Author. 
 
 Title 
 
 Imprint 
 
 16-7-39289-1 GPO 
 
THE POLICY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION. 
 
 A SPEECH 
 
 DELIVERED TO HIS CONSTITUENTS IN THE 
 TOWN HALL, BIRMINGHAM, 
 
 On TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 1881, 
 
 RIGHT HON. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P. 
 
 (President of the Board of Trade.) 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE NATIONAL LIBERAL FEDERATION, 
 
 Offices : Atlas Chambers, Paradise Street, Birmingham. 
 
 
 iz\ : 
 

 
MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S SPEECH 
 
 ON THE 
 
 POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION, 
 DELIVERED IN THE BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain, who was received with loud and continued 
 applause, said : Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, — I hope I may 
 take the friendly welcome which you have just extended to me as a 
 proof that you share the pleasure which I undoubtedly feel in being 
 once more permitted to address you. (Applause.) I cannot allow 
 this opportunity to pass without saying how deeply sensible I am of 
 the consideration which you have shown, both for the pressure of 
 work, and also for the occasional reserve which is imposed upon men 
 in office, and which has induced you to dispense with those frequent 
 meetings which have hitherto been a feature in the relations between 
 your representatives and yourselves. But I can truly assure you 
 that I am glad once more to meet you face to face. (Applause.) 
 Much has happened since that general election in which you took no 
 inconsiderable part, and I have been naturally anxious for an 
 opportunity of submitting to you the proceedings in which I have 
 since borne a share, and of asking upon them your judgment and 
 your opinion. (Cheers.) And therefore I have come down to you 
 
from the very thick of the battle which has been waged, almost 
 without cessation, since this Government took office — not without 
 hope, based on ihe experience of the past, on difficulties overcome, 
 and on dangers surmounted, and not without anxiety and even alarm 
 when I contemplate the future, which is still dark with many clouds. 
 But I hope, gentlemen, that I may be fortunate enough to take hack 
 with me the assurance of your continued sympathy and support — 
 (loud cheers) — without which, I can assure you, public life would be 
 only a barren and thankless task. 
 
 Now, there was one result of the general election which I 
 neither foresaw nor predicted, and that was that I should be called 
 upon to take part in the Government which was rendered possible by 
 the victory which you helped to achieve. (Applause.) I accepted 
 the office which Mr. Gladstone graciously offered me — (cheers) — not 
 without some hesitation, both because I naturally distrusted my own 
 qualifications after so short an experience of Parliamentary life, and 
 also because I could not surrender without regret that full indepen- 
 dence which I had enjoyed as a private member. If I had been 
 alone concerned in the matter, it would have been a small question ; 
 but I felt that when a member of Parliament takes office, his con- 
 stituents also are called upon to share the sacrifice which he makes 
 in this respect. A Liberal Government which pretends to represent 
 the Liberal party must of necessity consist of men of different 
 shades of opinion. They are all animated by the same principles, 
 they are all going in the same direction, but the order of progress and 
 the rate of progress, and even the instruments and means by which 
 progress is to be accomplished, are capable of infinite variety, and no 
 man has any right to expect, under such circumstances, that he will 
 always be able to have his own way. Everyone must be prepared 
 to make some concessions, and all must be ready — so much I have 
 learnt in my experience in Birmingham — to accept and to endeavour 
 to carry out the will of the majority when it is expressed after fair 
 discussion. But although I state this as an element and a condition 
 of all governments — although without this no union and association 
 is ever possible— I venture to add that in Mr. Gladstone's Ministry 
 I believe you haAe a Government which has been more united upon 
 
the main principles which should dictate its action than any Govern- 
 ment before them confronted with questions of equal magnitude and 
 equal complexity. (Applause.) And I am here to assert that, 
 speaking generally — because I do not stand upon isolated acts or 
 upon particular decisions — but I say that speaking generally, we 
 have maintained the views which we expressed when 'we were in 
 Opposition — the views which received the assent of an overwhelming 
 majority of the nation. The Liberal party was returned to power 
 because the country was disgusted and alarmed at the policy of 
 reckless adventure which was pursued by the late Administration. 
 Since that time twelve months have passed, and neither we nor they 
 have changed. In the latest speeches of the responsible leaders of 
 the Opposition you find that the same spirit lives in them, that 
 they have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing in adversity, and 
 that they are, "even in penance, planning sins again." (Laughter.) 
 They criticise, as they are entitled to do, the acts of the present 
 Ministry in severe terms, but it is evident that if they were to take 
 our places they have nothing to otter as an alternative to the policy 
 they condemn — (cheers) — but the old policy, which has been dis- 
 credited by the country — the policy of secret agreements and open 
 aggression— the policy which embarrassed the finances of the empire, 
 which harassed our trade and our industry, and which threatened to 
 involve us any day in calamity and disaster. (Applause.) I am 
 glad to think that the issue can be so plainly stated as it has been 
 recently by Lord Salisbury, in the speeches which he has delivered. 
 It is true that what he has said has been subsequently in a slight 
 degree modified by the gloss which Sir Stafford ISTorthcote has 
 attempted to put upon it. But then Sir Stafford Northcote is 
 retained for this purpose. (Loud laughter and applause.) It is his 
 business to reassure the timid and to minimise the truculent declara- 
 tions of other leaders of his party, and he reminds me of the descrip- 
 tion which was given of Madame Blaize in Goldsmith's poem — 
 " She strove the neighbourhood to please 
 With manners wondrous winning, 
 She never followed wicked ways — 
 Except when she was sinning." 
 
(Laughter and applause.) We have, however, to bear in mind that 
 after all it is Lord Salisbury, and not Sir Stafford Northcote, who 
 dictates the polic\' of the Conservative party — (hear, hear)— and I 
 am here to-night to ask whether, since the general election, when 
 yon pronounced your decision upon matters which were submitted to 
 you, you have changed your mind. (Cries of "No, no.") Do you 
 want the Tories back again ? (No, no.) Are you willing once more 
 to relegate to a distant future all prospect of domestic reform in 
 order to enter again upon a policy of meddlesome interference and 
 wanton aggression 1 (No.) I hardly expected that you would have 
 changed your opinion after so short a time, and if you have not, then 
 let us consider together, if you will have patience with me — let us 
 consider together what progress has been made in an opposite 
 direction. Jf we have not been so successful as you and I would 
 have desired, that is partly because we have inherited a situation 
 which we did not make for ourselves. (Hear, hear.) I sometimes 
 regret that we could not have done what is so frequently done in the 
 case of the transfer of a business from one firm to another, and that 
 we could not have left the late firm to pay its own debts and wind 
 up its own law suits — (laughter and applause) — and to leave us free 
 to start on a new enterprise. Just consider if that had been possible, 
 what would be the state of the account now. The Tories would he 
 debited with the war in Afghanistan, and the extra Id. in the 
 income tax, which that war and the other obligations which they 
 contracted have involved, They would have to accept the conse- 
 quences of their annexation of the Transvaal, as well as to pay the 
 balance of the cost of the Zulu War ; they would have had to 
 answer for the acquisition of Cyprus — (oh, oh) — with its permanent 
 deficit, and with all the unrest and disquiet which has been produced 
 in Europe in consequence. They would have had to carry out as 
 best they might the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, and they would 
 have had, in a large measure at all events, to share with us the 
 responsibility of the situation in Ireland — (hear, hear) — which is 
 partly clue to their neglect of all remedial legislation — (hear, hear) — 
 at a time when moderate measures would have prevented the troubles 
 in which we now find ourselves involved, (Applause.) And then, 
 
