The herald., 1893-02-15
THE OFFICIAL CITY PAPER.
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY Is, 1898
GLADSTONE AND IRELAND.

The presentation made in the house
Of commons of the Irish home rule bill
! BY Mr.. Gladstone was one of the finest
efforts ever made by the grand old
statesman. The bill itself is master
piece of craftsmanship, and deals sue
cessfully with one of the most difficult
and intricate problems that ever con.
fronted an English premier. It gives
Ireland parliament composed OF two
houses, which shall have complete con-
troll Of Irish affairs, subject only to the
! veto of the crown, and at the same time
preserves the Irishmen fair representa-
tion in the imperial parliament. The
viceroy or chief executive is not to be
subject to the accidents or alterations
Of parties, but is to be appointed for the
definite term of six years by the crown.
The fiscal feature of the measure is q
well-balanced system of revenue between
the imperial power and the local gov
ernment. The excise and customs
duties are collected by the former, and
all other public revenues are collected
by the latter, 30 that there is the least
chance of possible collision between the
two systems.
The Irish contingent in the house of
commons seem to be very favorably i'm
pressed by the measure, and at meet
ing yesterday they voted their approval
OF it. The stringent opposition comes
from the ultra Ulster party in Ireland
and the Liberal unionists or Chamber
lain party, in England. But the i'm
preston appears to be that it will be
successfully carried.
The solving of the Irish problem--il
this measure, as it is hoped by its
friends, should solve twill be the
browning glory of one of the most re-
marksble men Great Britain has yet
produced. Mr.. Gladstone is now in his
84th year, and has been in active politi-
cal life for over sixty years. It is curl
Gus to 60 back so far in parliamentary
history as 1883, and find that he was
then conspicuous debater in the house
of commons, and that at that time he
had put forth book on the recondite
subject of Church and State which Ma
caulay considered worthy of one of his
finest essays. His treatment of Mr..
Gladstone in this review is perhaps one
of the most remarkable instances in
which that usually caustic critic laid
aside the asperities to which he was
given and treated the author with
vvbop, bo Il; fraraJ uy;+l a rantIopass arJ
consideration altogether foreign to his
wonted controversial bitterness.
In 1842, when Sir Robert Peel WAS
prime minister, Mr.. Gladstone was o
member of his cabinet. That was q
stormy time. The British empire was
In the throes of the tremendous aaita-
tion against the corn laws. Golden
had come up to the house new and
obscure man. and astonished the COM
mons with his power of debate and his
thorough familiarity with all the details
of the great question he had espoused.
His logic was SO perfect, his reasoning
30 sound, his extent of information on
economic subjects 80 vast, his manner
~ noAp oA0 AholhuablA6 hH0 LIE OlO-
.quence 30 attractive and mag
netic, that he became at once
great and formidable power in the
house. Sir Robert could only lamely
answer his more powerful arguments,
and Mr.. Gladstone, who was then op-
posed to the repeal of the corn laws,
could make no headway against the
eloquent tribune. A few years after,
Sir Robert yielded to the commanding
intellect of Golden and became the
champion of the principles he could not
cont ute.
When We think that Mr.. Gladstone
was leading actor in those great his
torical scenes, and that he is still the
most commanding figure amongst the
active statesmen of his country, our
reverence for his years, for his ability
and his personality increases, and we
Hook with feeling of wonder upon him
~ living link between the generation
OF sixty years ago and that of the
present time.