New-York tribune., 1886-01-17
SUPPLEMENT.
PAGES 9 TO IL.
MR.. GLADSTONE'S RETREAT.
HIS REBUFF ON THE HOME RULE QUES-
TION-.THE VETO DIFFICULTY.

done for the Radicals 1t expresses their collec-
I'VE opinion 1t is authoritative answer to Mr..
Gadstones appeal, aud the answer is No. The cir
cumstances IN which it was written offer strlk-
ing contrast to those in which the appeal came
forth from Hawarden. There everything was mys-
FERROUS anonymous, indirect and so contrVcd as 10
he capable in case of need, of subsequent contra
dicton. Lord Harrington is frankness itself. lie
is known III public life a man whose attention TO
pubc affairs Is due less to natural prediction Tor
poitics than to a sense of public duty. His abli-
ties and capacity for hard work and his devoted
services have nevertheless made him next in sue
cession to Mr.. Gladstone rs leader of the Liberal
party should there happen to be, by the time Mr..
Gladstone retires. still Liberal party to lead. AT
the same time a crisis must be of very urgent
kind to induce Lord Harrington to come forward
with declaration of the kind he has just issued.
1t much commented upon that he should have
nmtted Chatsworth and made the journey to Lon
don in order to consult with Mr.. Goschen, who for
his part, left his country place in Kent and made
the Journey to London in order to consult with
Lord Hartington The result of their conference, in
which Sir William Harcourt and Sir Henry James
are reported to have taken part is the letter above
mentioned, the substance of which you already
know The effect of ii is TO range Lord Harrington
among the opponents of Mr.. Gladstones policy. He
denies in the strongest terms that he has approved
of or been consulted about il, or has departed in
any degree from hs previous position, or from the
views known to be his He had defined his views
during the last campaign; perhaps nowhere more
emphatcally than at Belfast in November.
a am firmly convinced that the people of the
United Kingdom will never assent TO the practical
separation of the two Governments OF
England and Ireland; they will not
tolerate the formation of an independent
ha xrbi ha
unfriendy which may adopt opposite colonial,
fiscal OF even foreign policies with regard to I'm
peral matters"
This is not in terms a declaration of unalteTahle
hostility to an Irish Parliament for Irish affairs
only in spirit it is. Lord Harrington added that
if any measure of self-government were granted to
Ireland. guarantees must be taken to prevent sep
aration; and he is known to be of opinion that
such guarantees. sufficient guarantees, are not
to be had These, however. are details The es-
seutial point is that Lord Harrington should have
thought it needful to publish at this moment let
ter which everybody nterprets as a reputation of
Mr.. GladstOne's new Irish policy and which was
plainly moant to be so interpreted.
II was on Saturday that Lord Harrington came up
10 London saw Mr. Goschen and wrote his letter
think it may be assumed that he gave notice to
Mr.. Gladstone of his own views. probably before
leaving Chatsworth and that Mr. Gladstone had
an early copy of the letter. nomlnally addressed to
Mr.. Brooks chairman of Lord Hartingtons election
committee. The effect may be seen in the commu-
nication sent the same day from Hawarden to the
Press Agency q document so exceedingly curious
as to deserve quoting, or re-quoting in full:
"If Mr.. Gladstone should at any time have any
plan or intention TO announce the question of
Irish Governmcnt it will be done publicly on his
own responsibility, and not by anonymous and IT.
responsible declaration. Political friends are
al. IL, ,nklv
and may safely understand that he is bound 10
none of the ideas announced in his name. After
saying this, Mr. Gladstone will hold himself excused
from replying in the present state of facts, to any
further inquiries, rumors or suggestions"
If that had come from anybody but
Mr. Gladstone it might have beeh accepted
as a contradiction of the statements of last week.
But Mr. Gladstone's language, as Lord Salisbury
once said is not subject to the ordinary rules OF
construction or Interpretation. This present an
nouncement might seem to have some relation to
past events but is in fact, SO worded as to relate
wholly to the future. If he should have (hereafter)
any plan to announce, it will not be done Cas it was
last weelO anonymously. Political friends are as
sured that he now remembers his obligations TO
them (which he assuredly forgot last week.. They
may understand that he is bound to none of the
ideas announced III his namc precisely because
they are announced irrespOnsibly and anony-
nously.
Mr.. Gladstonc's flexible phrases, remarkable
enough III themselves, when you come to scrutnze
them, are less remarkable THAI the reception Of
them by the public. They have not shaken for one
single moment the belief of the public in tho au-
thenticity and substantial accuracy of the public
statement of bis conversion TO Home Rule. l can
not say that have met any body whose convictions
on this point have been disturbed by this last
ifesto. That the particulars just published wero
vhan thnu n.,Il ,oI
That Mr.. Gladstone had probably committed him
self to no settled scheme woll understood.
That tho report of bis adoption of tho princi-
pie OF Home Rule. in tho sense of an
Irish Parliament for Irish affairs was per-
fec;ly we'll founded was and is the belief
of everybody who takes an interest in the subject.
That his new view was made known to Lord Sails
bury by Mr.. Gladstone's wish is also true in
word, a,n not aware that have any modification
TO make i'll the narrative of events heretofore sent
you. The attempt Of Mr.. Gladstone to confer
Home Rule upon Ireland and to force it upon Eng
land is not a dream; it is reality, and not one whit
less real because it has since been temporarily if
not permanently, abandoned.
For there can be no doubt that this new mani
este from Hawarden, which comes straight from
Mr.. Gladstone, is meant 10 cancel the previous
manIfestoes Mr.. Gladstone has climbed down from
his Home Rule platform. The loneliness of his
position uD there did not please him. He wishes
people to understand that he really meant to
stay. II was purely trial trip. Ii he should by
and by be able to get up more steam and crew
who will stand by him he may make fresh start.
But not just yet.
Most Of the reasons which have forced Mr. Glad
stone TO this sudden abandonment ofhe purpose not
lesssRddcny adopted have been stated you in last
Saturdays dispatch and need not be restated. The
opposition of the Radical leaders and of the Liberal
Press as n whole had been declared last week in
terms that left nothing to conjecture. 1t remained
for tie Moderate Liberals to give the first blow.
and they gave it. Lord Hartington's lctter is
explicit as Mr.. Chamberan's speech. Mr.. Forster