The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-07-09
Situation at Present is Brighter
Than For Some Time
Past.
Postponement of Part of Budget to
Winter Session is Advantage
For Redmond.
Addition of Birrell to Conference
Strengthens the Irish
Cause.

Redmond scored again last week
I have pointed out the difficulty of his
ference over the veto bill was pro.
ceeding and the veto struggle held
up for weeks.
Redmond once more was face to
face with the same perplexing situa-
ton as he was some months ago
namely, the impossibility of reconcil-
ing Ireland to the acceptance of the
budget unless Ireland was convinced
that q strenuous and hopeful cam
paign against the house of lords were
given as compensation.
With the veto guns silenced for the
moment by the conference and th:
budget, with no relief on the whiskey
tax, coming on Immediately, the sit
uation for some days CT last week was
decidedly menacing. If the govern
ment had insisted on proceeding
through all the stages of the budget
prolonged the conference and the
pause on the veto fight, Redmond
would have been Obliged to vote
against the budget and destroy the
--hadget-. and the. government -, --~---.
Such a step, though inevitable, must
also have brought some grave calam-
tiles, such as the postronement of the
fight against the lords, the. postpone
ment of home rule. the evaporation
of the Liberals, and, therefore, the
creation of two anti-Irish parties in
British politics instead of one.
There were, accordingly, many anx-
ious hours for Redmond during last
week. The situation now has enor..
mously cleared. Asquith's promise os
a winter session, coupled with a post
ponement of the later stages of the
budget to these sittings, leaves Red
mond master of the situation.
BY the time the Writer sittings be-
gin one of two things will have hap.
pened. Either the government and
the Tories will have agreed to a COM
will have broken up and the veto fight
once more will be raging with the old
fury.
Powers Hold by Redmond.
If the government makes a COM
promise hostile to home rule, Red
mond can defeat the budget and over
ment enters once mere into a cour-
ageous fight against the lords, Irish
opinion will back Redmond in swal-
lowing the budget, as Ireland's price
for real fight against the lords and
for home rule.
Though the prospects therefore are
now enormously brighter than last
week, Redmond's difficulties are not
entirely removed. Lloyd George made
an enormous blunder in yielding to
the clamor of the ultra-temperance
tax.
fine results, on the Irish whiskey
trade will be serious, though greatly
exaggerated, and O'Brien and Healy
will make this tax a weapon with
which to attack Redmond, but this
game was tried in the spring and
ended in hopeless failure and faction
is dying hourly in Ireland. Subscrip.
tions continue to roll in weekly in in (.
creasing volume.
O'Brien's insane speeches and his
open alliance with the Tories are driv-
ing the people from his ranks and
Healy is doomed in Louth. In addi-
tion the temperance movement in
Ireland has made such gigantic strides
in the last two years that the anti
whiskey sentiment will largely dis
count the sentiment AGAINST the whis-
key tax.
The conference situation is mysteri-
Gus and nebulous. The general i'm
preston is that it must end in a fail
{ ure This was reflected in the wide
spread rumor that the conference a.
ready had burst up.
Conference Will Be Hurried.
The result of all this pressure must