The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-03-29 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

BALFOUR ON COERCION.  Speakine at Stalybridge on Saturday evening, Mr. Balfour said the past year, hid been an unfortunate one for political prophets. Many prophets had been heard. Most of them were unfavourable to the Unionist Government but the Unionist Government bad fattened upon their prophecies. With each new prophecy of ceming evil they had seemed to gain strength and prosperity until at this moment it would be difficult tocencei vi, that this was the same Government whose sieedy demise was so confidently foreseen by all the Literal quidnuncs. The hist thing that was to turn ihe G..vernment out of efficki was a hat was called the Ceercion Bill. As a matter of fact, they carried it through all its stages by triumphant majoritie.4, and at this moment it was the unquestionable law the land. Next they were teld that if they pegged h., bill they would never be able to put it in force. Whatever else might be said against them, they had not failed to vindicate the law of the land. Again, they were told that if they passed and put in force the Coercion Bill the democracy of England would rise against them and hurl them indiguanLiy from office. Had the democracy of Eneiend risen against them ? No. Ie had been predicted that as soon as they attempted to bring in any legislation for England or for Bentham' the great Unionist party would be dissolved to its censtituent atoms ; tint the Government would be deserted by the allies who had fouLrlit shoulder to shoulder with them in so many a goal tight: and that by their dheiensions they should hand over the affairs of the empire to the Gladstonian-l'arnellite That prophecy he thought was as little likely to be fulfilled as others whose absurdity he had already shewn, and he confessed he was wholly mumble to see even the smallest rift within the bite, even the smallest cloud upon the horizon which should presage the coming storm. Alluding to the coninemications put forward respecting him by Mr. Wilfrid Blwit, he promised himself considerable satisfaction in the prospect of dealing with these on a future occasion, appropriate, perhaps, to the consideration of a pensonal matter. lie woul I now, however, refer to the part of Mr. 81111104 accusations which dealt more especially with the conduct of Irish administration. This legend of Mr. Blunt's had gone through various phases. There were several unauthorised publications of it. The original accusation was something like this—that he (Mr. Balfour) had been villain enough to conceive tee design of murdering, through legal means, various members of the Irish party; that, having been villain enough to conceive the atrocious design, he was then fool enough to go and communicate it to Mr. Blunt. The accusation in its original form appeared to him to be one of the most stupid falsehoods that had been uttered against the Irish Government even in the year 1887. The final version of the stairy—thedtuthorttative version —was not, perhaps, less stupid ; but it was a good deal less malignant. It was only necessary for him at present to say that in so far as he was accused of having at any time, at any place, or to any person said anything which could legitimately be interpreted as meaning that he detimed the death of a single I iii representative, or of any other human being, the thing was a grotesque and ridiculous falsehood. In conclusion, Mr. Balfour said an unwarrantable attempt had been made to complicate the question of Home Rule with a question of political morality, and he urged his hearers to bear in mind that the issue before the country at this moment was not merely whether England, Scotland, and Ireland should form one United Kingdom, but whether the government of the kingdom was or was not to be carried on upon principles which had commended themselves to every country and to every phase of society, to all the best men of every time, no matter to what political party they might have belonged.