New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-02-07
THE LAND QUESTION FEST.

THE LAND QOEOfION TIhci.
The only significant feature of Mr.. Glad
stones election address il the succession IN
which Irish topics are mentioned. Social order
| comes first and does not need to be seriously
| considered, since Mr.. Morley's appointment
| precludes the adoption OF coercion. Lord
CarnaryOns experiment of governing Ireland
by ordinary processes of law Is TO be continued
with the help of the League. The Nationalist
press counsels self-restraint, having taken the
cue from Mr. Parnel and Mr.. Davitt; and all
the resources of the powerful organization
which they have established will be employed
in REFRESHING agrarian disorder and MAINTAIN
ing public order The Irish members can De
depended upon to do their utmost to dlsccur-
age outrages and lawlessness, for II there DE DO
pretext for coercion the Ministry will be forced
to take up the two remaining questions men-
toned by Mr.. Gladstone in his Midlothian op-
neal. These are the land and selfgovernment f;
and there is reason to believe that these ques-
tions will be acted upon in the order named.
Tn the first place. Mr.. Gladstone, having made
two elaborate attempts to dispose of the land
question and having only partly succeeded, Will
be apt to begin again at the point where he has
stopped Then, again, the chief agent of his
Irish policy, Mr.. Morley, while advocating
home rule as an ultenor measure, has con-
tended in his public addresses that Mr..
Parnell's Parliament must not be left at liberty
TO confscate land and distribute 1t among
those who do not now own it. In other words,
he makes the previous settlement OF the lana
question the main condition OF legislative
independence. The Prime Minister and Nr.
Morley are compelled, moreover, to proceed
with great deliberaton and to approach home
rule gradually, educating" the Liberal party,
as Mr.. Disraeli would have said, by cautious
advances and laborious processes. The land
question is one which they can safely take up,
because the Land bills of 1870 and 1851
secured the almost unbrOken support OF the
party. They will naturally attempt to COM
nlete their unfinished work before riskmg
division on the dangerous question of home
rule.
But will Mr.. Parnell allow precedence to be
given to the land question This undoubtedly
is the critical point in the present political
situation. The Irish constituencies III voting
for home rule, as they did by overwhelming
maorities in the general election, probably
meant to be understood as favOring the settle
ment of the land question by Parliament OF
their own. This is the policy 10 which most oil
the Nationalist members have been committed,
their leader among them. If they persist in
this demand, the Ministry will be shOrt-llved,
for Mr. Gladstone evidently is not prepared to
advocate home rule at once and to relegate the
land question to an Irish Parliament. Our
London correspondent, discerning as he
invariably does the salient point of the situa-
ton, senteniOusly remarks In his cable dis
patch: sunless Mr. Parnel gives way this is
the rock on which the coalition will split or the
Cabinet 60 to pieces 1t is, indeed, a question
of critical Importance whether Mr. Gladstone
is to be allowed to take up the land question in
advance of home rule.
There is a remarkable passage in Mr.. Par
nel's recent reply to Mr.. Gladstone's speech in
the Commons, which has a direct bearing on
this matter of precedence. "Ihe land ques-
{" tiOn,r he said, is undoubtedly q very
difficult question and to my mind presents the
real points of difficulty in arriving at
/" solution of the question of Irish autonomy;
a and the House would find, if that question
" were once settled on basis satisfactory to
the Irish landowners and the tenants, we
would hear nothing mole about the integrity
/" of the Empire and the risk of separation"
These and subsequent declarations TO the effect
that when landowners talked about the
integrity of the Empire they were really
talking about tn. integrity OF their breeches'
pocket and that after all it was question as
to how much rent was to be received, indicate
that Mr.. Parnell, under the influence of Mr..
Gladstone's benignant speech, himself conceded
the priority of the land question.