The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-11-22
only way out of the confronting diff


accept such solution of the 1risl
problem. Even We're the House OF
Commons to send Home Rule bill tt
the lords, the country would be ''as il
1856 and 1892, only more So There
fore decline simply to repeat history
am against the production of politi
cal chaos, which can only result i'll the
return to power for many years of tho
reactionaries Of English politics-ot
the men who would interfere With free
trade, install clericalism in the schools
and repeal Mr.. Gladstone's Land Act
Of 1881. What, then, is to be done:
The Irish are eighty strong in the
House of Commons. They control
more or less dccisively, at least twenty
seats in Great Britain. They intll.
enceas many more. No Liberal gov.
eminent can ever in our day hope to
be wholly independent of such a
power. And the issue to be tried out
is, in my opinion, simply this-"Can q
Via Media be found?' Is there a
middle way which the Liberal Party
can, tread without sacrifice of con
viction? Can there be an alliance be-
tween British Liberals and the Irish
Party outside the question of Home
Rule-which will enable the British
Liberals to secure great and CLAIMANT
British reforms-:nd assure the settle
ment of those Irish problems which
are urgent and pressing? 1t is be.
cause L believe this middle way can be
found that l am here tonight. In
short, l am here to show what "can
be done for Ireland" without deciding
or even raising the great but hitherto
fatal issue of Home Rule. | am here
to PROFOUND policy for Ireland
which the Liberal Party can adopt,
and which, if they fail to do so, will,
in due time, be adopted by their OPP
ponentS. And my first proposal is to
adjourn the case of Home Rule, as we
say in Ireland. without prejudice.
do not ask any Home Ruler, British or
Irish, to give up one scrap of his
opinion. Nor do | ask any UnioniSt
to part with the convictions as to the
sanctity of the act of union. These
opinions and convictions on both sides
are honestly. strongly, and sincerely
held. But the question is; clearly not
ripe for solution. Any attempt to
force it to the front must inevitably
result in it, and other valuable re-
forms, being rclegated to the rear
Let us. then, look round and see what
is CLAIMANT and urgent in Irish affairs
Let us grapple with and settle these
questions. II after these living issues
have been disposed of. tho Home Rule
problem still conlronts us--thcn it can
be faced outright and without any
complications. My opinion is. ana al
ways has been. that with land and
education satisfactorily settled. with
Castle administration controlled, and
Irish opinion fairly recognized Mt
Westminster and in Ireland, the de-
mand for National legislature would
lose much. if not the WHOLE of IFS
force. Should it prove to be other
wise-should my diagnosis of the sit
uation turn out to be altogether
wrOng-tllcn this can be saih-viz.,
hp ,hnt i., III ,l
have lost half its terrors to many of
q those who. like myself, have opposed
1t in the past. With the settlement of
land and education the question could
be approached in a very different spirit
to that which it has reused in the
past. These being my views. now
ask-What are the urgent and claimant
issues in Ireland-the dealing with
which ought to form policy for any
government DESTROYS of doing right,
DESTROYS of securing peace and pros
perity In Ireland? dublin Castle"
Mr.. Morley once said, and with per-
feet accuracy, sis an excellent institu-
ton for governing Il country against
the will of the people," What we
have to deal with today is. in effect.
a system of administration stepped in
the worst prciudices. hostile to the
whole spirit Of the people--with ig-
norant and conccited Englishmen ut
it's head. 1t has it's other side equally
odious and baleful. Around the sham
court of the viceroy revolve the whole
forces of lnndlOrdsm and otlicialdom,
plus the flunkeydom and sycophancy
which Il country governed as Ireland
is governed breeds in profusion. All
these forces arc hostile to the spirit
of the nation" Judges, officials, ex-
pectants, they are alike at war with
the aspirations of the people. They
constitute Il great army of national
scouts whose arms are turned against
the country which gave them birth,
and out of whose taxes they wax fat
and kick. L know nothing more con-
temptible in the whole world of fact
or fiction than the Castle system. 1t
has ruined the Irish bar, the glory of
which, in more senses than one, is i,
thing of the past. 1t has filled the
bench with men who, whatever they
may be, are, with one or two glorious
exceptions, poor substitutes of the
great men gone-the Bushes, the Plum
kets, the Whitesides and Sulliyans Of