The Irish standard., 1886-05-08


liberals: The opponents of the govern.
ment's measure make a remarkable
Eomission IN their speeches. In each
whether suggestive or critical, they fai
to express confidence in their perman
ent opposition. To live from hand te
mouth seems to be the height Of theh
ambition, while they suspect, what We
all know, that the strife can only end il
the concession Of Home Rule. If this il
SO, the real question is not the
triumph OF Irish autonomy, but the
length and character of the struggle
Therefore we want to shorten, they tc
prolong, that struggle. We say ''Give
freely They, by acts, if not by words.
say 'Let us give what we can no longe,
withhold" We say, "Give now''-
the position Of the kingdom in the af-
fairs of the world is free and strong.
They prefer to wait for period of ma
tional difficulty that we may yield to the
Irish demand in terror, as we did in the
war Of ITS, as we did to the demands
of the volunteers in 1882: as we did to
Bonaparte in 1898, and as we did in the
civil war in 1929. We say, ''Act now,
when moderation of thought and Ian
guage rules in our Irish counsels, and
when by the willing concurrence of all
sides every arrangement for the reserva-
tion Of imperial prerogatives can be
made complete and absolute" They
would postpone till all hour comes when
the demands may be larger and the
means OF resistance less. We say,
Deal as with matter between broth
ers--a matter of justice and reason. 50
They renew tale. alas, too often told, !,
whose prologue is dense with exaspera-
tion and resentment, and whose epilogue
is surrender without conditions and
without thanks. Now, however, new
terror is brought upon the stage, the
terror Of Home Rule for Scotland, and
some add for Wales. This suggestion
does not alarm me. Only give us little
time to look at this question in it's order
of merit. I am not sorry that Scotland
and Wales have been named, because
all serious naming of them serves to
help our movement in behalf of Ireland.
L can draw no vital distinction Of right
between the case OF Ireland and the
other cases but there are many distinc-
tions of circumstances. For many years
I have hoped it might be found practic-
able to apply decentralizing processes,
even, perhaps, to portions of different
conditions. Each case which will nat
urally require differences Of treatment
will remain subject to the primary im-
perial obligations. I believe That the
standard and measure Of good govern
ment in Scotland and Wales will be event.
ual]y determined by public opinion in
Scotland and Wales. This I can say
without painful disparaging Of the
circumstances of this controversy with
which we are threatened in the case of
Ireland, whose woeful history for centur-
les emboldens some of us to treat her as
if she had but limited share in the law
of human right-none at all in ordinary
privilege Or immunity. But this form
idable army which opposes the govern
ment is Ill bulk and constituent parts
the same, though now enriched at our
cost with valuable contingent of re-
cruits that has fought in every political
battle Of the last sixty years, and been
defeated. We have before this had
great controversies on free trade, free
navigation, public education, religious
equality, and the extension of the fran
chise. On these and other great issues
this class fought uniformly on the
wrong side, and was uniformly beaten
by power more difficult to marshal,
but resistless when marshalled by the
upright sense of the nation. The power
of gross and wholesale insult emboldens
some, but only some, and not, I
rejoice to think the nation of Scotland
and England. Watching day by day,
the movements of the currents Of opin-
ion in the present conflict, more and
more find it vital to observe the point at
which the dividing lines are drawn. On
the adverse side Of the government are
found in profuse abundance, wealth,
social influence, station, title, and the
professions, all, are a large majority Of
them-in word, the spirit and power
OF class. Nor is this all. AS the
knights of old had squires, SO in the
great army of class each soldier has his
dependents. Lord Harrington reminded
us, and I cordially agree with him, that
this question. which may be turned over
a thousand ways and placed in a thou
sand partial lights, can only be settled
by the nation. From the first time [
stated, and think I may speak for the
government at large, that here is my
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