New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-10-12
Home Rule Dilemmas
-cu OF THE CHIEF INCL DENTS IN AN EVENTFUL HOME
4 sN.esx AND THEORY OF THEIR MEANING AND EFFECT
N'' Copyright @. w. smaley)
London, September %.

AS not muCh
We o,ber crude version Of the
Wv rsto.intervention in the Home
gas .ontroyersy about which
Ss .csntly. though 1 thought the
rr's quoted TO you interesting.
ff'Dn' .t has since happened suggests
a w.. ,ssr this or some other strong
~ ". has suddenly inclined Min
~ some Of them. to inquire
81" ,,,s late hour whether some
~ compromise cannot be ar
" There has BEEN at any rate
'a' '.r,spt; beginning with Mr.. Biz
Ds cbaracteristic attempt to silence
gu ,s.,ond for a reference Of Home
- the people on the pretext that
S' ..onle had already decided the
o. LIAM and that it was silly cant"
y .,v they had not. Mr.. Birrell is
. - secretary for Ireland: the Min
~ chose immediate business is to
80 Ireland and whose practice has
- allow it to be governed some
' -, BY Mr.. Devlin and the Ancient
-, Of Hibernians, sometimes by Mr..
' ~. Larkin, the head of the Trans
:, workers Union; now languishing
- -. Of His Majesty's gaols in Dublin
4, criminal charge
q, Birrell has a light-hearted way Of
ling with grave issues. but his let
:, AZ August Goth, published Septem-
:, qnd must be taken to reflect the
..,d Of the Cabinet at that date. Mr..
NTH and his colleagues were clearly
A., Of opinion that policy OF bluff
,s still possible. Mr.. Birrell is we'll
.,,.s 10 carry out such a policy; and
!, inform the people Of Great Britain
=, though they might not be aware
!, q they had already sanctioned the
,.smra on which Unionists want
nam 10 vote. He said with reference
!, The election Of December. 1910:
There was not an elector in Bristol
b, snywhere else who was not aware
M, the approval at the polls of the
Parliament Bill meant the immediate
,,rOduction and the probable passage
,,o law Of a Bill setting up an Irish
Parliament and Executive subordinate
d The Imperial Parliament"
But It happens that at the General
Faction Of December, 1910 Mr.. Birrell
.ss & candidate for reelection in
North Bristol. I'm his address 10 the
.ec;ors he did not mention Home Rule.
I, Is the constituency for which he still
its The business men Of Bristol were
.nxious lest their support Of him might
unmit them to Home Rule. and they
sked him to define his position on that
rbject: and he made this reply:
Home Rule is one Of the questions
Thich ought to be left, and should be
1T, to the judgment Of the whole peo-
le There il was and so it would be.
I they thought they could smuggle a
lone Rule bill through the House Of
COMMONS in the three years following,
u he could say was that their igno-
snce was beyond all conception"
In 1910, that is to say, Mr.. Birrell
cured scorn on the ignorance of men
rho could imagine that approval Of
be Parliament Bill meant approval Of
lone Rule. In 1913 he pours scorn
a the Stiffness Of men who accepted
is assurance Of 1910, and who now
gree with the then Mr.. Birrell in de-
wing that a vote for the Parliament
81 was vote for Home Rule.
TO this exposure, now more than a
'ssk in print, Mr.. Birrell has not yet
'and il convenient TO reply. He re-
res from the field. His bluff has been
aed. The cards are on the table.
is defeat is complete. But it seems
nave convinced his colleagues that a
isw hand must be dealt and a new
layer who knows something about
'0Ser politics be sent TO the table.
SuI before this new decision had been
saehed great deal had happened;
'O'a IN public and in private. l take
4s' what is public, since upon what
.as public the private purpose Of the
4'ns'fy seems finally to have been
0'ineo' Mr.. Birrell's regeneration
'a mercilessly laid bare. Lord Cur
W. Mr.. Magnus. Unionist candidate
" " 0fistol, and Mr.. George Cave, VI. p.
- !. "mmented on his inconsistencies.
~ cave. who sits in the House for the
A'Hss'on Division of Surrey, is a law
- VI distinction who, although law
" ana even partly because he is a
w lawyer. has won the confidence Of
:" mouse. After disposing Of Mr.. Biz
:" ne urged strongly that the real
-'sN0h 10 be answered is whether the
sSHfy shall or shall not now have an
,pO''unity Of voting for or against
''us hule before the Home Rule bill
VINES law automatically by force Of
y Parliament Act. AS a means Of
~'ng popular vote Mr.. Cave sug-
,. a mat the King himself should
.''O'e Parliament. and he urged that
= sovereign would in that way avoid
! ,eproach Of seeming to challenge
:, uehocracy by vetoing the bill after
!, Isu thrice been passed by the House
!. ".n came Mr.. Balfour's speech to
East Lothian Unionists. That
'' l have reason to think, was
:. under some pressure. 1t would
~. e the first time that Mr.. Balfour's