The herald., 1893-02-14
Gladstone Introduces the Fa-
NOUS Measure.
Grandest Effort of the Grand
Old Mans Life.
An Exposition of the Bill Of Two
Hours Duration.
The House Listens with Rapt sAttentIeu
-He Concludes with Perora-
tion Of Remarkable Hlo-
quence.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press y
LONDON, Feb. 13.-Gladstone slept
well last night, woke refreshed this
morning and anticipated with pleasure
the exertion of the day in opening the
debate on the home rule bill. From
early morning the scene around the
palace yard at Westminster was OF q
most animated description, crowds as
sembling to witness the arrival of the
members. At noon the inner lobby was
packed with members and the approaches 1
were crowded. When the doors were
opened there was disorderly rush for
seats, the members shouting, and strug.
Cling like mob of excursi6nists. The
veteran member Caleb Wright was
borne down, tlampled on and with diff
Guilty rescued.
When Gladstone entered the house ct
80, he was greeted by prolonged and
enthusiastic cheers by the Liberal and
Irish members. A quarter of an hour
latter, when be rose to Introduce the
home rule bill, there was another dem-
onstration lasting several minutes.
GLADsroNE's SPEECH.
Gladstone spoke as follows in q clear,
strong, res onant voice:
81 may without impropriety remind
the house that the voices which usually
pleaded the cause of Irish self-govern-
ment in Irish affairs, have within these
walls during the last seven years, been
almost entirely mute. I return there
fore to the period OF 1880 when propo-
sition of this kind was submitted or the
part of the government of the day, and J.
beg to remind the house of the position
then taken by all the promoters OF these
measures. We said we had arrived st q
point in our transactions with Ireland
where the roads. parted. You have we
said, to choose one or the other. Ono
n, -etsU uSzy OF Irfsfr autonomy, according
to the conceptions / have just referred
to; the other the way of coercion:
that is our Contention It will be
the recollection OF the house how
that contention was most stoutly denied.
1t was said over and over again by
many OF the members opposite: We
are not coercionists. We do not sdopt
that alternative and neither can We
adopt it, ministerial cheers.] That
assertion OF theirs was undoubtedly sus-
tanned by proposals, especially from dis
sentlent Liberals OF various plans, deal
ing with Irish affairs. Those plans,
though they fell entirely short in the
principle and in scope of Irish self-gov-
ernment, yet were of no trivial or mean
Importance. Thev went far beyond
what had heretofore been usually pro-
posed in the way of local self.goyern-
ment for Ireland.
well, what has been the result of
the dilemma as then put forward on
this side OF the house and repelled bv
the others Has our contention that
the choice lay between autonomy and
coercion been justified or not? Liberal
cheers.] What has become of each and
all those important schemes for giving
Ireland self-governmenti in the provinces
and giving her even central establish
ment in Dublin with limited powers?
All have vanished into thin air, but the
reality remains; the roads are still
there; autonomy and coercion the
choice lay between, and the choice made
was to repel autonomy and embrace
coercion.
"You cannot always follow coercion
in an absolutely uniform method. For
the first time coercion was imposed on
Ireland in the shape of permanent law
added to the statute book. This state
OF things constituted an offending
against the harmony and traditions OF
There was a distinct.
violent breach of promise, on the faith
OF which union was obtained. That
permanent system of repression inflicted
upon the country state of things which
could not continue to exist. It was
impossible to bring the inhabitants of
the country under coercion into sympa-
thy with the coercive power"
ENGLAND's BROKEN PROMISES.
Gladstone proceeded to dilate al
length upon the circumstances under
which the act of union passed. declar-
ng that it was under the promise of
equality in laws and commercial equality
hat union was effected. 1t was then
orophesied confidently, he said. that
-rishmen would take their places in the
,abinet of the United Kingdom, but It
lad been his honored destiny to sit in
'abinets with no less than so to 70
tstesmen, of whom only one, the duke
II wellington, was an Irishman, while
)astlereagh was the only other Irish-
nan who had sat in the cabinet
lnce the union. Pitt promised
quail laws when the union was formed.
'ut the broken promises made to Ire
ana were unhapplly written in indelible
-. .iio iiirtoiy VI tuo COuutfys
joining to 1882, when the resurrect;on
I the people began, thence down to
$50, Ireland could present only a small
minority in favor of restoring to her
in the nature of constitu-
onal rights and practical self-govern-
lent.
1T is to me astonishing" he said.
that so little weight is attached BY many
the TACT that before 1886, before 1885.
ldeed, the Irish wishes of self-povern,
lent were represented only by small
minority. Since 1885, when wide ex-
snsion OF the franchise, protected bv
le secret ballot, was made, Ireland;s
has been improved in parlia-
lent. In 1886 there were S5 Nationsl-
is among the l00Irish mem bers Of par
ament. or more than fSe-eiehths.
Jheers.l They have been reduced from