ilpfpllflppplppppp^ f J- . ' ; * ■ T§ ^: ^^ i iQ .■^ O <: ! n(- J Mm r -. (-V r r k I \ r r\r\ ■T O / fvir ri,ii\TDC/ * \j -1 1 1 1 ^ tT3 33 i? x^^^ = <-J ^OFCALIFO/?/^ o %H0 c^O 4s ERS//, ^W' ^.MEl'NIVER^//, < S i' SOI'** °/-^ □0 >- i^ 1 u 1 ^ 1 ^W'^' ViVn. c^ c > Qc [V / ..^ % CD '^ ^OAHvaariiv ^ >- m- 1 in ri 1 n\ / , CD v^ A\^E UNIVERS//, ' ^^.OfCALIFO/?,^/ tUNIVERS'//, '/- 3^ ^\^F !!MIVFR5yA '/- t" He has recently written a letter to an American lawyer, who issued a work entitled "The Puritan in Holland, England, and America." The work in question is, as Mr Goldwin Smith has stated in the Times, an anti-English bo^k. Its author " seeks to show that whatever is good in American character MR. GLADSTONE ON THE ENGLISH. ii and institutions had its source not in Eng-land, but in Holland." In that letter Mr. Gladstone has made the very remarkable statement : — The English race (I am a pure Scotchman) are a great fact in the world, and I believe will so continie; but no race stanls in greater need of discipline in every form, and, a-nong other forms, that which is administered by criticism vigorously directed to canvassing their character and claims. Under such discipline I believe they are capable of a great elevation and of high performances. In 1886, after the General Election, Mr. Gladstone denounced what he called -'The Southern English," which meant practically the whole English people, as the principal enemies of his policy, and he made the remarkable statement that the whole civilised world was in favour of his Separatist policy for Ireland. As England then returned 340 Unionist members and only 125 Separatists, or a majority of nearly three to one in favour of the Union, it is obvious that Mr. Gladstone considered England outside the pale of the civilised world. Notwithstanding the losses at the General Election in July last, there is still a large majority in England for the Union. In July, 1892, the English people again returned a Unionist majority of seventy-one. So Mr. Gladstone now indulges in another attack upon the English race. He boasts that he is a '' pure Scotchman " (born in Liverpool, by-the-bye, and enjoying his fathers fortune made at Liverpool). As Mr. Goldwin Smith wrote : — Sir Walter Scott also was a pure Scotchman, not only by birth, but in every respect ; yet we may doubt whether the gift from an American of a book depreciating England would have drawn from him a similar letter. The birth- place of Mr. Gladstone seems not less gloriously doubtful than that of Homer, but we know that he was bred in England ; brought up at an English school, and an English University ; shared the bounty of an English founder ; was indebted for his brilliant start in life to honours won at an English University ; was brought into Parliament through the influence of an English nobleman for an English borough ; sat for English constituencies nearly all his life ; and, apparently, owes as much to England as ever a man owed to his country. 12 MR. GLADSTONE OX THE ENGLISH. In the extract quoted above, Mr. Gladstone has the audacity to state, with reg-ard to the Eng-Hsh, that " No race stands in greater need of discipHne in every form," and he adds that such discipline should be 'administered by criticism directed to canvassing- their character and claims." It is quite clear what this means. Mr. Gladstone wishes to decry the right of the English race to form the key.stone and unifying force of these islands and their vast Empire. Mr. Jesse Collings, in his able speech on the Queen's Speech, on February 8th, in favor of the English Agricultural Labourer, referred to a most oflfensive passage from this same American work, which Mr. Gladstone praises so highly. The following is an extract from Mr. Jesse Collings' speech : — Who are these labourers on whose behalf I speak ? They are not men who shot people or who burn ricks and commit other outrages, such as maiming cattle. I have noticed a book published in America and written for the consumption among the enemies of England. It is a book written to disparage and be-little England, and it is with great regret that I have seen a letter from the Prime Minister speaking of " the value and tlie importance of a work like this." I refer to the book because it speaks of the English agricuUiiral labourer as "well nigh the most ignorant and brutalised among the so-called civilised people of the world. ^* ("Oh.") That is not a book which should be praised by any Englishman or Scotchman either. The man who wrote it is a disgraceful slanderer. (Cheers.) The writer is totally ignorant or he lies. (Renewed cheers.) I speak warmly on this subject because it touches me to the quick to have this said of a people to whom I am greatly attached ; and I indignantly cast the slander away, even although it has been praised by the Prime Minister of England. I prefer the testimony of the great naturalist who said that, "in spite of all the agitators who had gone amongst them, the labourer remains a fine sample of the English race, manly and faithful. ' ' (Cheers. ) The English people represent 30,000,000 at least out of the 38,000,000 who inhabit the United Kingdom. A thousand years ago a great English monarch, Egbert, and his greater son Alfred, made the English people into one nation and one kingdom. From MR. c;ladstone on the exc;[,ish. 13 that moment England, which had been divided into many diflferent states, and had therefore been weak and unimportant, became great and strong-. To Eng-land were gradually joined the neighbouring peoples, whom geographical, political and commercial reasons marked out for such union. Step by step Wales and Ireland and Scotland were united to the chief and central country, and the union has been as advantageous to them as to England. Around this United Kingdom has been built up, by the courage and enterprise of our fathers, the greatest and wealthiest dominion that the world has ever known. That Empire, of which the United Kingdom is the centre and the heart, numbers over three hundred and forty millions of souls, and covers over nine millions of square miles in every part of the globe. No country has ever possessed so vast an Empire, or one which is so beneficial to other races, so civilised and civilising. After all is said and done, and after the fullest acknowledg- ment is made of the high qualities shown by the other races now united into one great nation with the English, it is England and the English race that have made the United Kingdom and built up the Empire. The main factor in our National Unity at home, and our Imperial greatness abroad, is England and the English race. It is English enterprise, and English valour, English tenacity and English statesmanship which have borne the chief part in building up, in developing and in welding together that mighty and beneficent fabric of power and dominion which is known as the British Empire. No people and no race have ever shown such an Imperial genius, such a capacity for government as the English. None have ever established and maintained such an Empire as that of England — an Empire which is as great a blessing to alien and inferior races as it is a source of power and wealth to the central and parent country. Englishmen are anxious to be just and even generous to the 14 MR. GLADSTONE ON THE ENGLISH. races with which they are associated. Especially have they shown themselves ready to give full justice to Ireland. The English people have always shewn themselves in great crises of their history able to rise above petty or sectional or party interests, and to decide as becomes a governing and Imperial race. There is a point at which the English people must draw the line. There is a point at which they must oppose an unflinching resistance to the enemies of their race and of their Empire. That point marks the dividing line between National Unity and Separation, between the integrity of their Empire and its disruption. The politician, however eminent or eloquent, who disparages the English race, and who would break up the National Unity of these realms, is wholly unworthy of the confidence of Englishmen. THE HOME RULE BILL OF 1893. MRe GLADSTONE'S SCHEME ANALYSED. {N.B.— The tivo Home Rule Bills of 1 886 and 1 893 leill he found arranged in parallel columns at the end if the Pamphlet, after the last Appendix. 1^ The Home Rule Bill of 1893 bristles w'th difficulties. It is far more complicated and perplexing- than the Bill of 1886. The retention of So Irish ISIembers in the Imperial Parliament, and the attempt to discriminate between Irish, British, and Imperial affairs, renders the Bill utterly impracticable. Mr. Gladstone's latest scheme is simply a hopeless mass of quandaries, incon- sistencies, and impossibilities, UNION IS STRENGTH. There is at the outset the main and eternal objection to any ,7to82?" and every plan of separation. The establishment of a separate Irish Parliament means the launching- of this ancient and great country upon the fatal path of disunion and decay. It reverses the whole of the past history of Eng-land, and g-oes contrary to all the lessons of experience. Every g-reat nation of modern times, as well as of ancient, has g-rown in strength, in prosperity, and in civilisation by adopting- a policy of consolidation and closer union. During- the Middle Ag-es France, step by step, consolidated her separate provinces and divisions into one kingdom, and France grew in strength with each increase of unity. Much the same consolidation took place in Spain and with similar results. This, also, is the irrefutable lesson taught by the example of Italy, of Germany, of the United States, and of every powerful nation, ancient and modern alike. Why, then, should England, at the close of the nineteenth century, in the very heyday of her progress and strength, adopt the disastrous, and too often fatal policy of separation } Mr. Gladstone, in his speech on Feb. 13th, 1893, introducing the "Home Rule" Bill, gave not a single reason, beyond a vag-ue idea of gratifying c 'i6 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME AXAEVSED. some three millions of Celtic Irish, why a policv so injurious should be adopted by this country. PRIiNCIPAL FEATURES OF THE BILL. The principal features of the new Home Rule scheme, as em- bodied in Mr. Gladstone's Bill, are — 1. The creation of a new Irish Parliament consisting- of two Chambers. The Upper Chamber is called "The Legislative Council," and will consist of forty-eight members, who are to be elected by all voters rated at above £20 annual value., i.e., by about 165,000 electors in all. The Lower Chamber will be called "The Legislative Assembly." and will consist of 103 members, elected just as the 103 Irish members are elected at present to the Imperial Parliament. No change in the Legislative Assembly is to be made for a period of six years. In case of differences between the two Chambers, they are to meet together and decide the final issue by voting together. 2. The control and administration of all Irish affairs, and the power of legislating for Ireland, including, after six years, legislation upon the Judiciary and the Police, are to be handed over to the new Irish Parliament. Certain .subjects, such as the Crown, foreign affairs, peace or war, religious education and religious establishment, external trade, personal freedom. &c., are reserved for the Imperial Parliament. The question of the land is also to be reserved, but only for three years. The Judges are to be appointed by the Imperial Government for six years only. Those Judges appointed after the passing of the Act are to be removable on an address presented by both Houses of the Irish Legislature. As the Nationalist party will control both Houses, the Irish Judges will be at the mercy of the dominant faction. 3. The only provisions for maintaining the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament are a general and vague expression in the preamble of the Bill to that effect, and a power of veto given to the Viceroy for its exercise in particular cases and under the direction of the Sovereign. The Viceroy, however, may be a Roman Catholic, and is to be appointed for six years. The executive of the new Irish Parliament is to consist of a Committee of the Irish Privy Council. This Committee will be the Irish Cabinet. By the advice of this Irish Cabinet the Viceroy is to act in the use of the veto-power given to him, except in special cases where otherwise directed by the Sovereign. 4. A curious attempt is made to introduce something like the powers of the Supreme Court of the United States into the British Constitution. Questions relating to the validity of any Bill passed by the Irish Parliament may be referred to the MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME ANALYSED. 17 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, without the rigfht of appeal to the House of Lords. If this right of appeal be limited to the Viceroy and Secretary of State for the Home l^epartments, and not g-iven to private citizens, this provision would be almost valueless to Irish loyalists. Any person who now has a right of appeal from an Irish Court to the House of Lords, will instead be entitled to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 5. With regard to finance, the new Irish Budget is to amount to £5,660,000 on the income side, and £5,160,000 on the expense side. This will leave a surplus of £500,000 for the Irish Parliament to deal with as they please— that is, to pay their Ministers and their members, to reinstate the evicted tenants, or for any other purpose. The share which Ireland has in future to pay towards Imperial charges is to be the amount of the receipts from Customs which now equal £2,370,000. This, according to Mr. Gladstone's speech of February 13th, amounts to nearly one tvventy-fifth of the total Imperial charges; w^hereas the Irish representation of 80 members in the Imperial Parliament is to be nearly one-eighth of its total number. The question of further contributions in case of war or extraordinary expenses is apparently to be left to the generosity of the new Irish Parliament. 6. The most novel and impracticable condition of the new Bill is, however, the retention of the 80 Irish members at Westminster, and the provisions for their voting. Some attempt is made in Mr. Gladstone's scheme to discriminate between Imperial and British questions. Each separate House of the Imperial Parlia- ment is to decide, in case of dispute, how it is to be settled, whether a question is Imperial or purely British. This will mean that the decision is left to the party majority, and must give rise to endless debates and quarrels. The Irish contingent of eighty is nominally to be allowed to vote upon Imperial questions, but not upon British questions. But, inasmuch as the Irish eighty are to be permitted to vote upon every vote of want of confidence in the Imperial Ministry, and also to vote, accord- ing to Mr. Gladstone's speech of February 13th, upon any motion "incidental" to " any Bill or motion expressly confined to Great Britain," it is clear that the Irish eighty will be able to vote on almost any question, and at almost any moment to decide the fate of the British or Imperial Ministry. Moreover, as the right of dealing with Irish Taxation, except Customs, is left to the Irish Parliament, the Imperial Parliament will, by losing its direct control of Irish Estimates, lose its chief means of con- trolling its Irish representatives. But this astounding proposal will be dealt with later on. C2 Yin. 18 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME ANALYSED. MR. GLADSTONE'S FIVE PRINXIPLES. pento''' In its details the plan is full of absurd impracticability. Mr. Gladstone laid down five principles as underlying- the present Bill, no less than that of 1886. His first principle is the main- tenance of Imperial unity. Mr. Gladstone stated that there should be a separate Parliament in Dublin for legislation and administration with regard to Irish affairs; with this limitation — that there should be '• nothing in the plan inconsistent with Imperial unity." Mr. Gladstone's second principle is that there should be a perfect '' equality between all the kingdoms ; " his third, that there should be an " equitable repartition of Imperial charges between Great Britain ana Ireland."' Mr. Gladstone's fourth principle is that the Bill should contain " any and every practical provision for the protection of minorities '' in Ireland. His fifth principle is that the scheme should contain the " charac- teristics of a real and continuous settlement" of the question. NO CAUSE FOR THE BILL. As Mr. Balfour showed in his able speech, on February 14th, no practical reason has been given for the introduction of any such Bill. In 18S6 the disturbed condition of Ireland and the prevalence of crime were Mr. Gladstone's ostensible reasons for then adopting •' Home Rule." This argument of despair had great weight in 1886, especially with the working classes. They were impressed with the discontented and lawless state of Ireland, and were inclined to accept the argument of the Separatists that autonomy was the only remedy. It was, in fact, according to jNIr. Gladstone in 18S6, a choice between "Home Rule" or Drastic Coercion. No such reasons exist now, for the result of six years of Unionist administration of Ireland had been in July, 1892, to reduce crime to a minimum, and to restore peace and contentment to the Irish people. Mr. Morley, in his speech on the Address, bore direct witness to the vastly improved con- dition of Ireland. He said rents were being duly paid, and juries could be trusted to do their duty. The number of agrarian crimes during Mr. Gladstone's administration from 18S0 to 1884, inclusive, amounted to 12,089 — that is an annual average of 2,417. The number of agrarian crimes in the years 18S5 and 1S86, during which Mr. Gladstone and Lord Salisbury were each in power for about twelve months out of the two years, amounted to 2,000 — that is, 1,000 a year. The number of agrarian crimes for the five years of Lord Salisbury's ministry, from 1S87 to 1S91, amounted to 3,068, or an average of only 61 3 a year. MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME-NO CAUSE FOR THE BILL. 19 In the year 1881, Mr. Gladstone's second year of office, there were 4,439 agrarian crimes in Ireland. In the year 1886, when the Unionist party gained a clear majority, there were 1,056 ag-rarian crimes. In the year 189 1, after Lord Salisbury and Mr. Balfour had been in power for five years, there were only 472 ag-rarian crimes, a smaller number than in any year since 1878. The number of evictions also g^reatly decreased under the Unionist Government. In 1882, when Mr. Gladstone was in office, they amounted to 5,201 ; in 1S86, when the Unionist party came into power, to 3,781 ; and in 1S91, the last complete year of Lord Salisbury's administration, they had fallen to 991. In the five Gladstonian years from 1SS2 to 1886 there were no less than 19,940 evictions. In the five years from 1887 to 1891, when Mr. Balfour was responsible for the Government of Ireland, there were only 11,223 evictions, and quite half of these were due to the Plan of Campaign. There were 4,900 persons boycotted in Ireland when Lord Salisbury took office in 1886. When he left office in August, 1S92, there was not a single person boycotted in the whole of Ireland. A great many false statements have been made with regard to Mr. Balfour"s Criminal Law and Procedure Act of 1887, the so-called Coercion Act. As a matter of fact, the total number of persons proceeded against under the Criminal Law and Procedure Act, from the date of its passing to the 31st March, 1892, 7vas 3,775, of whom 1,047 were discharged, and 2,728 convicted. In 671 cases the defendants were ordered to find sureties or enter into recognisances for their good behaviour, and the numbers of in- dividuals who were imprisoned under the Act to the 31st March, 1892, was 07i[y 1,884. The highest penalty ivhich can be inflicted tiriJer the Act is six niotiths imprisonment, and only 1 81 persons were sentenced to more than three months' imprisonment, while 1,099, or considerably more than half the total number imprisoned, were sentenced for terms not exceeding one month. So successful was the operation of this Act that, when the Unionist Government left office in August last year, there were only three persons in prison under it, and the Act was only in operation in County Clare. The Royal Irish Constabulary were also reduced in numbers by the Unionist Government by between three and four hundred. The average number of Irish police employed during the five Gladstonian years, from 18S1 to 1885, was 14,602. The average number during the five Unionist years from 1 886 to 1890, was 13,948. It is idle, therefore, to talk about Ireland "groaning under Coercion." Mr. Gladstone in 1881 arrested and imprisoned over a thousand 20 MR. GLADSTONE'SSCHEME—IMl'KKIAL UNITY DESTROYED. persons without trial. The separate Irish Parliament, which existed from 1782 to 1800. passed no less than 54 Coercion Acts. There was practically no coercion when Lord Salisbury fell from power. The Unionist Government had proved that they could govern Ireland in peace and prosperity. Agrarian crime had been reduced to a minimum. There were lewer evictions, there were fewer police, there was far less coercion than under Mr. Gladstone. The material improvement of the Irish people had been promoted in every possible way. Light Railways Acts, Drainage Acts, Public Works and Relief Acts, Irish Land Acts, and Land Purchase Acts Cthe Ashbourne Act and the Great Land Purchase Scheme of 1891) had all been successfully passed and put into operation. Ireland in 1892 was peaceful, prosperous, and contented. There was no real cause for, and no practical demand for, a separate Irish Parliament. There is very little e.xcitement even among the Nationalist Irish over the Home Rule Bill ; and at the last election in July the Unionist members for Ireland were increased by five, two of whom came from the metropolitan district of Dublin. There is very little enthusiasm in Scotland over the Home Rule Bill ; and England actually sent a majority of seventy-one members in opposition to it. I.