The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-05-20
IRISH HOME RULE.

the Conservatives 20 Offer If This Fails?
| LONDON, May n.-Mr. Gladstone's
voice at the beginning OF his speech was
feeble and marred by hoarseness, but as
he proceeded it cleared, and toward the
! close of his remarks he seemed to have
regained all his old time vigor and effect
| iveneSS. He desired, he said, in opening,
| to make Il statement in regard to his per-
sonal position. He had never, at any Pc
| riod, described home rule as incompatible
with imperial unity. Cries of OIL oh :
The contradiction came from some men,
bers of Parliament who had visited Mid
! lothian, making speeches which were full
of totally untrue assertions. Renewed
cries of OH oh!1 In 1871 he ex-
pressed the great satisfaction with
which he had heard the statements
of the supporters of the home-rule move
mcnt, as those statements contemplated
nothing leading to a severance of tile
empire. TCheers from Parnellites.1 Two
questions had alway presented them
selves to his mind regarding home rule:
Firstly, it must be shown to he desired
by the mass OF population of Ireland;
secondly, was home rule compatible with
unity of the Empire? These questions
had been answered Dy Mr.. Parnell, who
declared that what people of Ireland
sought was simply autonomy. AL
ternate coercive and reform measures
had been tried in the government of
Ireland and had equally fail
ed. The medicine of coercion had
especially been medicine continually ap-
piled in increasing doses with diminish
ing results. Mr.. Gladstone reviewed the
history of the past as proving that only
thorough measure having the effect
of satisfying Ireland was now feasible.
In regard to the idea of the autonomy of
Ireland being menace to the unity OF
the Empire, ne reminded the House that
the same argument was used against
granting independence to Canada when
it was determined to concede homo
rule to that part of the British Dominion.
sat, said Mr.. Gladstone, In Parliament
when the people of Canada were de-
nounccd as rebels, and some of them were
Protestants of English and Scotch birth,
but the ma aiOrity of them were Catholics
of French extraction. Was the cry against
them raised because they were Catholics
of French descent? No, sir. The English
people in Upper Canada did precisely the
same thing that French Canadians did.
They rebelled. The Canadian rebels were
suppressed, but at the moment of mill
tary victory the political difficulty began,
and the victOrs were vanquished. If we
were the military yictorS, Canadians were
the victOrs in the field of reason. Here
Mr.. Gladstone referred to the significant
expressions of opinion which had come
across the Atlantic approving
the vital principles of the bill
Tcheers1, and asked gentlemen who
appeared to think the manifestations
OF opinion from America were worthless,
would they have considered them worth
less had these manifestations condemned
the bill? History had shown us that i'll
foreign affairs the Irish do not stand in
the same relation as the people of England
and Scotland. (Hear! Hear! and cries
of MOI NOD Is it a wonder that in a
country with woes so great and whose
hopes have so often been doomed TO dis
appointment, the mind of the people
should be confined to the position of their
own country? An essential principle to
the Irish people has become the control
of their own affairs. The bill provides,
said the Premier, that Ireland shall not be
entirely excluded from voice in imperial
affairs. Clause 29 provides for the recall
of Irish representatives from both houses
before Parliament can proceed to the al
teratiOn of any statute upon which the two
countries disagree. Another clause says
that under certain conditions, the Irish
Assembly may vote sums for purposes
excluded in its ordinary co%niZant. He
trusted that should Great Britain become
involved in Il great war, when Ireland
would also be exposed to the common
danger, the Irish Assembly would re-
spOnd to the message of the Crown by
voting money to prosecute the war.
Laughter from the opposition benches.
Though it was an abiding principle that
the Irish members should not sit in the
Imperial Parliament, the Governmentw was
willing to meet the difficulty by providing
that when it should be proposed
to alter the taxation of Ireland
relating to customs and excise, the
Irish members would be enabled to
appear in Westminster Parliament and
take part in the debate. The Govern
ment, he said, was also willing to cor
sent to the formation of q joint commits
sion composed of members of the British /
and Irish ParliamentS to meet from time |
TO time to consider certain questions of /
imperial and common interest. No such |
great question as succession to the crown /
ought to fall under the discussion of this
authority, however, but there
were many other questions, such as
treaties OF commerce, that might re-
1uire direct communication with both
and he would there
lore propose on behalf of the Gov
arnment that some plan of
this kind be adopted. He proceeded
to explain that the government had not
yet decided upon what condition, either
Irish members or Irish commissioners,
should appear in the Imperial Parlia-
VAS not vital one. His own opinion
Vas IL the Irish members came back
N any considerable mum bers it would be
lecesSary to devise some new scheme of
Elections. If Lord Randolph Churchill
mould undertake the task of settling the
Iish question and Ferpetuating peace
Id prosperity in Ireland, what did he
mean to do? Was it his plan that was
proposed by the lOyalists in Belfast last
November? In conclusion Mr.. Gladstone
aii:
nOas have before them great OppOrtun-
tg 10 close a strife of 700 years, ayel and
# Uniting ny bonds firmer and higher
n character than heretofore the hearts
md affections of the Irish people and the ,,
en-, ,nting of the noble fabric of the /, :
British Nation" Loud and long-cOn- i,
inusd Cheering. }