while they were employed in thus liquidating their estate- — and 
 indeed I think they would have found it difficult to pay 20s. in the 
 pound — our hands would have been free to carry on those great 
 remedial measures which are required almost as much by the people 
 of England and Scotland — (hear, hear) — as they are desired and 
 claimed by the people of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately, no 
 such division of labour has been possible. The first duty which was 
 imposed upon the Government by the mandate of the constituencies 
 was to set in order, as far as that might be possible, the affairs which 
 the Conservatives had left in such admired confusion. (Laughter.) 
 We have made some progress, I venture to think, and with regard to 
 that portion of the work which we have completed, the silence of our 
 opponents is the best testimony of our success, and it is also the best 
 augury for the future. You know at the last general election what 
 the Tories relied upon — their success in administering foreign affairs. 
 (Laughter.) It was admitted that we Liberals might perhaps be 
 good at the drudgery of domestic administration, but it was said that 
 if we undertook the conduct of the Imperial relations with other 
 countries we should infallibly bring about war, calamity, and 
 disaster. "Well, what has actually happened ? The concert of 
 Europe, which our opponents have constantly ridiculed as impossible, 
 has been maintained, and it has been powerful enough to effect the 
 settlement of the difficult and irritating questions which at one time 
 threatened a renewal of the war in the -East. And during the 
 negotiations at Constantinople which Mr. Goschen — (loud applause) 
 — has carried to a successful conclusion, with an ability, and 
 skill, and patience, and courage which have secured for him 
 the applause of the House of Commons and the gratitude of 
 his countrymen — (applause) — England took the lead, and the 
 influence of England, which forsooth was to be destroyed when a 
 Liberal Government came into power, never stood higher in Europe 
 than it is at the present moment. (Applause.) Not because we 
 have asserted any predominant interest in this question, not because 
 we have put forward any pretensions to dictate to the Powers of 
 Europe, but because it has been recognised that we have been frankly 
 and honestly seeking, not our selfish ambition, but the common good 
 
of all and the peace and prosperity of Europe. (Applause.) Well, 
 now I claim that this, at all events, is the fulfilment of one of the 
 pledges which Mr. Gladstone gave — (applause) — before the general 
 election ; and I ask you to observe that if that election had 
 resulted differently it is not conceivable that the Montenegrin 
 question and that the Greek question could have been settled without 
 war by those who have always derided and held to be impossible any 
 union of the Powers for common objects — by those who have pro- 
 tested against any pressure on the Sultan, and especially against the 
 naval demonstration, who have sneered at the claims of Greece, and 
 who, while pretending to protect Turkey from the possibility of 
 partition, were so eager to take their share in the spoil that they did 
 not hesitate to suggest to other nations that they may pick out each 
 their own piece of the plunder — (applause) — provided that they 
 would wink at our proceedings. 
 
 I do not think I need detain you at any length. (Go 
 on.) What I need say, in fact, is not more than a sentence or 
 two with regard to the action of the Government in Afghanistan. 
 (A voice, " Candahar.") The account of our proceedings in 
 that country constitutes the darkest chapter in the history of 
 our Indian Empire. (Applause.) It is a chapter which will 
 tell future generations how we entered upon a course of wanton 
 aggression in order to obtain a scientific frontier — (laughter) — it will 
 tell how British statesmen were instructed to create a pretext for the 
 invasion of a free and friendly State ; and I thank God that that 
 chapter, at all events, has been closed — (" hear, hear," and applause) 
 — and I hope that it may never be continued. (Hear, hear.) But 
 here, also, I ask you in passing to bear in mind that we learn from 
 the action and from the speeches of the Conservative Opposition that 
 if they had remained in power they would have continued in the same 
 baneful course — they would have maintained the occupation of Can- 
 dahar in spite of its injustice, in spite of the expense and the respon- 
 sibility — and they would have done this, though it was certain to have 
 involved us in almost permanent hostility with the Afghan people. 
 
 But I pass on to consider graver and more critical questions — 
 
9 
 
 questions which are still pending, and upon which, indeed, I cannot 
 even now make a full exposition of our policy, although I think I 
 may state enough to show the general principles by which we have 
 been actuated, and to challenge your judgment upon them. (Hear, 
 hear.) I want to speak to you on the question of Ireland — -(loud 
 cheers) — but I will reserve what I have to say for a few minutes 
 while I ask your attention, in the first place, to the settlement which 
 we have recently made of the unfortunate war in the Transvaal. 
 (Hear, hear.) This settlement has been the object of violent attack 
 in the House of Peers. You have been told that it constitutes a 
 dismemberment of the empire ; that it is a national surrender ; you 
 have been told for the hundredth time that it has destroyed the 
 prestige of England ; and that it has caused Earl Cairns to blush, who 
 never blushed before. (Laughter and applause.) Well, sir, these 
 are terrible calamities, especially the last — (laughter) — but before we 
 consider how far these accusations can be sustained, let me ask yon 
 to think seriously what is the alternative which it is said we ought 
 to have adopted. We are accused of dismembering the empire, and 
 to avoid this we ought, in the opinion of our opponents, to have 
 maintained the annexation of the Transvaal. That annexation was 
 made by the Conservative Government upon two distinct assurances. 
 They declared, in the first place, upon information which was supplied 
 to them, that the majority of the white inhabitants of the Transvaal 
 desired the transfer, and they declared that unless it were effected we 
 should infallibly be involved in a native war, which would endanger 
 our South African possessions. Well, you all know that after that 
 transfer was effected Ave found ourselves, in spite of it, immediately 
 involved in tAvo native Avars — one with Cetewayo and the Zulu people, 
 and the other Avith Secocoeni ; and you kuow, and they knoAv iioav if 
 they did not knoAv before, that the great majority of the Boer inha- 
 bitants of the Transvaal are bitterly hostile to the English rule — 
 (hear, hear) — and yet we are told that we ought to have persevered in 
 wrong-doing, after it was proved that the two grounds upon which 
 the annexation was defended Avere fallacious, and rested on no solid 
 foundation — that we should still force our rule on an unwilling people, 
 whose independence we had solemnly engaged by treaty to respect. 
 