-IMPERIAL UNITY DESTROYED. ]lx%-9. First of all let us take the question of the maintenance of Imperial unity. How can Mr. Gladstone pretend that the creation of a separate Parliament to control Irish affairs, with a quasi-inde- pendent Viceroy, who is to be appointed for six years, and who is to possess all the powers of the Crown, is consistent with Imperial unity.' This separate Parliament is soon to have full control over the Irish judges, magistrates, and the Irish police, and. after three years, over the Irish land. It is a Parliament which is certain to demand fresh privileges and fresh powers, until it achieves entire independence. Is there an instance in the history of the whole world in which such autonomy and such a separate legislature have not resulted in complete separation and entire independence ? The history of Turkey is full of warning. Similar autonomy was given first to Servia, then to Roumania, then to Bulgaria and Roumelia. Servia and Roumania are now inde- pendent kingdoms. Bulgaria enjoys practical independence, and might at any moment break the slender thread of suzerainty that binds her to Turkey. The dual Government and Parliaments existing in Austria-Hungary are only held together by the over- mastering dread of the Russian Power felt by the Hungarians, MR. GLADSTONE'S SCIIKMK-l-MI'KRIAL UNITY DESTROYED. 21 and by the dread of German ascendancy felt by the Austrian Slavs. Of all the great Powers Austria is the weakest, because of her separatist tendencies. The recent history of the United States of America contains a very sug-g;estive les.son for this countr\'. Thirty years ag-o a large portion, "the Southern States," endeavoured to assert and extend the principle of "State Rig-hts " or Separation. The American people had to go through all the sacrifices and all the sufferings of a terrific civil war to maintain their unity. Mr. Gladstone was at that time in favour of Separation for the United States, just as he is now in favour of Separation for the United Kingdom. The majority of the American people rejected his policy then, and, after a struggle of five years, established their national unity on a secure basis. Mr. Gladstone laid much stress upon the reference to the supre- macy of Parliament in the preamble of the Bill, and Sir Edward Clarke, in his speech in the House of Commons on February 13th, 1893, pointed out the comparative futility of such a mere verbal mention of the subject: — "To a mere lawyer this suggestion of the sacredness of a preamble is certainly a novelty. (" Hear, hear," and laughter. ) I think I can see the reason why thi^ subject has been transferred to the preamble. If the Nationalist members are satisfied with the clauses in the Bill they will not take much trouble about the preamble. (Hear, hear.) If the subject were embodied in the clauses of the Bill it would have to be discussed and considered Ijy the House, whereas, if it is put in a few words in the preamble, it may be shutfled through the House without any one taking much notice of it, or anybody conceiving himself much bound by it. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.)" DANGER FROM IRISH AUTONOMY. It is very easy at present to keep the disloyal and independent Jl'ltx^' tendencies of the Celtic Irish within bounds, for the whole Administration of Ireland is in the hands of Imperial officials. The judges, the constabulary, the civil servants are all directly under the Sovereign, the Imperial Cabinet, and the Imperial Parliament. But under the new Bill the whole of the Irish Administration will be transferred from loyal to disloyal hands. The Sextons, O'Briens, Dillons, and Healys, who have on a thousand occasions boasted of, and have often practically shown, their hatred for England, will then be masters of Ireland. They will never rest till they have an armed force at their backs. Even if they wished otherwise, there will be behind them the darker and more dangerous spirits across the Atlantic, who have been so far the instigators and paymasters of the Nationalist move- ment, and who only care for total independence. The aim of these men has been, as Mr. William O'Brien has said, "That Ireland should be free, owning no flag but the green flag of an 22 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IMTERIAL UNITY DESTROYED. independent Irish nation." Air. T. Healy said, "Never have the hopes of the Irish people for independence been more likely than now to be accomplished." Mr. Brennan, the Secretary of the Land League, and one of the most powerful in the band of Irish-American conspirators, said in 1885 : — " I ask you to keep before your minds the one ultimate object — the saifereign •iidependeiice oj your country. It is the duty of every man to work to make Ireland a nation. I mean no mockery of freedom. I mean Ireland mistress oJ her oii'ii destinies — Ireland jvith a national army to guard her shores, Ireland with a national senate, and Ireland with a National Government that will know no higher authority than the sovereign will of the Irish people." Even if the present anti-Parnellite majority in Ireland were sincere in their pretence of accepting" Mr. Gladstone's scheme as a final settlement, they would never be allowed to do so. There would always be other and more daring factions ready to press forward the quasi-moderate party into extreme courses. Every Irish Administration will be bound to seek popularity by some fresh demand and some fresh assault upon Imperial control. TEST OF IMPERIAL UNITY. Mr. Chamberlain, in examining whether the new "Home Rule " Bill preserves Imperial unity, as asserted by Mr. Gladstone, gave the following definition of Imperial unity: — "The test of Imperial unity is that the central authority shall have for all purposes of offence and defence full control of all the forces and all the resources of a country in which that unity applies." This is a fair definition ; and tested by it there is full Imperial unity in the United Kingdom as at present. The Imperial Parliament can, if it chooses, spend the last penny and call out the last man in the United Kingdom. The unity of England to India is not so perfect. It is questionable whether, in case of war, the monetary resources of India could be used for the defence of this country. It is probable, however, that if hard pressed we should not hesitate to make use of the military forces of India. In the case of the relations between the colonies and the parent country, the unity is of the slenderest character. There is little more than the link of the Crown. The Imperial Parliament has no right to exact from the colonies a single pound in taxation or a single man for military service. There can be no real analogy between our relations with the colonies and the relations between Ireland and Great Britain. The loss of any colony is to be deeply deplored, but in no single case would the loss of a colony inflict an irreparable injury upon this country. MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IMPERIAL UNITY DESTROYED. 23 STRATEGICAL VALUE OF IRELAND. Our self-g-overning- colonies are thousands of miles away, and their geographical position, if they became quite independent, would not threaten the internal safety or the naval supremacy of England. The island of Ireland, on the other hand, has been placed by nature so close to Great Britain, and in such a position of geographical, political, and strategical importance with regard to the sister-island, as to make it of vital interest to this country that Ireland should never fall under hostile control. It is easy enousfh to control Ireland while all the officials, civil and military, are appointed by, and are under the orders of, the Imperial Government. If, on the other hand, Ireland had a separate Parliament with a separate Administration, controlled by men who would most certainly, in almost any dispute, show a marked hostility to Great Britain and to British interests, it would be easy for an enemy to obtain great influence in Ireland. It would not be difficult for an enemy even to send an armed force to that country for the harassing and possibly for the invasion of England. Once the Irish have a separate Parlia- ment, they would inevitably demand the right to establish an armed force of militia or volunteers. CRIPPLING THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. Let Englishmen consider what the position of their country then would be at a great national crisis. There would be eighty unscrupulous Irish members harassing the Government and the Imperial Parliament, and these guerillas would probably be backed up by 100,000 armed and disciplined Irish troops. By the votes of the eighty Irish Members in the Imperial Parliament our Foreign Policy might be paralysed by the refusal of supplies, or by the overthrow, at a critical juncture, of a British Ministry. REPEAL OF THE UNION. This measure really means the repeal of the Union It is non- vide sense for Mr. Gladstone and his followers to speak of it as pre- ^^'^^' serving Imperial unity, and still greater nonsense for them to describe it as " intensifying unity." The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland established by Mr. Pitt in 1802 was not a union of Sovereignly. It was essentially a union of Parlia- ments. The union of the Crowns has existed for 700 years — ever since Ireland was conquered by Henry II. The words of the Act of Union makes this clear : — '-That it be a third article of the 24 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— EQUALITY. "Act of Union that the said United Kingdom be represented in ''one and the same Parliament, to be styled the Parliament of "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland." The formation of this one united Parliament was the essence of the Act of Union. It is that one Imperial Parliament which Mr. Gladstone proposes now to break up and destroy, and it is con- sequently absurd to speak of his scheme or Bill as maintaining- Imperial unity. THE UNION WAS NECESSARY. jide Many misrepresentations and absurdities are talked about the Horrors'' causcs of the Union and the methods by which it was accomplished. pp. 160 . ' toi;o. The Union was an absolute necessity, brought about by the des- pendix perate condition into which Ireland had fallen under the separate Parliament, known as Grattan's Parliament, which lasted from 1782 to 1800. Ireland was in a helpless condition of financial, political and social ruin at that time. She was torn by racial and religious animosities. Her treasury was bankrupt, a great por- tion of her people were in a state of frenzied rebellion. The most horrible massacres and atrocities had been committed by the Roman Catholic revolutionists upon their Protestant fellow- countrymen. An army of PVench Republicans had been invited over to assist the Irish Rebellion against Great Britain, and a considerable French force had actually landed on Irish soil. Fortunately the bulk of the French expedition had been scattered by the winds; otherwise the most serious danger would have been created for England. The Irish separate Parliament of 1782 to 1800 could never be relied upon to properly safeguard the Irish coast and people from foreign invasion. The same danger would soon be found to exist under a new Irish Parliament, with this difference, that steam has now annihilated the protecting power of the winds and waves, and that a French army could be thrown in a very few hours time upon the Irish Coast. More- over, Great Britain is at present dependent for her food supplies upon foreign corn and foreign meat. The strategical position of Irish harbours, and their occupation by a French fleet, would enable a Franco-Irish combination, in the event of a reverse to our Navy, to close both the English and St. George's Channels against our men-of-war and our merchantmen. Such a catas- trophe might inflict starvation and ruin upon]_England. 11— EQUALITY BETWEEN THE KINGDOMS. As for Mr. Gladstone's second and third conditions — the equality of all the kingdoms, and the equal repartition of Imperial charges, no such principles are to be found in Mr. MR. GLADSTONES SCHEME— FINANXE. 25 Gladstone's present Bill. The Irish are to have a separate Parliament of their own to deal with their own local affairs, and they are also to send eighty members to constantly harass, and. on most questions, to control the Imperial Parliament. It is not proposed to give any such separate Parliaments or any such special powers to England, Scotland and Wales. The Irish are to be free from interference on the part of the British people in the Irish Parliament and in Irish affairs. But the Imperial Parliament is to be at the mercy of a guerilla band of eighty Irish members, who, even Mr. Gladstone confessed, would be open to perpetual intrigue, and who would probably be at the disposal of the highest bidder. How absurd, then, to talk about equality between the three kingdoms ! Ill— "EQUITABLE REPARTITION OF FINANCE." As to "the equitable repartition of Imperial charges,"' Mr. ,y^'^w- Gladstone proposes to lower the contribution of Ireland to one-twenty-fifth. The Irish, numbering one-eighth of the population of the United Kingdom, are to have almost an eighth of the total representation in the Imperial Parliament, but are, according to Mr. Gladstone's speech of February 13th, only to pay one-twenty-fifth of the cost of administering Imperial affairs. The Irish are to send eighty members to the Imperial Parliament, which is their just proportion according to population, but they are only to pay towards Imperial charges £2,370,000 a year, which is barely one-third of what their share of Imperial charges should be according to their population, and according to their proposed representation of eighty members in the Imperial Parliament. Why should there be this difference.' If the Irish are unable to pay their proper share of the Imperial charges, surely they have no right to so large a representation as eighty members of the Imperial Parliament. The Irish members contend that even a twenty-fifth is too much for Ireland to pay, on the ground that England is more than twenty-five times as rich as Ireland. The truth is that the scheme is full of inequalities, and in every detail favours the disloyal Irish at the expense of the loyal people of Great Britain and Ireland. Under Mr. Gladstone's Bill, the share of Imperial charges borne by Ireland will come to as nearly as possible los. per head of the population. The share of the English, Scotch and Welsh, on the other hand, will be £i 13s. 4d. per head. Is this Mr. Gladstone's idea of an "equality between all the kingdoms," and of an " equitable repartition of financial burdens ?' 26 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— FINANCE. The financial arrangements are both complicated and excessively favourable to Ireland. To start with, a surplus of £500,000 a year is to be g"iven to the Irish Parliament. That is equal to a capital sum of £17,000,000. Why is this great present to be made to a semi-independent Ireland ? What have the Irish Nationalists done to deserve it .' What benefit will the bonus of £500,030, which has to come out of the pockets of British taxpayers, confer upon the British people? How much better it would be that this sum should be spent in conferring some boon upon the agricultural labourers of England, or upon the artisans of our towns. As Mr. Balfour, on February 14th, well said: — " The only explanation is, as Mr. Gladstone says, that we have " been engaged in a contest with the forces of lawlessness and " disorder, but we have been beaten in that contest, and, " according to Mr. Gladstone, a 7var indemnity is now exacted " from us." The English people will object to pay that war indemnity, and do not admit that they have been beaten in the contest. The arrangement for collecting the Income Tax in Ireland will also be very difficult. The Customs duties are raised mainly on tobacco and tea. The entire share to be paid by Ireland towards Imperial charges is to come from the Customs, which are to be collected by Imperial officers. What is to happen if these Customs duties were to be lowered or abolished ? Many persons advocate a free breakfast table. If these Customs duties are lowered by the aid of the 80 Irish representatives, the Irish contribution to Imperial charges will be correspond- ingly reduced. The Temperance party will, no doubt, be pleased to know that the Irish Budget depends mainly on Excise, that is, on whiskey. It is a Whiskey Budget ; and if through temperance legislation the revenue from Irish Excise should be diminished, the British taxpayer will have to make up the loss to the Irish Ex- chequer. As Mr. Goschen said on February 17th : — " Of the total ;^5, 660,000, ^3,200,000 are excise ; aud nearly the whole of the excise consists of duties paid upon spirits. The consequence will be this, that the people of Ireland will knozo that, when they consume tea and tobacco they are paying tribute, as it will be called, to Great Britain, but whisky-drinkers will be supporting the national finances. (Laughter.) It wa; Mr. Redmond who said in his very able speech, ' We have a balance now of ;i^5oo,ooo, but we depend mainly on the excise.' What is, then, to happen if the excise should fail? Why, certainly, the surplus will vanish. The budget of Ireland, as reconstructed, will simply depend upon the consumption of whisky by the people." The financial proposals of the Bill, under which the Customs are to be collected by Imperial officers, but the Income Tax, the Excise, and other taxes are to be collected and disposed of by the officers of the Irish Parliament, are sufficiently confusing. MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— FINANXE. 27 Lord Randolph Churchill, in his able speech, on February i6th, quoted an interesting state.Tient sent him by an eminent City financier, who is understood to be Lord Rothschild. The follow- ing' is the extract : — As to the proposals for the disposal of the Irish taxes, they are certainly new when emanating from an English Government, but otherwise there is nothing in them very novel, although in the countries in which they have been tried they have had but a very qualified success. (Laughter.) I may cite the Argentine Con- federation — (laughter) — vhere the Central Government keeps the Customs and allows the Provincial (jovernments to appropriate the same as Mr. Gladstone proposes giving to Ireland. As may l>e supposed, the provinces, released from central control, squander their money, and when the members of the Provincial Governments take their seats in the Central Assembly they steadily refuse to vote anything the nation requires until large subsidies in some shape or other are made to the Provincial Assemblies, with such a result that bankruptcy, I suppose, has never been spelt in bigger letters. (Cheers and laughter.) Under our present financial system all estimates — English, Scotch, and Irish — are voted on by the whole House. If Irish opposition to expenditure for the benefit of Great Britain becomes unreasonable, English members can retaliate by threat- ening to reduce grants to Ireland ; but by this Bill the Irish will retain large powers to obstruct English votes, whilst Englishmen are no longer allowed the right to keep any check on Irish expenditure. It is noticeable that the Irish Nationalists are complaining that Mr. Gladstone has of recent years been the means of making the Irish people pay more than their due proportion of taxation by increasing the duty on whisky from 2s. 8d. to los. Whisky is the Irish national beverage, and the duty has been nearly trebled. Beer, they say, is the English national beverage, and the duty on beer has been only slightly increased. The result is that, W'hile in Ireland, in 1853, a population of over 6,000,000 drank 7,500,000 gallons of whisky, and paid E.xcise duty of £1,000,000 for it; in Ireland now, 4.700,000 people drink 4,500,000 gallons, but pay a duty of £2,250,000, that is 225 per cent, more than Ireland paid 40 years ago. The Nationalists •ilso state that while the taxation of England, with her increasing population and accumulating wealth, has only increased 17 per cent, in 40 years, the general taxation of Ireland has increased 52 per cent. They argue that Ireland, whose taxable resources are only i-35th of the taxable resources of Great Britain, should only contribute £2,500.000 out of £90000,000 to the Imperial Budget, whereas she now contributes £8,000,000 to it. These statistics, of course, require careful verification An 28 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— THE TWO BUDGETS. obvious answer is that if Ireland feels herself so over-taxed, she has no rig'ht to a representation of nearly one-sixth in the Imperial Parliament, which she now possesses, or of nearly one-eighth which she would have under Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule scheme. The Nationalists also contend that much of the Customs duties to be assigned to the Imperial Exchequer are raised on goods brought to Ireland in bond, on which the duty has already been paid in England. Thus, most of the tea and tobacco brought into Ireland have already had the duty paid in England, as well as beer, coffee, cocoa, raisins, etc. The Nationalists contend that under this arrangement Ireland really pays 50 per cent, more than Mr. Gladstone admits, because the articles consumed in Ireland will contribute nothing to the Irish Exchequer. The Irish Times, a leading Irish journal, opportunely reminds the Nationalist party that the surplus of £500,000 under the • Home Rule " Bill would be a very poor substitute for the help Ireland has so liberally received from the Imperial Exchequer. We quote from the Irish Times of February i6th : — " Even Mr. Sexton cannot answer, if we remind him that bounties to encourage Irish industries, which it is hinted are contemplated, would make a big hole in the half million every year, leaving nothing for seasons of exceptional pressure or calamity. From the Imperial resources we were always in a position to expect assistance. Is it forgotten that hardly two years ago Mr. Balfour gave to Ireland considerably over half a million to build railways in the West, not to mention other large amounts ? And does the M'Carthyite eulogist of Mr. Gladstone fail to remember that since 1870 no less than seven millions have been expended on Irish objects, which can never be available again from any Irish source ? The new J]ill would wall us in financially, removing from our purely local store and circum- scribed resources nearly a Two-Million-and-a-IIalf Tribute (^^2, 370,000)." THE TOTAL IMPERIAL CHARGES. As to the discrepancy in his figures for the amount of Imperial charges, Mr. Gladstone, replying to Mr. Goschen on Feb. 23rd, said : — • " The estimate of ^^59,000,000 represents the probable net expenditure in the current financial year. The figure quoted by the right hon. gentleman, ^63,352,000, is the es'.imated gross expenditure for 1891-2, and it is subject to the following principal reductions. First of all, the receipts which may be classified as Imperial are ;^i, 616,000 in excess. Next, the actual issues for 1891-2 were less than was anticipated by ^490,000. Next, the cost of the Yeomanry and Volunteers, which may be considered a British force, is taken at ^1,000,000. Next, the year 1891-2 contained an extraordiaary charge for coinage of ;,^400,ooo ; and, fifthly and lastly, the remaining difference is due to the fact that the figures relate to different years, and also that it was thought right to make certain altera- tions in the scheme produced in the Bill." THE TWO BUDGETS. The subjoined Tables show a full comparison between the financial proposals of the Bills of 18S6 and 1893 : — MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME -THE TWO BUDGETS. PROPOSALS OF 1SS6. PROPOSALS OF 1893. EXPENDITURE. I.