Mower County transcript., 1886-04-14
GLADsTONE'S POLICY.

GLADSTONE'S POLICY.
Home Rule and Home PaElisment for
Ireland.
Mr.. Gladstone, on Thursday outlined his
Irish Home Rule bill to the House Of Com
mons. No event in later English history
has been received with such profound and
sensational demonstration, and description
fairly pales in the attempt to convey any
adequate narrative of the manifestations
OF the populace toward England's Premier.
1t was with difficulty that the carriage Of
Mr.. Gladstone passed from his house to the
parliament building, so immense was the
throng and so odemonstrative their welcome.
In the hall itself the demonstration was no
less enthusiastic. The prince of w alos, his
son, Prince Albert Victor, duke of Cam
bridge, Prince Christian and Minister
Phelps occupied seats during the speech in
the front row of the peers gallery. At4:s5
p m. Mr.. Gladstone began his address, the
salient points of which appear below:
The fault of the administrative system
Of Ireland was that its spring and source
of action was English (cheers). The
government therefore felt that the settle
ment OF the question was to be found by
establishing parliament in Dublin for the
and administrative nature. The political
economy of the three countries must be
reconciled. There should be an equitable
distribution OF imperial burdens. Next,
there must be reasonable safeguards for
the minority, and why could
of its ability to do that, when we have
passed through the present critical period
and been disarmed of the jealousies with
which any change was approached, but for
the present there were three classes
Of people whom %rst they ha were ere. bound
nected with the land: second,
the civil servants and the officers of the
government in Ireland; third, the Protest
ant minority. The speaker could not ad-
NIT the claim of the Protestant minority in
Ulster or elsewhere to rule on questions
which are for the whole of Ireland. Sever
al schemes for the separate government of
Ulster had been submitted to him. One
was that Ulster province should be exclud-
I'D from the operations of the present bill.
Another was that a separate autonomy
should be provided for Ulster, and third
suggested that certain rights should be re-
ellis. No one of these proposals had ap-
peared to the government to be SO COM
pletely justified by it's merits or by the
weight of public opinion in it's favor as to
warrant the government in including it in
sheir bill.
The speaker said he would now pass to
the plan how to give Ireland Legislature
to deal with the Irish as distinguished from
imperial affairs. He was confronted at the
outset with what he felt to be q formidable
dilemma. Ireland was to have domestic
legislature for Irish affairs That was his
postulate, from which he set out. Were
the Irish members and the Irish represent
ative peers III either house to continue to
form part of the representative assemblies
The speaker thought that it would be per-
tectly clear that if Ireland was to have q
domestic legislature, the Irish peers and
the Irish representatives could not come to
pal lament to control English and Scotch
whether Irish representatives should come
to the house of commons fer the settlement
of imperial affairs, he thought that could
not be done. He had, therefore, arrived at
the conclusion that Irish members and
Irish peers ought not to sit in the palace Of
Westminster. If Irish members were not
to sit in the house of commons, Irish
peers ought not to sit in the other
house OF parliament. How were the
Irish people to be taxed il they had legisla-
tors in both countries. He believed that
Great Britain would never impose upon
Ireland taxation without representation
and added: If we were to have taxation
without representation then there would
come another question which would raise
practical difficulty, and that Is: Are we
to give up that fiscal unity of the empire7
He did not think that by giving up the fs-
cal unity Of the empire, they we're giving
stood upon the substantial ground that to
give up the fiscal unity Of the empire would
be public Inconvenience and misfortune.
1t would be great misfortune for Great
Britain and a greater misfortune for Ire
that dilemma would be such an arrange
ment as would give the imperial govern
ment authority to levy customs duties and
such excise duties as we're Immediately
connected with the customs. The condi-
tions of such an arrangement were, first,
that the general power OF taxation over
and above those particular duties should
pass into the hands of domestic leg
1slature in Ireland; second, that
the proceeds of the customs and
excise should be held for the benefit Of Ire
land and for the discharge Of the obliga-
tions of Ireland, and the balance, after
these obligations were discharged, should
be for the free disposal of the Irish legisla:
tive body. The government bill provided
for this, and the bill then proytd-
ed that representatives Of Ire.
land should no longer sit In the
house Of commons or Irish peers in the
have the right Of addressing the crown, and
60 possess all the constitutional rights they
held now. 1t would, therefore, relieve Irish
members from attendance at Westminster.
Mr.. Gladstone said he had sever al ree
sons why this should be the case. Even II
1t was possible for them to attend, as they
had parliament OF their own 1t would oe
very difficult to have two classes OF mem n:
bers In the British house, one class
who could vote on all questions COO
nected with the business of the coun
try and another which could only vots
on special and particular questions whict
are brought before parliament. Again II
would be very difficult for gentlemen IL
Ireland to decide who should 20 to West
| minister or who should remain in Ireland
| and at the same time to maintain the dsca
| unity of the nation. There is another
| point with regard to the powers OF the leg
| islature. Two courses might have been tax
| en-. One was to endow this Legislative
body with particular legislative powers
| The other was to except from the sphere O
| it's action those subjects which the govern
| ment thought ought to be except
ed and to leave it TO any
| other power. The duration OF tho pro
| posed legislative body should not exceed
! 1--WE years. The functions which it was pro
| posed to withdraw from the cognizanc.
Of the legislative body were three grane
and principal functions, viz:
Everything which related to the crown
| all that which belonged to the defense. tn
army, the navy, the entire organization o
the armed forcss, and our foreign and col
| onial relations 1t would not be competen
! to pass laws for the establishment or On
| dowment Of any particular religion lcheersI
| Az to trade and navigation, it would be I
misfortune to Ireland to be separated from
| England. The Irish parliament woult
| creation Of legal tender. Tho subject o
| the postofice would be Loft to the 5udg
nnant ~ rsr1iameut thou1h tina 1ovaru