10 
 
 (A_p2ilau.se.) And this we were to do in order to spare Lord Cairns 
 the unwonted blush with which he graced his peroration and alarmed 
 his brother peers. (Laughter.) I will not at this moment stop to 
 question the morality of such a step as that, but I want you to think 
 for a moment of the expediency of it, of the wisdom of those states - 
 men who recommend such a course to Her Majesty's Government. It 
 has been proved to us that the Boers are at all events brave soldiers 
 ■ — (hear, hear) — that they are physically, at least, a match even for 
 English soldiers. The Transvaal is a country as large as France — a 
 wild and difficult country — and it is perfectly evident to everyone 
 that if we are to hold it down by force we must permanently maintain 
 there a number of troops at least equal to the number of our possible 
 opponents. Well, we know also that the Orange Free State, which 
 is a neighbouring territory, would make common cause with their co- 
 religionists and men of the same nationality in the Transvaal ; and 
 therefore I say that it is perfectly certain that not less than from 
 15,000 to 20,000 English troops must be permanently stationed there 
 if we are to hold that country by force and against the will of the 
 inhabitants. And to what end are we to do this ] To prevent the 
 dismemberment of the Empire. Why, the annexation was only 
 reluctantly accepted by Lord Carnarvon three years ago. The terri- 
 tory has only been in our hands for a short three years, and it came 
 into our possession upon information which we now know to be 
 incorrect. And if we let them go, this population of -10,000 — a 
 population less than that contained in any one of the sixteen wards of 
 this town in which I am speaking — why this dismembered Empire of 
 ours Mall still contain 250,000,000 of subjects to the Queen, to rule 
 whom well and wisely is a duty and a responsibility which I think is 
 sufficient even for the wildest ambition. Well, but we are told that 
 there is another course which has recommended itself to some of our 
 critics, and that is that we should have used the overwhelming forces 
 which we placed at the disposal of Sir Evelyn Wood in order to attack 
 the Boers, and that then, after we had defeated them in a bloody 
 encounter — military honour being satisfied — we might have retired 
 from the Tiansvaal, which we should have rendered desolate by the 
 slaughter of many of its brave defenders. (Hear, hear.) Before such 
 
11 
 
 a recommendation as that should commend itself to your minds, and 
 to mine, let us consider for a moment what sort of people these are 
 whom we are asked to treat in this revengeful way. The Boers are 
 not naturally a warlike race, they are a homely, industrious, and 
 somewhat rude and uncivilised nation of farmers, living on the pro- 
 duce of the soil. They are animated by a deep and somewhat stern 
 religious sentiment, and they inherit from their ancestors — -the men 
 who won the independence of Holland from the oppressive rule of 
 Philip II. of Spain — they inherit from them their unconquerable love 
 of freedom and of liberty. Are not these qualities which commend 
 themselves to men of the English race? (Applause.) Are they not 
 virtues which we are proud to believe form the best characteristics 
 of the English people 1 Is it against such a nation that we are 
 to be called ujdoii to exercise the dread arbitrament of arms 1 
 These men settled in the Transvaal in order to escape foreign 
 rule. They had had many quarrels with the British. They 
 left their homes in Natal as the English Puritans left England 
 and went to the United States, and they founded a little 
 Republic of their own in the heart of Africa; and in 1852 we 
 made a treaty with them, and they agreed to give up slavery, " 
 which had hitherto prevailed in their midst, and we agreed to respect 
 and to guarantee their independence ; and I say, under these circum- 
 stances, is it possible we could maintain a forcible annexation of the 
 country without incurring the accusation of having been guilty, I 
 won't say of national folly, but I say of national crime 1 (Applause.) 
 That was the way in which the matter was understood by the late 
 Government, who were not particularly scrupulous about these 
 matters, but they distinctly instructed Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who 
 was their representative in South Africa, not to take over the 
 Transvaal unless he was satisfied that the majority of the people 
 wished for the change. He did satisfy himself, as we know now, 
 upon insufficient and inaccurate information. The annexation was 
 submitted to Parliament, and T am glad to think ihat on that 
 occasion I was one of the small minority who voted against the pro- 
 ceeding. (Applause.) At the same time, I will frankly admit, there 
 were very strong arguments indeed to justify the majority in the 
 
12 
 
 course which they took — arguments based upon the assurances which 
 were given to us by the Government. That was in 1877. Shortly 
 afterwards the Zulu war broke out and the Boers remained quiet. I 
 daresay they were not unnaturally very well satisfied to see the English 
 doing their work for them, fighting and destroying their former 
 enemies. At all events, they contented themselves with protests, and 
 memorials, and deputations to this country. The late Government 
 rejected their petitions, and refused to re-consider the question of 
 annexation, and so matters stood when we came into office. About 
 that time we were all agreed — there was no difference of opinion — that 
 the original annexation was a mistake, that it ought never to have 
 been made- — (hear, hear) — and then there arose the question, could it 
 then be undone 1 It is very easy to do evil ; it is not so easy to 
 escape the consequences of it — (applause) — or to put things back 
 again in the same position in which they would have been if they 
 had been untouched. We were in possession of information to the 
 effect that the great majority of the people of the Transvaal were 
 reconciled to annexation. We were told that if we reversed the 
 decision of the late Government there was a great probability of civil 
 war and anarchy, and, acting upon these representations, we decided 
 that we could not recommend the Queen to relinquish her sovereignty, 
 but we assured the Boers that we would take the earliest opportunity 
 of granting to them the freest and the most complete local institu- 
 tions which might be found compatible with the welfare of South 
 Africa. You know it is not difficult to be wise after the event. It 
 is not difficult to see now that we did wrong in so deciding. I 
 frankly admit that we made a mistake. I say that whatever the risk 
 was — and I believe it was a great one — of civil war or anarchy in the 
 Transvaal, if we had reversed the decision, it was not so great a 
 danger as that which we actually incurred by maintaining the wrong- 
 doing of our predecessors. But let me show you what was the kind 
 of information upon which we acted. We received despatches to 
 the same effect, which were continued almost to the actual outbreak 
 of hostilities. We l-eceived a despatch, dated November 19th, 1880, 
 from Sir Owen Lanyon, who was administrating the Transvaal, in 
 which he said " three-fourths of the population are secretly in favour 
 
13 
 
 of annexation. The action of a few agitators must not be taken to 
 be the opinion of the country, and there is not much, if any, cause 
 for anxiety in the state of affairs." In a despatch, dated December 
 5th, he repeated similar sentiments. On December 1 6th, barely ten days 
 later, the Boers broke out into open insurrection. They established 
 a provisional government, and they hoisted the old flag of the 
 Republic at Heidelburg. "Well, there was then, at all events, no 
 longer the possibility of a doubt as to the state of affairs. It was 
 perfectly evident under those altered conditions that we should have 
 to make new arrangements ; but at the same time it was necessary 
 that we should be in a position to take guarantees, in the first place, 
 for the safety of loyal settlers, if there were any such, in the 
 Transvaal ; in the second place for the good treatment of the native 
 population who had accepted our rule ; and, in the third place, against 
 the recurrence of quarrels with native tribes across the borders, which 
 might lead to difficulties in South Africa. And therefore we hurried 
 forward reinforcements with such speed that, when later on the con- 
 ditions of peace were arranged by Sir Evelyn Wood, he had under 
 his command something like 12,000 troops — more than the total 
 adult male popiilation of the whole of the Boers in the Transvaal. 
 Now, just let me say in passing a word about Sir Evelyn Wood. He 
 is known to you — he is known to every Englishman as one of the 
 bravest soldiers, as one of the most skilful commanders in the 
 British service. (Applause.) But I say that in my humble judg- 
 ment he has earned a higher title to admiration and to the respect of 
 his fellow-countrymen by his loyalty in carrying out satisfactory terms 
 of settlement, by resisting the temptation which might well be strong to 
 a soldier of using his overwhelming force in order to revenge, a 
 military disaster, than he would have clone if he had won the greatest 
 victory, or had entered the Transvaal in triumph over the dead bodies 
 of its slain. (Applause.) While, then, the Government were 
 preparing for every event, we did not think that we were justified — ■ 
 and it is for you to say how far you agree with us — we did not think 
 we were justified in closing the door to a peaceful settlement. (Hear, 
 hear.) The overtures for this settlement came in the first instance 
 from President Brand, a man who is deserving of the hearty recog- 
 
