The sun., 1907-08-28
The Rupture Between Irish NatiOn-
alists and British Liberals.

On Monday Mr.. BIRRELL, Chief Secre-
tsry to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
announced that the Bannerman Govern
ment had decided to accept some of the
amendments TO the Evicted Tenants bill
made by the House of Lords as an alter
native to a total loss of the measure.
Thereupon Mr. JOHN +. REDMOND, after
pointing out the mischievous conse-
quences Of the decision, accused the
Government of breaking its promises to
the Irish people and declared that his
party must change its attitude as the
only means of securing proper land leg
islation. At the head of the Irish Ma
tionalist members he then left the House.
But one inference seems deducible from
the incident, namely, that the long alli-
ance between British Liberals and Irish
Nationalists is now broken.
That alliance has lasted more than
twenty-one years, having begun early in
1885, when Mr.. GLADSTONE announced
his conversion to home rule. During
the whole of that period Liberal Govern
ments have been able to count on the
support of about eighty Nationalist men,
bers Of Parliament in all divisions except
such as were thought to involve the in
terests of the Catholic religion. More
over, at all general elections Irish Ma
tionalist voters gave their votes to Lib
eral nominees in British counties and
boroughs, in not few of which they
were able to turn the scale. In this way
till
! deal of strength to the Liberal cause in
Great Britain itself, as well as arraying
four-ffths of their islands representa-
tives in its favor The magnitude OF the
obligation thus imposed has never been
disputed by any political manager nor
by any Liberal statesmen. save Lord
RosEBERY, Mr.. AsoUITH and few other
repudiators of the home rule pro-
gramme,
What have the Nationalists, success
sively guided by PARNELL, JUSTIN
MCCARTHY, DILLON and JOHN REDMOND,
gained for their country in return for the
immense services rendered to their Lib
eral allies? They cannot describe as
compensation the three Fs," for these
were embodied in the Gladstone Land
act of 1881, passed at the time when
home rule was denounced by the Liberal
leader. They have secured next to
nothing from the Liberals since 1885, for
both of the Home Rule bills introduced
by Mr. GLADSTONE failed to pass, and the
same thing must DO said Of the Evicted
Tenants bill in its original acceptable
form. The promise to provide funds
from the Imperial Treasury for an Irish
Catholic university which should be a
teaching as well as degree comforting
institution has not been kept. The in
tolerable congestion of many districts on
the western coast Of Ireland has not been
relieved. The odious system OF Castle
Government remains almost intact, the
changes recently proposed in it by the
present Liberal Government having been
rejected at the convention of the Irish
Nationalist party as inadequate, not TO
say lhisory. In short, II we review the
long account between Irish kationalists
and British Liberals we find almost all
Of the entries on one side. Not that Irish
men charge most Of the cminent Liberals
with deliberate perfdy. They trusted
Mr.. GLADSTONE in the last decade Of his
life; they trust Sir HENRY CAMPBELL
BANNERMAN to-day. Those Prime Min