The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-20
HOME RULE MAY
 CAUSE ELECTION Indicated Liberals Are Con-
 templating an Appeal ABOUT FIRST OF YEAR Now Planned to Dish Ulster Opposi-
ABOUT FIRST OF YEAR
Now Planned to Dish Ulster Opposi- ton and Compel Speedy Passage by the House of Lords.
 Leaders Confident

Dublin. October 1s.-(Special. )-Ulster's great week has come and gone and Ire land and England, too, for that matter, .is convinced of what 1t knew before that a considerable proportion of the population of four counties in the north east. of Ireland is strongly opposed to home rule. There is, however one poss- bIe result of the Ulster demonstrations which has not been much noticed, but which may De heard more of when Parlia- ment reassembles next week.
 There is no concealng the fact that the liberal government, with the best de- sire in the world to carry out it's prom
 ise to pass the home rule bill at this session of Parliament, does not take kindly to the dlea of using British troops to coerce the Ulster unionists and the leaders of the Ulstermen themselves, Sir
 Edward Carson r. B. Smith and others, have shown them way out
 Careful students of the wording of the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant will have noticed that It does not pledge the signers to resist home rule under any circumstances, but only the present con spiracy?' This has been amplified by
 Bonar Law, the unionist leader, who has declared that if the British voters de- clared in favor of home rule at a gen. eral election, much as he dislilSed it. he would feel bound to accept 1t. Even Sir Edward Carson himself, fresh from the
 Belfast demonstration, used these highly significant words at Lfverpool T say to my nationalist fellow coun- trymen that if they want home rule with the assent of Ulster they must win 1t by creating confidence and. by showing that their interests are identical"
 On top of all this there Is the present
 position of the liberal government In England. It has been losing at the bye elections and a good many of it's sup porters in the House of Commons are growing luxewarm. The leaders are be- ginning to feel that If they remain in office too long without fresh appeal to the electors they may not be able to
 win when the time does come Several liberal ministers in their speeches and liberal journalists in their papers have
 been flying kites" in the last few days to see how the wind is blowing and the impression Is growing that general elec-
 tion early next year, with home rule as the leading issue, would be good poli- tics.
 Of course there is the Irish party to be reckoned with. Asquith has pledged him. self to John Redmond that he will pass home rule into law in the life of the present Parliament, and 1t is within his
 
 so, however, he may wreck his party. It is said that he Is confident that he can win home rule election, and if he can. everything is in favor of his taking this course. John Redmond would be in an even stronger position if the opposition of Ulster were scotched in this way and 1t Is possible that a years time might be saved by taking the risk of an cleo i ton. ts4- 4
 l If the home rule bill is passed now | by the Commons it will undoubtedly be hung up by the Lords for two years. If | it is passed after the voters of England | have declared in its favor it Is quite | possible that the Lords may decide that l 1t Is wiser to let it through at once. Of course the risk is a great one, but astute liberal politicians think that the | first half of next year will be as favor able a time as they could select for the campaign By that time the opposition I to the insurance act, which has lost the government a couple of bye-elections, will have worn itself out and the act will have become an electioneerlng asset. for on January 1 next the poor will begin to receive the benefits of it. Then Lloyd Georges new tax the land" campaign will be in full swing and can be counted on to bring in a lot of votes.
 1 The biggest argument of all will be, Let us get rid of the Irish" The Eng | lSn DtOpie are lHOiouBHly slch ol Sttli6 I their social reforms and other necessary | legislation held up by the everlasting Irish question, in which they have ceased to | take any interest, so that this appeal will be an effective one. Many thousands of | Englishmen who don't care button whether Ireland sinks or swims will vote l liberal because the liberals promise to
 clear the Irish out of the way by giving l them what they want.
 | A notable feature in the situation, which has encouraged the government, | is the flat failure of Listers appeal to 1 English religious bigotry Gladstone s home rule bill was defeated by the Eng ! fish non-conformis&s who were reused to fury by the No Popery' cry of the Ulster Orangemen This year the Orange men have beaten the No Popery'' drum | harder than ever but they haven't suc-
 ceeded in causing single shudder in
 England, where the fear of the Pope l has died a natural death.
 In this connection it may be worth while telling an old story which has been revamped and fathered on Sir Edward Carson. I will tell the Carson version, which is located at Portadown when he arrived there for the great demonstra- | ton.
 As he emerged from the railway station l a burly Orangeman rushed up to him and grasping his hand exclaimed; God bless you, Sir Edward. I'm proud l to meet you. To hell with the Pope!' You mustn't say that" Sir Edward is reported to have replied. The Pope isn't of our faith, but he is a good man who spends his life in acts of kindness and charity"
 Aye, he may be all you say" was the
 orangeman.s reply; but he has a very bad reputation in Portadown.'