— National £ £ Debt ... 1,466,000 2. — Sinking Fund ... 360,000 - 1,826,000 .. 1,666,000 110,000 3. —Army and Navy 4. — Civil Service 5. — ^Collection, Customs and Excise 247,000 3,849,000 6. — *constabularv ... 1,000,000 7. — Irish Civil Service, &c •■• 2,510,000 8. —Collection of Rev- enue 587,000 Total Surplus .. 7,946,000 404,000 ;^8,35o,ooo * A saving on the Constabulary charge would only take effect after the whole ex- penditure on the Constabulary had been reduced to a million ; all previous savings would go to the reduction merely of the portion borne by Great Britain. REVENUE (1886). I. — Customs 2. — fExcisE 3. — Income Tax 4. — Stamp Duties 5. — Non-Tax Revenue (Postal, Crown Lands, and Miscellaneous) ... £ 1 , 880, 000 4,300,000 550.000 600,000 1,020,000 Total • ••^^8.350,000 t N.B. — This item included £1,400,000 of Excise really paid for by the English con- sumer, which jT 1,400,000 under the Bill of 1886 was left with the Irish Exchequer, but which under the Bill of 189J is given to the Imperial Exchequer. In 1886 there was an item of £360,000 for Sinking Fund, which does not appear in the Irish Budget of iSgj. r EXPENDITURE. I.— Civil Government Chargf:s (exclusive of Constabulary, &c., Charge and Salary of Lord Lieutenant, but inclusive of Local Charges met out of Local Taxation Re- venue) 3,210,000 2. — Collection of In- land Revenue ... 160,000 3. — -Postal Services ... 790,000 4. — *Contrihution to Imperial Constab- ulary, c^c 1,000,000 Total 5,160,000 Surplus 500,000 ;r5, 560,000 * Ireland is to bear two-thirds (£1,000,000) of the Constabulary expenditure, amounting in all to £1,500,000 a year, and Great Britain the remaming one-third (£500,000). As sav- ings are effected in the cost of the force, these will benefit Ireland to the extent of two- thirds and Great Britain to the extent of one- third- REVENUE (1893. £ I. — +ExrrsK, contributed by Ireland (exclusive of Licenses) 3,223,000 2. — Local Taxes : (d) Stamp Du- ties ...£-je,o,ooo (/>) Income Tax (at6d.)... 550,000 (<.) Excise Li- censes ... 190,000 1,495,000 3. — Postal Revenue j g 740,000 4. — Crown L.\nds ... ' H 5. — Miscellaneous (" g Revenue ... ) *^, 35,000 140,000 Total ;r5, 660,000 t The Clstoms Duties, amounting to over £2,370,000, are ',to be collected, as now, by Imperial officers, and paid, as now, into the Imperial Exchequer as Ireland's contri- bution to Imperial expenditure. It amounts to about one-twenty-fifth of the total Imperial charges. 30 AIR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IRISH BANKRUPTCY. There is likely to be serious trouble over the Excise duties, amounting to over £1,400,000, in reality paid by British consumers, which have been, however, collected in Ireland. This £1,400,000, in his Bill of 1886, gave to the Irish Exchequer, and fixed their Imperial contribution at £3,602,000, plus £360,000 for a Sinking Fund. In the present Bill Mr. Gladstone takes this £1,400,000 for the Imperial Exchequer, and fixes the Irish Imperial contribu- tion at only £2,370,000. Mr. Parnell severely criticised Mr. Gladstone's proposal in 1886, and the present Parnellite party are nov^ strongly pushing Mr. Parnell's view. Thus Mr. Pierce Mahony, February 28th, 1893, quoted with approbation Mr. Parnell's speech, as follows : — " 'The right hon. gentleman has indeed explained that if we were to insist on a separate Custom House that England could deprive Ireland, by collecting in Ireland the duties on whisky and tobacco, of ;(^i,400, 000 a year. This would be a serious matter, and it may be fairly balanced against the control of the Customs anS the Excise. But if the Prime Minister is to claim credit for giving us ;^i, 400,000 in lieu of the retention of the Customs; then the Imperial authority cannot claim credit for it over again. If this ;i^l, 400,000 was offered to Ireland, as it was offered in 1886, in return for her giving up the right which every colonial legislature possesses — the right to impose duties on foreign importations — if Ireland gives up that right in consideration of maintaining absolute free trade between England and Ireland to get this' ;i^i, 400, 000 a year thereby, no Prime Minister representing England has a right to claim credit for that money over again in some other form. That is to say, if you fix upon a certain sum as Ireland's proper con- tribution to the Imperial expenses, that sum is to be paid quite irrespective of, and without any consideration whatever, of this ;,{^ i , 400, 000, which comes to Ireland in a totally different way, namely, in return for her giving up her right lo erect Custom Houses in Ireland.' And, Mr. Mahony added, that was Mr. Parnell's view in 1886, audit is the view Irish Nationalists should take at the present moment ; but it is not the view taken by Mr. Gladstone in his Home Rule Bill. Without apology, Mr. Gladstone congratulates the British House of Commons that in 1893 he is able to take from Ireland jf 1,400,000, which in 1886 he said distinctly could not be taken from Ireland if you were to keep up free trade between the two countries." PROBABLE BANKRUPTCY. The demands which are likely to be made, and at a very early date, upon the Irish surplus, are well pointed out by an article in the Birmingham Post of March 2nd, 1S93 : — Vide "While the outlook for Great Britain is thus over-clouded, that for the Irish pp. 55-6. Government is not much more encouraging. Mr. Gladstone assumes that from the souixes of revenue handed over — chiefly the Excise duties — there will be a surplus of ;!{^500,000 at the disposal of the Nationalist administration. But this balance, which \\ an estimate only, will soon be swallowed up, even if it is realised. New places will be created, fresh demands for puljlic works, railways, roads, harbours,_etc. , will arise ; ordinary costs of administration will sure to grow, for there will be no permanent Imperial officials competent to enforce economy. And suppose that a succession of bad seasons occurs, or that political trouble grows out of the strife of contending Nationalists, or from the refusal of Ulster to submit to Nationalist domination— what then becomes of the finances of the Irish Government? Or, again, what will happen if the excise on whisky falls below its present amount ? MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IRISH BAXKRUPTCY. 31 This is not a fanciful suggestion, for the yield of this excise has been steadily dropping for some years past. As the main source of revenue consists of the whisky duty, a further drop in the yield will reduce the Irish Government to a state of practical bankruptcy. How is this to be met ? By loans ? Hardly, for capital is alarmed already, and will be withdrawn rather than further advanced. By appeals to British assistance ? Scarcely, for under the most favourable conditions we shall have to pay heavily in order to give Ireland a practically independent Government, and British taxpayers, smarting under this infliction, will not be likely to assume a further burden because Ireland cannot manage her Government when she has got it. Then there is but one resource to avoid bankruptcy, and that is taxation." Some of the shrewder Nationalists are already beg'inning- to see that the surplus of £500,000 offered them in Mr. Gladstone's new Irish Budget will not go very far to meet the loss and injustice that will be inflicted by the Home Rule Bill. Thus United Ireland of March 4, 1S93, says : — " It may, of course, be argued that the Imperial police force will be placed under a process of reduction from the very beginning. Let us. for the moment, concede this : what then ? Why then the Irish Treasury will have to pay the police pensions thus arising in each case, lue believe, two-thirds of the full pay. Let us take the very exceptional case of all the Imperial police resigning within two years, and consider the position so created. 'I'he Irish Treasury would find that it had to pay in pensions nearly ;/J70o,ooo a year, and that it had also to support a civil force costing ^600,000 a year. Here would be a certain inroad of ^300,000 a year on the supposed surplus. " But this does not exhaust the responsibilities of the belated half million. What about the pensions to Judges and Civil Servants? These must be paid ultimately by the Irish Exchequer. If all the present Judges and Civil Servants agree to remain at their posts, there will be no further charge than is provided for in the Budget we have quoted ; but it is almost certain that a large number of the present servants of the Crown in connection with the I aw and the Civil Service will take advantage of the pensions provisions of the Bill. To illustrate this point it is only necessary to take one item. The salaries of the greater and lesser Irish Judges, according to the return already referred to, amounts to ;(^IC9,500 a year. Sup- posing half these decided to resign after Home Rule is passed, the Irish Exchequer would be saddled with nearly ;[^4C,ooo a year in pensions, in addition to the salaries of the new judges who would have to be appointed in their places. But this is a very small part of the question. After the judges come the officers of the Local Government Board (which cost ;^l33,55o per annum), the Public Works Office (;^33.50o). 'he Kegisrar-General's Office {^^20, 000), the Valuation Office (^l2,ocx)), the Land Commission (/"73,500), County Court Officers (;^i 15,000), and Lducation (oyer £\,qioo,ooc). With even 10 per cent, of resignations in these various offices it is quite reasonable to suppose that within two years of its establishment the Irish Parliament -would be saddled -with a pension list of bet7oeen ;,f 100,000 and ;!{^i 50,000 a year.'" The Irish are already beginning- to object to the collection in England, as proposed by Mr. Gladstone, of the Irish Excise Duties paid by British consumers. The FreeT?iafis Journal of February 28th, 1893, says: — "The clause of the Home Rule Bill providing for the collection in England of the duty to be paid on excisable articles exported from Ireland to England is exciting considerable anxiety among the wholesale whisky traders in Dublin and Belfast. In cases where the export is to owners of bond stores the charge makes no serious difference. But the dealing is largely with smaller traders and consumers •who prefer to deal directly with the Irish houses, as the most certain way of securing D 32 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. the Irish spirits which are coming largely into favour. Any interference with the direct dealing either by lessening the ease or readiness of the transaction, or by compelling the English vendors to get their goods through English bo ded stores, would, it is fell, seriously injure this branch of Irish trade, which has been steadily growing for some time past. The matter deserves attention and discussion." IV.— THE PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. As to the fourth principle, the protection of minorities, Mr. Gladstone made hardly any reference to Ulster throughout his speech. In 1886. Parliament and the country were led to believe that Mr. Gladstone would welcome any improvement in his then Bill that would give a guarantee of safety for person and pro- perty to the Loyalists, and especially to the loyal Protestants of Ulster. This wide-spread impression induced many English electors, and especially Nonconformist electors, to give a general support to Mr. Gladstone's " Home Rule " scheme. The present Bill does not contain the slightest attempt to protect the loyal minority in Ulster, unless, indeed, the " Council '" or Upper Chamber should be so considered. But that Council is an Elective Council, to consist of only forty-eight members, chosen by electors holding property of over £20 rateable value. When the Council ■differs from the Legislative Assembly, which is to consist of 103 memljers, the two chambers are to meet together and decide the issue by joint voting. There are only twenty-two loyalist members for Ireland. If the whole of the forty-eight members of the Council were to unite with the twenty-two Loyalists in such a •vote, they >vould still be in a minority of eleven (only 70 to 8i), and would be completely overborne. But throughout the South and West of Ireland there " is little chance " that even the members of the Council will be any- thing but Nationalists of the extreme type. No elector, once Home Rule is established, will in the South and West of Ireland dare cast his vote against the dominant faction. There is, there- fore, no practical protection for the Irish Loyalists, even in the so-called '" Council." 11 the Irish people were fairly represented according to population, Ulster would have thirty-five members, and the Loyalists, who number at least a third of the j^opulation, •could be able to return 30 members out of 103, instead of only 22 as at present. But under this Bill the inequalities of the present .system are stereotyped, and no amendment of the Irish repre- sentation is allowed for six years. Colonel Saunderson, in his eloquent speech on February 13th, ■made it plain that the Irish Loyalists in the last resort would rely upon their own strong' arms to defend themselves, and that MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. ^3 thev were quite able to hold their own. The Eng-lish people, who even at the last election returned for Eng-land a majority of seventy-one members ag"ainst separation, will never consent to allow Eng-lish troops to be employed against the Loyalists of Ireland. Although Mr. Bryce made the following promise in his speech in the House of Commons on February 14th, 1893, "We are aware of the obligations which Imperial legislation has imposed upon us in their (the constabulary) regard, and we propose to abide by those obligations. The same remarks apply to the Civil servants and the Judges. We recognise our liability to make provision for them, and we have satisfied that liability." Yet it is clear that the Bill itself by no means properly protects the great mass of the existing Civil servants in Ireland. Certain of the higher officials are undoubtedly well provided for, but the great mass of the permanent Civil servants, the persons on whom the weight of administration and obloquy has fallen, are almost literally thrown to the wolves. Under sections 28, on the passing of the Act, six months' notice may be served on any or all of them by the Irish Government, and men who have entered into the service of the Crown, believing in the justice of England, will be expelled from their offices to make room for hungry aspirants whose main passport to office will be their past disloyalty to that Crown they are now ready to serve for a consideration. NO SECURITY FOR PERSONS. There is but little provision in the Bill for the protection of personal freedom. Mr. Chamberlain pointed out with great force that under the " Plan of Campaign," but for the fact that the Imperial Government and Imperial officials in Ireland, backed by all the resources of the police and the judiciary, were able to protect the landowners and their agents, every landowner in Ireland might have been easily ruined. Under a separate Irish Parliament, the Nationalist majority, led by men like Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. Dillon, and Mr. Healy, will refuse police protection to the landowners, bailiff's, and caretakers, and to the new tenants who may have taken the place of those who refused to pay their just rent. The result will be that the lives of the landowners and of those who work with them will not be worth an hour's purchase. There have been cases in which Boards of Guardians have administered relief at the expense of the ratepayers for purely political purposes, in order 10 help evicted tenants and others who had no real claim for such relief. They have given as much as 20s, a week out-door relief to persons in possession D 2 34 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. of hay and other property. The Local Government Board has in ccnsequence dissolved several of their corrupt and illeg^ally-acting- Boards of Guardians, and appointed paid gfuardians to carry out their work. In i8S6 one Board of Guardians distributed the relief money Mr. Morley sent to them to over 300 more persons than there were inhabitants in the whole Poor-law Union. When the relieving^ officer was asked by the Committee of Enquiry from whence he got the names of the surplus 300, he replied — " from the gravestones in the church-yard." Under a separate Irish Parliament these Boards of Guardians would undoubtedly be allowed to do just as they please. The only remedy offered in the Bill for any person, who is wronged in his person or in his property by the deliberate action or the deliberate neglect of the Irish Parliament, is an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. What likelihood is there that an Irish tenant, farmer, or bailiff, or policeman, or labourer, who may have offended the local Nationalist authority, would be able to come to London and bear all the expense of an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ? The idea is absurd. A large landowner might indeed find such an appeal possible, but what fruit would it bear, even if the appellant were successful and obtained judgment in his favour.^ Every Irish official will be appointed by, and be in the hands of, the Nationalist majority, who will control the new Irish Parliament. There is not the slightest doubt as to this. It is very interesting to note that the Parnellite minority of the Nationalist party are themselves in great terror of being oppressed under the new Irish Parliament. A Parnellite writes in the Dublin Evening Herald o^ February 25th, 1893 : — "^Vhat fire the spoils? And who are the hungry claimants? I proceed to answer. When the Home Rule Bill has become law the present Irish represen- tation in Westminster will at once cease, and a new General Election will be held in Ireland, first, for the reduced number of Irish Imperial members, and secondly, for 103 members of the Eegislative Assembly. Every inducement which avarice and malice can supply to the clericals, both lay and ecclesiastical, will then be in full operation to effect the annihilation of the Parnellite representation in the Legislature. I state the prospect boldly. The priests ivill be glad to nireak vengeance on us. They hai'e been insolent and ruthless to ParneUites since the secession -vhererer chastisement or contumely might be inflicted. Big salaries will be attached to the Ministry, and salaries will be attached also to all the under officials in the new re'ip/ne. They see the almost immediate possibility of stretching out their hands and clutching numerous offices ranging in annual value from ;i^i,500 to ;i^i50. Take a subsidised McCarthyite, receiving now £100 or ^£"200 per annum, with precarious prospects from the Federation, and dangle before his eyes a Home Rule Government offer worth ^^400 or ;i^500 or ;i^8oo per annum — and prospects. Is that likely to quicken his fancy for the Home Rule Bill, even with many imperfections? Perhaps the picture will be something like this — Executive Committee of Privy Council : Piime Minister and Secretary of State, Mr. Blake, ^1,000 ; Minister of Finance, Mr. Sexton, ;^8oo ; Minister of Public Works, MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. 35 Mr. William O'Brien, ^800 ; Minister of Agriculture, Mr. John Dillon, ^800 ; Minister of Education, Mr. Tim Healy, ;[^8oo ; Pest and Telegraphs, Mr. Davitt, _;^8c)0 ; Local Government, Mr. T. D. Sullivan, /"Soo ; Lord Chancellor, the Right Hon. S. Walker, ;^8,ooo ; Attorney-General, ;i^5,ooo ; Solicitor-General, _;^2,ooo ; total, ;^20,8oo. Then will follow a host of Under-Secretaiyships at JC400, and a sufficient number of Departmental appointments to the extent required by members of the McCarthyite Party now in Parliament, raising the total from ;i^20,8oo to at least ^1^30, 000 per annum. Now, are not the spoils which the McCarthyite Party have in view worth fighting for ? Again, these men will have unchecked control, constituting the Executive Government, over all the Parnellites m the country. The Veto, of which so much is said, affects only legislation. In executive action the Irish Government would be supreme. 7/ Parnelliles are thevictinis of injustice or suffer ill-trcatmeni, no satisfacimn probably luould be obtained jroin the AlcCarthyite I\Iinister in poiver. Now, I want to know, are Parnellites going to submit to this or to the possibility of it ? The McCarthyite impecunious politician?, the priests, and the illiterates to govern Ireland, and to carve out the Civil List of salaries amongst themselves, and to lord it over 100,000 Parnellites who are free and independent men. If that is the game, the Liberal Government may make up their minds to see squalls in Ireland. The Bill, which does not guarantee the Parnelliie a share in the Government to an extent that will secure the independent men of Ireland from being operated on in the spirit of the vindictive speeches that have been delivered against us by the Dillons and the O'Briens and the Healys and the Davitts, will not long stand against Parnellite indignation and resistance. " IMPOSSIBILITY OF REDRESS. Let us suppose that a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, who has been grievously wronged by some ot the new Nation- alist officials and refused redress by the Irish Nationalist Government, appeals to the Privy Council, and wins his case. Who is to enforce the decision of the court, and by what means are its decrees to be carried out .'' Let us suppose that the British Cabinet advise the Sovereign to instruct the Viceroy — (this is the process prescribed by the Bill) — to demand of the Irish Government and the Irish Parliament justice for the unfor- tunate Irish constable. The Irish Cabinet would probably refuse to do anything, and it would be backed up by the Nationalist majority in the Irish Parliament. Or, if the Irish Cabinet consented to carry out the decree of the Judical Committee of the Privy Council, it is ten to one that it would be turned out of office by the Irish Parliament. That being the case, a complete deadlock would be created. Either the Irish Cabinet would resign — and it is more than doubtful whether a new Irish Cabinet could be forced to carry out the behests of the English Judical Committee — or the English Cabinet, finding itself powerless to do justice and to carry out the decrees of its highest Court, would resign. There is, indeed, a third course, which sooner or later — if Mr. Gladstone's Bill ever becomes law — is bound to be taken. For some time things will drift along. Irish Loyalists — landowners, 36 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— NO FINALITY. police, farmers and peasants — will be plundered, outraged and ruined. The British Government will be powerless to induce the Irish Government to give redress. Exasperation will steadily grow in the British Parliament and among- the British people at this denial of justice and at this deadlock, until at last the armed forces of the Crown will be put into operation. Then the Irish Parliament, with all its injustice, inconsistencies and absurdities, will be swept away. That is the inevitable outcome of Mr. Gladstone s Home Rule scheme, which will probably be accom- panied, or preceded, by a bloody insurrection and a desperate civil struggle in Ireland itself. Tide pp 89-91. V.