the suc-
cess of the "plan of campaign" and the flourishing con-
dition of the National League; relying nqt only upon
official reports which had been furnished Him, but still
more upon the unanimous testimony which reached
him from the loyal minority in all quarters of Ireland
that the authority of the law was now more respected,
that freedom existed in a larger measure, and that the
forces antagonistic to law and freedom were in process
of decay.
Mr. Gladstone declared that the denials of the Chief
Secretary left entirely untouched the material parts of
the case. Replying to the reproaches levelled against
himself for his silence on the subject of Mitchelstown,
he denounced the cruel, wanton, and disgraceful blood-
shed of which the police were guilty on that occasion,
and took credit for having by his utterances prevented
that evil example being imitated elsewhere after the
approval which the Chief Secretary had given it. He
challenged the Government's contention that crime had
been diminished by the Crimes Act, and charged Mr.
Balfour with incredible meanness in the administration
of the Act. The efforts of the Government to sup-
press the "plan of campaign" and the National League
had, he declared, resulted in total failure. As to the
future, he noted the fact that the Unionists expressed
no confidence of maintaining a permanent resistance to
Home Rule. They might delay it, but having descanted
upon the dangers which might attend delay, he im-
plored the Unionists to consider whether the course
they were pursuing was wise' politic, or Conservative,
and whether they would not do better to legislate for
Ireland in accordance with the wishes and convictions
of the Irish people, and thus present to the world the
spectacle of a really united kingdom.
Lord H. Bruce, Mr. Burt, and Mr. J. E. Redmond
having spoken,
The Chancellor of the Exchequer complained that
the difficult task which the Government had had to
face had been rendered ten times more difficult by the
action of Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues, who had
now entered into open alliance with the forces of dis-
order. Replying to the right hon. gentleman's refer-
ences to Mitchelstown, he charged him with having
suppressed the most important part of the evidence,
and examining in detail the accusations made by the
Liberal leaders against the Government, he demon-
strated their hollowness and insincerity. The Govern-
ment were not alone engaged in the work of coercion.
They were endeavouring to promote the material in-
terests of Ireland, and already they had conclusive evi-
dence that a sense of greater security existed in the
country, and that its social and material condition was
improving.
Sir W. Harcourt described the policy of the Govern-
ment in Ireland as a record of humiliating failures.
They were pursuing- a wrong policy, which had been
-repeatedly tried, and had invariably failed. What had
they gained by the way in which they had governed
Ireland ? They had dishonoured themselves before the
Irish and English people, and had filled the minds of
Englishmen with disgust, and he anticipated with satis-
faction the overthrow which was awaiting them.
After some remarks by Mr. A. O'Connor, the House
divided, when the numbers were—

I Mr

For Mr. Parnell's amendment 229
Against 317

Majority

The amendment was therefore negatived, and, on
the motion of Mr. Chaplin, the debate on the Address
was again adjourned.
The House adjourned at 20 minutes to two o'clock.