The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-05
HOME RULE IN IRELAND.
Prof. freeman, Of Oxford University, Writes
a Second Letter on the Subject

Correspondence of The Indianapolis JouSnal
OXFORD. JAM 22.-There other cases in
the political world os Europe which may help to
throw light on the subject besides those oppo-
site ones of Finland and Poland described in my
preceding letter. A number of where
home rule exists, or where home rule is asked
for, or where home rule has been taken away,
may be found among the strange jum-
BILE of states unnaturally brought
together which make up what is called the
Hungarian Monarchy" One of the
strangest things in the world is the wonderful
difficulty there is in getting people to understand
the state of things in that part of the world.
The people in power there are SO wonderfully
clever in hiding facts, and the correspondents of
English newspapers so kind in helping
them. These correspondents commonly write
from the point os view of the official circles of
the two capitals, Vienna and Buda- -Pesth: of the
wish es of the nations which ruled against
their wills from Vienna and BudaP Pesth they
either know nothing themselves wish that
|, other people should know nothing. Yet 1t is
various to how often the words ''home rule"
have of late found their way into the Vienna
I correspondence of the Times. The analogy is
SO clear that it forces itself upon the mind even
IN sucn a quarter as tnat only wnere
/ are we to LOOK for the analogyG Not, ir
must be borne in mind, in the relations
between the two ruling states, the Kingdom of
Hungary and the ArchdUchy of Austria; they
have nothing to do with home rule. For homo
rule is in its own nature the relation of de-
l. tendency to asuperior power; but the relation
| between Hungary and Austria is a voluntary
| union between two independent states. Austria
is not dependency of Hungary; still less is the
Kingdom of Hungary dependency of the duchy
of Austria. 1t is perfectly true that, from lS45 TO
1867, Hungary was treated as If 1t had been a
dependency, or something less than depend
| encv, of Austria. But this was by sheer vio-
| lence without any show Of right; Hungary never
was at any time legally dependency OF Austria
Il A~,I h. AyHhA %hn
sovereign of Austria who had hitherto held
Hungary simply as tyrant, became lawful king
time kingdom and duchy have agreed TO live on
| equal terms under a common sovereigp. They
| have perfect right to make such an union
| and a perfect right to undo it, if they
should ever think good to do SO. Between
these two dominant states the union seems to
| answer thoroughly well. because it is an equal
union But just because it 10 an equal union it
| has nothing to do with our present subject. the
| subject of home rule.
Where home rule does come in among the do
minions of the common sovereign of Hungary
| and Austria is in the case of certain lands which
| attached to these two ruling statas on terms
which not equal Thus the kingdom of
attached to it as dependencies. which
known the parties annex9 Here
home rule comes in because the relation is
not equal In these lands there IS or has been
some measure of home rule; the dependent
| land wishes to keep that measure or even to
| enlarge it; the dominant land wishes to lessen
| it or take it away altogether. Thus home rule
| has been altogether suppressed in one of the
| dependencies of the Kingdom of Hungary. the
| principality of Pennsylvania So too the King
| dom of Croatia has for ages been kingdom
| dependent on Hungary; the king of Hungary
| has been also king of Croatia, but Croatia has
had certain amount of home rule. The
| strife is going between the people of
| Croatia who wish to keep-very likely to en-
| large-the amount of home rule that they have.
| and the Hungarian power, represented by the
| ban Lord lieutenant of Croatia, whose object
| is to get rid of Croatian home rule altogether
| The Times correspondent at Vienna relolces that
.'the energetic Ban" has crushed the life out of
| the home-rule movement in Croatia" We learn
J. .sonethine of the process of crushing out when
| of energetic is to suspend trial
| by jury for two years in the case of
charges brought against the press. But it is
| not the process which now concerned
| with, but the relation. 1t is clear that the
| Irish people striving to get what the
Croatian people are striving to keep. The
| Croatian people would doubtless be quite salts
| fed to keep their rights under the same king as
| Hungary but if Hungary and the King of
| Hungary deny the NJ heir rights, they may seek
to be no longer dependency of Hungary, but
| to be perfect level with Hungary, whether
under the same king another
Take another case. The same prince who
is King of Hungary and Croatia and Archduke
of Austria is also King OF Bohemia At least he
calls himself so; though. as he has never re-
ceived the Bohemian crown, his right to the title
| is at least doubtful. Now in strictness home
| rule is phrase which cannot be applied to
the Kingdom of Bohemia any more than to the
/
Bohemia is in no sort dependency of the duchy
| of Austria: Bohemia does not stand to
| Austria as Croatia undoubtedly stands to Hun
arg. But as Austria is practically dominant,
in the western dominions of the common sove-
reign of Hungary and Austria, we may prac-
tically apply the name of home rule to the
amount of separate being which the Kingdom
| of Bohemia at present possesses. But it not
unnaturally wishes for something more than
| which once chose it's kings for ITSELF asks to
| be put on the level of Hungary. 1t has no
| wish for separation; it has no wish to set up
q king of it's own; it is perfectly ready to have
the sovereign of Austria for its king; only 1t
wishes to be, as it has perfect right to be- ac-
knowledged as an independent kingdom, joined
with Austria the same equal terms on which
| Hungary is. 1t asks that if the sovereign
wishes to be acknowledged as King of Bohemia,
| he shall do as he has done in Hungary, that is,
that be shall make his rule in Bohemia lawful
by coming to take the crown of Bohemia. as he
| has already taken the crown of Hungary.
| We thus see very distinctly, three relations.
| There is home rule, the relation of a dependen-
| cy, such as has long existed between Hungary
| and Croatia. between Great Britain and the Isle
of Man, such has of late years existed be-
tween Great Britain and most of the British col
onies. There is equal union, such as exists be-
tween Hungary and Austria such as did exist
| between Great Britain and Ireland from 1882 to
| 1900. Lastly. there Is total separation Ireland
asks for the first of the three; Bohemia asks for
the second. Neither land at present asks for
the third. But it may be that if they re-
fused what they do ask for, they may come TO
ask for it. 1t IS very curious to read the Vienna
| correspondence or the limes, now 1ncapaole
| people who get all their notions from official
| quarters come to be of knowing the wishes
and feelings of any nation. The other day the
| correspondent was blaming a Bohemian poll
| tician, because while showing all devotion TO
| the kingdom of Bohemia, his native country
| of which he is citizen, he expressed no
| loyalty to the empire" 1t is worth while to
| stop and think for moment what this means.
| In formal language at this moment, the
| '.Austro Hungarian Monarchy" consists of two
| parts There is the kingdom of Hungary with
| its dependencies. within which the King of
| Hungary rates as King of Hungary and of the
| dependent Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia.
| There also a number of lands which have
been brought together at various odd times in
various odd ways, but which have nothing in
common except that in them the person
who is King Of Hungary rules in some other
| charaetsr than that of King of Hungary.
There is Austria itself. the archduchy; there
| tSof oe and al m fha