The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-07-29

fE6co u0IdttoU Ju0 ToCoub COtuOhb III tbo
Chamber of Deputies between M. Gambetta
and the Bonapartists, materials for lectures
on the sin of Parliamentary indecorum
would be found nearer home than Yer
sailies. A new member, Mr.. ODonneli,
has little to learn from NJ. Paul de CassagUac
except, perhaps, the vivac'ty which tenn
pers the evaporation of the hearers with
amusement. Mr.. Locke, who Ia not usually
supposed to be an ill-natured man, was 30
annoyed by bis continuous power of inter
ruptiou to exclaim that he bad seen him
for the first time and that he hoped he
should never see him again. B1teven Mr..
O'Donnell ia meek guardian OF order
compared with what another Home Ruler, /
Mr.. O'Conuor Power, will become, should
he fulfil his threat to continue his opposl-
tion If necessary, till Macaulay's New
Zealarder shall take his stand on broken
arch of London bridge to sketch the ruins
of ST. Paurs. We are rapidly reaching the
heIOics of obstruction. On Tuesday after
noon the same tactics were employed In
milder fashion by another set OF irish
members, to prevent the Houee from going
into Cammittee on the Bill for the closing
of f-pubfic- -heases- -ia-Ireland on Sunday
and, as the discussion had to be ended by
ten minutes to O'Clock. the device was
perfectly successful. Persistent talk ls
found to De more powerful by the repre-
sentatives of Ireland than that elequence
of reason and passion on which her orators
once relied.
They did not offer any warning of their
intention, and 80 sudden was their change
of front that, We suspect, 1t astonished
their own party as much as the house.
That it met with no sympathy from most
of the Home Rulers is clear from the
sm mallness of the number which made up
the minority of each of the IL Divisione.
We shall not be uncbaritable if we infer
that the motions for delay had no neces
cary connection with the business on the
notice paper, but were part of the obstruc-
tive system which has been almost invent
ed by Mr.. Biggar and Mt. Paruell. These
gentlemen scarcely hide their determine
ton to make the powers of the Irish
members felt by stralping the rights with
which minorities are entrusted and per-
haps they have a vague belief that they
can thus become 80 insuperable bindrapce
| to the transaction of Imperial buainess as
| to make the House vote some measure of
Home Rule in order to get rid of them.
But we confidently ask many of The Irish
members whether that course is worthy of
natiep which is justly proud OF it's
| brilliant Parliamentary traditions What
would Flood, or Grattan, or Curran, or
| even O'Connell, have thought of q system
which reduces Parliamentary tactics to q
| walking match through the division lob
| bies and a habit of talking against time
If Mr. O'Donnell and Mr.. O'Connor Power
care nothing for the dignity of Ireland,
they must be left to settle their account
with their own countrymen. But they
are mistaken if they think that they will
either stop the business of Parliament or
| weary it into a concession of Home Rule.
The votes in Committee of supply will be
passed whether the extreme LETT of the
Irish party like it or not. They will be
passed even if the House should have to sit
q month longer than usual. All that Mr..
O'Connor Power and the rest of the little
phalspx of obstruction can do is to annoy
their fellow members and keep them out OF
bed for q few nights.
Even that limited amount of hindrauce
may induce the House to curtall some of
the rights which minorities enjoy on the
assumption that they will not be abused.
Those rights may be of inestimable value,
and nothing is more characteristic of this
country than the care with which they
have been guarded. The right of minori
ties to speak as often and as long as they
like might become the only means OF
preserving freedom of debate. The right
to divide the House might be the only
means of preventing powerful Ministry
from snatching an all.important and dan
gerous vote by surprise. But it is intol
lerab!e that half "a dozen members should
be abe to stop the business OF Supply f. r
the mere cake of obstruction. Were they
often to repeat the tactics of yesterday
morning, they would compel the House to
protect itself by very stringent measures
Mr, ODonnell, who favored it with q
lecture on the practice of the French
Assembly, must know how quickly ma
jority in that body would have silenced
rhetoric like his by call for vote. The
House of Commons cannot pay ak Home
Rulers and Mr.. Whal!ey the compliment
of taking away their right of speech but
it mag have to consider whether, in Com
mittee, any member should be free to
make the same motion twice in the came
discussion. On Tuesday morning Mr..
O'Conuor Power moved at .east four times
taat the Chairman should report progress.
TIE right to dc so may sometimes give an
insignificant minority almost despotic au-
thority. But freedom of speech would not
suffer any sensible loss if no member could
more than once move that progress should
be reported, or that the chairman should
leave the chair. Such rule would, no
doubt, still leave any forty or fifty mem-
bers armed with practically inexhaustable
powers of obstruction, and it is not desra-
bic that so considerable body should be re-
pressed even ifit were to abuse it's rights; bat