14 
 
 nition of every friend of peace. (Applause.) He is the President 
 of the Orange Free State. He has done his best to prevent his 
 fellow countrymen from going into the war, and to put a stop to the 
 unnecessary effusion of blood. And in the second place, overtures 
 came from the Boer leaders. Mr. Kruger, their Vice-president, 
 wrote to Sir George Colley to say that he was confident of the justice 
 of his cause ; and he was so certain that the English people, if they 
 only knew the true facts, would do him right, that he was willing to 
 submit the case to a Royal Commission, to be appointed by the 
 Queen. Well, sir, we thought that those were terms which ought 
 to be accepted — (applause) — and we instructed Sir George Colley, if 
 certain conditions could be obtained, to arrange for a settlement 
 upon that basis. Among the conditions, the first and most important 
 was that the Boers should desist from armed opposition. But while 
 the correspondence was going on, in the midst of the -negotiations, 
 unfortunately, on three several occasions, the British troops marching 
 in inferior numbers to attack the strong position of the Boers, met 
 with a repulse. Those events were deplored by us, as they must be 
 by everyone, but they did not seem to us to constitute a reason 
 why we should withdraw the offer which we had previously made. 
 (Applause.) In those attacks we were the aggressors — not the Boers 
 — and our losses, greatly as we grieve for them, did not make the 
 original cause of war more just — they did not make the prolongation 
 of this miserable and inglorious struggle more desirable and expedient. 
 (Hear, hear.) And therefore, when Sir Evelyn Wood, acting on his 
 own responsibility, arranged for an armistice, we approved his pro- 
 ceedings. (Applause.) And when the terms of peace were arranged, 
 when the Boers accepted our offer, as we had originally made it, we 
 rejoiced in the prospect of a settlement without further effusion of 
 blood, whether of Englishmen or Dutchmen — (applause) — and we did 
 not think the English people would feel themselves to be humiliated 
 because their Government had refused knowingly to persist in a 
 course of oppression and wrong-doing, and because we had accepted, 
 without a victory, terms which were the best we could reasonably 
 expect that even the greatest victory would give to us. (Apilause.) 
 We are a great and powerful nation. What is the use of being great 
 
15 
 
 and powerful if we are afraid to admit an error when we are conscious 
 of it? (Applause.) Shame is not in the confession of a mistake. Shame 
 lies only in persistency in wilful wrong-doing. (Hear, hear.) And 
 if Earl Cairns likes to sit in sackcloth and ashes — if he likes, in well- 
 feigned abasement, to expiate the folly of the Administration of which 
 he was a member in the hasty annexation which has led to all these 
 trials — in Heaven's name let him have that gratification. (Cheers). 
 But when he dares to say that the English nation is shamed by the 
 course we have taken, I deny him the right to be judge in such a 
 cause, and I appeal to the impartial public opinion of Europe and of 
 America, which has approved of the action of the Government in 
 preferring justice to revenge — (cheers) — and the best interests of 
 South Africa to the vain pursuit of military glory. (Cheers.) 
 
 Sir, I now approach the last subject upon which I shall venture 
 to address you. In referring to the state of Ireland, T do so under 
 the gravest sense of the r< sponsibility attaching to anyone who touches 
 upon such a th^me. At this m mient an exciuble people, suffering 
 under the sense of long-continued injustice and wrong — (hear, hear) 
 — only lately coming out of great tribulation, having endured hardship 
 unexampled and extraordinary privation, having barely escaped starva- 
 tion in consequence of the extraordinary efforts of public charity — 
 these people, with such a character and under such conditions, are 
 being encouraged by leaders in whom they hive placed their confidence 
 — (hear, hear) — to defy what they believe to be an unjust law — 
 (cheers) — and to seek by disorder, and even by violence, to redress 
 their grievances. Under these circumstances, when class is set against 
 class, when any moment may bring about a collision which will fill all 
 our minds with horror, no true friend of Ireland would dare to say 
 anything which could add fuel to the flame. (Cheers ) "The condition 
 of Ireland is desperate and critical." These are not my words ; these 
 are the words of Mr. Uniith, the late First Lord of the Admiralty, in 
 the debate on the second reading of the Land Bill. Mr. Smith went 
 on to say that this condition of things was the fault of the Government, 
 who had delayed too long, and- had been reluctant in applying for 
 extraordinary powers, and who, when they obtained them, had been 
 
16 
 
 weak and languid in enforcing them. Well, that is an hypothesis 
 which might have some weight, to which some importance might be 
 attached, if it were not unfortunately the case that the state :t Ireland, 
 desperate and critical as if is, is not exceptional. The state of Ireland 
 in-inr tie list Lai: oenravry La? .rrt :-te ::" altt:?: :tr:ti: lis:: ie: 
 _i-:e ~:n lave a r-r-trlr "it:. ty ::tsez: :: itien a 21.!::- ire rettars:- 
 
 :le :i rtiitary Tines ::: :aei: : reiieme :: :ie itiitarj la~ — tear. 
 