-"A REAL AND CONTINUOUS SETTLEMENT." What chance is there of this Bill being regarded as a final settlement ? The questions that will arise with regard to the voting or not voting of the Irish contingent of eighty members to the Imperial Parliament are alone bristling with every kind of difficulty and dispute. But this subject is so full of monstrous complications that it demands separate and special treatment. "It passes the wit of man" to understand how Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues could ever have proposed such absurdities. All questions connected with the Crown, the Viceroyalty, peace and war, dignities and titles, foreign affairs, religious freedom and religious establishment, education and personal freedom, are distinctly excluded from the purview of the new Irish Parliament. The Home Rule policy of Mr. Gladstone is most inconsistent. By it he encourages Irish nationality, and gives reality to a claim of the Irish Nationalists that Ireland is a separate and independent nation, and not, as the Unionists affirm, part of the one great nation forming the United Kingdom. Mr. Gladstone has in his speeches spoken of British rule, British law, and British interests as "foreign" to those of Ireland. Yet, while admitting the claim of Ireland to be a nation, the new Bill deprives it of some of the most cherished privileges of independent nations. Thus it deprives Ireland of the right of having any dealings with, other nations. It deprives Ireland of the right of dealing with its own religion and its own education. It deprives Ireland of the right of dealing with its own trade and customs as regards other nations. Such restrictions as these, though they mav be quite justifiable under the circumstances of the case, must con- stitute causes of offence and dispute with Ireland, and must sow the seeds of future discontent. There is little chance that the MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— NO FINALITY. 37 t Bill will be a "permanent and continuing- settlement." E\en if the present Irish leaders grenuinely accept it, they cannot possibly bind their successors. Let us take four of these questions only — those of education, religious establishment, personal freedom, and an armed force. Does any sane man imagine that the new Irish Parliament, led by such men as Mr. Healy, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Sexton, and Mr. W, O'Brien, will ever be content to remain without the establishment of an armed force ? Whether that force be called an ' army," "militia," "volunteers," or armed 'Gaelic clubs," it matters not. The Irish Parliament will insist upon the establishment of a disciplined and armed Irish force. Take the questions of religious establishment and education. The Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ireland has already attempted to gtt control of education. Already, as Mr. T. W. Russell said on Feb. 14, Archbishop Walsh has done his best behind the back of Parliament by a resolution of the National Board of Education to change the whole character of Irish education, and to put it upon sectarian, that is, upon Roman Catholic, lines. Is it likely that the new Irish Parliament, which will be entirely in the hands of the clerical party, will be satisfied to allow freedom of education and to leave the Roman Catholic Church without endowment .^ Take, again, the case of personal freerlom. Is it probable that men who have for thirteen years regarded the murder of policemen and the shooting of landlords as good sport, will lea\'e the Loyalists of Ireland with that freedom of person and proj^erty to which they have a right.? Will they not immediately begin that system of prosecution and oppression and outrage, upon which the leaders of the Nationalist party have flourished for so many years ? Mr. Sexton showed how far the present scheme is from finality by entering an immediate protest against the financial proposals of Mr. Gladstone, most favourable though they are to Ireland. Mr. John Redmond pointed out many features of the Bill, notably that of the veto, which would not be acceptable to himself or his friends Is it not certain that every year will see increasing demand for fresh concessions and for greater independence made by the Irish Parliament, and that every ambitious politician in Ireland will seek to make capital out of the ever-welcome appeal to Celtic hatred of England ? The British Weekly, February 1 6th, 1893, says: — The result will be that Liberals must secure a majority of more than eighty from England, Scotland and Wales before they are in anything like a safe position for the initiation of reform. Suppose that England, Scotland and Wales sent up a Liberal majority of, let us say, sixty. Suppose the Irish members came over to discuss the laud question— and it is very certain that little else would be discussed 402202 38 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— OBSTRUCTION. for three years — and presented an ultimatum to the Liberals demanding a settlement on lines to %\hich the Liberals could not agree. They would then immediately turn the Liberals out, so that a ministry in possession of a large majority of the House would be completely at the mercy of the Irish party, bound to do their bidding or go. What iaiprobability there is in it lies in the very slender chance of an English. Scotch and Welsh majority of eighty votes being secured within a measurcable time. The Welsh and Scotch are comforted by being told that they will have Home Rule measures also by-and-by. Who is to grant these measures ? By what leverage are they to be achieved ? And do Scotchmen and Welshmen wish to be in the same position towards the Imperial Parliament as the Irish will be if the new Bill is passed ? These are very grave questions, and as at present advised we cannot but think that they make the future prospects of Liberal reform in this country gloomy in the extreme." Mr. Gladstone has boasted on every occasion on which he has brought his Irish legislation before the House of Commons — in 1869, when he destroyed the Irish Church; in 1S70, when he first attacked the Irish land owners ; in 188 1, when, by his Land Act, he set up the ruinous principle of dual ownership in Ireland — that each effort would be successful and would be final. Taught by bitter experience, on this last occasion, indeed, Mr. Gladstone eschewed the word "• finality; " but what right has he to assume that there is in the present scheme the sligditest elements of a "real and continuous settlement? '' So much for his principle of finality or settlement. OBSTRUCTION IN PARLIAMENT. This Bill gives no relief to the Imperial Parliament. One of the principal arguments used in favour of Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1 886 was that by the exclusion of the Irish members the Imperial Parliament would be free from the harassing and endless discussion of Irish questions, and that the public time* would thereby be greatly saved. Under the present Bill the eighty Irish members will practically control the Imperial legislature, as they will almost always hold the balance of power between the two parties. Irish cjuestions will therefore continue to be discussed ad Jiausavn in the Imperial Parliament. Not only tnis, but by the power given, according to Mr. Gladstone's speech, to vote upon motions of want of confidence in the Government and upon any motion " incidental " to any Bill or motion exclusively affecting Great Britain, the Irish members will be able practically to raise a second debate upon almost any measure bef(>re the Imperial Parliament. The waste of public time uill. therefore, be not lessened but doubled under the new arrangement. The eighty Irish members will determine the fate of Alinistries. They will, therefore, practically decide the policy of the Government — what Bills it shall introduce and who i> to introduce them. So far from getting rid of Irish obstruction by Mr. Gladstone's scheme, that MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME-TIIE VETO. 39 obstruction will be hung- round the neck of the Imperial Parliiiment for all future time with tenfold greater intensity, The Irish control under the new Bill will be like the grip of the Old Man of the Sea round the neck of Sinbad the sailor; and it will probably have a similar termination. THE VETO. The exercise of the veto of the Irish Viceroy, under the direction of the Crown, that is on the advice of the British Cabinet, will cause infinite disputes, deadlocks, and troubles between the two Ministries and the two Parliaments. As Mr. Balfour said in his powerful speech of February 14th, "Let me suppose some case arising in Ireland upon which English Ministers of the Crown take a very strong opinion exacily opposite to the opii.ion taken by the Irish Ministers. The Irish Ministers give the Viceroy the advice not to withhold the veto ; the English Ministers advise Her Majesty to withdraw her Viceroy unless he will promise to veto the Bill. Both sets of Ministers announce that they will resign unless their advice is followed. It appears to me it would then rest with the Crown to decide whether she will lose her Irish Administration, or her English Administration. Let us suppose that she decides to lose her Irish Administration. Then the veto is given, not in accordance with the advice of Irish Ministers, but in accordance with the advice of English Ministers. You have deadlock in Ireland and things go smoothly in England ; but if, on the other hand, the Crown takes the opposite course, then things will go smoothly in Ireland, but not in England. In the fust place, it is evident you will very much augment the power of the Crown, and in the second place, that you will bring into existence a state of things which might at any moment produce deadlock either in your Irish Government or in your English Government." The helpless and painful position in which the Viceroy will find himself, if he attempts to exercise his power of veto, is admirably pointed out by the author of " Home Rule Bubble," in Blackwood, in March, 1893 : — " Next to the so-called domestic safeguards, we come to the external checks which it is proposed to apply to the Irish Administration and Legislature. Chief among these is the veto of the Viceroy, now to be appointed for six years, and freed from religious disabilities. With the Viceroy is to be associated an Executive chosen Irom the Irish Privy Council ; and with the assistance of this Council he is to determine what measures are to be initiated in the Legislature and what Acts vetoed. We may presume that this Council is to be made up of the Irish minis- ters, for the existence of a Legislature implies ministers responsible to it. But this is a Cabinet and not a Council, as we understand matters on this side of St. George's Channel. And if the Viceregal office, as representing the Crown, is to be maintained in proper dignity and respect, surely the first care that should be exercised is to fence it against being degraded by association with unfitting councillors. // is more than probable thai Her Majesl/s represeittath'e may find himself seated befiveen an ex-dynaniitard on one hand and a tieket-of-leave man on the other ; and his first set of colleagues will to a certainty be composed of former denizens of Kilmainham. There never was such a flagrant attempt to drag the representation of the British Crown into the dirt at the very outset of Irish autonomy. The vetoing powers of the Viceroy are as unworkable as his position is unseemly. Amid the utter confusion introduced l)y the Bill it is difficult to 40 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— "NO ENGLISH VETO." ecumerate the many cases in which the 1'iceroy — standing between the Irish Legislature, his own Council, the British Parliament, and the British Cabinet, each of which, under the circumstances thus brought about, may entertain a policy differing from that of any or all the others — -i'Ul find hituself pmuerless to do ajty- t/u'/%'- except to throw up his appointment in disgust. If he dares to employ the veto, whether on his own judgment, the advice of his councillors, or on the express commands of the British Home Secretary-, a shriek will be raised by the supporters of the vetoed Act all over the country that the concession of autonomy to Ireland is a sham ; and the cry in this instance will not be very wide of the mark. The clamour will be caught up by the Irishmen in the British House, and every veto of the Viceroy will be made the pretext for demanding a more free and unfettered constitution." Mr. Sexton could not conceal his glee over the mighty ]everag"e which the retention of the So Irish ^Members in the Imperial Parliament would g'ive the Irish Nationalist party. He said on February 13th: — "If it should be found that the Imperial Parliament officiously and vexatiously interferes in the sphere it has defined for the Parliament of Ireland, or that the British Ministers are reasonably suspected of attempting to use the veto of the Crown against the rights of the Irish Legislature, then I think it will be found that t/w unique position which Ireland occupies, having a Legislature in Ireland aiid also representatives in this House, would stand us in good stead." Under the title of '• The Only Veto on the Veto," Mr. Frank Hug^h O'Donnell, a well-known Irish Nationalist and formerly M.P., contributes an instructive letter to United Inland, February 4th. 1893:— " Few Irishmen have ever realised what the interference of Ireland on the more vital questions of Imperial policy could effect in furtherance of our domestic interests. . . . Let the coming Home Rule Bill place even an inadequate Home Administration in College Green, and let Irel md not only possess but use- her full power of interference, direction, and retaliation on Imperial policy in the Imperial Parliament, and I defy all the would-be vetoists between the Land's End and John o' Groat's House to intrude even a finger-tip into our concerns without instantly and adequately receiving a corresponding castigalion, as one might say, on the Imperial seat of honour. . . . No veto will be ever worth si.K months' purchase so long as you keep forty or fiftv couples of wolf-dogs able and ready to fly at the Imperial throat at the first hostile demonstration towards our country." " NO ENGLISH VETO." Sir John Lubbock put this point well, in his speech in the- House of Commons, on February 14th, 1893: — "The right hon. gentleman had told the House that it was a cardinal feature of his proposals to maintain the supremacy of Parliament. But how was that to be insured ? Not through the police, for they would gradually pass to the local authorities. Not through the Executive Government, for they would be under the Irish Parliament. Through the troops ? They would be most unsatisfactory. But who was to call them out ? Sir J. Stephen pointed out this difficulty in a letter to The Tunes on May 1st, 1S86, when he said:— 'How would the troops be set in motion ? No military officer would act on his own responsibility. The Irish, magistrates, answerable to the Irish Legislative Body, would net call upon the MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— "NO ENGLISH VETO." 41 troops to act against the orders of that body, though they might be compelled to act in obedience to it.' " Under this Bill the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament in Ireland would be a mocker)- and a sham." There is not the slig-htest chance that either section of the Irish Nationalists will be /)(;-w,7;;t'«//i' satisfied with the control of the Imperial Parliament. Mr. Gladstone and Sir William Harcourt have talked vag-uely in favour of " Imperial control," but they have utterly failed to show how it can be achieved or maintained. On the memorable ni.ifht of February 15th, early in the session of 1S92, when Mr. John Redmond, as Leader of the Parnellite section, challenged Sir William Harcourt to give assurances on this subject, Sir William Harcourt evaded a reply by leaving the House, and running away. Such conduct was unprecedented on the part of the leader of a great party — for Sir William Harcourt was then leading the Opposition. Mr. John Redmond, speaking in the House of Commons on that occasion (February 15th. 1892), said: — "What the Nationalists ask is that in the Home Rule scheme of Mr. Gladstone there should be a clause or a satisfactory undertaking that while the Irish Parliament continued in existence the pcnoers of the Imptrial Parliajuent to legislate for h-eland 7voiild never be used ; so that the Imperial Parliament would retain its power in strict constitutional theory to take away the Irish Legislature, but the Irish members ivould require a formal compact that while the Irish Legislature lasted it "would be a free and unfettered Parliajuent for Irish affairs. It is no answer to say that the Irish Parliament will pass laws hostile to England, for that is a case which would be dealt with by a tribunal which would have to be constituted in Ireland. What the Irish Members object to is not the retention of the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament in the sense that Parliament can take away the Irish Legislature, but that there should be a right of revision, amendment, review and repeal of specific Acts of the Irish Parliament acting within its proper limits. The right hon. member for Midlothian, in dealing with the Bill of 1886, in May of that year, said that the Parliament he wanted to give to Ireland was one perfectly independent in the discharge of its statutory functions, and in June he said that the Parliament would have the real and practical independent management of its own affairs. As to the question of the exercise of the veto, Mr. Parnell had demanded that the veto of the Crown should be exercised as it was exercised in Imperial affairs— that was to say, in accordance with the advice of the Ministers of the Crown — -and 7<;'/ici/ Irish members meant ^vas that it was to be exercised in accordance ivith the advice of the Irish Ministers.'''' ** There is not an Irish representative or politician who will accept one jot less as a final or satisfactory settlement of the Home Rule question than what is contained in that programme of Mr. Parnell. " What then was it that Mr. Parnell demanded } Speaking at the great Leinster Hall Meeting, on July 23rd, 1891, he said: — " It is now known to all men that when our Parliament has been restored to us it shall have power to make laws for Ireland, and there shall be no English veto upon those laws except the constitutional veto of the Croivn, exercised in the same way as in the Imperial Parliament.'^ — Leinster Hall, ]\x\y 23rd, 1891. 42 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— "NO ENGLISH VETO." It is noticeable that Mr. John Redmond still adheres to his principle of no English reto. Speaking- in the House of Commons on February 15th, 1893, Mr. Redmond said :- - "Last October I stated what I understood to be the necessity of the case. In reference to the Veto I said — 'We have to make it clear and unmistakable that in the daily life of our new Parliament the i^eio of the Crmvn ivill be exercised con- sijttitional/y on the advice of the Irish Ministers, and that it will not be made a practice for the interference by the Imperial Government or the English Cabinet in the government of those purely Irish affairs which are committed to the charge of the new Irish Legislature.' I always took the view of ihe clause of the Bill of 1886 as plain on this question There is no doubt on the point in my mind. Vou must not expect that any safeguard will be successful for the Govern- ment of Ireland which sets up either directly or indirectly this Imperial Parliament as a Court of Appeal on the acts of the Irish Legislature. Such a position would be an intolerable one for this House, and would be still more intolerable for the Irish Legislature. I say our position would b° much worse than it is at ]:)resent if, after having constituted a local Legislature in Ireland, this House should act as a sort of a Court of Appeal to revise, amend, or repeal any of the Acts of the Irish Parliament." Unt/ed Ireland o^¥ehr\xa.ry iSth, 1893, said : — ■ " This proposal of an English veto on certain specified Bills must be resisted. What we claim is absolute practical supremacy in the affairs delegated to our Parliament. This was Parnell's idea, and Isaac Butt's before him We do not, as Mr. Redmond said, deny the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament, but if Irish Nationalists are to abandon their long-held doctrine of the invalidity of the Act of Union — as they must if they accept this Bill — they will insist on a (juid fro (]ito. It is said that no Parliament can bind a subsequent one, but while this is so in theory, we are willing to take our chance on a clause in the Constitution which will specifically promise for the Imperial power that it shall not interfere ■with us while we keep within the Constitution's recognised limits But there would be no chance of Home Rule succeeding under such a condition of affairs. Not alone, under the veto arrangement, would a Tory Cabinet have the right to veto any Irish Bill which might tell against their party in Ireland, but actually under a Liberal Govc rnment every Unionist member, no matter whether he came from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, or England, would have the power to initiate a debate on any Act — or perhaps on any Bill — of the Irish Assembly. How absurd and mischievous the former power especially would be will at once be seen when we reflect ihat, say five years hence, after we had received control of the Land Question, the Prime Minister in a Parliament which had confessed itself incapable of dealing with the matter, would have the j^ower of rendering null and void any settlement adopted by the body to which the Question had been trans- ferred. We acknowledge the difficulties surrounding Ijoth these points, and we acknowledge that perhaps Mr. Gladstone has done what he could, but we feel bound to say that the arrangements as to the stifretnacy of the Imperial Parliament and of the veto, so far as 7ve can discoz'er them in the speeches we have quoted, are both unworkable and Jinsatisfactory. " THE ANTI-PARNELLITES OxN THE IMPERIAL VETO. The Freeman' s Journal in December, 189I, says : — "A deliberate attempt is being made to represent that the National party would be willing to accept an abortion of Home Rule. We therefore state once again, for the benefit of Mr. Redmond and those friends of his throughout the country who imagine that the late Mr. Parnell and his followers are the sole repositories of MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IMPERIAL CONTROL. 