New-York tribune., 1912-05-27
HOME RULE AMENDMENTS
Bill To Be Attacked on All Sides
in Committee.
FEDERAL PLAN ADVOCATED
Conservative Seek to Diminish
and Nationalists to Increase
Irish Parliament's Powers.

London. Nav 2s.-There have ALREADY
been handed to the clerk Of the House oi
Commons amendments to the Home Rule
bill that fIi twenty-eight closely printed
pages of the parliamentary orders OF tire
day. Most of them are in the names oi
Conservative members, and II would not
take the passage Of many Of them 10 make
the hill as useless as the paper II Is printed
on. The extreme Radical members, on the
other hand, aim at giving the Irish parlta-
ment more power and making It more demo
cratic while some Of their Npnconformist
colleagues would have clauses inserted e
sa afeRuard their fellow religlonists nj Ulster
With the exception Of Laurence GinneT
a Nationalist with independent leanings. the
Irish members have not vet tabled IN!
amendments Mr.. Ginnells amendment
would enlarge the powers Of the Irish par
lament. and. like those ot the Radicals
make II more democratic.
While months will be spent on the COM
mittee stage Of the hill. few Of the amend
ments will receive hearing The chair
man Of the committee has the power :"
choose the amendments that shall be COZ
sidered his decision, however. generally be-
ing made after consultation with the Lead
ere NJ all parties We're all those already
handed in discussed - would take moro
than the entire time of ono session ~ Par
lament 70 dispose Of them.
While most ~ the amendments prorcsel
hv Unionists aim a. DESTROYING tho h'l'
there are some that VIII doubtless receiv"
consideration as tending n improve ."
measure. II is strange N find two Union
st members. Viscount Castlereagh and Lord
Claud Hamilton. both sons Of peers VINO
have been Lord Lieutenants NJ ireland pro
posing the abolition ~ that Office and Sln
stitutlng secretarvship ~ state-a change
that has more often been associated WIN
Radical policy.
Several members would Ike n see me
bill submitted 10 the people NJ the uni'th
Kingdom before being ratified. or postponed
for four years. 2, until the government
has carried out the promised reconstitu-
tion Of the House of Lords. A sly slap IS
taken at r. ?. O'Connor by the suggesio'
~ one member that the Scotland division
oF Liverpool. which IS represented IN the
House Of Commons ny Mr.. O'Connor, whose
constituents arc almost all natives ~ the
sister isle. should for the purposes Of the
would have Ulster excluded from the op"t-
alton Of the bill. and some will propose that
II shall apply to England, Wales and Scot
land as well as 10 Ireland. thus bringing
about that federal home rule for which
some Conservatives have expressed a pref-
crcnce.
The second clause NJ tho hill which defines
the legislative powers Of tho Irish parlia-
ncnt with important limitations is attacked
on all sides II all the amendments 10 TINS
clause were carried the Irish parliament
would have nothing to do, for enough
T1ionist amendments have been tabled 70
take everything ont Of ifs hands.
Sir John Barren would give Ulster fonr-
teen members in the Senate and all the rest
of ireland twenty-six. The list a. present
closes with two amendments by Mr.. GIN
nell. in one OF which he would have the
bill declared a money bill the only klnd
~ bill that the Lords under the parlia-
r,eut act have not the power to delay OF
interfere with IN any manner. The speak
or alone has the power 50 n label bin
and thus there is not much chance ot the
suggestion being adopted.