, 1886-04-09

1
law continues to be disregard because it
invested in the eyes Of the Irish wit
n foreign aspect Were further coercion
to be successful. 1t would require two con
ditions: Autocracv of the government an,
secrecy If public transactions lParnellit
cheers The m ainspring Of law in Eng
land is felt to be English. in Scotland Il
be Scotch; but in Ireland it is not felt t.
be Irish. The first condition of civilized
life in ireland demands that people have
confidence in the law and sympathy
Herewith. The problem. therefore, be
fore parliament At the present time is tC
reconcile imperial unity with diversity Of
legislation. He believed that the gov.
ernment had found the solution OF thi,
problem in the establishment of a psrlia.
ment At Dublin for the conduct Of bust.
ness, both legislative and administrative. -
Loud cheers by Psrnellites. The
political equality Of the three countries"
said Mr.. Gladstone. must be recognized,
therefore there must be an equitable dis
tribuhon Of imperial funds. The
peculiar circumstances existing in ireland
also make it necessary to establish
safeguards for the minority in that
country. The government will be obliged
to consider the clAss connected with the
lands and the relations which they will
sustain with the Protestant minority. As
Ireland is to have . domestic legislature,
it will therefore be impracticable for Irish
representatives to come here"
The intention Of the government bill'
Mr.. Gladstone said is that the parlia-
ment at Dublin shall be q dual body. 1t
is to be composed of Two orders. each of
which shall have powers to veto the acts
Of the other. The first order will include
lo3 members, the second order FOG.
Twenty-eight of the present Irish peers
will continue to sit in the house of lords,
and they will be granted the option to
have life seats in the first Irish order.
The Office of viceroy Of Ireland will o be
discontinued; the bill intended that the
viceroy shall remain and hat the office
shall hereafter be non political. That is,
the incumbent of the office will not be ex
pected to retire with the downfall of a
British ministry.
The bill empowers the queen to dele
gate to the viceroy such of her preroea-
tiyes as she may choose. The Irish con-
stAbulsry will remain under the same au-
thority as at present. The bill provides
that parliament shall have no authority
to establish or endow any particular re-
ligious sect. 1t will be empowered, how
ever, to deal with the laws affecting trade
and navigation. affecting weights and
measures and postal administration. The
bill will preserve the fiscal unity Of the
empire; but the entire proceeds arising
from customs and excise duties in Ireland
will be held for the benefit of that country.
These funds are TO be used for the dis
charge of Irish obligations; sny balance
which may remain after this is to remain
in the Irish exchequer. The provisions
of the bill vest in the Irish legislation tho
general power Of imposing taxes. 1t is
proposed that the maximum duration of
the Irish parliament shall be Eve years.
II shall have no power to interfere with
the preroeatives of the crown, such as
the army, the ANY or any other armed
force. 1t shall have nothing to do with
foreign or colonial Affairs.
In conclusion Mr.. Gladstone said: II
hold that there is such a thing as local
patriotism, which, in itself, is not bad.
but good. lCheersl The Welshman is
full of local patriotism. If | read hish
history Alright. misfortune and calamity
have welded her sons to their soil with an
embrace yet closer bar is known else
where; and an Irishman is still more pro-
foundry Irish, but it does not follow that
because his local patriotism is strong he is
incapable of an imperial patriotism. There
are two modes of presenting the subject
which | have argued: One of them Is to
present what we now recommend as good,
and the other is to present it as the choice
of evils and as the least among
the varied evils with which
as possibilities we are confronted.
| do not know whether it may appear
too bold. but in my own heart I cherish the
hope that this is not merely the choice of
the lesser evil; but that Il may be proved
to be ere long good in itself. Loud
cheers. There is, | know an answer to
this, and what is the answer The an