43 national independence, that the definition of national self-government laid down by- Mr. Parnell himself on July 23rd, 1891, and which referred to the essential provisions of the next Home Rule Rill, is entirely satisfactory to us as a fair detinition, so far as it goes, of the only Home Rule which it would be either safe or honourable for our people to accept." And Mr. William O'Brien, on January 25th, 1892, emphatically demanded that the Irish Parliament should be as " free as air." Mr. Redmond's speech, quoted above, was made in the presence of all the Irish Nationalist Members. The Anti-Parnellite leaders, Messrs. Sexton, Dillon, William O'Brien, and Justin McCarthy, were present. Not one of them repudiated Mr. Redmond's state- ment about " the veto of the Crown " alone. Indeed, all the Anti- Parnellite Members have repeatedly said that they would be satisfied with no less power for the Irish Parliament than was demanded by Mr. Parnell. Will the Irish leaders now specifically withdraw these demands ? Will they assent to the veto being- exercised over the legislation of the Irish Parliament by the Crown on the advice of the British or Imperial Cabinet, and not on the advice of the Irish Cabinet.? GL.\DSTON[AN LEADERS ON IMPERIAL CONTROL. That is the real question. Meanwhile it is interesting- to note what the Gladstonian leaders have said in the past upon this subject of Imperial control. During; this last election of July, 1892, Mr. Oscar Browning was a candidate for East Worcestershire. Mr. Browning- said that any Bill passed by the Irish Parliament would be subject to the veto of the Queen by the advice of her English Mitiistos. The ac- curacy of that statement, as expressing- the view of the Gladsto- nian party, was questioned in the Press, and thereupon a letter was written by Mr. Gladstone, dated May 26th, to Mr. Thomas Harris, of Birming-ham, in which he said: "il/r. Brownings account of the veto, if I understand it correctly, is rights and the oppo- site contctition is absurd." The opposite contention was that the veto would be exercised on the advice of the Irish Ministers. Sir William Harcourt at Cirencester, on April 17th, iSgijSaid; — "The principle for which the Liberal party have contended has been the right of the Irish people to manage their own affairs, subject — always subject — to the control of the Imperial Parliament. That is the principle we have always pro- claimed and depended upon, and that is the principle upon which we shall always Stand" Mr. Fowler, now president of the Local Government Board, made at Rawtenstall the following- statement on 20th January, 1 892 : " The Irish Parliament might do foolish things. They must work their own salvation. But if they did wrong things, the supremacy of the Imperial Parlia- ment becomes an effective force." 44 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME-IMPERIAL CONTROL. Mr. Asquith, the Gladstonian Home Secretary, in a letter to his constituents (quoted by Mr. Chamberlain, on February 2nd, 1893, in the House of Commons), demanded : — " A Parliameat which should maintain intact and unimpaired the unquestioned and unqn-:ilionablc supremacy of the Imperial Parliament over all persons and in all matters local and Imperial. ' ' Sir George Trevelyan (quoted by Mr. Chamberlain at the same time) said : — " The confession that the Liberal party was a Home Rule party — I speak with all respect to tlmse who think otherwise — ^is one which until every faculty I have is strained to the uttermost, and every constitutional method inside and outside the House has been exhausted, I for one will never consent to." Sir Charles Russell said at Swindon, August 17th, 1892 : — "I repeat what I have already said as to the safeguards and checks to prevent any possible injury or injustice under a scheme of Home Rule. There are three effective checks. There is the veto of the Crown, there was the inherent right of the Imperial Parliament to repeal or to tnodify any enactment it m.ight make, and there is also the inherent right of Parliament — of which it could not divest itself even if it desired to do so — -to legislate if occasion warranted it, directly in relation to Ireland itself. " But what is the meaning- of this vague talk of the Gladstonian leaders as to Imperial control .' This " veto of the Crown " is the purest Constitutional fiction. It is never exercised in this country ; there has been no instance of the Crown vetoing an Act or Resolution of Parliament for centuries. The proposals of the Nationalists therefore amount to practical separation. Is there any scheme which any English Statesman dare propose, that the Nationalists leaders dare and can accept, as final in the name of the Irish people .'' To that query we have already Mr. Parnell's answer which has been emphasised in various forms by all the Nationalist leaders, Parnellite and anti-Parnellite alike: — '"If our claims are conceded,' he declared, on October loth, 1885, 'I have no mandate from thj Irish people to dictate a course of action to those who may succeed us.' " The most obvious causes of disagreement would be the restrictions as to trade and navigation, the annual tribute to be paid out of the Irish Customs, and questions relating to the military and volunteer forces of Ireland. The main difficulties between England and Ireland in past centuries have arisen out of questions of trade and navigation. There is no likelihood that in the future the divergency of feeling will be less. Mr. Parnell and his friends have already claimed the right to tax British products in order to protect Irish manufactures. And, as has been pointed out, what would the Irish say if the British Government were, for any reason, to limit the import of cattle MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME -So IRISH MEMBERS 45 and pig-s into this country froii Ireland ? Such a step would half ruin the Irish farmers. Sir James Stephen, in his criticism on the 1886 Bill, which is very applicable to the new Bill, said: — " That it would be fatal to the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. Can the Imperial Parliament legislate for Ireland after the Act becomes law? Has it power to veto or repeal Acts of the Legislative Body ? On general principles it would have such power, and the Government Bill contains no language which directly takes its way, but the Bill contains language which maVes the intention doubtful. It reserves to Parliament exclusive authority 'as to all matters in relation to wh'ch it is not competent for the Irish Legislative Body to make or re )eal laws' (section 37), and this maybe construed as implying that in other matters the Imperial Parliament is not to have a concurrent jurisdiction. " Again, cm the Irish Legislative Body repeal Acts of the Imperial Parliament passed%ubseqaently to the passing of the Government of Ireland Act ? On general principles it would seem not, but the power to repeal, as given in the words already quoted, is absolute, and is not confined to Acts in force on the appointed day. Can this silence and ambiguity on points of the very highest constitutional importance, points morally certain to lead to passionate controversy, be due to any other cause than a reluctance to speak plainly and to say either yes or no on a vital question ? " Whatever Mr. Morley may say, I fear i: is undeniably true, that, all guarantees and all argument notwithstanding, this Bill will, if it passes, reduce the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament to a mere idle name, and irrevocably confer upon persons who have persistently expressed for years together the most bitter hatred for England, powers which they will be able to use successfully, if they are so minded, for the purpose of erecting Ireland into a hostile and indep 'ndent nation, having previously, in all probability, plundered, expelled, and oppressed that part of the Irish population which trusted in the honour of England and to a great extent represented its power and its ideas. " 80 IRISH MEMBERS IN THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. The most astonishing- and impracticable feature of the present Bill is the retention of the Irish members in the Imperial Parlia- ment, and the attempt to discriminate between Irish, British, and Imperial affairs. Mr. Gladstone, when introducing his first Home Rule Bill on April 8th, 1886, spoke as follows concerning- the possibility of retaining- the Irish members at Westminster for Imperial affairs : — "Is it practicable for Irish representatives to come here for the settlement, not of English and Scotch, but of Imperial affairs ? In principle it would be very difficult, I think, to object to that proposition. But then its acceptance depends entirely upon our arriving at the conclusion that in this House we can draw for practical purposes a distinction between affairs which are Imperial and affairs vi^hich are not Imperial. It would not be difficult to say in principle that as the Irish Legislature will have nothing to do with Imperial concerns let Irish members come here and vote on Imperial concerns. All depends on 'the practicability of the distinction. Well, Sir, I have thought much, reasoned much, and inquired much with regard to that distinction. I had hoped it might be possible to draw a 46 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— 80 IRISH MEMBERS. distinction, and I have arrived at the conclusion that it cannot be drawn. / believe it passes the wit of fnan ; at cinv rate, it fas.ws nrt my zuit alone, but the •wit of many with whojii I have co?nmunicated. This House is not merely a Legislative House ; it is a House controlling the Executive ; and 7vhen you come to the control of the Executive, thett your distinction between Imperial subjects and non-Imperial subjects totally breaks down — they are totally insufficient to cover the whole case." From his speech on February 13th, 1893, it is clear that Mr. Gladstone is of the same opinion still. There is no doubt that the presence of the eig"hty Irish members at Westminster will afford infinite opportunities for what Mr. Gladstone called "Intrig"ue" in the matter of financial arrang-ements between the two countries. The Irish eighty will hold the balancebetweenthe two parties in the Imperiar Parliament. Whenever the Irish Exchequer is empty, which, judg-ing from all past Irish experience, will be frequent, the Irish eig"hty will make the g-ranting" of some pecuniary advan- tag'e — a g-rant-in-aid, or a loan on very easy terms, or a diminution of the Irish contribution towards the Imperial expenses — a con- dition of their support; and they will almost certainly have their way. Sir William Harcourt, speakings at Blandford in September^ 1885, before he had turned Separatist, made a most accurate prediction as to the part which the Irish contingent in the Imperial Parliament will play. "I will give you one more specimen. Mr. William O'Brien, the editor of United Ireland, made a speech in which he said this : — '■Mr. ParnclVs eighty members of Parliament would fasten in the flank in the English Parliament, and rankle in them like a spear head. If the English people did not want peace, Mr. Parnell would give them war — such war as eighty Irish guerillas could carry on with the weapon of the franchise, with the weapon of the boycotting pike, as it was called, and with any other weapon that time and opportunity might offer them.' That is what we have to meet, and if the English Parliament is not to become a helpless tool in the hands of this party you must give an overwhelming majority to the only party which has the courage and the honesty to face them." IRISH VOTE. The effect of the Irish vote in Eng-lish towns in future has received very little consideration. Hitherto, it has been mainly directed to supporting- Home Rule policy. In future, however, if there are 80 Irish members in the Imperial Parliament, there is little doubt it will be used to affect Scotch and English questions. Whenever the Irish vote on an Imperial question reverses the vote of a majority on a British question, the Irish vote in the constituencies will, at the elections, be undoubtedly thrown against the British majority in favour of the side taken by the 80 Irish members. MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— TWO MAJORITIES. 47 TWO MAJORITIES. It is one of the most monstrous features of the Bill, that, not only does it create two Parliaments in the United Kingdom, and two Governments in the United Kino^dom, but it also creates two distinct majorities in the Imperial Parliament. There will be first the British majority. This, when the Irish members are absent, will probably be Conservative. There will be a second majority when the Irish members are present. This, unless the Conservative majority exceeds 60 without them (as out of the Irisli 80, about 6d would be Nationalists), would be a Gladstonian or Radical majority. There may. therefore, easily be a Conserva- tive majority one day and a Radical majority next— a state of thing's which would present the formation of any stable Govern- ment, and which would be perfectly intolerable. In the case ot a g-reat war, taxing- the resources of the Empire to the uttermost, Ireland is not liable under the Bill to contribute anything- beyond this £2,370,000 fixed by the Bill. The Irish Parliament and the 80 Irish members in the Imperial Parliament might be opposed to the war. Supposing- for example that United Ifi ly was fig-hting- on the side which the Imperial Parliament espoused, and the Papacy was in favour of the enemies of Great Britain. These enemies, e.g., France and Russia, mig-ht have undertaken, in the event of victory, to restore the Pope's temporal power. There is no doubt that the g-reat majority of the Irish Parliament, under clerical dictation as it would be, would favour the Papal side. Mr. Chamberlain put the case well in his speech on February 17th : — "The eighty Irish members would come to the Imperial Parliament against the war, and they would make themselves heard probably at some leng'h (laughter) ; they would embarrass and hamper the conduct of the war by the British Governuient, but they would be outvoted. When they were outvoted you would have to make heavy demands in order to defray the , cost of such a war. \o\x would have, under this Bill, full con'.rol of the Customs but you could not rely upon the Customs. You would have to rely upon the Excise, upon the Income Tax, and upon internal taxes. Suppose you have got your taxation from the Imperial Parliament, all the collection of the taxes is in the hands of the Irish Parliament. (Cheers.) What if they resist ? I am not speaking at this moment of active resistance, but suppose that the sentiment of the country is agdinst you, all the organisation of the country, the Executive of the country, the police of the country, the judiciary of the country, the civil ofticials of Ireland — all are under the control ot the native and popular assembly, all are moved by the same sentiment — it seems to me you would increase the risk of almost insurmount- able obstacles." The case in which a Ministry, beaten without the Irish vote in the Imperial Parliament, resig-ns and appeals to the country, was well put in the S/. James's Gazette of February i6th, 1S93 : — " Suppose they do resign and dissolve ; suppose they go to the country and come back with their strength approximately the same as before : what then ? For 48 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— TWO MAJORITIES. the leaders of which party is the Queen to send — for the defeated leaders who rely on the ' Imperial majority,' or for the leaders of the party which has defeated them at the polls? Suppose she chose the latter — the representatives of the English majority. Her Majesty's Ministers would be in this agreeable and dignified posi- tion. They could initiate as many Bills as they pleased ; but any day a Vote of Censure might be moved, and they would have to go. Suppose the Queen 'sent for' the leaders of the other parly — the Anglo-Irish majority. They could never carry an English Bill through Committee ; yet they could not be got out, for they •could obtain (the Irish having pepped in) a Vote of Confidence tiom the House whenever they chose to challenge it." Mr. Gladstone has in the present scheme attempted to distinguish between British and Imperial affairs, thougrh he admitted, and S( emed to glory in the admission, that in his opinion no such distinction is possible in practice. In his opening- speech, on February 13th, he described the attempt to distinguish between Imperial and British affairs, so as to allow the eighty Irish members at Westminster to vote upon the former and not upon the latter, as an extremely " indigestible process," as an "anomaly," and as ''full of thorns and brambles." Readmitted that there is no " accurate line of cleavage "between Imperial, British and Irish questions. The " Irish Eighty"' are nominally to be refused the right to vote " on any Bill or resolution which is expressly confined to Great Britain, or ( n any tax not levied in Ireland." or on " any motion or resolution exclusively affecting" Great Britain, or any person or persons therein.'' But they are, according to Mr. Gladstone's speech of February 13th, to be allowed to vote on any motion '' incidental to such Bill or motion," and they are also to vote on any vote of want of confidence in the Ministry of the day. Can anything be so ridiculous as such proposals } Mr. Gladstone himself condemned such a system in his speech of April 8th, 1SS6, in the strongest way. He then said: — " What ail aitoii,aly it 7voiild be, what a mutilation of all our elementary ideas about the absolute equality of members in this House, were we to have cr dinar ily anion i; us two classes of me in be is, one of them qualified to vote on all kinds of business, and another qualified only to vote here and there on particular kinds of business, and obliged to submit to some criterion or other — say the authority of the Chair novel for such a purpose and difficult to exercise — in order to determine what kinds of business they could vote upon, and what kinds of business they must abstain from voting on !" And Sir James Stephen said upon this: — "But human ingenuity cannot supply any test by which Imperial and local business can be distinguished. The truth is that the United Kingdom is so emphatically and essentially one that there is no possibility of introducing a second Parliament into it without destroying all that is most characteristic and best worth having in the first. The scheme by which it is proposed to do so introduces a lastard federalism, which, if the Irish members stay where they are, will give them the command of the whole kingdom, and which, if they are excluded, will rapidly and irrevocably convert Ireland into a hostile foreign country. " MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— TWO MAJORTITES. 