 — a people whose historj is signalised by a singular and admirable 
 
 - a:e :: nitraty .tte ati re: y:t Lave :_en irizi tine t: tine 
 
 eastt^ ::: in:: tatsnysns ::' artariat vi;len;e ati lis: tier. Tfler 
 
 these in iiMiimif rn it in perfectly e~ Hent. I think, to every right- 
 
 tlai :1: :.r n::. :1a: ::: lanses :: :zis .s::_e: ate n::e iTS _ --sa:e: 
 
 than Mr. Smith ehooflffl : sopf :-- and thai they are not to be found 
 
 s:le" it. tie =:-ti:t: : _ tlis :t :: atj tre^i:t: : j:vennei: Hie " are :: 
 
 - : ni in tie :-:niiti:n :: tie pei'tle :lettsel~es at 1 ~-. 
 cot deep if we want to ret at the bottom of the matter. 
 In past times "Eng lish statesmen, unfortunately, have only ha 1 
 one way of dealing with what they call Irish disaffection. 
 They have applied coercion quickly enough, and thev have 
 anile: it strlng-ennv -t:t;: :: sa:;s:y s _ et tie "tries ail 
 :aanot be sail :: them, a: all events, thai the restrictive 
 ei=-tes — "till :lev Lave i::t:e:ii-r teei langniily en::r:e: ~^ - 
 liTe had, I have read somewhere, fifty '1 tertian Acta — A: as of 
 tettessttn — in Ire.an = :a:e 1: tiane Tn-it is :ne ::r e~e:~ 
 
 year m the half century which has elapsed since that date. Well, 
 —la: It-s "1-een tie resnlt Irelat : : : still iisttttettei Irelaii is 
 still snnerlng :::nt r-rltiixl ±--- ::" iistrier. IN - :—. I Tit: t: : all 
 - : :: a::etrl:t t: tie i_is:ra:i:i :: past r-tli:y it retereite t: tils 
 natter. It lt:l tiete — as at : : teat :: aistrte: — 1::1 it ntatv 
 re-:-e:: ; is very sinniat t: tte :te -t:;t — e ^re t:~ Tirtesrlt?. It 
 ~ as a striate :y tie _::st tett-e aratis: tte :a; nei: :: titles, at! is 
 know* it lis: try as the tithe — at ati —ten it broke out the Govern- 
 ntett t: ,1: the usual steps — they passed Whiteboy Acts, they passed 
 at Anns A :: :ley t-tssei tie sns'-etstt ::" tie Haieas 1 :ntts A:: : 
 but in spite this action on the part of tte En 
 outrages, and secret outrages especially, still continued, and in 1833 — 
 
17 
 
 two yeaie after the disturbances first broke out — Lord Stanley., who is 
 better known as the late Earl of Derby, but who was then Chief 
 S« etary for Ireland in the House of Commons, told the House of 
 Commons that '"the record of crime in Ireland almost surpa—r 
 belief." In one county — the county of Kilkenny — there were 
 murders and attemf ts a: ^^rder, o± burnings of houses, 17e a= -. _ 
 with danger to life, 519 burglaries, and 34 hough ings of cattle. Bad 
 as is the state of things which we now recognise in Ireland, ii :- 
 nothing like so bad as things were in 1833. But why have I laid 
 before yen this statement of what happenri so long *z_ ! If is 
 because I think that this experience and much which has happened 
 since is a proof of the truth of the maxim which Mr. Bright laid 
 
 i~.-~xz. iz. :_:s ball — fueers — -:z; ~:l:1s >r:. Jll_ n ,-: 
 
 much questioned since, and which says that force is no remedy. 
 
 -Lrplause.) Mind, that dees not say that force may not be 
 necessary — (hear, hear) — but it is no remedy. I: a man is ill — 
 if he suffers from fever, arl z~20m.es delirious. his trifmtfl may 
 properly put a strait waistcoat on him to ptrevent him from 
 i^ ~::z.r hiziSrl: a-i :h:=f ;::';:! !i:z: Arrla~:r Z_: :: -i. 
 
 doing this they said that they thought it to be a cure and a specific 
 for the fever they would be considered by all of us to be out of their 
 senses. The Government of a free country is bound to take e" t 
 step, every means in its power, in order to secure obedience to the law. 
 (Loud cheers.) The law is the safeguard of the liberty of every one 
 of us. (Cheers.) The law means the protection of the weak against 
 the strong, and if any class sets itself above the law, and if a '^Tern- 
 ment should abet them in doing so then I say there would be an end 
 :: all the ::i=:::z:i:~^l ^^ara^:efi ::' czr rersz^al li:er::e= Arila-sr 
 On the other hand, the Government — any Government — is bound to 
 do its best to alter and amend the law where it thinks it to be nnjost 
 
 Hear, hear, and appla: = r These are two duties of a Government 
 
 which run together, and which cannot be separated. The late 
 Lord Beacon sfield when he was Mr. Disraeli, and was addressing 
 himself to a somewhat similar subject, said one c: _ . vises! ,l_^jr 
 which. I believe, he ever spoke- He described to the House of 
 Commons the then cendition of Ir el and, and he wound up by Baying, 
 
18 
 
 " What should be the duty, under these circumstances, of an English 
 statesman ? Your duty is to effect by peaceful and constitutional 
 means all that a revolution would effect by force." (Hear, hear, and 
 applause.) Well, sir, that was precisely what Mr. Gladstone attempted 
 to do by the Land Act of 1870. That Act, as we all know, was not 
 a complete success. Its partial failure was due to two things. It 
 was due, in the first place, to the action of the House of Lords, who 
 on this, as on so many other previous occasions, mutilated and destroyed 
 the effect of bills sent up to it from the Lower House, and it was 
 partly due to the action of some of the landlords of Ireland, who 
 unwisely endeavoured to escape from the conditions of the Act — 
 conditions which might have enabled them to establish on a firm and 
 friendly footing their relations with their tenants — and who by slow 
 degrees raised the rents upon the holders of land until the burden 
 became to great to be borne. Between 1870 and 1876 there was over 
 a large part of Ireland a great rise in rents. This took place, not in 
 jumps but in small gradual advances, no single one of which the tenant 
 felt himself justified in refusing, although the effect of the whole of 
 them together was that, although he could just pay his way in good 
 times, when the bad seasons came he was ruined hopelessly, and had 
 to leave and give up his means of livelihood. Well now, these facts 
 were laid before Parliament from time to time. Unfortunately they 
 could not secure either the attention of the last Parliament or the 
 attention of the Government. I have seen it stated, in a pamphlet 
 written by an Irishman of some note and weight, that if in 1875 the 
 then Government had brought in a bill to protect the tenants against 
 the exaction of unfair rents, there would have been no agitation and 
 io trouble whatever in Ireland. ( Applause. ) Unfortunately they 
 did nothing, and I am sorry to say it has been only too often the case 
 in Irish affairs that we have attempted to redress grievances after too 
 long a delay, and we have had to pay an increasing penalty every day 
 that we have postponed our necessary action. Well, now, after this 
 there came the recent famine. The Government made large grants of 
 money in aid of the Irish people, grants which, I am afraid, in a great 
 number of cases never reached the sufferers for whom they were 
 intended ; but they refused absolutely to do anything towards amending 
 
