The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-08-08
GLADSTONE AND IRELAND.

inc statesman Became Home Ruler
When It Was Good Politics to DO So.
NJ. r. PARSONAGE, SEATTLE. Aug 8, 1892
To THE EDITOR: Errors are sorsre in your ex-
cellent paper that when one occurs it is espe-
cialiy noteworthy. Permit mo to draw atten.
ton to one that, think, though rather late,
ought to be noticed. In your otherwise able ar
ticie on "The Moral Grandeur OF Gadstone's
Statesmanship,'' you say that Gladstone "won
the election of 1885 by a large shortly, and
had he not declared for homo rule for Ireland
he could have held ONCE till this day."
Were this truo he would indeed have been .
self-sacrifcing statesman, but unfortunately for
his reputation the exact contrary Is the case. In
the autumn of 1885 Gladstone begged the elect
ors ITO give him and the Liberal party ma
1Ority sufficiently large to make him fndepend.
ent OF the Irish Homo Rulers" Instead OF that
the parties were pretty evenly divided when
parliament assembled on January II, 1856 The
Irish Home Rulers held tho balance OF power
between the parties by the possession OF eighty
six votes won In that election OF 1885. A. soon
as Gladstone discovered this and that the Irish
vote was necessary to put him again In power,
he became suddenly converted to home rule,
and not till then.
In December of that year Qss5) his son. Her
bert Gladstone, in cautious terms, announced
his fathers conversion and that announcement
was the greatest possible surprise to the country
and to Mr.. Gladstones late cabinet colleagues.
WHO ueVot tOk QUO uOmeub uIeaIu00 tu0S tucAf
chiefs mind ran in that direction. In the vote
on Jesse Ceilings amendment IN the house OF
commons OF January n. 1856, Mr.. Gladstone
came again into power by Q majority OF seventy
nine on that division, for which he had won
over Parnells eighty-six votes by his promise OF
q home rule measure. Those votes as originally
elected were anti-Gladstone votes, a. any one
can SEQ who consults the Parnell, Sexton and
Davitt manifestoes of 1885 They had not when
given to Gladstone in January, 1856, the slightest
relation to Jesse Collins amendment, as II was
never heard OF afterward and Gladstone dis.
tinctly repudiatsd 1t, but in April Gladstone
produced his home rule scheme which
was defeated by the Liberal Unionist detection.
While one cannot help admiring the marvellous
abilities of the Liberal leader and being grateful
for much good work he has done, it 10 impos-
stble TO shut ones eyes to the fact that his con-
version to great measures Of public policy al
ways synchronize exactly with his political
Necessities. When he needs the votes he es-
pouses the policy, and not till then. In 1865 he
declared that the 'Irish church question was
remote and apparently out of all bearing on the
practical politics OF the day." When in 1865 the
Conservatives had passed their reform bill and
were to all seeming eptrenched In power for
generation, Mr.. Gladstone suddenly discovered
that the Irish church must be disestablished,
and though for thirty years he had been silent
on all Irish question:, he now brought them
rapidly to the front, proposing every year new
panacea a. q final settlement for Irish woes till
at last, in 1885, he 'ats the leek." swallowed all
his own words and became the great advocate
of home rule.
Now he has once more majority in the house
of commons, let Us hope his latest cure-all will
be more effective In promoting peace and good
will between the countries than those proceed
ing 1t.
The great Protestant province OF Ulster, con-
tanning nearly 2.0O00o ont of Ireand's 100000
population, seems to doubt its efficacy. We
shall seel w. p GEORGE.