The Irish standard., 1908-05-09
| CHANG: OF MINISTERS
What the Dublin Freeman Has
to Say Of Mr.. Asqnith,
Successor ofthe Late Sir Henry
Campbell -Bannerman.

Tor Biarritz, after he had made formal
announcement to the House of Com
mons Of the resignation of its leader.
says the Dublin Freeman.
The speeches of the leaders Of the
English parties on the occasion had
something more than the usual warmth
about them. They scarcely touched
upon Sir Henry Campbell -Bannerman's
services to the State. 1t was not the
occasion, as Mr.. Asquith said. But
both leaders dwelt upon the human
qualities of the man. In the long an
nails of their history, Mr.. Asquith said.
there was no man who. after long years
spent in the thick of party contention,
ever laid down the highest Office of the
Crown more universally or more de-
servedly beloved. With that encomium
Mr.. Balfour associated himself to 1.-The
very fullest extent" Mr. Redmond had
something more to say. He was think
ing not so much Of the personal ques-
tion, though as one brought into con-
tact with Sir Henry Campbell Banner
man, Mr.. Redmond felt the attraction
Of his personal qualities and supreme
good nature. But the loss of friend
to the Irish cause was uppermost in
his mind. 1t is a loss, Mr.. Redmond
said, second only to that when Mr..
Gladstone retired from the Premier
ship. I'VE have always regarded him
as consistent, brave and honorable
friend of Ireland and our cause,' said
the leader Of the Irish party, and Sir
Henry Campbell- -Bannerman justified
that regard. Time was when the
Unionist used to sneer at the speed and
the ease with which the retiring Prime
Minister found salvation" on the
Irish question. to use his own homely
phrase. Certainly, he did not sin
against the grace. or fail in persever-
ance. The truth, probably, was that
the forward move Of his old leader
merely accorded with the conviction
he had already formed from his brief
experience of Dublin Castle. There was
never a Chief Secretary that showed
less disposition to stand over the mis-
deeds of Irish ofticialism. He found
aimed by the Irish party against the
Castle system. and the law officer Of
the day had Il busy time in giving an
swers that the Chief Secretary de-
volved upon his colleague. The defeat
of the Gladstone government in 1886
deprived him of the opportunity of de-
veloping any remarkable measures of
Irish reform; but it is worth remem-
bering now. after all the ground that
has been covered since, that his pro-
gram included the first proposal for the
compulsory acquisition of sites for la
borer's cottages, a measure of land
purchase and a commission of inquiry
into the means of developing Irish in
dustries. He was certainly abreast Of
his time in those days, and he never
said that the discovery which helped
to make a Home Ruler of him was
the extent to which the Irish judiciary
interfered in politics and with admin
istration. While shrewd subordinate
of the time declared that no English
man in the Chief Secretary's Office
ever saw more completely through the
shams of the bureaucracy.
Mr.. Redmond's recurrence to the loss
of Mr.. Gladstone was in the circum-
stances inevitable. The disappearance
Of SO staunch Home Ruler from the
head Of the government is not the only
incident of the crisis that suggests the
reference. The new prime minister
comes from the same wing Of the party
as Mr.. Gladstone's successor emerged
from, and the coincidence is calculated
to cause misgivings among the friends
Of Ireland. 1t is true that Mr.. Asquith
has never gone the length that Lord
Rosebery has gone in recantation Of his
14OI.iC Is Stlll d pro.
fessed Home Ruler, and one who made
open profession of his Home Rule con-
victions even after Lord Roseberys
recreancy. But he was one Of the group
that substituted Wyndhamism for
Gladstonianism on the Liberal program,
at the last election as the measure OF
the Immediately practicable in Ireland
That disablement in advance of the
Liberal majority has had evil conse-
quences for Ireland. Naturally, there
fore, the succession of Mr. Asuuith Is
not misgiving among 1rishmen. Now
party, it is clearly urgent that the work
are Irish Nationalists the only group
of progressive politicians whose enthu-
siasm is somewhat chilled by the
change, and who are anxious to obtain
security against its possible conse-
quences. = The Manchester Guardian
which describes Sir Henry Campbell.