19 
 
 the law. Under these circumstances it was that the Land League was 
 first formed. (Hear, hear, and applause.) It was started in the 
 last years of the late government, and from that day Irish discontent 
 has assumed an organised form. Then, we took office ; we took office 
 pledged by the declarations of almost every member of the Ministry, 
 by our avowed sympathies, by our known convictions, to do our very 
 best at the earliest possible moment to seek out the cause, the deep 
 underlying cause, of Irish disaffection, and, if possible, to remove 
 it by legislation. (Applause.) Events moved too quickly for us. 
 Before we were well seated in office, before we had obtained the 
 report of the Commissioners whom we appointed to examine into 
 this matter, we were called upon to deal with one phase of the Irish 
 difficulty. Well, we did nut hesitate. We sacrificed all our preconceived 
 plans and schemes, we gave up the programme which we had 
 recommended to Parliament ; we stopped, we delayed proceeding with 
 Eaglish and Scotch business, and we introduced a bill, the Compensation 
 for Disturbance Bill — (applause) — which occupied many weeks of time, 
 and which, as you know, led to a very protracted session. You will 
 recollect the solemn warning which Mr. Gladstone, in urging the 
 acceptance of that bill upon the House of Commons, addressed to us in 
 reference to the state of affairs. He said, " Ireland stands within 
 measurable distance of civil war," and he urged that this bill should be 
 accepted as, in the opinion of the Government, necessary to strengthen 
 their hands, and to enable them to secure obedience to law and order. 
 The warning was neglected — the House of Lords — (liibse^) — rejected 
 the bill — (shame) — and I say, never in the history of that House has 
 it committed a more unwise and a more unpatriotic act. (Applause.) 
 If that bill had been passed we have the assurance of the leaders of the 
 Irish Land League themselves that they could not have successfully 
 continued their agitation. The bill was rejecttd, and civil war has 
 begun. Class is arrayed against class in social strife, and now 30,000 
 soldiers and 12,000 policemen are barely sufficient to enable the 
 Government to protect the lives and the property of the Queen's 
 subjects in Ireland. Well, it is said sometimes that we ou^ht to have 
 had another suasion of Parliament, and that the bill should have been 
 sent up again to the Lords. Our critics seems to forget that we are 
 
20 
 
 not a despotic Government, and that we have not the power to do 
 what we will. We can only act within the limits of the constitution, 
 and if we had called another session of Parliament, and if we had sent 
 up the bill to the House of Lords, inasmuch as we were only able to 
 secure a comparatively small majority in its favour in the House of 
 Commons on the first occasion, I believe it is probable that the bill 
 would have been again rejected. It is said we might have dissolved 
 Parliament ; but if you consider that we had only had a general 
 election a few months before, and the effect of such a proposal at a 
 time when Ireland was seething with disaffection, I think you will 
 feel that it is one which no reasonable man would make, and which 
 no prudent Government would be able seriously to consider. What is 
 to be done now 1 ? (Applause.) Well, the Tories have no doubt 
 whatever as to the course which we ought to pursue. By the mouths 
 of their leaders, by their organs in the press, they urge upon the 
 Government to put aside at once the Land Bill, to give up any attempt 
 at remedial legislation, and to go to Parliament for more and moi'e 
 coercion, for the abolitio.i of Trial by Jury, for the suppression of the 
 Land League, and for other stringent and arbitrary measures. Well 
 now, for my part I hate coercion. (Applause.) I hate the name and 
 I hate the thing. (Renewed applause.) I am bound to say that I 
 believe there is not one of my colleagues who does not hate it as I do. 
 But then we hate disorder more. (Cheers.) It seems to me that the 
 issue is now with the Irish people ^aud ^those who lead them. They 
 can have no doubt any loager — it mightjiave beeu possible before — 
 they can have no doubt any longer as to the intentions of the Govern- 
 ment. We have brought in a Land Bill. (Prolonged applause.) We 
 have offered our message of peace to the Irish people. It is a bill, 
 indeed, which Lord Salisbury professes he cannot understand ; but I 
 don't find that his want of intelligence has prevented him from 
 denouncing it in the strongest terms. It is a bill which Sir Stafford 
 Northcote appears to consider of no importance, for he urges the 
 Government to give to the House of Commons some proposals of 
 really serious legislation which would justify the absence of obstructive 
 proceedings. But this bill which Lord Salisbury cannot understand — 
 this bill which Sir Stafford Northcote thinks to be of no importance, 
 
21 
 
 has been, I am glad to say, accepted generally as to its main principles, 
 in the spirit in which it has been conceived, by all that, is most reason- 
 able and intelligent amongst the Irish people. (A.pplause.) I do not 
 say that it may not be susceptible of amendment, but I say that as it 
 stands, and, speaking geii3rally of its main provisions, that it has been 
 welcomed by the majority of the Irish press. It has been frankly 
 accepted as satisfactory by the whole of Ulster. It has been approved 
 — I am always speakii.g of its main proposals — it has been approved 
 by the Roman Catholic clergy — and let me say, in passing, that 
 although there have been of course some exceptions, I think the action 
 ol the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland during these disturbances has 
 been on the whole worthy of their cloth — (applause) — and of their 
 religion, and that the influence to which their sympathies with the 
 people justly entitle them has been exercised on the whole on the side 
 of law and order. Well, sir, this bill, as I say, has been accepted in 
 its main provisions by the Roman Catholic clergy. It has been 
 accepted by the representatives of Ireland. Out of 101 of them, only 
 seven were found to vote against the second reading of the bill, and of 
 those seven, three, I believe, were members of the late Government. 
 This bill has bean accepted as, at all events, a basis of a satisfactory 
 settlement. We have pledged ourselves to do everything which lies 
 within our power to carry it to^a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. 
 We have stakedour existence upon it. (Loud cheers.) There is no 
 possibility of retreat. And now just let me tell you in a few words 
 what this bill which Lord Salisbury cannot understand really is. I 
 fancy that the intelligence of Birmingham working men will, at least, 
 be equal to a demand which ha3 proved too great a strain on Lord 
 Salisbury's attention. (Laughter.) This is a bill which provides, in 
 the first place, for an impartial ^tribunal, to which every small tenant 
 in Ireland can go in order to fix a fair rent between himself and his 
 landlord if they should happen to disagree. This bill permits every 
 small tenant to sell his goodwill or tenant-right for the best price he 
 can get for it, if he wishes to exchange or leave his holding ; and in 
 this way it secures him absolutely in all the improvements which he 
 may make upon the land. It gives to him also Sicurity of tenure in 
 his holding, provided he fulfils the reasonable requirements and condi- 
 
22 
 
 tions of the tenancy. And, in addition to that, it affords facilities 
 greater than have ever been suggested before, whereby many of these 
 tenants, at all events, will be able on reasonable and moderate terms 
 to acquire full possession of the land which they now till as occupying 
 tenants. (Applause.) A few weeks, or at most a month or two, must 
 settle the fate of the Government and the fate of this measure. May 
 we not call a truce, under these circumstances, in the bitter civil war, 
 which, as I have said, is going on ? I appeal to the landlords first, who 
 have in many cases been very long-suffering and patient, to have yet 
 a little more forbearance with their tenants, at all events during the 
 time which must intervene before their relations with them are finally 
 settled. I hope, also, that I may venture to appeal to the Irish people. 
 (Applause.) I appeal to them as I appealed to them, I am sorry to 
 say without success, before — I appeal to them not to play into the 
 hands of their enemies. (Cheers ) I appeal to them not to make the 
 policy of conciliation difficult, or even impossible, for us by acts of 
 violence and disorder which every honest man condemns. (Applause.) 
 I believe that if we could tide over this intervening time, 'or if we could 
 by some magic power secure the immediate passage of this bill, that we 
 should have a settlement of this disastrous state of things. The Tories 
 say that it would not be a final settlement. Well, perhaps not. There 
 is no finality in politics— (applause) — and every generation in turn 
 must solve its own problems, and carry forward to a successful issue its 
 own reforms. (Applause.) But at least we should have done our 
 duty — at least we should have dealt with the question of the moment, 
 and until some new grievance might arise to be dealt with, with equal 
 justice and, 1 hope, with greater promptitude — until such time, at 
 least, we should have established the relations of the Irish people on a 
 satisfactory footing. But I am afraid there are two parties who do 
 not want a settlement of this question — (applause) — and those are the 
 Tories and the leaders of the Land League. (Applause.) Since the 
 Easter holidays every day of Government time has been given, with- 
 out intermission, in order to promote the progress of this great and 
 vitally important measure, and yet up to the present day, only six 
 lines of the bill, which consists of over a thousand lines, have passed 
 through Committee. There are some people who think that the time 
 
