New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-02
THE NEWS OF EUROPE.
PROSPECT OF A BITTER STRUGGLE IN THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
THE GI,ApsTONIAN CAUCCS-PROTESTS AGAINST
HOME RULE-EGYPTIA POLITICS-THE
AMERICAN AMBASSADOR
(BY CABLE TRBrNK.)

AMERICAN AMBASSADOR.
tBY CABLE TRrBrNxJ
copyright. 1893: Bp The Tribune Aaoeiation.
London, April Special. MIR. Gladstone's am
btion Is indeed bOundless. II is not enough for
him to overthrow the Constitution Of this king
dom. He must overthrow also the Constitution of
the House Of Commons. lie sets his foot upon
precedent, upon practice. upon tradition, upon
those very and customs of the House for
which in times past he has professed, and pro-
fessed sincerely. the rrofoundcst respect. No lazy
Il 40 sacred the unwrttcn law. 1t is the foun-
dation Of all other law. and of society ITSELF and
within the House of the privileges and liberties
Of the House This it is which the Leader of the
House now attacks He his majority in
way in which no Prime Minister ever before used
majority. He takes at this early period of
the session the whole time of the House. with in
considerable exceptions, for purely Ministerial
purposes He abolishcs the rights of private
members He turns the ancient legislature of a
great kingdom into the instrument Of his personal
convenience. What the Bed of Justice was under
the most autocratc of French monarchs. the House
Of Commons is presently to become under a Prime
Minister more autocratic still
This onslaught upon the liberties of free
Parliament has for its object the compulsory
passage Of the Home Rule bill. 1t is remarkable
never makes much real progress except by vio-
lence to the Parliament at Westminster. Home
Rule, as Mr.. Mccarthy tells us, had It's Parla-
mentary birth in Parliamentary obstruction. 1t il
now TO be accomplished, if at all, by the coercion
Of Parliament Whether il be worse 70 degrade
the House Of Commons or to tyrannze over II, is
o question which each lover Of Parliamentary
liberty may answer for himself. The vote by
which the whole time of the House is surrendered
to the Ministry is Of course. in form, the vote Of
a majority of the House. II is in fact the en-
preston OF one despotic will, announced by Mr.
Gladstone to the Gadstonian party at the Foreign
Office meeting on Monday.
Between him and his followers there is curious
action and reaction They impose, or rather each
section in turn imposes, upon him some concession,
some measure which he either dislikes or cares
not for. He in turn imposes upon these various
sections and upon the whole body of his fol-
lowers, the Home Rule bill, which few OF them
care for and many detest. These are the relations
Of political profigacy, Of bargain and sale, Of the
Whitechapel auctionroom, to use Lord Randolph
Churchilrs phrase, with votes openly put up for
sale and openly bought not, of course, for money
but for other valuable considerations.
Never was there a more adroit Parliamentary
tactician than Mr.. Gladstone, nor ever one who
stood lees upon scruple His courage and resource
are alike of the first order Beaten in the EFFORT
10 carry the second reading Of his bill before
Easter, he carries rough-shod motion TO insure as
lie thinks, the second reading Immediately after
Easter. No Minister ever before made such
proposal. at such time. He makes 1t just as
the House is about to adjourn for ITS brief Easter
holiday. Two-thrds Of the McDibers are absent
A Ministry may carry anything at such moment
There is no pressure Of public business or pubic
necessity of any kind. There is nothing but the
irrcpressbe impotence of an old man in a hurry,
Of Minister who knows that 1t is now or never
But. adroit as he is, experienced as he Is,
Mr. GladstOne's present tactics are not sure OF
success His majority may be. subscrvient; the
House is not subservient. If there bc IN op-
positiou a man who knows il we'll, and who in
his time has led il with skill hardly. If at
all, inferior 10 Mr.. GadstOnes, il is Lord Ran
4lolph Churchill. And Lord Randolph has en-
pressed his opinion Of these proceedings, ana OF
their probable consequences in language which
leaves nothing 10 desire on the Of plain
ness He calls this measure of parlla-
mentary coercion the most tyrannical ever known
in the annals OF the House. But, said Lord
Randolph. :" the preccdcnts for resistance TO such
procedure are numerous and effective They
are and Lord Randolph himself helped 10 create
them II, added the eX-Leadcr of the House,
the Government would treat the House fairly,
no unusual means would be attempted to delay
their business. When they take this linz, they
must take the consequences. We shall not De
deferred for one instant, and this particular reso-
luton will not embarrass our efforts. The
powers Of the minority remaip as strong, as
diversified and vigorous as ever In tn"
same spirit the leading Tory paper says: IF
there is TO be obstruction Mr.. Gladstone has
provided it in advance with an absolute 'u9'i
fcation."
Such warnings are Of course thrown away
Sir William Harcourt said that they did not
care for precedents They proposed to create their
own precedents Ii was Sir William TO whom
Mr. Gladstone left the conduct of this business
PERHAPS not liking such work himself. Ana s''
after four hours debate, the motion for the sup.
preston OF the liberties of the House was carried
under the closure rule, by 1863 10 '5-just over
onc-thrd Of the whole House voting
When Parliament resumes next Thursday, you
will soon see in what temper the minority OF 80
arc. and what chances Mr.. Gladstone has Of
forcing his bill through. The use OF the closure
is his main reliance, means Of sitting debate
and aueling obstruction far more drastic ana
efficient than the previous qucsti) IN al Washington
The so-called conference Of Gladstonian Men,
hers of the House of Commons at the Foreign
Office on Monday was conference in form only
II was very much such conference aS genefal
holds when he orders review OF his army. MI
Gladstone took command. His troops desired no
better Men like to be led, and the Gladstoniahs
will now get leading to their hearts content
The sections Of the party have had each their
day. The crotchets Of each have had some form
OF Parliamentary recognition. Bills have oeeh
introduced. They are now to be laid on tne
Parliamentary shelf, and Home Rule holds t'''
field That Us the net result OF the Foreign o"c
c.,cus-that and the coercion OF the House oi
Commons Everybody said ditto to MIR. Glad
stone Even Mr. LabUuchcre said ditto.
The exceptions TO the general shuntns oi other
than Home Rule bills will be the Registration
bill, for which the grand old electioneerins agent
Of this Kingdom expects a good half-mlihon o'
votes: the Parish Councils bill, which il to win