The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-02-20
KING EDWARD HINTS AT HOME RULE FOR IRELAND. MAKES POINTED REFERENCE IN HIS SPEECH TO PARLTA-
 MENT.

ALSO Announces Determination to
 Grant Constitutional Government to
 the TransvaaI--ChamberI fin Bril-
 liant Speech Attacks yhe Governmant
 Throws Down the Gauntlet Re-
 garding Home RuIe-PrOmises the
 Government Some Bad Moments on
 the Tariff Question.
 London, Feb. 19-The pointed refer ence to Ireland contained in King Ed- wards speech to the houses of parlia- ment to-day, coupled with the an- nouncement of the determination to grant constitutional government to thA Transvaal, brought these two questions immediately to the forefront in the de- bates in the house of lords and tte house of commons on the motions on the address in reply to the speech from the throne. In the house of lords the debate was almost perfunctory except where Lord Lansdowne, assuming his new role of leader of the opposition, pointed out certain dangers connected With the proposed changes and incl dentally commented on the Algeciras conference and the situation in Macedo- mia, warning the government of the possible difficulties arising in the near east unless Great Britain maintained a firm attitude.
 It was in the house of commons that the debate on the address became inter- esting when Joseph Chamberlain. in tbe absence of Former Premier Balfour. took the place of the leader of the op- position and in a brilliant and lengthy speech attacked the government on all points, and especially on it's South Afrd- can policy. He threw down the gaunt- let regarding home rule for Ireland. Regarding tariff reform MT. Chamber lain promised to give the government several bad quarter hours
 Mir Chamberlain speech undoubt- edly was the feature of the first day in tgthe house of commons. The small co- 1 terie of unionists took heart under his spirited leadership and his brilliant | thrusts and sarcasm were greeted with the heartiest oheers Even some of MT Chamberlain's opponents could not re- frain from according him the need of acclaim for his remarkable attack. Premier Campbell Bannernan's fs ply was lengthy and perfectly good humored, the speaker assuming that his position was one of such strength that he could afford to be generous.
 The reference to Ireland in the kings speech is received with mingled feel ings and some degree of doubt. The na, tionalists are non-commital and decline l to accept as more than possibility this seeming step toward home rule John 1 Redmond boldly announced that the nationalists would not be satisfied with anything short of complete self-govern- ment. On the other hand some of the less radical Irish members do not hesi- tate to say that the clause in the kings speech means modified form of home rule and intimate that MT. Red- mond would be satisfied with such a step, as it would surely guarantee home rule in the future
 The laborites profess themselves well pleased with the clauses in the king speeches affecting their special inter- ests. They do not intend to introduce an amendment. Indeed. 1t is probable that there will be fewer amendments offered than usual and that the regu- lar business of the session will com. mence earlier than it did in the pre- vious parliament