The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-09
CAUGHT I'm THEIR OWN NET.

The retributfons of political warfare
are not so fnfrequent as one might
| think. Leaders and parties who wor-
snip expediency, and whose idea of pol
ICY Is to do the thing that seems most
profitable at the moment. almost al
ways find their own actions rise nm
TO confront and paraIyze them a little
iater on. case in point is the fate of
the Irish land bill in the English house
or lords, and the hopeless embarrass-
ment in which this has involved the
Tory government It was in opposition
to measure for justice to Ireland that
this government came into power. It
was In the house of lords that it made
Its great stand against home rule for
the Irish people, and secured the de-
feat Of the life labors of some of Brit
| aims greatest statesmen. No ono can
nave forgotten the extraordinary dem
onstration that was made when the
Tory peers, who had not been seen In
the house of lords for years. were
driven up in herds, like their own cat
tie, by Salisbury's Heutenants TO record
an overwhelming vote against the
nome rule bill that had passed the
house of commons. There the opposf-
ton made it's stand, and there If
wrought the defeat Of the Gladstone
ministry, which had no other recourse
than to appeal to the country against
the decision Of the peers. The ,rpner
house was sustained by the electors.
The Tory party came back into power
by virtue of the action of the fouse of
lords. 1t has it's big majority and feels
itself intrenched securely for a dozen
years to come
AND now 1t runs up against the same
contemptuous obstruction that II raised
against its political opponents. The
landlord interest in the English house
OF peers Is the most selfish and dom
ineering in the civilized world. 1t recks
little of parties, policies or Justice Tt
means to take care Of its own. It pro-
poses that the titled aristocracy. that
hold in fee SO large a portion of the
soil Of Ireland, shall be protected
peasantry. 1t has reformed one clause
of this bill so as to read that all inn
provements on land shall be presumed
to be made by the landlord. 1t changed
other clauses against the reruor-
strances of the government itself and
SO emasculated the bin that It VIII
have to be dropped entirely.
Thus Is the Tory party caught In the
tolls of its own net. The same reck-
less disregard of right and Justice the
same prejudice of the landhoIding as
against the land-cultivating class. to
which it appealed to put the Liberals
out of power and prevent the passage
OF home rule, is now raised against n
while endeavoring to carry out a poI-
ley that would pacify the people of Ire
land and remedy some of their COM
plants. We can rest well assured that
any bill which receives the sanction Of
the Salisburys and the Balfeurs and
the other gentry who have fought ire
land for years does not lean too rnrrcf,
to the Irish side. Yet even what they
are willing to eoncede is too much for
their lerdships, who exercise their her
editary right to perpetuate a notorious
hereditary wrong
The Tory party, like that which It
succeeded, has been defeated by a hos
tile majority in the upper house. It
will not, probably, therefore, re-
linquish it's power or appeal to
the country. But it has felt
the check and the CALLING restraint
of that same element of reckless injus-
tice and greed of power that 1t raised