The Irish standard., 1912-07-13
HOME RULE BILL
MOVING FORWARD
Premier's Defense of Irish Measure
Holds United Support of
Liberal Party.
Final Stage of the Fight Expected
to be Reached by the End
of November.
Tories Resorting to Desperate
Straits to Thwart Passage
of the Measure.


During the week the run of unin-
terrupted luck for the liberals and
Irish was succeeded by several mis-
haps. small, but perhaps destined to
make future trouble, writes 7. p.
O'Connor in the Chicago Tribune Of
July Z.
Some foolish Ulster nationalists in
sisted, in spite Of strong protests by
the national leaders, on holding a
meeting in an Orange region, and n
scrimmage in which some school
children were accidentally injured en-
sued. The Orange leaders exaggerat-
ed this small incident to gigantic pro-
portions and attacks on Catholics in
Belfast followed.
These incidents led to fierce scenes
in the house of commons, but on the
whole, the charge against the NATIONAL
lists was reduced to its true propor-
Catholic workmen and others in Bel
fast produced u reaction against the
Orange leaders and increased the in
dtgnation at their open appeals to
violence and lawlessness.
These accidents mark the despair
OF the tories of defeating home rule
in the house of commons, and their
last desperate bids have broken the
gamblers, but there is some danger
that such Incidents may increase the
extraordinary superstition of some ul-
tra-Protestant quarters in England
that Ulster means to produce civil
! war If home rule Is passed.
The Ulster men know that civil war
will simply mean attacks on the
Catholic houses and Catholic individ-
| uals, but all such occurrences will
produce a bad effect on the other side
Homo Rule Bill is Progressing.
| in the commons goes on with perfect
4 regularity. Premier Asquith answer
ing every attack on the bill with COM
manding logic and the divisions show
ing big liberal majorities.
The tories made vain attempt to
arrest the progress of the measure by
an effort to create a scene Of violence
and the expulsion of several Orange
members, but this frizzed.
now suspend till the beginning OF
the autumn sittings In October when
drastic closure rule will be proposed
| at once and the bill steadily kept al
| till it has passed the final stage on
/ the end of November.
| Great preparations have been made
to give Asquith a splendid popular re-
ception in Dublin next week with q
torch light procession and welcome by
every nationalist mayor in Ireland
and ample precautions have been TAX
en- against repetition of the ridicu-
lous attempts of the suffragettes tc
insult the premier.
The most serious mishap this weel
was the breach between the liberals
and laborites which was chiefly due tc
+! the claim of the liberals to take the
| constituency of Hanley recently va
Gated by Enoch Edwards, the great
miners leader After some attempt
at reconciliation the local liberal in.
sisted on having a contest and in ths
three-cornered fight the tory may bt
elected.
However, the liberal leaders take
the situation philosophically. The
laborites pushed things too far re-
Gently in putting up a third candidate
in a liberal constituency in York.
shire. Keir Hardie actually recon.
mended that the working men vote fol
the tory candidate with the result
that 1000 workmen voted for the tory
and enormously reduced the majority
OF Colonel Seeley, the new war min.
lister.
i Another disquieting item is the
pushing forward of the strong new
land reform movement by some o.
the single takers, which the wealth,
liberals resent. 1t Is reported alst
that there is some friction in the cab
met. This refers to Winston Chur
chills demands for enormous add