The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-08-20

| tinct political party for parliamentary pur
poses Wings, Tories, Trojans and Ty
rians, were henceforth to be alike to them
The next step was to elect sort of " cabi
net of nine members, called the Parlia
| mentary Committee, to act as an executive
while the appointment of two of their bod,
most trusted for vigilance, tact, and fidelity
to act as % whips, 10 completed the forma
organization OF the Home Rule members al
| q party.
| Not an hour too soon had they perfected
their arrangements. The new Parliament
after technical opening a fortnight pre-.
viousiy, assembled for the real dispat Of
bnsiness ON Thursday, the 18th of March
1874, and next day ION the debate on the
Queens speedy, in the very first hour OF
their parliamentary life, the Home Rulers
found themselves in the thick of the battle
Mr.. Butt had taken the field at once with
| an amendment raising the Irish question
The house was full of curiosity to hear
"the Irish Home Rulers" and see what
| they were like. 1t was struck with their
| combative audacity. 1t frankly confessed
| they stood fire =" like men," and that thew
| acquitted themselves on the whole with as
| tonishing ability. From that night forward
| the British House of Commons realized
that it had for the first time "third
party :" within it's walls. How utterly op-
posed Tho is to Englishmen's ideas of thin rs
proper or possible will be gathered from
ehlo ioS1 pboG GuCy COuSGEuCG VI sesSJ ZIG
| chamber for two, and only two, parties {;
and that they even still make great strug-
gle to have it regarded as "constitution al
theory that there must be two, and can be
no more than two, parties in the house
namely, " Her Majesty's Government and
" Her Majesty's Opposition" American
Legislative chambers, as well as French.
German, Italian, Austrian, are constructed
and seated in semicircle or amphitheatre.
The British, on the contrary, is an oblong
hall or short parallelogram, divided right
and left by a wide central avenue running
its full length from the entrance door to the
"table of the House" fronting the speakers
chair. There are, therefore, no middle
seats; every one must sit on one side or
auother-with the ministerialists or Tories
on the right of the chair, or with the OPP
position or Liberals on the left. Half way
up the floor there runs fright and left to
each side of the chamber, at right angles
to, q narrow passage often mentioned in
newspaper reports as "the gangway."
"Above the gangway" Tor nearest the
chair) on each side sit respectively the
thick and thin followers of the present or
late ministry. "Below the gangwsy" Tor
farthest from the chair) sit on each side
men who would occupy some section of the
middle seats, if the house possessed any
the right and left centres, so to speak.
The Home Rulers ait in 3 compact body
"below the gangway" on the opposition side.
In their third session public opinion has
now pretty we'll guaged and measured the
ability and resources of the Home Rnle
party. In their first campaign, 1874,
though much praised because they were
infinitely better in every respect than most
people expected, they exhibited plentifully
the faults and shortcomings of "raw
levies." Their formal debate on Home
Rule, on the 305h of June and ID July, wac
utterly wanting in system and manage
ment, and would have been Il failure had
not the anti Home Rule side of the discus
sion been incontestably much worse han-
died. Bat never, probably, in parliament
tary history has another body of men
learned so quickly, and 80 rapidly attained
high position, as they have done. By the
concurrent testimony of their adversaries
the bost disciplined and best guided and,
in proportions to their numbers, tho most
able and powerful party in the British
HouRo of Commons. In order to have a
complete and accurate con ceptlon of all that
relates to the Irish Home Rule movement,
there remains only to be considered the pol
icy or line of action on which it's leaders pro
pose to operate. How do they expect to
carry Homo Rolef
AT 10 time have the criticiams of the
Epgltsh press on the subject of Home Rule
exhibited anything bat the shallow iu
tellisence and many of the Home Rule
victories have been won because of the
stolid ignorance prevailing in tho English
camp. The English journalists disliking
the irish government, believe aud pro
claim to their readers only what accords
with their pref udices; and accordingly upon
them has fallen the fate of the general who
to reconnoitre the enemy aud &C
curately estimate his strength. 90 THE
snhject the British journalists will have it
that he "khows all about it," and has no
need to investigate things seriOusly. From
the first hour of the Home Bule movement
he has declared it 20 be "breaking MP, ""fail-
ing" "going down the hill" It has been
so constantly going down that hill in his
story that one never can tiud out when or
how 1t got up there, or whether there is
any bottom to the declivity which it can
ever reach in such q rapid aud persistent
downward motion. On no feature of the
Home Rule question has there been more
saectation of knowing all about it, and more
complacent dOgmatism IS to It's inevitable
fate, than this Of the Home Rule plan of
action. The way these people look at the