49 Yet this scheme, which Mr. Gladstone has himself declared unworkable, is the very one which he now proposes in his new Home Rule Bill. "TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE." Let us take two or three concrete cases, for this is the best way to illustrate what will happen. The Conservative party, we will assume for the sake of arg"ument, has a majority of fifty in the new Imperial Parliament, and Mr. Arthur Balfour is Prime Minister. A Radical member proposes the disestablishment of the English Church, and that measure is defeated by the Conservaiive majority of fitly, the Irish eighty not being" allowed to vote as it is purely an Eng"lish question. The next day Sir William Harcourt, who we will assume to be leading- the Opposition, comes down to the House and moves a vote of want of confidence in the Conservative Government. The Irish eig-hty will now come in and vote, as under Mr. Gladstone's Bill they would have the right to do. The Imperial Government, which really has a majority of fifty in Great Britain, finds itself in a minority in the joint House, and is oblig^ed to resign. Sir William Harcourt then forms a Government, and bring-s in a measure, we will suppose, for the abolishing of plural voting in England. This being a purely British subject, the Irish eighty are not allowed to vote upon it, and the Bill might be defeated by a majority of fifty. Sir William Harcourt thereupon resigns, and Mr. Balfour comes in again. There is nothing to prevent this process from going on ad infinilinn. Or let us take another absurd case. Supposing the Conservative Government, having a majority of fifty, bring in a Bill to increase the Volunteer forces in England and Scotland, and that Bill is carried by the British majority. Next day Sir William Harcourt, or it might be, an Irish leader, say Mr. Sexton, comes down and proposes a similar establishment of armed volunteers for Ireland. The Imperial Government opposes such an extension of the volunteer force as dangerous to the public safety, but the Government is defeated by the votes of the eighty Irish members, and resigns. What then is to happen .? The Echo said on Feb. 15th : — "Reteution at once cuts away the most popular argument for Home Rule. English constituencies have been repeatedly told that English legislation is iu arrear because Ireland blocks the way, and if Irish business were relegated to an Irish Parliament, there would be plenty of time for the House of Commons to do it's work. Let us take one illustration. What could be a more purely English question than Mr. James Lowther's proposal to stop pauper alien immigration ? Yet that involves our relations with other countries, and sets an example of exclu- sion to the United States and Canada which Irishmen would be the first to feel. £ 2 so MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— TWO MAJORITIES. The establishment of two sets of Members in the House of Commons at once suggests the question whether the fate of a Ministry' would be decided by the British Members only, or by the British Members plus the Irish Members. There can be but one answer. Inasmuch as the Government has to deal with Imperial questions, it must stand or fall by the vote of the whole House. How would this work ? Let us suppose that Cardinal Vaughan and Aichbishop Benson unite in demanding that in England clerical schools shall be supported by the rates. A Radical Government resists. At once some question within the Imperial category is raised, and a big contingent of Irish Members i'5 brought over to oust the Gov- ernment, and virtually to determine how English money is to be spent. Mr. Gladstone's distinction between English and Imperial questions, at the first moment that party passion rises high, will disappear like a child's castle of sand before the rising wave. The Englishman would never be master in his own house. This is a fatal objection to the proposal." Or, ag'ain, let us take the case of motions for the adjournment of the House. This is a point bristling- with difficulties. A Conservative Government being in office in Great Britain, a Radical member proposes the payment of members in Great Britain. His proposal is defeated by the normal Conservative majority. Next day the Radical member g^ets up and proposes to move the adjournment of the House in order to consider an u'*gent question of public importance connected with the payment of all members in the Imperial Par. lament, Irish as well as British. Are the eighty Irish members to be allowed to vote or not to vote on such a proposal .' It is quite certain that they will never consent to be deprived of the privilege of voting on motions for the adjournment of the House But if this privilege be g^iven them, the stability of any English Government will not be worth a day's purchase. Sir Edward Clarke put the difficulty well in his powerful speech in the House of Commons, on Feb. 13th : — "Take question time. If vvith regard to some important matter of foreign affairs a question is asked on th's side and answered from the other, the answer may produce such an effect upon the House that within an hour a motion is made for the adjournment of the debate, the object and the meaning of that motion, if it be Carrie 1, being that the House desires to censure the Minister on the spot for the line which he has taken. (Hear, hear.) What about the Irish members ? Are we in such a position to wait until they can be summoned from Dublin in order that they may come over here to take part in the vote of censure ? (Laughter and " Hear, hear. "^ The proposition is, I venture to say, impossible."' Mr. Gladstone quite rightly gave an expression of warning as to the effect upon Imperial politics of leaving- the door open at any moment to the intervention of what he called "these eighty Irish gentlemen." These are Mr. Gladstone's words : — " If some very large question of controversy, entirely British, but still deep and vital, were severing the two great parties in this House, and the members of those parties knew that whichever could buy over the eighty Irish representatives, or a large contingent of them, to support their views would carry the day, I am afraid, Sir, of opening a possible door to wholesale and dangerous political intrigue." MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— GRAVE CHANGE. 51 A GRAVE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE. The serious results that will follow from the establishment of two classes of members in the Imperial Parliament, and of two distinct m ijorities are well described in the following- e.Ktract from Blackivood' s Magazine: — " But whether the Irish members are to be permanently retained or whether they are to present themselves in Parliament only when summoned, the subject of two unequal orders in the House of Commons remains equally serious. A grave constitutional question arises which to the British electorate is even more important than any scheme for permitting the Irish Iloine Rulers to misgovern their own country. The constitution of the House of Commons is the product of a long and slow growth ; it bears the mark of the wisdom and experience of centuries ; it is so compactly welded together that one portion cannot be removed without threatening the stability of the whole. Perfect equality in the Parliamentary s'atus of all its members, freedom of speech, and freedom of vo'.ing have always belonged to the House of Commons. We have now proposed the erection of two orders of members in the House, with different powers and privileges ; a limitation of freedom ol speech on the part of one order or the other to certain specified subjects, and an absolute denial of the right of voting to the inferior order upon subjects also specified. Such a radical change in the constitution of the Commons appears to us to be much too grave a matter to be effected by the subordinate clauses of an Irish bill. The propriety of such an innovation can only be pronounced upon by the constituencies, and Mr. Gladstone has never condescended to ask their opinion upon the matter. The right honourable gentlema 1 has in fact begun at the wrong end of his task. Instead of seeking to fit his Home Rule scheme into the con- stitution of the House of Commons, he should have begun by fitting the House for the reception of his scheme. How valuable that constitution is to the security of the nation is implied in the resistance which it offers to Mr. Gladsto le's present project, and his confession that it passes the wit of man to co-ordinate it with his ill-advised efforts. Before the constitu'ion of the House is thus tampered with, it is necessary that the electorate should be consulted, and give a verdict upon a subject which has never been put before them, to the importance of which they awakened with surprise, and which may in the issue be of infinitely more consequence to the British democracy than any system of Home Rule that Mr. Gladstone ever has invented or ever will devise. But it is not merely the constitution of the House of Commons that Mr. Gladstone's bill aims at altering. The composition of the House of Lords is to be subjected to the same confusing re-arrangement. The representative Irish Peers are to be members of the Upper House as before, but to be fettered l)y the same restrictions as to deliberation and voting as the Irish Members in the Commons. Here, again, the principle of internal freedom and equality so essential to the due discharge of legislative functions is overthrown. The Peers of England and Scotland have a right to demand why the Peers of a country parliamentarily separated from their own should have a seat in their assembly, or any share at all in their deliberations. The Irish Peers, on the other hand, have a right to protest against being placed in a:i inferior position to the Peers of England and Scotland, against the injuiy done to their order in violation of the articles of Union, and against the infringement of the indefeasible right which every Peer of the realm has to give his opinion and counsel to the Sovereign upon all matters relating to the welfare of the State. To make the bill at all operative upon the Irish members of the House of Lords, the bill would have to prescribe a new and limited writ of summons to be issued to them, which would involve interference with the Royal prerogative, as well as with the constitution of the Upper House. For all these weighty constitutional reasons, the Lords, should the bill ever reach them, will be justified in rejecting it, apart altogether from the ques.ion of Home Rule or no Home Rule. The corruption of both Houses of Parliament by the destruction of equality and the institution of an inferior order of members is clearly a matter upon which the sense of the country will have to be taken."— "The Home Rule Bubble,"' in Blac/rwood, March, 1893. 52 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— CONSTABULARY. THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. What will be the fate of the Royal Irish Constabulary under a GoverniTiPnt controlled by men who have been in constant conflict and collision with them ? The Leaders of the Irish Nationalist party have denounced the constabulary in the strongest terms, have spoken of them as "Balfour's hell-hounds." The Irish Constabulary are a splendid and loyal force. They have fear- lessly and faithfully carried out the orders of the British Govern- ment, whether that Government was under Mr. Gladstone or Lord Salisbury. They have given up other professions and put themselves under a strict discipline, on the faith of the engage- ment bv which they entered the service of the British Government. By the terms of that engagement they are entitled, if they do their duty, to due promotion in their profession, and to a pension when they become unfit for service. Under the provisions of this Bill, the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police are to be gradually reduced, and within a period of six years, abolished, although their claim to pension is affirmed in the Bill. Can any one who knows the character of the men that would control a separate Irish Parlia- ment, and the constant and brutal threats they have used towards the Royal Irish Constabulary, doubt that gross injustice would be done to its members in the process of disbanding and pen- sioning these loyal forces ? Especially would those suffer who have become obnoxious to the Land and the National Leagues in the discharge of their duty. Mr. Dillon said, at Castlereagh, December 5 th, 1886: — " The time is at hand when the police will be our servants, when the Irish police will be taking their pay from Mr. Parnell, when he will be Prime Minister of Ireland. . . . We will remember them. . . . We are not the men to forget who stood up against the people." Mr. Gladstone dwelt with much unction upon the great cost of the Irish constabulary, which he placed at £1,500,000. But, again, he forgot to state that at least £500,000 of this sum was due to his own misgovernment during the past six years. A//er Mr. Gladstone took office in April, 1880, the charge for the Irish constabulary increased by ovtr half a million a year, a?id the total charge for ihe. government of Irela?id increased by 7uarly a million. The injustice threatened to the splendid loyal force, the Royal Irish Constabulary, is well illustrated by a letter from an officer in that body, which appeared in the Times of Feb. 27th, 1S93 : — " I need not describe the impatience with which we wailed for the publication of the Bill, and with what anxious care we mastered its paragraphs in the hope of finding the fulfilment of these promises. MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— IRISH JUDGES. 53 " // deprives us oj our projession, which, in the case of the oficers, ioas only luon by great expense and trouble. The officers had to pass a stiff competitive examina- tion, as difficuU, certainly, as that for commissions in the Army, which cost long preparation and special study. On joining the force, they had the certainty of a gradually increasing income, the hope of obtaining promotion to distinguished appointments connected with the service, and eventually they looked forward to a secure pension to support them and their families in their declining years. For all these benefits they worked hard and well, as every one admits. " But Mr. Morley assured the House of Commons that when the Bill was laid on the table it would be seen how the force were to be provided for. For some strange reason that is not a fact. The clause relating to the pensions and gratuities oJ the Royal Irish Constabulary is blank! The omission of this, to us, all-important clause is alarming, and particularly so on account of some of the reasons given for its concealment. One is that a member of the Government received a suggestion or expression of opinion from a person having considerable influence in the Irish party that ' abolition terms ' are the utmost that could be given to us. "Abolition terms are that members of the force will be compulsorily retired. their office being abolis led, and that they receive a pension calculated on their present rate of pay, and ten years will be added to their present time of Service in calculating the pensions. " For instance, a district inspector of ten years' service, who now has ).ay and salary upon which pension is calculated amounting to ;^250, will be retired on a pension of ^^83 p"r annum. While serving he draws allowances which bring his income up to ^310 a year. Thus, under the Bill on abolition terms, he will lose £2.21 a year, and be turned about his business." Very much the same applies to the Civil Servants in Ireland, who have been most faithful and loyal to the British Government throuq"h many trying years. Their lives would be made intoler- able for them, by a system of ingenious persecution, in which the Irish Nationalist Leaders are past masters. THE IRISH JUDGES. The future Irish judges, too, are to be placed at the mercy of the new Irish Parliament, by an arrangement under which, though they are to be appointed by the Imperial Government for six years, they are to be removable on an address presented by both Houses of the Irish Legislature. As the Nationalist party- will control both houses, the Irish Judges of the future will be at the mercy of the dominant faction. After six years all Irish Judges, except the two Exchequer Judges, are to be appointed by the Irish Executive ; that is, only tools of the Nationalist majority will be made Irish Judges. What will be the position of the Irish Loyalist .' What chances of justice will he have, whether he be landowner, farmer, tradesman, peasant, policeman or civil servant, when the judges, the oflftcials, the new police, and the whole Irish Administration are under the absolute control of the Nationalist members. 54 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— I RISH^LAND. THREE SETS OF CONSTITUENCIES. Under this Bill, Ireland is to be mapped out into three different sets of Constituencies. There is to be one set of Constituencies to elect the 48 members of the Legislative Council. There is to be a second set to elect the 80 members whom Ireland is to send to the Imperial Parliament. There is to be a third set to elect the 103 members for the Irish Legislative Chamber. This is only one instance of the innumerable complications and perplexities which this "Home Rule Bill " will introduce. IRISH LAND. The control over Irish Land is to be given to the Irish Parliament within three years, when the authors of the "Plan of Campaign " will have full power to plunder and ruin every Irish landowner, and will doubtless do so Meanwhile the administra- tion of all the Land Acts and Land Courts is to be put in the hands of the Irish Parliament, that is, of the Healys. William O'Briens, and Dillons. It will be easy for these ingenious and unscrupulous persons so to work these existing Acts and their various powers as to make the life of an Irish landowner unbearable. The fate of the Irish landowner, under Mr. Gladstone's scheme is plainly pointed out in the article in Blackwood, in March, 1893, entitled, " The Home Rule Bubble " : — " The Irih land question, upon which Mr. Gladstone's previous Home Rule Bill was professedly based, now occupies so small a portion of his attention that he omitted all reference to it in his exposition of the measure. He has, however, given us incidentally to understand that the subject is to be resented to the Imperial Parliament for three years. If the Premier's indifference to the land question arises from his perception of the beneficial change which the Ashbourne Acts are producing upon the agrarian difficulty, we can understand his position. But it will take more than three years, or three times three years, for these Acts to put the Irish land difficulty upon a satisfactory basis, more especially as an Irish Legislature in Dublin will make political capital of futile promises about the land when they get it into their own hands, and hold out extravagant ideas, which will bring pur- chases by tenants to a standstill in the meantime. And during these three years the carrying out of evictions and the enforcement of all agrarian decisions of the law courts will be left to the Irish Executive, with what results we need hardly pause to inquire. The arrangement under the Bill may be briefly described as a provision for allowing the Nationalists three years to worry the Irish landlords as a prelude to devouring them altogether. But if the Irish are wise they will insist upon taking the land with them from Westminster ; for three years' working of an Irish administration may raise doubts ia the minds of even the most advanced Radicals, whether it would be well to implement Mr. Gladstone's bargain. Bui if the Irish are not fit to be immediately trusted with the land, are they immediately fitted to be intrusted with a Legislature ? Mr. Gladstone does not propose a Land Bill at the present moment, but there can be no doubt that some measure is a part of the understanding between him and his clients. We may expect, then, that when the Irish take over the administration of the land they do not intend to do so MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME -TRADE BOUNTIES. 55 empty-handed, but that Great Britain will be called upon to provide for some such extravagant outlay as accompanied the Premier's foraier proposal." And a writer in Si. James's Gazette points out very clearly an easy method by which the jjroperty of the landowners can be rapidly confiscated : — " Mr. Gladstone's Land Act was passed in 1881. The Sub-Commissioners under it fixed fair renls for fifteen years, at the end of which period they were to be revised. The three years thus bring us to the commencement of the period for the revision of fair rents all over Ireland. I need hardly say that the Irish tenant- farmers will return a large majority of the members of both thi Irish Houses. The Irish Adininislration will, f presume, have the power of appointing the nera Snl>- Com miss/oners, to w/iom the task of fixing fair rents 7oill l)e entrusted. At all events these Sub-Commissioners will not fall within the scope of the provisions which protect the Irish Judges (other than the judges of the Court of Bankruptcy) and a very small proportion of the judicial officers who are not entitled to the rank of judge. They will thus be entirely under the control of the Irish Administration, and the proviso which prevents the Irish Parliament from confiscating the property of the landlords will not prevent a reduction of 60 or 70 per cent, on the judicial rents by a packed or dependent Sub-Commission. True, there is a power of appeal ; httt set 300 Snb-Coni»tission-:rs to loork in the way that I have indicated, and how long will three Commissioners take to hear the appeals? And might not the Irish Parliament, without exceeding its powers, limit the right of appeal to cases where there was some legal principle involved, and not the mere value of the land ? " Mr. Austen Taylor effectively points out that the interest g'uar- anteed under the Land Purchase Act of 1891, and the greater part of the pensions of the Irish constabulary will be entirely at the mercy of the new Irish Parliament. He writes in the Times of Feb. 27th, 1893 : — •'Section 5 of Clause 30 and sub-sections (6) of section i and [a) of section 3 in clause 14. These provide for the payment by the Irish Exchequer of (he dividends and sinking fund of the Guaranteed Land Stock (1S91), and of two-thirds of the net pensions that may be assigned to the constabulary and police force by the Treasury. As the immediate repudiation of these charges (if the sections are not modified in Committee) will infallibly be the first move of any member in the Irish Legislative Assembly who wishes to become the most popular man in Ireland, it is •well to look them in the face. From the Irish point of view, the first charge will be the tribute which was wrung from the Irish peasant in order to buy out a rapa- cious oppressor ; the second will be the reward which the Irish peasant is privileged to pay to a force whose chief employment in the past was to brutally evict him." TRADE BOUNTIES. Although it is true that Mr. Gladstone's Bill denies the Irish Parliament the right to impose duties upon British products, there is nothing to pre vent the Irish Parliament from granting" Bounties" -on Irish products, and in such a way as to practically shut British products out of Irish markets. Sir William Harcourt admitted this in reply to my question in the House of Commons on March i6th, 1893. As the author of "Savings and Safeguards " wrote in the Times of March 2nd, 1893 ■' — • " How will the system work in practice ? In the first place, the Irish Go em- inent is not restrained from giving bounties to any favoared branches of native 56 MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME— ESTABLISHMENT. industry or commerce. Mr. Parnell always regarded that method with sympathy, and, indeed, it has a flavour of jobbery about it which naturally commends it to the Irish mind. From every part of the country and from every sectional interest, from farmers and stock-breeders, from distillers and brewers, from woollen manufacturers,, from linen manufacturers, and from paper makers, the cry will go up for 'en- couragement,' and, as long as the money lasts that can be squeezed out of owners, of property, whether in reality or personalty, no policy will be more popular with the Irish masses. The system is manifestly 'contrived a double debt to pay.' Bounty-fed industries may easily drive British goods out of Irish markets and force Irish goods, especially agricultural produce, into British markets. If Irish oats and Irish hay, Irish butter and Irish bacon were to get a bounty on exportation to England and Scotland, the unfortunate British farmer could be undersold and ousted frooi his own market, while the British manufacturers might be unable to compete with their bounty-rec-iving rivals in Ireland Moreover, these bounties may be so distributed as to leave the industries of Protestant Ulster at a grievous disadvantage and to draw away capital from them. " Nor is this all. Though ' prohibitions in connection with the duties of Excise ' are to be regulated by the Imperial Parliament, there is no limitation on prohibi- tions in general. There is nothing that we can see to prevent the Irish Government from forbidding absolutely the import or the export of any commodity whatever — an instrument of enormous power either for the creation of a forced market or for compassing the ruin of an obnoxious interest. Internal octroi duties can also be levied and licence duties not only can be, but must be, in the absence of other re- source-;, imposed upon trades and industries." RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT. Under the Bill, the Irish Parliament is prohibited from settings up a relig"ious establishment in Ireland. There would, however, be little difficulty in evadin"" this provision, and it would be practically impossible for the Imperial Parliament to effectually intervene in case the Irish Parliament chose to establish or endow the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Chamberlain in his Speech, on February i8th. 1893. in tne House of Commons, g-ave two instances in which it could be carried out by a side wind: — "Now, what provision does the Bill make? In the first place, it seeks to protect the Protestants by declaring unlawful the establishment of a Church and also by some provision with respect to education. I do not want to draw the argument too fine, but I may be permitted to point out that, if there were a strong feeling in Ireland in favour of an established and endowed clergy, there is nothing in the Bill to prevent that being done. There are fifty ways in which your Bill could be legally t-vaded. I will give one, merely as an instance. Suppose that the Irish Parliament provided a considerable salary for the managers of schools. What is to prevent the district froni electing the parish priest in every case as . manager? (Hear, hear.) In that way, by a side wind, if the sentiment of the peopie were with you — it all depends on that — you could effect a great endowment of the Irish Roman Catholic Church, even in spite of the restrictive provisions 01 my right hon. friend." " I have been told that in some places boards of guardians have made particular payments to sisters of mercy who had att nded in cotmection with the work of the dispensaries. Now, it is perfectly evident to the House that, if it were desired to do so, it would be perfectly possible un'^er a system of this kind practically to en- dow Roman Catholic convents. Th^re is nothing to prevent boards of guardians from making, if they please, such grants to ladies occupied in this work as would MR. GLADSTONE'S SCHEME -ESTAHLISHMKNT. 