The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-04-08
sALFouR NEAR FALL,
IRELAND THE GAMER
Approaching General Election Nav
Give NationaIists Whip Hand in

! Commons.
10y waiter Wellman in the True
Witness)
mat home rule for Ireland in one
form or another, is only DELAYED bv tbe
recent furry in British politics and the
IesigHatlon of Mr.. Wyndham the chief
secretary fors Ireland. is the oninio1 ~
| Heli informed men who have lust con,e
from London and Dublin. In fact II
| IS believed the downfall of Mr. WIND
nam, and the circumstances attapd-
ing MS retirement, may hasten the
coming of the day when the English
pdfliament confers upon the peopIe of
| ireland the simple justice and decencv
! HINolVed IN an extension of self gov
erlineht among them
a gentleman now in Washington and
t.aIL ,aIiiiiiaF with all that is going on be-
hlhd the scenes in London nredicts
that the forthcoming general eIectionS
III the United Kingdom, which cannot
now long be deferred. are likely TO-
nihge more upon the question of irish
9oine rule than upon Mr. Chambrlain,s
llScaI polcy. There are Indications
mat the. Balfour government cannot
hoid out much longer, and when disso-
lutlon of parliament comes the clever
lrls1 nauonaliSts are sure To get an
other opportunity TO play good politics
and advance the home rule cause
According TO this authority Mr.
Chamberlain now has it within his
power to force the Balfour government
10 the wall, but that he is for the
present disinclined to do so on account
OF his fear that if the ministry falls
nome rule and not his protection ideas
VIII form the chief issue before the
electorate. The Irish party now holds
colgn of vantage of which it may be
expected under the brilliant leadership
of John Redmond to make the most as
events develop.
1t is not at all improbable that after
the government has gone to the coun-
try and the smoke of battle has
cleared away, it viii be found that the
Irish nationalists hold the balance Of
power in the commons. They come
very near it now, and when they have
actually arrived at a position in which
they have power to dictate, one may
be sure that home rule Will be the price
OF their support. Until, recently their
strongest hope of securing genuine re-
form in Ireland has been through the |
Gnionist party. Now, it seems, they !
are Tree lances ready to cast I'm their |
lot with any organization which will |
assure them the most for their votes.
The Irish representatives and the |
irish people are a good deal out of |
patience with Mr.. Balfour and his as
sociates. who threw over Mr.. Wynd- |
aam and tried to discredit Sir Antony |
the under secretary, at
he behest of small number of kick
4rs" from Ulster. One does not need |
o bean Irishman, nor a Catholic, but
leeds merely to have sympathy with
he Irish people as a whole and with
heir aspirations to getter govern
nent and a government of their own
making, to feel the utmost contempt
or a government that would sacrifice
minister like Mr.. Wyndham and aim
o make a scapegoat of an official like
1acDonnell in order to retain a few
-otes and to stave off for a few more
1eeks or months the inevitable down
all.
1t is fair and pertinent for the writer (
0 disclose here some facts having an !
Important bearing upon the situation
nd which are within his personal !
A little more than two
ears ago Sir Antony MacDonnell ac-
apted the under secretaryship for Ire
md at the earnest solicitation of Mr..
alfour and Mr.. Wyndham, supple {
rented by the urgings of King Edward
nd of Lord Lansdowne. The last
AIMED had known Sir Antony in India,
nd had been familiar with the great
ork the really great Irishman had
one there. Before accepting office and
icurring all the risks that proverbial- /
go along with it. MacDonnell sought
frank understanding with his supe-
ors. He proclaimed himself a home c
Her, in that sense a nationalist,
atholic, and an advocate of Ireland,
S land and its government for the
ish. On this basis he took office. G
Shortly afterward your correspondent
as in London and Dublin inyestigat-
g the Irish question. 1t can do no n
trm to anyone now to state that dur
g long conversations with Mr. Wynd- S
I'm and Sir Antony MacDonnell he
as Informed that it was the purpose
: the ministry to press the land law, V
Id after the land law was achieved
press for some form Of home rule
r the Irish people. There was doubt
the time as TO just what form home
le would ultimately take. Various ii
ojects were under discussion But A