The San Francisco call., 1909-10-11

How do they attempt 10 JUSTLY
campaign to perpetuate system OF
government which is so universally
condemned, and whose sole functioh -
to make paramount the VIII OF the
minority? They present no argument
except that it would be unfair 10 the
minority to give the majority fair rep
resentation: that the "loyalists woulo
be oppressed by the majority. and an
era of religious discrimination and Ter
secution opened
One can not but marvel at the frank-
ness of this attitude. Having forcioiy
held minority rule for some 800 years.
and having clung as long as they could
to legal discrimination on religious
grounds, ard maintaining today strict
religious test, not only in affairs OF
government, but in professional ano
commercial activities. they complain
bitterly that government upon fairly
representative basis will infiict upon
them their own policies.
If what they say were true. who Will
say that selfish rule by a majority is
worse than selfish rule by minority
ttmorous supporters of the oligarcny
| to fear? How much force is there IN
the plea that home rule would mean
| reversal of the process OF polttlcal z NJ
religious oppression? There is eVl-
dence upon which to base judgment
In 1898 was passed an act CONFER
| ring on the Irish people selr-goVerh-
ment in local affairS-wtth the excep-
| tion of the judiciary and the ponce
Previous to that time public business IN
each county was in the hands OF
grand jury appointed by the sheriff
! that is, by Dublin castle. This oooy'
made I'D of men wholly unsympathetlc
10 most of the people. fixed the tax rate
and conducted all local affairs. having
sweeping administrative as well as 1u-
diciaI functions.
Under the act of 1898 the grand
| iuries were restricted to such powers
as they have in this country. Local
administration passed into the control
of elected county councils. There are
| 33 of these and 302 urban and rural
| district councils, besides city councils
| in Dublin, Belfast, Londonderry, Cork.
Limerick and Waterford. All of these
| bodies are elected on broad franchise,
| including women. Their operations are
supervised by the local government
board one of the departments Of Dublin
castle.
The change from the old system. OBJ
viously was revolutionary. 1t was the
establishment OF democracy - home
rule-in local affairs. By the elections
nationalist authority has been placed
| in charge of the public business OF q
of the 50 counties. The people OF ma
tionalist Ireland and the people Of the
| irreconcilable part of Ulster elect and
control men of their own choice.
Needless to say. the proposal to
grant such a measure of self-gov ern-
| y Har hx-k khr,Y
dictionary element. The great mass Of
the people, it was said, were quite unfit
| for the responsibilities OF managing
public affairs. Once the majority OBJ
| tanned the rights of free citizens they
would start the country on the road to
ruin by their tendencies toward ex-
travagance and corruption and their
mad desire to exterminate the minority.
Never were prophecies of gloom more
picturesquely made ridiculous by
events. For IL years Ireland has had
home rule in local affairs. and the testi-
sternly critical local government board
and of unionist leaders. is that
the new order of things is triumphant
success. Conduct of the local bodies
is not to be sure, the pink OF perfec-
tion; here and there time is wasted in
acrimonious discussions and in anti
English demonstrations But there has
no oppression or persecution and there
has been real capacity for economical
and efficient government.
Now this is important Granting to
Ireland self-government in local affairs
was to be test of the ability of the
people to manage the larger activities
of national government
What has been the outcome? The
strongest testimony. naturally, must be
that of the local government boards
which has supervisory powers over the
county councils and other local bodies,
and which is thoroughly unionist in its
sympathies. being one of the depart
ments Of Dublin castle. At the end Of
the first years trial of local self
government, in its report for 1900, this
body said:
THE predictions of those who af
firmed that the new local bodies in
trusted with the administration of a
complex system of county government
would inevitably break down have
certainly not been verified On the
contrary. the county and district
councils have, with few exceptions.
properly discharged the statutory
duties devolving upon them"
After another years trial the hoard
reported, in 1901:
Our further experience enables US
to confirm the statement In our last
report as to the satisfactory manner
IN winch III QuLleS OF the county
councils and rural district councils
have been discharged"
In 1902 the board had this to say:
The term OF office of the first county
councils and rural district councils.
on whom. with their officers, rests the
credit of having successfully assisted
in carrying the locaI government act
| into operation. expired in June. and
the new councils. with the experience
OF the last three years, will no doubt
endeavor TO bring the system into a
state of even greater efficiency.
Attention has been directed to GER
tain political differences. which have
been introduced by some of the smaller
bodies into their ordinary business
transactions. with reference to the ap-
pointment OF officers and the giving of
contracts. but 1t is only fair TO state
that these cases have been quite the
exception, and not the rule; they have
been promptly dealt with. and we feel
confident that the conduct OF their af-
fairs by the various LOCAL authorities
and their officials will continue 10 JUS
tify the delegation to them OF the
large powers transferred to their con-
troll by the local government acts"
In 1908 the report was virtually the
same: since that date find no general
comment upon the work OF the local