New-York tribune., 1912-02-23
LIMITATIONS OF HOME RULE


The complete text Of Mr.. Winston
Churchill's much heralded Home Rule
speech at Belfast discloses a remarkable
difference between what we must regard
as the authentic Home Rule programme
. Of to-day and that of Parnell's time.
Thirty years ago, 1t will be remembered,
the sine qua non of Nationalist demands
was that the last link which bound Ire
land to the British crown must be
broken and that Ireland must become an
independent nation, entirely removed
from any control OF the Parliament at
Westminster. Within the last year or
! two, moreover, the most authoritative
Irish leaders have declared that they
have not abated one jot or little Of the
demands which were made by Parnell.
Yet what did Mr.. Winston Churchill
say, speaking doubtless with full minis
terial authority and with Mr.. John Red
mOnd at his side asserting to his re-
marks?
He declared explicitly that the British
crown would be able to refuse assent to
an unjust bill and that the Parliament
at Westminster would be able TO repeal
such a bill or TO enact another in It's
place-the Obvious implication being that
the British crown and Parliament would
be the sole judges Of the justice of Irish
legislation: that the British Priyy Coun-
Gil would be able TO declare void any
act which-presumably in its opinion
transgressed the limits prescribed in the
Home Rule act, and that the power Of
the imperial Parliament to interfere was
unquestioned in law and In fact After
this revelation Of the limits of Home
Rule 1t was not surprising to hear the
speaker add: 'The separation Of Ireland
from Great Britain is absolutely i'm.
possible"
1t may be that the Home Rule plan
thus delineated by Mr.. Winston Church
i'll and apparently accepted and approved
by Mr.. John Redmond is wiser than that
which was contemplated by Parnell and
that 1t ought not to meet with the stren-
uous opposition in England which was
directed against the Gladstonian meas
ures. But the change from those former
measures and from the very generally
expressed expectations and ambitions OF
the aggressive propagandists of Home
Rule for the last thirtSeodd years is so
great and radical as TO suggest grave
doubts of the acceptability of the present
proposals to those who have been cher
ishing the ideal Of an independent Irish
nation among the sovereign nations of
the world; and since these latter are
those who have most agltated the mat
ter and have contributed most aggres-
sively to the Home Rule campaign, the
question inevitably arises whether the
enactment of the measure described by
Mr.. Winston Churchill would satisfy
them and put an end to their agitation.
If it would, well and good but If not.
the "Trish question" might be as far from
settlement as ever.
There is another equally pertinent con-
sideration- The Irish now resent the ex-
ercise of English control over their af-
fairs and the making of Irish laws by
Englishmell at Westminster But when
an English Priyy Council began an
nulling the laws which had been made
by the Irish Parliament at Dublin and
an English Parliament enacted other
laws IN their place would not Irish re-
sentiment be still more keen? III the
] British government Is, as Mr.. Winston