57 in effect provide for a very considerable endowment. (Hear, hear.) Well, that is in distinct contradiction of the restrictive clause in the Bill which pretends to prevent ecclesiastical establishments. All I want to ask the House is, how are you going to deal with it in this Uill ? You cannot touch the boards of guardians, and, even if you were to make it illegal by law — -which, I think, you would have some ditlicalty in doing — I do not see how you can get the law administered." As the Nonconfor.Tiist British Weekly wrote on February 1 6th, 1893 :- " The right to establish the Church is still withdrawn, but we do not think there is any reality in this restriction. For supp >se that by-and-bye, as is quite certain, the Iri^h Legislative Assembly demanded the Establishment and Endowment of the Roman Catholic Church. Suppose, as is equally certain, that this resolution were passed by both Houses, and brought before the Imperial Parliament — who would oppose it ? Would the Conservatives ? We do not believe it. They would say, and say rightly, that every argument for the establishment of a Church in lingland, Scotland, and Wales may be used with far greater force lor the Establishment of the Church of Rome in Ireland. The High Church clergy could not well refuse to support such a measure. They stand by the Presbyterian Establishment iu Scotland, although they think that Presbyterians do not constitute a church. The Church of Rome, in their view, occupies a very much higher position, and their support of it would be proportionately enthusiastic. Would tdiose of Mr. (.jladstone's mind oppose it ? Mr. Gladstone's position on Disestablishment is pretty well known. He is of opinion that, wherever a majority in a country want an Establishment, they ought to have it, and although professedly believing that when a majority <^o not want it they should not have it, he refuses to t ke any steps to win them this freedom. . . But two alternatives are before us, and only two : religious equality everywhere, or a Roman Catholic establishment i 1 Ireland added to those already exisling in Great Britain. Nor can there he any doubt that the Roman Catholic hierarchy would repeat their monstrous claims as to the education of the people, so that the maiu part of Ireland would pass at no distant date under a Roman Catholic domination. This would not be an evil in the opinion of most ot the Irish members — it would be a great advantage. And we do not suppose Mr. Gladstone himself would take exception. Yet the result would be such a break up and confusion of the Liberal party as would put a;i end to re brm for years, and have far-reaching effec s in every direction." The dang"er of oppressive leg-islation on the partof t le Roman Catholic majority in the new Irish Parli.iment is well illustrated by a letter of Mr. Robert C. Jenkins, in the I'lmfs of Fel)ruary 27th, 1S93 : — "Will you allow me to point out (as the second reading of the Home Rule Bill is so near) the serious fact m its so-called 'safeguards' it makes no provision what- ever for those subjects of mixed jurisdiction over which the Roman Church claims an exclusive rigiit, but which the State cannot surrender without endangering her very existence ? Mr. Gladstone in his Vatican pamphlet observed truly that, while even in America the subjects of 'marriage, prison discipline, blasphemy, poor relief, incorporation, mortmain,' &c., lie within the limits of this mixed jurisdiction, 'in Europe the circle is far wider, the points of contact and of interlacing almost innumerable ' (p. 41). Let us suppose that under priestly influence Bills had been passed in the Irish Legislature forbidding divorce «>r civil mariiages, or bringing the proliibited degrees within the scope of a Papal dispensation, what is to prevent a conflict erves the Imperial supremacy at all; will certainly preseive it in a form in which it can be exercised when a Government is in power strong enough and courageous enough to exercise it ? (Hear, hear.) You have stimulated the appetite 01 those gentlemen throughout all these six years. You told ihem that they are a nation — (cheers) — and that they deserve the treatment of a nation, and now you put them off with a constitution which not only does not make thenr a nation, but zuhich puts them imnuasiirably bclmv the smallest self- gozn his sulTrages. " Lord Hartington and Mr. Chamberlain, then members of Mr. Gladstone's Ministry, distinctly repudiated a Separatist policy ; and Sir William Harcourt heartily endorsed their statements in the following language at Plymouth, in September, 1885 : — '• There has been a still more serious question than boycotting raised in Ireland ; because since the declaration of Mr, Parnell, ther*^ can be no doubt what is the 64 MR. GLADSTONE'S CONVERSION. policy that he and his party have adopted — it is a policy of absolute separation oj the tcuo countries. How has that declaration been met ? Two speakers, eminently entitled to represent the Liberal pany — Lord Har'ington and Mr. Chamberlain- have spoken on this matter, and they have spoken in a manner worthy of their position, and worthy of the party they represent." In December, 1885, speaking- at Lowestoft. Sir William Har- court professed the greatest indignation at the alleg-ed alliance between the Conservative party and Mr. Parnell. The charge was false ; but Sir William Harcourt's fury is very interesting in view of the fact that Sir William Harcourt has since done what he then untruly accused the Conservative party of doing. He said that a Parnellite alliance would not be tolerated by this country : — " The Tories propose to govern the country by an intimate alliance with men who openly avow their object is the dismemberment of Ireland from England. Is it possible the country is going to tolerate such a transaction? Liberals must not be in a hurry to turn the Tories out. / louuld let them for a feiv months stejv in their own Farnellite Juice, and when they stink in the nostrils of the countiy, as they will stink, then the country will fling them, discredited and disgraced, to the con- stituencies, and the nation 7vill pronounce its final jud'^ment upon them. We shall hear no more of T017 reaction for many generations. " This has proved true, with the substitution throughout of the word "Gladstonian " for the word " Tory." The eventuality, which Mr Gladstone so dreaded, came to pass. Although Mr. Gladstone, by his lavish promises to the agricultural electors, obtained a majority of 84 apart from the Parnellite vote, his party would have been in a minority had the Irish Nationalists voted against him. Mr. Gladstone at once succumbed to the temp- tation he had regarded with so much alarm. He decided to bribe the 85 Parnellites by the promiseof a " Home Rule " scheme. In a communication to a Press Agency, at the end of December, 1885, Mr. Herbert Gladstone was reported to have said that his father was prepared to raise the question of Home Rule. This, though formally denied from Hawarden, was generally taken as a ballon d' essai in that question. The Conservative Government were over- thrown by an amendment on the address, ostensibly in favour of the agricultural labourers. Nothing more tended to the Con- servative re-conquest of the counties in 1S86, than the anger and disgust of the labourers at finding- themselves duped by the fictitious promises and limed expressions of interest that were so recklessly lavished upon them by the Liberal party in 1885. Lord Hartington, Mr. Goschen, Lord Selborne, and Sir Henry James, all distinctly declined to join the Government which Mr. Gladstone formed in January, 1880, because he would not formally repudiate " Home Rule." The excitement in Parliament and among the public upon the subject of the Irish policy of the Government now grew intense. MR. GLADSTONE'S CONVERSION. 65 Ag-'itation in Ireland g^rew to a painful extent. The greatest alarm prevailed among- the loyal population, and especially among those of British blood and Protestant faith. All Irish securities suffered severely — the price of bank and railway stock fell. Bank of Ireland Stock fell from 333 to 260. There was a general suspension of commercial operations. A similar fall has already begun in the Irish Securities during the fortnight following the introduction of the "Home Rule" Bill. On February 13th, 1.S93, the depreciation in the value of the stock of the Bank of Ire'and and of the Ulster Bank, of the Irish Rail- ways and of Guinness' Brewery amounted, according to Sir James Haslett, to no less than £1,845,750. Sir J. Haslett said at Belfa;t on February, 2Sth, 1893 : — "The Great Nort/iern Railway stock consisted of £^,^6(),ii'j. On February 13th the value of the stock, or the selling price, was 1425, and on February 25th it was 130. The depreciation on the stock of the Great Northern, as between that day and the 12th was /"329,564. (A voice : " That is Home Rule.") The Gnat Southern, and IFfstern (^Ireland) ordinary capital was ^^4, 9 70, 45 5. On February 13th the selling price was 119, and on the 25th 112, a drop which represented a loss on the shares of that company of ;^2i 7,459. The Midland and Great ^cj/i"/-;/ ^t/" /;v/(?;^(/ ordinary capital was ^2,370,000, and the price on February 13th was 104, and on the 25th 95, showing a loss on that stock of ;^i 54,050 Then as to the Be/fast and Ni'riiern Raihvay stock, which represented ;!^8i 5,939 the price on the 13th was 124, while on the 25th it had fallen to 117, the loss on that small stock being ^34,722. The stock of the Belfast and County Down Railw.iy represented ^295,950, and the price had fallen from 143 to 140, showing a loss of ;^8, 878. Guinness' stocks represented ;i^l, 700,000. (Jn P^ebruary 13th this stock stood at 344, while on the 25th it had depreciated to 310, showing a net loss of ^^476, 000. Let them turn to the Ba)ik of J r eland. Those stocks amounted to ^2,769,230, and on February 13th they stood at 317^, while on the 25th they had fallen to 301 1, representing a loss of ^443,077. Now he came to the Ulster Bank, than which a sounder commercial undertaking was not in Ireland. Its share capital was ^"450,000. Its stock stood on the 13th at \o\, and on the 25th it had fallen to 9|, which represented a loss on that small stock capital of ;i^ 1 60, 000. " Those stocks — and they were only a few which he had read out of them — represented, in that brief period of twelve days, a nett fall in value of ;,^i,845,750, while the value of no Irish securities had been enhanced by the introduction of the measure." Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan took office under Mr. Gladstone in Jan., 1886, but they resigned on March 26, as soon as his Home Rule scheme was form.ally adopted by the Gladstonian Cabinet. Mr. Chamberlain has since continued one of the keenest opponents of separation. Sir George Trevelyan, after fighting the election of July, 1886, as a Unionist, and denouncing " Hor^f^ P.ule " and the Irish Nationalists in un- measured terms, oecame terrified by his defeat at Hawick, and promptly recanted his Unionist views. Mr. Gladstone's conversion has been proceeding with painful rapidity since 18S5. He has identified himself rtore and more F 2 66 MR. GLADSTONE'S CONVERSION. closely with the Nationalist leaders, whom he so severely con- demned, from iSSoto 1885, as being- mainly responsible for the terrible carnival of crime and outrage in Ireland durin^^ these years. He took. Mr. Parnell into his confidence upon all Irish questions, and entertained him at Hawarden. Since Mr. Parnell's fall Mr. Gladstone has been equally famiHar with men like Mr. John Dillon. Mr. T. M. Healy, Mr. Thomas Sexton, Mr. Michael Davitt, Mr. William O'Brien, and Mr. T. P. O'Connor, whom the famous Parnell Commission, composed of three impar- tial Eng-lish judg- 's of the hig-hest character and standing-, found g-uilty of the following charges : — (i) That they, together with Mr. Davitt, " established and joined in the Land League organization with the intention by its means to biing about the absolute independence of Ireland as a separate natio)i." [Mr. T. M. Healy was not included in this first charge.] (2) Did enter into a conspiracy bv a system of coercion and intimidation to promote an agrarian agitation against the payment of agricultural rents, for the purpose of impoverishing and expelling from the country the Irish landlords, who lue re styled ike '■'■English Garrison.'''' . (3) Did disseminate the "Irish World "' and other newspapers tending to incite to sedition and the commission of other crime. {4) Did incite to intimidation, and that the consequence of that incitement was that crime and outrage were committed by the persons incited. (5) Did make payments to compensate persons who had been injured in the commission of crime. (6) Did invite the assistance and co-operation of and accepted subscriptions of money from Patrick Ford, a known advocate of crime and the use of dynamite. (7) Invited and obtained the assistance and co-operation of the Physical Force party in America, including the Clan-na-Gael, and, in order to obtain that assistance, abstained from repudiating or condemning the action of that party. To Messrs. Dillon, W. O'Brien, Se.xton, and their colleagues, Mr. Gladstone gave pledges last August, in order to secure their votes for the overthrow of Lord Salisbury's Ministry. These pledges Mr. Dillon boasted of in his speech at Dublin on August 24th, 1892. Mr. Dillon then said: — "To-day, all the machinery of administration, and all the immense power which gathers round the Executive Government, are practically speaking, in the hands of the Nationalists of Ireland." His audience naturally received this with loud and prolonged cheers. Mr. Dilb^n then made a statement even more sigi.ificant. " We did not in the late deb ite forcj the hand of Mr. Gladstone to compel him to disclose the details of his Home Rule Bill, because we are in possession of understandings and agreements which in our judg.nent, if carried out, will satisfy the people of Ireland." The proof of the first statement is seen i.i the deplorable, lawlessness, and terrorism that prevail in County Clare, and all fisi i:Lneloping in uther districts. The proof of the second MR. gladstonp:'s conversion. 67 statement has been given by Mr. Gladstone and Mr. John Morley, when they abrog-ated the action of the Crimes Act, formally sanctioned the National League, denied police protection to Sheriffs' Officers at night, released the Gweedore Murderers and two Dynatnitards, and set up Sir James Mathews' prejudiced and absurd Evicted Tenants' Commission. To these same promoters of lawlessness, Mr. Gladstone showed the text of his Home Rule Bill, while Parliament and the Country, and his own English supporters were kept in absolute ignorance of its provisions. Mr. Sexton in his speech in the House of Commons on February 13th, 1893, five days before the Bill was printed, displayed a more intimate acquaintance with the details ot the Bill than the Prime Minister himself. But Mr. Gladstone's conversion on the subject of ihe retention of the Irish members in the Imperial Parliament the most remarkable of his recent changes since the Great Betrayal of 18S6. In his former scheme, the Bill of 18S6, the exclusion of Irish members from the Imperial Parliament was described as one of the main attractions of the then Home Rule Plan. Mr. Gladstone strongly upheld the exclusion of the Irish members as a means of treeing' the Imperial Parliament from their presence and ot)struction. His chief reason, however, was the impossibility of distinguishing between Irish and Imperial affairs. Mr. Gladstone in introducing his first Home Rule Bill on April 8, 1886, spoke as follows concerning the possibility of retaining the Irish members at Westminster for Imperial affairs : — "Is it practicable for Irish representatives to come here for the settlement, not of English and Scotch, but of Imperial affairs? In principle it would be very difficult, I think, to object to that proposition. But then its acceptance depends entirely upon our arrivino; at the conclusion that in this House we can draw for practical purposes a distinction between affairs which are Imperial and affairs which are not Imperial. It would not be difficult to say in principle that as the Irish Legislature will have nothing to do with Imperial concerns, let Irish members come here and vote on Imperial concerns. All depends on the practicability of the dis- tinction. Well, Sir, / have thought viiich, rcasotted much, mid inquired much with regard to that distitutiofi. I had hoped it might be possible to draw a distinction, and I have arrived at the conclusion that it cannot be drawn. 2 believe it passes the wit of man ; at any rate, it passes not my wit alone but the wit of many with whom I have communicated. It would be easy to exhibit a case ; but the difficulty I m.iy say, in my opinion arises from this. If this were a merely legislative House, or if the House of Lords were merely a legislative House — this House, of course, affords the bt st illustration — I do not think it would be difficult tu draw a distinction. We are going to draw the distinction — we have drawn the distinction — in the Bill which I ask leave to lay on the table for legislative purposes with reference to what I hope will be the domestic Legislature of Ireland. But this House is not merely a legislative House ; it is a House controlling the Executive ; and when you come to the control of the Executive, then your distinction between Imperial sub/ects and no/i-Jmper/al sub/ects totally breaks doivti — they are totally insufficient to cover the whole case. 68 BREACH IN THE NATIONALIST PARTY. "For example, suppose it to be a question of foreign policy. Suppose the Irish members in this House coming here to vote on a question of foreign policy. Is it possible to deny that they would be entitled to take part in discussing an Address to the Crown for the dismissal of the Foreign Minister ? It is totally impossible to deny — it is totally impossible to separate — the right of impugning the policy and the right of action against the Minister. Well, Sir, if on that account members might take part in an Address dismissing the Foreign Minister, I want to know, consider'ng the collective responsibility of Government — a principle, I hope, which will always be maintained at the very highest level that circumstances will permit, for I am satisfied that the public honour and the public welfare are closely associated with it — if that be so, what will be the effect of the dismissal of the Foreign Min- ister on the existence and action of the Government to which he belongs? Why, Sir, the Government in 19 cases out of 20 will break down with the Foreign Min- ister ; and when these gentlemen, coming here for the purpose of discussing Imperial questions alone, could dislodge the Government which is charged with the entire interests of England and Scotland, I ask you what becomes of the distinction between Imperial and non-Imperial affairs ? I believe the distinction to be im- possible, and therefore I arrive at the next conclusion — tliai Irish numbers and Irish Peers cannot, if a domestic Lei^islatitre be given to Ireland, justly retain a seat n the Parliament at Westminster.^'' Now Mr. Gladstone retracts his former conviction and pro- poses to retain eig-hty Irish members in the Imperial Parliament. He does this in such a way and on such conditions as will enable them to decide the fate of Ministers, to intervene in debate on most subjects, and to constantly harass and practically control the Imperial Parliiiment and the Imperial Government. It is by no means impossible that Mr. Gladstone may underg^o another con- version, and propose to revert to the Scheme of 1SS6, by which the Irish members were e.xcluded from the Imperial Parliament. BREACH IN THE NATIONALIST PARTY. A^pen- The absurdity of the demand for "Home Rule" has been dixvii. niade much more patent of late by the breach of the Irish Nationalist party itself. There is not even a majority of the Irish Separatists agreed upon any one policy or scheme of Home Rule. In 1SS6 it might have been said that 85 Irish Nationalist members, representing rome three millions of disloyal Irish Roman Catholics, were united under Mr. Parnell in demanding "Home Rule." But what is the case now .' The Nationalist party is split up into two factions, who hate and revile each other even more fiercely than the whole Nationalist party used to hate and revile Mr. Arthur Balfour and the British Administration. This split began in Committee Room No. 15, in November, 1890, and it has raged with increasing violence ever since. BREACH IN THE NATIONALIST PARTY. 