Blandford Weekly News. — 1886-11-27 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

THE HOME-RULE QUESTION. -o- Speaking at Manchester on Wednesday evening, to a large assemblage of nearly 10,000 persons, under the auspices of the Manchester Liberal Club, Mr. Labouchere, M.P. for Northampton, in the course of a bpeech of some twoihours' duration, made the following declarations of what he contended was the Liberal views and policy on this all, important question at the present time : "We have a Federal Empire ; all our ',Colonies have self-government. Ireland has not self-government, and what is the result? Our Colonies are peaceful and satisfied ; Ireland is dissatisfied and miserable: It is said by some that there is sonic wonderful distinction between Ireland and a colony; that Ireland is in some sort of way part and parcel of England. I know no two cotintries in the world that are under the same rule in which there are such natural divergencies as England and Ireland. A sea divides us, religion divides us, race divides us, national feeling and national habit divide us."  "We are told that in Ireland there is a vast majority of Catholics, and if we give to Ireland self-government they would immediately oppress their Protestant fellow. countrymen. (Cries of "No.") In England there is a Majority of Protestants. Do we find that the Protestants oppress their Catholic fellow-countrymen ? (Cries of' ') France and Italy are Catholic countries. Do the Catholics in those countries oppress the Protestants? On the ccnti ivy, the civil rights of every Protestant there are precisely as good as the civil rights of any Protestant in this country. Protestantism, in fact, in Ireland is a political, and not a religious creed. It is a detestable creed. It is there to cover envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. (Cheers). Have you forgotten what took place at Belfast ? There no sooner did these political Protestants hear that Home Rule had been defeated than they celebrated the occasion by storming and murdering their Catholic fellow-townsmen. Nor do we forget who urged them to this. (" Hear, hear," cries of "Churchill," and groans.) We remember perfectly well that these very Tory Ministers, who now say they cannot grant Home Rule because the Catholics would oppress the Protestants, urged the Protestants to bteak out into rebellion, and to attack the Catholics, rather than submit to Horne Rule." Speaking of the Unionists he said "They say we ought to yield to them; we, the majority, yield to the minority, and say that they make up in quality what they want in quantity; and some of them think they have a certain divine mission to settle what they call our opini ms, and that we are so ignorant and foolish that we ought not to venture to have opinions of our own, but to go to these divine missionaries, or prophets, or what you like to call them, ask their opinions on any political question, and at once say those opinions shall be ours. We are so stiffnecked we do not intend to do anything of' the sort. (Cheers.) What then do they say? They tell us that they will force us, and how will they force us? By calling Tories to their aid. A more impudent and arrogant claim was never made. If we were to submit to it we should be at the mercy of any Liberals who went to the Tories for aid. It would not be the Liberals who decided on the policy of the Liberal - party, but the Tories would be called in to say what the policy should be. I protest against that policy."