The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-01-30
FOREIGN GOSSIP.
Review of the Situation in the En-
glish Political Field.
rhe Irish Question Pushing Everything
Else Aside--Lord Salisbury Likely to
Resign and Gladstone to be
Again at the Helm.

LONDON, Jan. 24.-Lord Salisbury Is
tired of his attempt to govern the Brit
lsh Empire with the Tory party, and
wishes to resign. 1t can be said on next
to the highest authority that the Premier
expects to relinquish Office within the
next three weeks. Your correspondents
informant says salisbury would like to
settle the Irish question on broad, lib
eral basis, but he can not do it with such
party as he has. His colleagues wish
him to crush the Irish. He can't bring
himself to do anything of the kind, and
for this reason he will bring about
the defeat of the Government in order TO
obtain justification for retiring from
power"
The minister, who gave this startling
piece of intelligence, was asked if he
knew what were the prime minister's
personal views on the Irish situation,
and he said: Lord Salisbury entertains
none of the fears protested by the Con-
servatives, that, if Ireland had home rule,
The Irish would become practically hos
tile people. He admitted to me re-
| Gently that he believed that the
only hostility ever entertained by
the people of Ireland toward
England could be entirely accounted for
by the coercive nature of the relations be-
tween the two countries. He went fur
Their, and said he was of the opinion that
if Ireland were made free she would
voluntarily seek even closer relation
ship with England than the one now
maintained by force, and would become
most valuable and powerful ally, in
stead of being, as now, a dissatisfied,
troublesome, rebellious and continuous
ly expensive province. Lord Salisbury
maintains that the very situation OF
Ireland would make her freedom inure
eventually to England's advantage. This
situation he points out, differs from that
of Belgium and Switzerland in this: That
whereas Belgium and Switzerland are
surrounded by powers all equally covet-
Gus of their territory, AMI therefore
equally interested in maintaining their In
dependence, Ireland's contiguity is con-
fined to great Britain, and the interna-
Aional interests of the two countries
would be identical If they were nelghbors
and not landlord and tenant"
"But," went on the minister. "it must
he admitted that British parties, as re-
flected in Parliament, represent the COM
mercial and land interests rather than
those of the peasantry, although the en-
larged franchise will undoubtedly change
This eventually. The land interest of
England thoroughly sympathizes with
that of Ireland, partly from affinity and
also because the majority of the Irish
landlords are Engishmen, resident in
Great Britain. But the land interest of
Great Britain, the greatest after its COM
mercial interest, has nothing like cor
rect idea of how insignificant minority
the landowners of Ireland are of its
whole population, nor of the really for
eign nature of their proprietary. They
have become convinced that Nationalism
in ireland is identical with what CON-
munism would be in England, and OF
course they are easily aroused to fight ii
down.
'tThe Irish Tories understand how to
keep this English hostility alive, and they
manage to make nearly all the ordinary
violations of the law in Ireland appear to
Englishmen as crimes against property.
AS it happens that, while the number OF
arrests in Ireland, where the police are
numerous and alert, averages much great
er than in England, where the officers OF
the law are not so plentiful nor so enter
prislng, it appears to the Englishmar
that the Irish people spend most of their
| al. kbn ,,toe 10 bn
is thus kept perpetually disposed to rule
them with an iron hand"
When asked if there were no statesmen
in the Conservative party who knew bet
ter the minister replied: eyes, Lord
Salisbury is just as well informed on this
whole business as Mr.. Gladstone is, and
In my opinion, just as well disposed"
"Well, then, why don't he settle it?"
"Because he can't. His party com
uriseS the bulk of the British land inter
est. In this case that means the bulk Of
the ignorance and prejudice which stand
against fair settlement of the question
and as the ignorant and prejudiced con
stitute the majority Of the English arts
tocracy, the most enlightened and liberal
aristocracy in the world, and the potent
element of the Conservatory party, LORD
, Salisbury, in an attempt to pass liberia
measure would simply be left without ;
party.
"Mr Gladstone, however, does no
represent the aristocracv but the bust
ness men and peasantry of the nation.
he wishes to attempt settlement of tn
Irish question, in my opinion he can d
r. it, and will attempt it when the govern
D ment abandons the work"
e Every phase of the situation bears on
A the prospect suggested by the above in
a formant. Lord Salisbury wrote tn
Queens speech. 1t did not oppose HON
rule, but opposed separation. The Iris
have not as yet asked for the latter o
even intimated that they ever would as
for it. OF course, the majority of tn
S Tories believe that home rule and separa
ton are identical, hence that paragrap
u was simply political play upon thei
prejudices. Mr.. Gladstone's address
4 during the evening of the Queen
: speech was studiedly vague o
most things, but it was yer
l. direct in reply to the Queens plea for tn
.a..a- & Ia. a.