69 The electoral contests held before the General Election at Kilkenny, at Cork, and at Waterford, between Parnellites and anti-Parnellites, were attended with furious rioting- and most vituperative abuse directed by Irish Nationalists ag^ainst each other. The Cork election resembled a battlefield. Hund- reds of persons were injured. But for the presence and active intervention of British soldiers and of the Royal Irish Constabulary, there would have been terrible bloodshed and g"eneral anarchy. But for the active and constant protection of the Royal Irish Constabulary, '• Balfour's Hellhounds," and of British Soldiers and Resident Magistrates, the much abused " Removables," Mr. Timothy Healy would have hang^ed to every lamp post in Dublin, and Mr. William O Brien. Mr. John Dillon, and Air. Michael Daviit would have been stoned or bludsjeoned to death in Cork and Waterford. Some delig-hted examples of the fury of these opposing" factions were reported in the Ti'mt's of ]u\y ist, 1892. A meeting of the supporters of Mr. W. Pearson, the anti-Parnellite can- didate for the .St. Sephen's-green Division of Dublin, who is opposing Mr. W. Kenny, Q. C. (Liberal Unionist), and the Lord Mayor (Parnellite), was held list night under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. Burke. Amongst the speakers was the Rev. Father Hehan, who was frequently interrupted by a body of Parnellites. Referring to the disturbances in the hall, he said : — "Will you rowdies come up here and sit in front so that we may see you? (A voice — 'Not likely, we would be afraid of being inspected-'^ I insist that the passage down there shall be cleared." (A voice. — "Then call in the police and have it cleared, and don't be intimidating.') A cheer was then given for the Independent patty. Father Behan, making himself heard with great difficulty, said the hall had been taken for him and his friends, and the rowdies down there had better take cat e. (Laughter and chteis.) '^ I tell yon, ^ he added, "jou base lot of old scoundrels at the end of the room, J 7O0nld flog yoti out of it. (Groans and a voice, 'Not you, the flay for that sort of thing is gone by.' Loud cheers.) " It is not gone by ; I will do it. You are the agents of intimidation and of infamy. Remembe?- the officers of the peace are public seriiants, and we will call them into the room and b.'udgeon ez'- thing has not been tried. (Cheers.) We have not yet tried a policy. (A voice, ' Home Rule.') We have not tried a policy of continuity, a policy of combined firmness and fairness, of patience and of patriotism (cheers), and of suppression of the trafficking with the Iri>h vote. (Cheers.) That has not yet been tried : and we have still to see what would be the effect on the Irish mind if they knew that the British public had the same tenacity as they themselves. We have yet to see what the effect upon their minds would be if they knew that we are not prepared to set no limits to cur concessions except the limits which they themselves will set to their demands. (Hear, heai".) The Irish have rot yet learned that, but they will learn it in time if we stand to (Ui guns (cheers) ; and that is the appeal that we shall have to make to the British people.' UNION IS STRENGTH. 75 The experiment which Mr. Gosc hen prophetically counselled in 1886 has since been tried for 6 years, with the result that Ireland was peaceful, prosperous and contented when Lord Salsbury left office in Augfust last. 'o ' UNION IS STRENGTH. On the very threshold of this great question we are confronted p''f? by the startling- fact that these separatist proposals are an absolute reversal of the policy which has in the past made this country great and powerful, and which is in our own time making" other nations strong- and prosperous. Hitherto it has been the aim and the pride of British Statesmen to build up, consolidate, and unite the power and dominions of their country. For the first time in British history it is proposed to disunite, separate, and disinteg-rate. Germany, Italy, and the United States afford mo^t conspicuous examples of the g-reat benefit to nations themselves and to the world at larg-e of unification and Imperial union. The German, the Italian, and the American people have strengthened and consolidated their own forces and territories. They have resisted and fought against all disinte- grating tendencies at home and abroad. The lessons of history, and the practical experience of uur own age, prove that union and consolidation of power mean force and stabilitv for g^overnments and peoples. In every case unity has given increased force, increased repute, and increased national prosperity. During the Middle A.ges France, step by step, consolidated her separate provinces and divisions into one kingdom, and France grew in strength with each increase of unity Much the same consolidation took place in Spain and with similar results. The prese' t generation has witnessed the achievement of the unity of Italy, the Imperial union ot Germany, and the maintenance and strengthening of the union of the United States of America. The union of Italy under a Constitutional and patriotic monarchy has been a benefit to the Italians and to Europe. Italian national power and prosperity have greatly increased, and Italy instead of being a mere "geographical expression," as Mr. Gladstone described her condition before i860, now stands high amor g the nations of the world. German unity has created a marvellous change, and a change for good, in the polity of Europe. The brilliant genius and courage of Prince Bismarck, and the high character and resolute patriotism of King William of Prussia, welded together into one great nation the diverse and often antagonistic states that formerly represented what is now United Germany. 76 UNION— BAD PRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. To preserve their Union the American people only 30 years ago undertook and carried to the bitter end the most terrible, costly, and sanguinary strugg-le of modern times. The result of that war was the re-establishment of the American Union, and the wiping out of the curse of slavery from among" that great people. In 1863 Mr. Gladstone declared himself in favour of the Separatists of the Southern States, just as he supports the Irish Separatists in 1893. He is even more wrong- now in his Separatist policy for the United Kingdom, than he was then in his Separatist policy for the United States. In the face of these striking facts, and at a time when every other great nation far and near is closing up its ranks, consolidating its power, and achie\'ing greater unity, are we alone to enter upon the fatal path of separation and disunion .' Shall this ancient and Imperial nation, parent of constitutional freedom, pioneer of civilisation and mistress of world wide dominion, sacrifice its unity and strength in order to gratify a sordid conspiracy, and to maintain a tottering Ministry and a heterogeneous party in office. BAD PRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY. Precedents of ill- omen have been sometimes given by Mr. Gladstone and his supporters in favour of his separatist scheme. Strange, indeed, has it been to hear Mr. Gladstone quoting in favour of dismemberment the two empires which he has most constantly attacked and reviled during the past fifteen years. Turkey and Austria are curious exemplars for a British statesman to cite as precedents for the disruption of the Empire. Austria is certainly not the safest or most cohesive Power in Iiurope. Her centrifugal forces are enormous. The rivalries of Hungarian, and Slav, and German are for ever threatening to break up the Austrian Empire. Two great influences have of more recent years given Austria more cohesion than she had before. The hostile pressure of Russia on the East, and the friendly pressure of Germany on the north, have served to knit the subjects of the Austrian Crown together. Mr. Gladstone showed in his Home Rule speech of 1 886 a deplorable ignorance of the real conditions of the dual Austro Hungarian Government, which he cited as a precedent in favour of his own scheme. On January 31st, 1893, Mr. Gladstone again, in reply to Mr. Balfour, was rash enough to say he would show that every Empire which has '-adopted those principles [that is Home Rule], UNION— BAD TRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. 77 and resolutely proceeded with them has been strengthened. " Mr. Gladstone then quoted Austria; but he did not proceed to point his illustration in any way, nor did he give any other cases to prove his valiant defiance. Austria, as everyone knows, is the weakest of the Great European Powers, and Austria is weak, primarily and solely because the principle and the canker of separation prevails. Austria is not really a nation or solid State. The Austrian Empire is an agglomeration of different races., interests, and principalities, bound together, and very loosely bound together, by the tie of allegiance to a common Sovereign. Moreover, the principle of separation once started in Hungary is steadily gaining ground in other portions of the Empire. Bohemians. Croatians, Ruthenians, Galicians, all want more and more autonomy. Indeed, so fast is this fatal tendency spreading, that it is becoming impossible to form any sort of a majority in the Austrian Parliament. The instance of Austria is therefore an example that tells against, and not for, the principle of separate Parliaments. And yet Austria is the best example that can be quoted ; there are no others. There is no analogy between Mr. Gladstone's separate Irish Legislature and the Hungarian Constitution, or between the Irish themselves and the Hungarians. Hungary has a Parliament, but it is in every way on an equal footing with the Austrian Parliament, co-ordinate, and not inferior, as the new Irish Parliament would be. But there is an enor- mous difference in the Austrian Constitution. Three most important Ministers act for the two kingdoms, and are freed from the control of either Parliament. The Ministers of War, Common Eixpenses, and Foreign Affairs for Austria and Hung-ary are appointed by the Monarch and are responsible to the Monarch alone. The difference between the Hunj^-arians and the Irish is most marked .in every way. The Hungarians are a homogeneous, loyal, and chivalrous people, of one creed, and possessing a powerful and popular landed aristocracy. The Hungarian m.agnates form an Upper House as weighty and powerful as any in the world. The Hungarians have for centuries been the most devoted supporters of the Austrian Crown, even when hostile to the German connection. But even with al! these advantages the dual Government has over and over again paralysed the foreign policy of Austria, and rendered her influence inactive when its vigorous exercise was most needed, Croatia, which is a Slav principality attached to Hungary, has tried to exact a separate Parliament of its own. It has obtained a kind of autonomy with a separate diet and a representation in the Hungarian Parliament. But constant friction prevails, em- barrassing disputes are always arising. It is only by the exercise 78 UNION— BAD PRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. of almost autocratic repression by tiie Banus, who resembles the Irish Viceroy, that outward peace is preserved. Croatia would be strong" precedent for crivinsf a separate Parliament to Ulster. The Separatist tendencies of the Bohemian Slavs have also broug-ht Government in Bohemia to a dead-lock. Moreover, the presence of the Russian power, which the Hungfarians detest above all others, keeps them steady and united to German Austria. On the contrary, the only fc^reign influence that would affect Ireland if she had a separate Leg'islature. would be certainly that of the Irish-Americans, and probably that of the French. Either of these would exert a powerful influence against England and agfainst Irish Union with Great Britain. So that the eflect of foreign pressure is in the two cases exactly opposite. THE EXAMPLE OF CROATIA. The Vienna Correspondent of the Standard, wrote, in that paper of February 15th, 1893: — " Judging by the report of Mr. (lladstone's speech, it would appear that the- second Home Rule Bill has been modelled on the Croatian Home Rule Act of 1868. The parallel between Croatia and Ireland is ver)' striking. The proportion of the population of Croatia to that of the whole Hungarian Kingdom was in 1891, i2"6oper cent. ; that of Ireland to the United Kingdom was I2-49. The connection of Croatia with the Crown of Hungary dates from 1091 ; that of Ireland with the English Crown from 11 72. Croatia consists of two nations : the Croats, who are Roman Catholics, and the Serbs, who are Creek Orthodox, in the proportion of three to one, as with the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. The points of" similarity are, the-efore, considerable ; but Mr. Gladstone has departed from the analogy in some impoi'tant particulars, which, if ever his Bill becomes law, will be the source of serious differences between England and Ireland. These dangers Francis. Deak, tlie great Hungarian patriot, who drew up the Croatian Home Rule Constitution, wisely foresaw and cleverly avoided. " The principle in the Cnalian and the Irish Bill is exactly the same. The equivalent of the Irish Viceroy in Croatia is the Banus ; the Executive Council is formed in Croatia by the Secretaries for the Home Department, Education, Public, Worship, and Justice, and Croatia sends forty members to the Lower Hungarian Chamber, who vote only when Imperial matters affecting the entire Hungarian Kingdom are under discussion. But there are some important differences in Mr. Gladstone's Bill. The latter provides for the appointment of the Viceroy direct by the Crown fcr a fixed term of six years, whereas under the Croatian Act the Banus is appointed by the Crown on the responsibility of the Hungarian. Premier. Consequently, the Hungarian Cabinet is answerable to Parliament for the nomination. Again, the number of the Croatian Deputies in the Hungarian Chamber is not based on population, and they are sent by the Croatian Diet as a Delegation to the Hungarian Parliament ; whereas the eighty Irish members are to be directly returned by Irish constituencies. The Croatians in the Hungarian- Chamber vote according to the wishes of the majority of the Croatian Diet ; the Irish members at Westminster would represent both the Ministerialists and the opi)csition in Ireland." And again on Feb. 1 7th, 1 893, the same correspondent wrote : — " It will naturally be asked lino Croatian Home Kiilc hasivorked, and whether it; has conduced to peace and contentment between the Hungarian and Croatian nations.. UNION-BAD PRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. 79 The answer is that when the Croatian Act had been in force lifteen years Hungary was tompdUd to send Austro-IIiinganan troops into the country to quell a threatened rising, and to appoint a general in the Austrian army to the office of Banus. Even now, ten years later moz'enients directed a.ainsi Hungayy by a party ivhiik has its confederates in Russia, France, and at the Vatican can be kept doivn only by the Draconic measures of the present Banus and his Executive Council, by the confiscation of neivspapers, the prohibition of meetings, and Governmental pressure at elections. The result is that the Croatians have far less liberty than they would have under direct Hungarian rule." TURKEY. Turkey affords a still more ill-omened precedent. It is an astounding- proof ot Mr. Gladstone's absence of humour that he should have held up the fate of an empire that he has never wearied of describing- as rottf n, decaying and moribund, to be the model for British dismtegration. Mr. Mundella, blindly following- his leader's cue, with even less knowiedge, called upon the astonished electors of Ipswich in i8':6 to admire the blessings that autonomy had conferred upon Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia. He forgot to remind them that, however much the 1 uigarians may have benefited by self-government, the Turkish Empire hiis not been thereby strengthened, but rather the reverse, it is the example of Turkey that Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Mundella v\ ish this ancient and powerful Empire to follow. In tne case of Turkey, every single grant ot autonomy to a subject province has resulted in its complete separation from the Ottoman Empire and in tlie grievous enfeeblement of Turkey. This was the case with Roumania, Servia, Bulgaria, and Eastern Rounielia, all of which are now quite, or nearly separate and independent States. The English people would rather not have the British Empire follow the downward course of the Empire of Turkey. SWEDEN AND NORWAY. Other examples have been cited, e.g., of Norway and Sweden, about which Mr. Gladstone's information was as faulty as were his ideas upon Austria-Hungary. An isolated and third-rate state like Sweden and Norway could at best afford no real parallel for the g-uidance of the British Empire. But Mr. Gladstone's coiilmr Je rose description of the results of separate Parliaments in these countries was wholly imaginary. A corres- pondent wrote to the Shuidard m 1886 : — "As usual Mr. Giadstone h s viewed the political situation in Sweden and Norway thruugh the medium of his own wishes, i'ermit me, who have had a long and intimate acquaintance with both these countries, to .as-ert thai, so far from there being any bond of sympathy whatever between the two nations (if you like to call them so), they cordially hate and detest each other. 1 do not believe that, if it were a question of war to-morrow, Norway would lift her little finger in aid of Sweden, unless ^he were abso- lutely compelled to do so in her own interests. Norway, as the weaker of G 8o UNION— BAD PRECEDENTS TO BE SHUNNED. the two countries, and to a certain extent beneath the control of Sweden, cherishes preci-eiy the same gi-oundless feeling of jealousy and revenge as animate a certain portion of the inhabitants of Ireland. If you were to take the map of the world, I do not know were Mr. Gladstone could have laid hands upon a more unhappy instance of brotherly love. The Swedes think themselves immeasurably superior to the Noi wegians. and no doubt they are in many ways. The Norwegians are foiced by circumstances over which they have no control to submit, and fortunately for them there is no Parnellite or Gladstone piriy strong enough to egg them on to rebellious designs. If the danger did assume a serious aspect, the Swedes would simply march across the frontier and Settle the question at once and for ever. "' Since this letter was written, the Separatist tendencies in Norway have greatly developed, the Norvvt-gians, who already have complete autonomy, resent even the control of foreig"n affairs by a Swedish Minister, and demand a separate Foreign Minister of their own. They refuse to accept any union, e.Kcept the link of the Crown. At any moment the slender thread that binds Norway to .Sweden may be snapped. The Pail Mall Gazette of February 15th, 1S93 well said : — "We are t\\ itted with Germany, forsooth, as if Prussia had crowned Hanover and Brunswick with autonomy and not annexed them with an iron hand. We are confronted with Austria-Hungary, we are referred sci rnfully to Norway and the States of America. Is Ireland upon the same footing as iNurway? We print an article to-day in which Bjornson pleadsfor the absolute independence o' his country. Norway has Home Rule, and she accepted it as final. But now, it seems, it was merely 'as an instalment.' and she clamours for entire sepaiaton. In truth, Norway is the best proof of our contentions — an object-lesson which should be written large upon every hoarding in England. . . Th re is nothing to excuse the proposition. No justice demands Home Rule. II the ancient kingdom ol Kent should n.ake a demand lor liberty to manage its own affairs, if East Anglia, if Norihumbria, if any sept ot the Heptarchy, would justice require us to yield? And, for all the Na ionalist laughter, Ireland is, as Mr. Balfour called it, an 'arbitrary geographical area,' or if it be not so, then neiher is Ulster. Nonhumbiia is ruled not by her own representatives, I ut by those o( all the kingdom. So, too, is Iieland. And Norihumbria has had far fewer gifts at the hands of Parliament than Irelii d." The following letter from the 1 imes correspondent in Berlin, dated March 5th, 1893, shows what aggravated disputes Separa- tion is giving' rise to at this moment in Sweden and Norway : — "The plan of campaign against Sweden will be opened this week in the Stor- thing by a resolution to be moved in the course of the debate on the Speech from the Throne. This resolution seeks to establish the right of Norway to independent action with regard to all matters not specifically reserved in the Act of Union between the two kingdoms, and demanos that in accordance with the vote of the Storthing of June loth, 1892, the iVoncegian Gmiernmetit shall proceed with the measures necessary for the establishment of rt separate consular sennce for Aoi-way. "The precedent upon which the Committee of the Radical majority who drafted the resolution relies is drawn from the circumstances which preceded the abolition of the Royal lieutenancy. In i860 the Storthing passed a resolution requesting the King to abrogate the article in the "Fundamental Law " of Norway empower- ing him to appoint a Swedish lieutenant to reside in Christiania as repiesentative of the Royal authority. .Although the King was disposed to make this concession, the UNION— SELF-GOVERNING COLONIES^ 8r opposition it provoked in Sweden was so general that the King withheld his con- sent. In the following year the Storthing remonstrated in a strongly-worded address denying the right of the Swedish Parliament (o interfere with regard to modifica- tions of the Norwegian Fundamental Law. No further steps were, however, taken in the matter till the present King came to the throne in 1872. The Storthing then drew up a fresh address on the subject setting forth the wishes of the Norwegian people, to which King Oscar at once gave effect. The proposed rtsolution ignores the recent S'wedish oi.'ertures for the settlement oj the vexed (jiieslions at issue bcttoeen the two kingdoms, inchiding the larger one oJ joint conduct of foreign affairs. " THE SELF-GOVERNING COLONIES. Our self g-overning- Colonies were also cited in favour of an Irish Parliament. But these colonies are all thousands of miles away, whereas Ireland is less than four hours' steaming- from our greatest sea-ports. The strategical position of Ireland com- manding the English Channel, St. George's Channel and our great western seaports of Glasgow, Liverpool and Bristol, is so vitally important that it would be madness for Great Britain to run the risk of having a semi-independent authoritive govern- ment in Ireland. