The morning call., 1892-02-21
MIR. BALF0UR's IRISH BILL.

3
ment /. is desirable in political strategy
to 90 before the country with a policy for
/ Ireland somewhat more creitabe than
drastic coercion pure and simple and loftier
than is implied in a gift Of light railways to
relieve distress. When the local govern
/ ment bin introduced Boy Mr. Balfour fails
/ 90 receive the respect of Parliament or Of
/ The county resort VIII be hai TO a general
election, and the Tories viii say to the En-
[ gljsh and the Scotch that Ireland has be n
offered what England and Scotland poss SIS
/ in tie administration of their own affairs,
and yet Ireland is not satisfied with the
/ boon. j is clearly impossible that ireland
/ can accept with any conteutmCut a measure
/ which falls so far short of reasonable and
! just expectations. County councils and
! barouiaI councils are not all that is wanted.
/ They IN EhJ be called into existence and do
good service, but the aspirations Of the
Irish people 60 far beyond this limited
/ creation of autonomous power, hampeTed
! as it is by the most childish restrictions
/ and ludicrous safeguards in the interest OF
/ the landlord class, who have ever been Ire
| lands baae. Nothing short Of parliament
I IN Dublin, corresponding 10 the Legislature
Of q State of the American Union, will
]
/ tically that IS what Mt Gladstone has
/ promised, accompanied with certain reserya-
/ tons in the interest Of the imperial union.
/ and the Irish people are not likely to accept
less a q final settlement OF their demands.
/ Mr. BaifguT is an enlightened man, and his
! bill would, perhaps. 90 further were it not
! that he has stupid party clHginE TO priv
/ lege behind him, and that the Orange or
/ Irish Conservative party ire utterly inn
/ pr3ctica be and rabid}y averse TO change of
/ any kind that does not make their position
| stronger. As a compromise devised to har-
| monte the differences of n divided Cabinet
/ the Government measure is feeble and
/ evasjye IF the real issues between Ireland
/ and England. Mr.. Gladstone has declared
/ that the Tories can settle the Irish question
/ if they viii, and lie has offered them all The
/ facilites be can for the purpose. This IS a
/ sorry outcome Of a generous cffer aad a
/ grand opportunity Already there is a
/ chorus Of scotling and denunciaiion from all
sections Of the opposition, Ills Is far
warning that the passage of the bill viii Re
resisted with relentless persistence. The
/ Irish Nationalist are divided into five sec
/ tiOuS. This measure uuIres them in fierce
! iuvectiye and derisiye tauDt against It's pro
/ poSa's. Tie trumpet blast Of defiance viii
echo throughout the land. and afford the
Liberals ana the Nationalist the opportun-
ity they desire TO Gust Government. which
has shown Itself $50 incapable and uneon-
CiJatorr in its Irish policy.
a passage in Mr.. Balfour's speech indi-
Gates that he had the House Of Lords 10 his
minds eve as a final bulwark of resistance
to the just demand Of Ireland. lie limited
81. E.-f a.. r.f
ment viii be- indefinitely postponed. Wen,
it IS easy TO prophesy, and this IS only
glib saving vaIue.ess and foolish. No
body knows quite what IL in Mr.. Glad
stones mind, but should he return to Office
with a substantial majority at his bach lie
will have a mandate from the country to
deal with Home Rule. There can be no
other Issue before the electors. Ii returned,
Mr.. Gladstone must formulate afreSh his
proposals for the cure of the evils affecting
Ireland. L may be assumed that he viii
not recede from such hbera.ity as there was
in his former bill. We may take it that the
House Of Lords, being mainly composed OF
Conservatives and having only few
staunch Liberals, will reject the measure,
very likely on the Sc Oud reading. Then
would follow an appeal to the country, and
IL
quite certain that the House Of Lords has
too much common sense and wisdom %
/ dream Of resistance to the newt BILE. The
House Of LORDS has swallowed Irish church
/ disestab.ishment and dsenj0wment and
! two land bills that they openly hated, and
many other measures that i.l-agreed with
! tneiS notions OF what should be- It's te-
nacious Of its privileges and it knows well
]
are not intended to perpetuate abuses or 20
/ encourage arbitrary obstiuacy. The House
Of Lords will yield meekly on the Irish
| question as it has on Others when convinced
/ Of tie fujility # opposition What then
/ comes Of Mr.. BaltOuI's warning? Il is idle
yaporng.
The criticisms Of the opposition are so
/ scathinG that evidently there is little or
/ nothing in the Government measure Of
/ which they can approve. John Morley de-
/ scribed il as the Tottene5t reed a minority
/ ever leaned upon; Sir William Harcourt
/ denounced the bin as insulting. and twitted
/ Mr.. Chamberlain with being the mother of
! the bautliug; Mr. Justin Mccarthy eX-
pressed his sc0rn by recommending the
| Government To burn the BILL and the Irish
members unanimously rejected the pro-
| pOsals as frivolous and utterly inadequate
! 4 campaign will now be waged against the
/ bill in the press, and probably before May
/ Parliament viii be dissolved and a general
election ordered. Nr. Chamberlain stands
in an uneuyIab!e position. He denies the
authorship Of the drafting. but is il quite
certain that he had no hand in making sug-
sest0us lie was tripped~ uD very neatly
by Mr. Bryce, author Of 1.-THE American
Commonwealth" on some comparison with
American Institutions. Really, Mr. Cham
berlain is TO be- pitied. 10 began his
political career as a scatterbrain Radical Of
tie most pronounced type. and uow hH acts
and c0nspires with the Iorirs. whom he
formerly Eeaped insult and enpiumsly upon
in heated and unmeasured language. Yet
from this man at one tins Ireland bad
reason to expect very broad measures Of
justice. lie is apparently so coptempiibly
small as to think more Of himself than any.
thing else. The Irish party understood tho
man well when they declined 10 take him
over Ireland arm-n-arm. He has visited