The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-02-15

own affairs may nave ldllel Ill
Home Rule for England
"You see Mr.. Shaw, you are not an
Englishman, but an 1rishman; and as
1 am interviewing you I assume that
you are free from the English fault
of being interested in every country
except your own
fNot a bit of it." replied Mr.. Shaw,
81 am like doctor: I am interested
in the worst cases, provided they are
durable. Now, I tell youf that Eng
lands condition is far graver than
Irelands, and has been SO ever since
the Land Purchase Acts gave res
pite to the Irish land question by be-
ginning landlordism all over again.
Ireland can take, care of herself if
you will only let her. But what
would England be like if there was
not such lot of money to be made
| by humbugging and robbing her
You never ask for Home Rule here
I'VE think we have got it,
"You haven't got it." roared Mr.
| Shaw. What you have is Castle gov
eminent, aggravated by the fact that
whereas the Dublin Castle officials
are Irishmen, your London Castle Of
ficials are Irishmen, Germans, Welsh
men, Scots, Jews, Cape Dutchmer
and heaven knows what. The House
| of Commons is a denationalized rab.
ble."
Wants to Set Himself Right
"That is a way of describing them
Why not be amiable, and call then
sons of the Empire instead?
! We'll, perhaps because I want to
set myself right with the public by
expressing the very low opinion il
now has of the House of Commons
The House is not respected and is
not popular. Everyone sees it ha.
been unable to govern in wartime
and has had to hand the country over
bound hand and foot, to I bureau
cracy which it cannot control, though
a handful of members insult it, chat
it, and even occasionally subject it tt
some serious political criticism. d.
you realize how dangerous this is
Unless the nation holds together, ant
holds hard and confidently the wa
will break us up as it has broker
Russia up
But how would you restore conf
dence in the House of Commons p
sit Cannot Be Done"
at cannot be done: the wretchet
old machine is dead; it is no longe
even a comfortable asylum for tn
aged. The best that can be said TO
it is that its corpse has ceased to of
fend: what walks today is it's ghost
It would be a crime to restore conf
dence in it even if that were possible
because it cannot do it's work, an
would only betray US again. To rous
public interest, which is the first ste
, to restoring public confidence, yo
must announce the funeral of the in
stitution, which will be received wit
gasps of relief and shouts of gladnes
wherever the English language
spoken. And you must replace it, a
far as England is concerned, by tw
new parliaments; real Englis
Home Rule Parliament from whic
} persons with Irish, Scottish and Gel
man accents will be hurled out lik
militant suffragettes, and a Feders
1 Parliament of the British Isles"
= Never Mind Ireland
t "Our Irish scheme, in fact, MI
Shawl"
Stuff! Ny English scheme. Hav
I ever troubled about Ireland? ]
was troubling about itself very effeC
lively without my help. But this poo
y helpless, unfortunate England, wit
. it's football and it's cricket, and i
! bets on party leaders, and it's lit
suburban tribes ready to die for til
chieftain who promises to keep til
rates down; these are the heather
whom 1 am missionary, and woul
= have been a martyr long ago if the
i had been capable of taking in VIII;
I was driving at.
eff you give England a big chang
!. and new sort of parliament you wi
Il get six years active government an
y hopeful public interest in it.
Look at the London County Cou1
ell, now as effete and reactionary
q the old Metropolitan Board of Worl
n which it supplanted, and which ne
ertheless managed to embank tt
!. Thames before it went rotten.
I, We'll, incredible as it now seem
the London County Council was
&. magnificent popular success in i
early years, when it took up the ide;
of the Fabian Society, and had n
yet been captured by the old par
machine.
OF Course They Will Do
"But will not the new parliamen
if wet get it, go rotten also, as yc
call it?"
"Of course, you don't expect to liz
for ever do you?
But think of what it would be
get even six years good Ngovernmel
and public confidence just now.
might see us, if not over the wa
+ which seems fairly safe to be al
other Thirty Years War, at lea
over the peril of a revolutional
crash. Why, at the very worst, eve
If the, change gave us nothing but
period of delusive hope, such a De
cd might save the situation
Some Other Time
,1aYr =