The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-06-13
from Our Own Correspondent
OUR IRISH LETTER.

DUBLIN, May 18th, 1875.
The Coercion Bill of 1875 is law at last-or
rather it will be on Thursday, when it receives
the Royal assent. In two days after it passed
the House of Commons it had gone through all
it's stages in the Upper House unaltered
Doubtless the concessions wrung from the Gov
erpment by the Home Rule members would
have been all withdrawn and the whole meas
ure made more stringent by the Upper House,
but that, had this been done, it would have
necessitated a fresh discussion in the House Of
Commons and another prolonged battle with
the Home Rulers-a consequence which would
have been simply disastrous to the Govern
ment, as it would have prevented all their
other business from being transacted. AS it is,
they can hardly manage to get through all they
have to do before the close of the session, and
if the Home Rulers get up another row it will
be simply impossible to get through it.
In the "unreported hours that is, in the
hours when the reporters are absent at their
Eoffices in their beds-rows very often take
place in the House of Commons, and splen-
did row took place there in the upreperted
hours on last Thursday night, the last sitting
before the Whitsuntide recess. A bill of Mr..
Butts, to ensure that those who are at present
entitled to vote ehall be duly placed on the
register, was brought up for second reading on
the previous night. No one expected that it
would be opposed by the Government, especial
ly as it was simply an exact copy of a law
which prevails in England. But the Irish
Tory members who, generally speaking, owe
their seats to the fact that the popular party
are not rich enough to go through the labori-
GUS and expensive process of getting all their
voters on the register. and who actually spend
fortune every year in trying to keep off the
register all except Tory voters, naturally rose
in arms against the proposal, and induced the
Government to help them to defeat it. When
the Home Rulers saw that the Government
were against them, and that, therefore, they
would be defeated on a division just then
(when most of their colleagues had left the
house), they talked out" the bill-that is,
they kept up the debate till the House had to
be adjourned. 1t was then put twentieth on
the list for the next night-Thursday Nobody
expected that pnder such circumstances it
would be again considered before the recess
But at about one o'clock at night the nineteen
preceding matters had been unexpectedly dis
posed of, and then the order for reading Mr.
Butts bill was read out! The Home Rulers
ment and the Irish Tories had secured q large
attendance of their friends. 1t, therefore, only
renamed for the former not to go on with the
measure that night, and, accordingly, one'of
Tue number moved the adjournment of the de-
o"te' 1t is the invarable custom not to press
member to go with a measure when he
oecilnes to do so. Bnt on this occasion, Sir NJ.
L. Beach, the Chief Secretary for Ireland,
'fampied on all parliamentary etiquette. In
zone OF bitter personal animosity, he and
otner members of the Government insisted on
Sc.uE on with the business and having done
-'n Tue obnoxious bill. He had been, be-
thoroughly exasperated by the conduct
~ 'ue Home Rulers on the Coercion Bill and
WV ~ tet 1t ont. But he met his match, and
tnau his match, in Mr.. Sullivan, Mr.. Butt
in. some English members, who declared their
1o-. to stay there all night to prevent the
Nv, "ent from trampliDg on all parliament
usage in the matter of an Irish bill. The
A.. went on for an hour and more At last
o'Vernment, through the Chancellor of the
- quer' "caved in" and allowed the debate
"0Journed, saying that there Had been
~ a-S taxes on both sidesl This incident will be
great service if, as it is reported it leads to
~ NoWed and steady obstruction by the
~. I 10 kule party of all and every business in
NJ. .'0pse OF Commons, Hitherto the Govern
IT., and the Home Rulers have only fought
win glOved hands, The character Of the