New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-08-16
TIE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.
THE FILIBUsrERS' CONTEST.

| OTHER IRISH MEMBERS.
| lFRoM TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT rRrBUNE.1
! LoNDoN Aug. 12.-One of the greatest Irshmen
who ever lived, in Of the greatest speeches he
ever made expressed more than hundred years
ago his fear that Parliament was in danger of losing
! that reyerential affection which so endearing a
name of authority ought ever to carry with it, Half
dozen of the littcst Irshmen who ever lived have
been engaged this week in an effort to bring into
contempt that very authority which Burke deemed
worthy Of respect and veneratiOn His alarm was
reused by the acts of great majority. What would
he have thought if it had happened in his time that
an insignificant minority had been able to defy al
most the whole House of Commons, and the House
had shown itself incompetent to deal with purely
factions obstruction of its business Mr. Forster said
and SAID well, that if the House allowed itself to he
| deiied 1T would become the laughng-stock of Eu-
rope. 1t must he said that part Of the ridicule
he dreaded has justly fallen upon it because Of the
| haltng way in which it chose to deal with its mu-
| tineers There just an atom of truth in Mr..
Courtney's sarcasm just enough to make il sting
that they were meeting rowdyism with rowdyism
1t would have been far truer to say that its leaders
/ were unequal to the emergency and showed timid-
ity and vacillation at moment when clear percep
ton of the situation and courage in meeting it
urgently required. 1t was the want of those quail
ties which enabled Mr.. Pane and his accompces to
protract their instruction for twentysix hours. If
| they had been queed promptly the House would
not have lost but gained in public esteem. Sir Will
| liam liarcOurt and some others this and were
for bold courses but Sir Stafford NOrthcOtes rreso
luton and dread of innovation could not be
come.
So much must be said after making every allow
ance for that morbid dread of interference with the
rights of minorites which weighed upon the minds
of many members. The seven freshmen
simply seven rioters. To have treated them such
would have no more infringed the rights of mlnOr
ties than the principles of personal liberty are in
fringed when constable arrests citizen for being
drunk and dsorderly. | have read all that Mr. Par
neil SAYS in his defence 1t is utterly beside the
mark. The whole case was covered by the ruling Of
the Speaker last week, viz: that wilful and
persistent obstruction of the business of the
House is contempt of the House, and the
| offender is liable to be reprimanded Sis
pended or committed, as the House may de
eide. The only remaining question was, Did
Mr. Parnelps conduct amount TO wiiful and persist
ent obstruction What he and his abettors did and
said is matter of public nOtorcty 1t had been done
and said in the House. / presume it was competent
for the House to take judicial cognizance of 1t with
ont further proof than the testimony of the eyes and
ears of its members. If anybody was squeamish on
I Il
and action taken on the report Of the committee.
But nobody doubts what its report would have been.
| should waste space and expect no readers for an
argument Oh such a point. The facts are in your
possession. They were described to you by an eye
witness whose account went by last post was not
in London but the newspaper reports are all in one
sense and tenth of what they record would con-
Wet the accused before any jury anywhere in the
world-lreland excepted.
There are, however, number OF men IN the
House. of " HON Nr. Whitbread may he taken as an
example with constitutional dislike to what they
call extreme measures They would not give sick
man medicine lest it should create a precedent for
well men. There are, besides these, the Radicals,
who have been even more opposed to coerclon-who
prove their radicaism by denOuncing radical meas
ures Mr.. Whitbread and the moderates saw the
necessity of putting down the obsructiyes, and only
erred in their desire TO put them down gently. Mr.
Fawcett would not have put them down at all He
had heard L" with great pain that the Government
was going to adopt the demonstrations" course OF
bringing in relays of members In order to crlsh"
the minority. Later he appeals to the Leader oil
the House not to punish him and Others Tor
the sins of four or five misguided lrishmen.
When the sole question was whether majority
of 600 should yield a minority of six, or rice rersd
Mr. Fawcett would have had the majority give way.
| lie
cordng to him, to depend entirely on the caprice OF
the bakers haf-d0zen of Irlshmen who were opposed
TO any legislation at ALL and i'll favor OF nothing but
chaos Some other men, of whom should like to
sneak with respect appear to have sympathzed with
Mr. Fawcett i'm this yiew-a which would make
all government impossible. Mr.. Courtney, Sir
Charles Dixie Mr.. COwen and other well-known
men who sit below the gangway, walked out OF the
House and would take no part III the struggle. No
act in their political career has done much to JUS
tfv the dstrust with which they are regarded by
tbe public generally. They have so long been in a
minority that they have grown TO think minority
must be right because it is a minority.
Certainly it was not dignhed spectacle, TINS
struggle of physical endurance. Mr.. tawcett might
have objected fairly enough to the method by when
the House stroye to overcome obstruction Nhat he
Objected TO was apparently, overcoming obstruction
by that or any other method. The method was
odopted however in order to avoid. first the enact
ment of any new rules of debate by which the exist
inc privileges of honest minouties should be mar
royed. secondlv todepriye Messrs. Parnell n Co. of
the honors of martyrdom, which they were supposed
~ covet On the first point have perhaps already
said enouph but may add that there Will never be
any d fculty in drawing the line between legitimate
onnosition and factous opposition; between resist
! ance to a measure because it is deemed bad meas
ure and resistance for the sake Of resistance The
| House of Commons is perhaps the only important
popular assembly in the world where the majority Is
| absolutely without the power of bringing debate 10
a close. The power is wanting in the United states
Senate but the United States Senate is not popular
assembly. Even there the need of 1t has neverthe-
less been felt more than once
On the second, Will only remark that 1t was con-
siderably more important to enforce the authority