The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-16
HOME RULE ISSUE
IS OVERSHADOWED
English Voters No Longer
Deceived by Cry of the
Unionist Leaders.
BROAD VIEW is TAKEN
Conviction Grows That Land
Question Is Nations Great
Social Problem.
BROAD VIEW is TAKEN
By PHILLIP EVERETT,


LONDON, Nov. lin spite Of the
strenuous efforts of the Unionist leaders
to stir up feeling against the govern
ment on the home rule question, nobody
can fail to see that the great ma jority
Of English voters do not care tho least
about home rule or Ulster, except in
as far as they would like TO see the
Irish question out Of the way, that the
government may be able to take up
the great social problems which must
be solved in the very near future in the
interests Of the welfare of the whole
nation.
Even in England the time is past
when the voters were satisfied to accept
as gospel truth every word falling from
the lips of their parliamentary repre-,
sentative, the reading of newspapers
has become general, and it is impossible
to restrict people TO read only the pa
pers Of their own party.
Voters Are Learning.
The majority of English voters,
whether supporters of the government
or not, have therefore gradually had
their eyes opened to the fact that home
rule as proposed by the government
does not mean home rule.
Though Unionist papers continue to
depict the terrible position in which
Ulster will find itself If an Irish parlia
ment be established IN Dublin, every
thinking voter knows that the home rule
bill contains such safeguards as will
not only secure Ulster adequate repre-
sentation in the assembly, but also such
as Will make it utterly impossible for
the Catholics of Ireland TO oppress the
Protestants in the north, many of whom
are indeed ardent supporters of home
rule.
Tho Unionist leaders who at first de.
nounced Lloyd-George S introduction of
the land question into the arena of
timely politics are gradually realizing
the tactical errors which they have
made.
Pointed in Criticism.
Imm ediately after the stirring
speeches on the necessity of land re,
form Of the chancellor Of the OK.
chequer, a prominent member of the
Unionist party in a moment Of most
amazing frankness publicly gave his
leaders piece of his mind to which
they 80 fur have been unable to find 8
suitable reply.
The member in question, Johnson
Hicks, q Conservative member Of the
house Of commons, in an open letter
frankly stated that Bonar Law and
Lord Lansdowne had made another
egregious blunder when they put down
Lloyd-George' announcement Of his
land reform as mere attempt to drag
q red herring across the trail of the
political issues of the day.
The Unionist party Of today, he
states, at present stands without any
nobody cares particularly for Ulster
and the time has most emphatically
come when the Conservative party "has
to consider and consider quickly what
It's attitude is going to bo toward
Lloyd.George's proposals, and espe
cially whether they have any better
ones to put before the democracy
Defects Admitted.
Mr.. Hicks points out bow the Conser
vatives have for several years admitted
most Of tho defects mentioned by the
chancellor and asserts that every re
cent Tory Mt heart agrees with the main
idea Of Lloyd-George e Swindon
speech.
'The statement he says. (which
will perhaps arouse the most bitter op
position in the minds Of a section OF
the Conservative party is that the In
creased wages must eventually come
out Of the rents. Where else did we
as honest men think the extra wage:
would como from7'
He admits that there will probably
be momentary loss to landowners
but these will be able to reeoup their
losses in the gradual rise in the value
of land.
"Who," he asks. ''is TO control the
policy OF the Unionist party' The few
men with their ten, twenty or fifty
! thousand acres, OF the millions OF Con
servative workingmenS' Up till now
the Tory leaders undoubtedly wcro in
/ clined to back the few, but times have
! changed even in England, and the truth
is unpleasant even when coming from
the lips of a sympnthizer,