23 
 
 may shortly come when a review of the position and functions of the 
 House of Lords may not be an inappropriate subject for the considera- 
 tion of the English people — (applause)— but I venture to say that the 
 urgent question of the moment, the point to which every reformer 
 should now direct his first attention, is the reform of the procedure of 
 the House of Commons. (Applause.) The House of Commons has ceased 
 to be able to represent or give effect to the will of the majority of the 
 nation. It has sunk into a great debating society, without power to come 
 to a decision, or to register and carry out the mandate which it has re- 
 ceived from the constituencies. And while discussion is prolonged in 
 the House of Commons the gloom of the situation in Irt land extends 
 and deepens. Our talk never slackens, neither does the agitation 
 in Ireland. And I am sometimes afraid lest even this great measure of 
 reform may come too late, and provisions which would be satisfactory, 
 which would be gratefully accepted, if they could be immediately 
 accorded, may yet be rejected if they are indefinitely postponed. 
 Now, why is it this important decision is so long delayed ? In the first 
 place, the Government has to deal with the ill-concealed — I might 
 almost say the avowed — hostility of a certain section of the leaders of 
 the Irish party. There is no secret about what I am going to say : 
 there is no dispute about it. Mr. Parnell, and those who follow him 
 have never concealed the fact that their chief object is not the removal 
 of grievances in Ireland, but the separation of Ireland from England, 
 (Hear, hear.) Why only a few months ago, Mr. Parnell, speaking in 
 Ireland, said that he would never have joined the Land League, he 
 would have taken no part in this great agitation which has been called 
 into existence to redeem the Irish people from consequences of 
 centuries of wrong, he would have taken no part in that agitation if he 
 had not thought it would have helped him in the Nationalist and 
 Separatist movement in which he chiefly takes an interest. How can we 
 satisfy these men ? Our object is not the same as theirs ; we want to 
 remove every just cause of grievance. They want to magnify 
 grievances and to intensify differences. We want to unite the Irish 
 people and the English and the Scotch in bonds of amity. We want, 
 I say, to bind the Irish people to this country in bonds of amity an J 
 c rdial union — (hear, hear) — just as much as Scotland is united to 
 
•24 
 
 England, although the time was when Scotchmen felt as bitter a 
 hostility to the union as Irishmen now profess to feel. Well, under 
 these circumstances, I find that the gentlemen to whom I have referred 
 do not openly oppose the Land Bill, because, I believe, they are well 
 aware that their constituents would not justify them ia such a course. 
 (Hear, hear.) But they are not unwilling to put obstacles in its way. 
 They are not unwilling to raise motions for adjournment or to put 
 questions which lead to debate, and which take up the precious time 
 of the House, winch ought to be expended solely in the promotion of 
 this measure; and, above all, they try by agitation to force upon the 
 Government impossible concessions — (hear, hear)— the effect of which, 
 if only we were to accept them, they know would be that the bill 
 would very likely be rejected by the House of Commons and would 
 certainly be rejected by the House of Peers. Now, I observe, at a 
 meeting which was held on Sunday last in Hyde Park, Mr. Parnell 
 made a suggestion that the Government should refuse in the future to 
 allow the soldiery or police in Ireland to be employed in the protection 
 of the officers who are carrying out the law. I do not think that Mr. 
 Parnell himself sees exactly the whole of the fatal consequences which 
 would follow the adoption of such a suggestion. Let us see what it 
 amounts to. It amounts to this — that any Government which thinks 
 a law unjust should at once set itself above the law, and should refuse 
 to allow that law to be put in force. (Hear, hear.) What is it which 
 gives security to all of us? What is it which enables every one of 
 you — the humblest among you — to feel that your homes are protected 
 from violence, and that the persons and lives of those who are dear to 
 you are safe from outrages ? Why, it is the sense that you have the 
 support and assistance of the law, so long as you obey the law. (Loud 
 applause ) And it is the sense that behind the law there is all the 
 force of a mighty empire, all the power that the strongest Government 
 can wield. I say if you take this security from us, you take from us 
 everything which guarantees our liberties and our freedom. It is all 
 very well for us now to say this law is unjust. The Tory Government 
 which follows us may think another law equally open to objection, and 
 Government after Government will set up a separate despotism of its 
 o.vn, and the freedom and liberties of three kingdoms will be 
 
25 
 
 destroyed. ( Applause. ) Well, but there are other conaderations i 
 which, must be weighed in this matter Az - -action msy be, and in 
 
 ••-zz- :■.■--•_ i: z- i iirii ill : ;::- -..-- ii: — iri: irir — :~: :.l :_r 
 ::i-r laid i: ~iv :^ — z: me :ar. ienv :: — i: _ ■;- ";•= ::: :-'; ~v 
 which a landlord may have to obtain a fair &zz Moderate i eal - 
 — i::i tl'.i '.r- '.::_: : 1 :: "_:\ t. . 1 :. _." iej-enii [ say :ia- ir. -~. 
 a case as I have described the landlord's rent is as much his property 
 i -our coat or your money is yours. (Load applause.) Mr. Partefl 
 -\ • z- :i}.-. .lie '-' ---- — li.i '--. La= r.-r- :: Iriili :eia-- ii :ia: :i- 
 ire -:: :; ivr —;z=: reiti. Hei~. lear ^ell lire ii a *:-:d i 
 :: ":e =a:i i:;~: i.-:- a :r:i:>i;i:- is :n: Ii eve:v ~ -i :: ';- 
 
