Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1902-05-22
CAPT, MAHAN And HOME RULE


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| African wars, glorities Mr.. Chamber
lain, and deprecates Mr.. Gladstone S
memory, his works and ways. l am
concerned here to deal only with one
of his themes-one thread of argument
that runs through from beginning to
end the assumption that Gladstonian
home rule sin principle involved the
dissolution of the empire. One OF
| the motives he sets forth as leading
to the present imperial wave of thought
on both sides OF the Atlantic is the
vista of disruption Mr.. Gladstone s
proposals opened up to clear-sighted
men, more especially to Mr.. Chamber
lain. Mr.. Gladstone at length overdid
himself; the breakup OF the British
empire appeared possible.
! have before me Mr.. Gladstone
Government of ireland" bills of 1856
and 1893 In neither of them are any
clauses implying separation. The I'M
| perial Parliament retained its right to
legislate for Ireland when it thought
fit, and all laws passed by the Irish
Parliament were subject to approval
by the Grown, advised by the British
| Ministry. Ireland was to have no
power to legislate concerning the
Crown; peace or war; militia, volun-
teers, or other military or naval forces,
or the defence OF the realm; foreign
relations. dignities Of honor, offences
against the law OF nations; treason,
allenage, or naturallIationi trade,
navigation, or. quarantine;, postal or
telegraph service, other than trans
mission OF letters In ireland; light
houses. bnoys, or oeacons; coinage
and weights and measures; copyright
| and Datpnt Laws. pstnl,l c n mani mr. an
dowment of eligion; imposing dis
abilities or comforting privileges on
account OF religious belief; imFalFing
the rights of existing corporations,
grants, or charters. These bllls OF lSo6
and 1873 we're in succession accepted
by ireland as settlement Of the Irish
question. How could the relations Of
country with powers so circum-
scrlbed TO tine empire oil which IL was
to continue TART be considered oil a
more separatlst tendency than the re-
lations your States bear to the Union,
the Canadian provinces to the
Dominion, or the Australian colonies
TO the Commonwealth! What possible
analogy rs there between such proposed
nome rule ana she effort Of the Southern
Confederacy to separate itself from your
Union? Looking forward, Capt. Mahan
writes: the United Kingdom, tho
| Dominion OF Canada, the Australian
Commonwealth, New Zealand, and the
| group OF South African colonies
would be the principal pallars of the
Confederated Empire. If Canada,
| Australia. and South Africa, with
subsidiary Paliaments, would stand
| pillars, why should not the United
Kingdom? As regards the question
Of Federal Union, the United
States has been the first to find its
solution. Why should not the solution
be applied to the case of Great Britain
and of lrelandg Capt. Mahan is right
in saying, The ambition of Irish
| Separatists, if realized, would be even
more threatening to the national life
of Great Britain than the secession of
the South was to that of the American
| Union. True; but neither O'Connell
nor Butt, nor Parnell, nor MacCarthy,
nor Dillon, nor Redmond, nor the
parties they led or lead, worked or
work for such separation. | have had
intimate personal relations with and
have been admitted to the councils of
all but the first named, and could
never detect in any of them aught but
a sincere desire for an honorable under
standing with England on the basis of
a real union. Let each member of
the empire CONSIDER" says Capt.
Mahan, "for instance, what it would
mean for the general welfare to have
an independent and hostile ireland
lying across the access to Great Britain
of the outer world. " We home rulers
are not working towards that end.
In any country situated as is Ireland,
there would naturally be found those
hopeless of accommodation, who sought
with however slender hopes of success
the humiliation or destruction of the
power that kept them weak and
miserable. In any such country, the ma
jority would feel profoundly alienated
The existence Of such feelings is, in
truth, an argument for rather than
against home rule. Canada and
Australia were accorded free insti.
buttons, not because they were we'll
affected, but because they were or had
been in rebellion. ! am not here
arguing the home-rule question, or
seeking to give reasons why many be-
lieve separation would be better than
the present arrangement, or why the
vast majority of us believe that n
home rule settlement would be the
best of all. simply desire, as | have
said, to traverse Capt Mahan's
assumption that Mr. Gladstone's home
rule meant separation. AS, in 1886,
and again in 1893, the prospect OF
home rule made the bitterest speakers
and writer's against England her
warmest friends, and silenced all talk
of separation, so the proposal of such
legislation would again ITO under
stand is to pardon. =" We have under.
stood, and pardoned, aye, and loved,
those who in the past have desperately