The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1912-03-21
And 1t Will Not Be In
troduced Until after
Easter.

AaSkNls
LONDON. Mar. 1.-THE Irish Home
Rule Bal is not to be introduced in
the House OF Commons before Easter.
Thus far the members Of the min
istry have kept the secret as to the
details of the bill entirely to them
selves. unless perhaps the Nationalist
leaders have been given q hint as to
how far the government is prepared
to go. Mr.. Churchill delivered a long
speech in Belfast without letting very
much out and he has been followed
by Mr.. Blrrell, the Irish secretary,
who has said even less. He, however,
did tell the country that the bill was
to be introduced by Mr.. Asquith, the
premier in this respect following the
example II William Ewart Gladstone,
who personally introduced both his
Home Rule Bilis. and that "this was
proper, as the bill was no department.
al measure, but an important and an
authoritative act of the whole Liberal
party"
The preamble or first clause will
set forth that the bill sets up on Irish
soil an Irish Parliament, House o:
Commons and Senate, with legIsla-
tive authority over the whole range
of purely Irish domestic affairs. This
was hardly news. What the people
have been asking is what safeguards
have been inserted to protect theI
Protestant minority in Ulster, and
more particularly what are to be the
financial arrangements. The ministers
have assured the Obstetrics that the
safeguards against religious intoler-
ance will be sufficient without hav-
ing as yet stopped the agitation
against the bill in Belfast and the
surrounding country. However. this
will not be the governments greatest
difficulty, for the non-conformists in
England are not giving their fellow
religionists in Ireland the same sup
port that they did in previous Home
Rule campaigns.
What will trouble the ministers are
the financial arrangements. Nation
alist members speaking in Ireland
lately have been demanding full fiscal
a demand that the govern
ment can hardly grant and refusal
OF which might cause the bill TO be
rejected by the Dublin conventIno, as
was the Irish Councils Bill. The gov
eminent might grant the control OF
excise or inland revenue, but to hand
over the control of the customs would
be to court the opposition of some OF
their own English and Scotch free
trade supporters. 1t has been sug-
gested that way might be found out
of the difficulty by introducing pro-
vision that complete free trade should
be continued between the two count
r!es and by giving the Irish parlla-
mentthe power of varying the rates
of customs duties on foreign imports,
while Withholding the power to vary
the articles on which duty is now
levied. If the demands of ireland as
to financial arrangements are not
Mr.. Redmond might pre-
fer to oppose the bill before submits
Ing 1t to the convention.
Besides the alleged unfairness Of
placing Postmaster Ulster un-
der a government which, by the ma
ture of things, would be largely made
up of Roman Catholics, the Unionlsts
are fighting the government on the
finances. They point out that the
trade of Ireland has increased enor-
mously in recent years and that now
England gets very appreciate por-
ton of her food supplies from the
sister isle. So long as ireland re-
mains IN the Union no enemy could
stop that supply. on which England's
very life might depend-no enemy.
that is, except an unfriendly govern