Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1913-05-17
Perfect Tranquility Marked the
Passing Upon the First
Reading.
Fixed Determination of Liber-
ais to See the Bill
Through.
ORANGE THREATS ARE IGNORED

All Liberals and home rulers Will
separate for brief vacation in high
spirits, cables T. P. O'Connor, the
Irish leader in the British Parlia-
ment. This temper is in sharp con-
trast with that of few weeks ago.
The Marconi revelations when first
announced seemed destined to bring
about the crashing fall of at. least
two Ministers and possibly the down
fall of the whole Ministry. The
woman's suffrage bill presented
many perils, including an open divis-
ion of opinion among the Liberal
Ministers themselves. Long and eX-
cited debates caused a arrangement
OF the whole programme for the ses-
sion and a possible peril to home
rule and other great Ministerial
measures. Similarly on the con-
tinent the black specter OF war
seemed to be finally descending upon
Mortified but impotent Europe.
simultaneously the prospect Of big
deficit in the budget portended the
necessity of new taxation, and with
new taxation, added to all the other
burdens of the Ministry, might well
have proved the final straw to break
the camels back. Every one OF
these perils now has disappeared.
Once more the Irish party proved
the decisive factor in deciding
great British struggle, as without
the Irish vote the woman's bill
would have been carried by a ma
jority of one, instead of being de-
feated by the majority of forty
seven. Militancy shows some signs
of fiercer vitality since the rejection
of the bill, but these are only flick
erings of the dying flames against
Home Secretary McKenna's vigorous
proceedinga against the suffragettee
and the bpssi<las -up OF their con-.
spiracy. A return to normal may
now be expected, and then the
woman's movement again may be-
gin to recover lest ground. But no
suffrage bill now is possible in the
present Parliament. Lloyd-George's
daring and resource enabled him to
produce a budget without new taxa
tion, the Chancellor trusting to the
unexampled expansion of British
trade to nike up the deficit during
the coming year. Finally the war
clouds have disappeared from the
European sky.
Divisions among the Tory leaders
on the tariff show an enormous
preponderance of talent in the Min
istry over its chief opponents. The
disappearance of Balfour, the great
and continued prosperity of the
country, success with such daring
measures as old age pensions and
the insurance act, as we'll as un-
broken good luck, have contributed
to obtain this result. One main
cause, however, is the fixed de-
termination of all Liberals to see
home rule through. This determin-
alton is bond of steel which keeps
ali sections of the coalition inflex-
IDLY and irresistibly together, which
enables them to laugh at difficulties
and ignore scandalous campaigns,
and also TO reject every entangle-
ment, such as woman's suffrage.
which might stand in the path Of
home rule.
This is the key to the whole situa-
tion, and this supreme factor now is
expected with perfect hope to keep
the Government in power and all the
progressive forces together until
lu6 lTlsu IdIlldulcul 10 IO-coldb-
lished and placed on an impregnable
rock. Ulster, which has been silent
for months, is beginning to get
restive over being so ignored, and an
active campaign was started lately
cnce more to frighten English opin-
ion by announcements OF secret
drillings and many other prepara-
tions for civil war.
Sir Edward Carson will spend the
present vacation in an attempt to
blow the ashes of Orange passion
once more into a flame. This move
ment may be allowed to go on some
time longer, but when the Govern
ment strikes It will strike as hard II
necessary as it did with the suffra-
gettes. England is not TO be cowed
out of doing the right thing by such
threats. The perfect tranquility OF
the English mind in the face OF
Orange threats found final express
sion in passing upon the first read
ing OF the home rule bill this week
under a parliamentary rule which
precluded all speeches and all
divisions.