National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-15

The vital portion of the premier's appeal
to the electors OF Midlothian is contained
in two short passages: "Will YOU govern
Ireland by coercion or will you let Ireland
manage her own afrairsp" Again: "There
are two clear, positive, and intellglble
plans before the world; there is the plan Of
the government and there ia the plan OF
Lord Salisbury. Our plan is that Ireland
should, under well considered conditions,
transact her own affairs. His plan is to- ask
Parliament 10 renew repressiye laws and
enforce them resolutely for twenty vears
by tho ond Of which time he assures ne ira
land will be flt TO accent any povernment
in the way Of n local government, on the
repeal Of the coercion laws, you may wish
TO give her.n
The obvious answer TO this wonderful
suggestion Of Lord Salisbury is that not for
twenty but for nearly hundred wears has
his ustropr policyn been in force in ireland.
vet that country is moro dissatisfied now
under English rule than IL ever has been
since the first secret society was formed 70
to the alien government. This tall talking
Of his lordship either means that he is In his
lotage or that he intends no meaning what
ever to attach to his words. tits, however,
on par with the general utterances OF the
conservative party since Mr.. Gladstone de-
cided to bring In his home rule bill. There
can not be the least doubt that members of
the tory cabinet had made overtures to the
Irish party before the last general cleo
tion. Apart altogether from the Caernar-
van controversy, why, we might ask,
did the leaders of the Irish party throw
their whole weight at that election into the
scale for the toriesP Is 1t likely that Mr..
T. p. O'Connor and Mr.. Healy would have
stumped the British islands in favor of
Lord Randolph Churchill IL there had been
no arrangement of any sortP Does any,
body believe that Lord Churchill, in order
to keep himself and his party In power,
would have had the least hesitation about
making almost any concessions to Mr..
ParnellY Unfortunately for Churchill the
liberal party was returned TO power when
the best laid plans OF mice and men once
more went aplee. As this was n rame
that two could plav, and as Gladstone
hand tnrput
polities - he pro6ted bv the eyperIence Of
his enemies and brougbt IN bis optonomv
and land nurcbase meosnres Tbare is am nle
nrocedent for sucb tactics bnt tho roost ro.
cent IN which wo noed NOW refer &c tho
reform measure of Mr. Gladstone brought
on In 1896 II will bo remomhored with
what violence Disraeli onnosed This hin
aided and abetted by Robert Lowe. who
althourh leading member Of the liberal
marty. broke AWAY from nil his noI,tico,
associations. assisted In forming the Gave NJ
Adullam. and lent powerful helm to the de.
feat of Gladstone's reform. DIsraeli was
then returned to power, and what did that
ssgacious gentlemen doP He Immediately
brought in n measure of reform. more
sweeping than that OF his great rival,
and-what is Of more importance-he car
ried It successfully through all its stages
until It was finally entered upon the statute
book.
1t was pretty sharp practice, but Mr..
Disraeli was pretty sharp person, and the
tory party, which he had so carefully edu-
Gated, at once proceeded to make a god OF
him. His power was short lived enough,
and in 1868 Gladstone was in power with
an overwhelming liberal majority. This
time he held the game in his hand, and he
played boldly. He disestablished the Irish
Protestant Episcopal Church, the very
stronghold OF Orange ascendancy; procured
the passage OF the most radical land act
that had ever been known in Great Britain,
and abolished the purchase of commissions
in the army.
The home rule measure is the most i'm
portant event in what might be called in
tcrnal British politics since that time. 1t is
OF especial Importance as showing the
depths OF degradation to which such a