 ever, the :e = : inl n:-_: lines: in:nre: _i ;:ili :e ::ii:e_ :z ---:-- 
 ease to pay his nil :e::s nie: si:"i ;::: msii-nes zz nese. Az : \z z.-. 
 3i: ir-nmm-.elj :i:s is i:: -1 ~i -:e _ e: Hdr Ir'ameU — ir :: 
 :ier lei Irr 5 :: tie Lit. I Leiine iz. Irelani zzi else" ~ie:e line iir-Vi 
 lie i.ne -:: :: rav im rei: i: ill A^I i: ii a fa:: :li: : 
 hmiieds ani :l:ii.inis ::' uses :i: Iriil :eii.-:i are 111: — I12 :'-:■: 
 ': :enl :1 ;- Tie rrlT.ez: :e:l:e :!- l-:v-;mr.:er-: = n:: a -ml 
 one. What w e — n: :: ill :;: ^ .lis "~e -srn: :: try 1:~ ~- :a^ 
 protect the In-: :eian: :'r:n lie ~i n-: :r: :e i ne :z. lie jar: : a 
 ;riel ill "nrli l._ 1 . 1 .-._ l V; -e "-"a..: : _ : - ::!■:. _a_i :: i : :La: 
 so that we may not at the same time protect the dishonest tenant in 
 his dishonesty — (hear, hear) — and help him to take advantage of this 
 agitation to rob his creditor?, refusing, with money in his pockets I 
 pay his landlord, who, perhaps, is poorer than himself. (Applause.) 
 Then the bill has also been delayed by the action of the Tories, who are 
 striving by amendments and by discussion to force upon the 
 1-:~t::ihti: .:"::.„- ::: _- : "_ :-: : i z:z : _t ..: : . : : - 
 
 call the confiscation of their pro per ty I very much doubt 
 whether these amendments are really suggested by Irish landlords, who, 
 I believe, as a rule, are only anxious for a reasonable =?:•_ en i::. lam 
 inclined to think they are suggested by Eogbsh landlords, who are 
 afraid of inconvenient precedents. (Applause.) But in any ease I say 
 :!ii: :z ---. i_-i!ii-_:5 i .-. .:.-;: :il- ni : zzz: : ■ z r- r::e: 
 :lai?T ~ r :zz z\r -- ■ -:z:z:-i.rZzZ.z.z:.:l-z.izi:\: 
 
26 
 
 We do not propose to do anything above and beyond this — to make 
 compulsory upon all landlords the practice which we are assured the 
 majority of landlords, and certainly of good landlords, already adopt. 
 Good landlords do not rack their tenants. Why should bad landlords 
 be compensated for a legal right which they cannot equitably exercise '? 
 A good landlord will not forfeit the property or the improvements of 
 his tenants, and he will not lightly evict from his holding — which 
 perhaps is the only means of livelihood which the tenant has — a man 
 who, by himself and his family, has remained perhaps longer on the 
 ground even than the landlord who is in authority over him ; yet bad 
 landlords have done this in some cases, and might do in many more, 
 and I cannot conceive that they have any right to claim compensation 
 for the restriction and limitation of powers which they ought never to 
 have been permitted to enjoy. In our English legislation there are 
 numberless precedents in which legal rights have been found to be in 
 conflict with public morality and public interest, and have been 
 restricted and limited, and I am not aware of any such cases in which 
 compensation has been given to those who have been thus treated 
 Irish landlords must look for their real compensation for any sacrifice, 
 if sacrifice it be which they are called upon to make, in the fact that 
 it is only in some restriction of their rights that their relations with 
 their tenants can possibly be replaced in a friendly and satisfactory 
 condition; and as the rights of Irish landlords are now only maintained 
 by the presence of an English garrison, and would not exist for a 
 moment if that garrison were removed, it appears to me that the 
 English people which maintains this garrison is entitled to a voice in 
 settling the conditions under which the protection which they give 
 shall continue to be afforded. (Applause.) Well now, gentlemen, I 
 have brought down the narrative to the present time. I cannot 
 attempt — I will not venture to predict the future. The Government 
 is striving to steer an even course between extremes. We have been 
 told that the bill which we have brought in is the minimum which the 
 Irish people can accept. I believe it is the maximum which any 
 English Parliament will pass. We pursue the work in which we are 
 engaged under circumstances of some discouragement. We cannot 
 count upon, we do not ask for, the assistance of our opponents. We 
 
27 
 
 meet with scant consideration from those whom we are attempting to 
 serve. I feel that I have detained you too long. (No.) I thank you 
 moat sincerely for the patience with which you have listened to me. 
 I shall have served some purpose if I have brought before you the 
 difficulties by which the Government finds itself encompassed; and if I 
 have shown you also the spirit in which we are endeavouring to 
 overcome them. I h'ust also that I may have made clear to you the 
 alternative policy which is offered by our opponents for your adoption. 
 It is now for you to choose between us. I can only say for myself, that 
 I have not found office so free from care and from anxiety that I am 
 greatly desirous of its long continuance. I accepted it with hesitation; I 
 shall resign it without reluctance. But there is one thing in connection 
 with it which I shall never forget, and that is — that I have been 
 permitted, for however short a time and in however humble a capacity, 
 to be associated with the ablest and the noblest of English statesmen 
 — (cheers) — in a policy which I believe to be just and wise in its 
 conception, which I know to be humane and beneficent in its intention, 
 which I firmly trust will yet be crowned with signal success, and 
 which I think will be recognised by future generations as the greatest 
 achievement of a long and splendid public life. (Loud cheers.) 
 
NATIONAL LIBERAL FEDERATION. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 The National Liberal Federation : Its General Objects and immediate 
 Work (1880). 
 
 Practical Politics Series : — 
 
 1. The Tenant Farmer : Land Laws and Landlords. By 
 James Howard, M.P., is. 
 
 11. Foreign Policy. By the Right Hon. M. E. Grant Duff, 
 M.P., 2s.6d. 
 
 in. Freedom of Land. By the Right Hon. G. J. Shaw- 
 Lefevfe, M.P., is. 
 
 IV. Our Colonial Policy. By Sir David Wedderburn, Bart., M.P. 
 
 Bright, The Right Hon. John, M.P. :— 
 
 Speech on the Hares and Rabbits' Bill, delivered in the 
 House of Commons, August 10th, 1880. is. per 100 ; 
 7s. 6d. per 1,000. 
 
 Do., Welsh translation. 
 
 Crosskey, Rev. H. W., F.G.S. :— 
 
 The Liberal Association, the "600" of Birmingham. 
 
 Fowler, Wm., M.P. :— 
 The Land Laws. 
 
 Gladstone, The Right Hon. W. E., M.P. :— 
 Political Organization. 
 
 MacCarthy, Rev. E. F. M., M.A. :— 
 
 The Education Code — Lord Norton's Motion. 
 
 Morley, John :— 
 
 The House of Commons. 
 
 SCHNADHORST, F. : — 
 
 County Organization. A Paper read at a Conference of 
 Liberals at Cardiff, October 28th, 1880. 
 
 Whittaker, Thomas P. :— 
 
 Free Trade, Reciprocity, and Foreign Competition. 
 
 Williams, J. Powell :— 
 
 The Ballot Act, and Corrupt Practices at Elections. 
 
 Proceedings attending the Formation of the National Liberal 
 Federation. 
 
 First Annual Report (Leeds Meeting, 1879). 
 
 Second do. do. (Darlington Meeting, 1SS0). 
 
 Third do. do. (Birmingham, 1881) 
 
 Specimen copies of the above (with the exception of the Practical 
 Politics series) may be obtained, free, on application to the 
 Secretary, at Birmingham who will quote terms for quantities. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 020 662 268 4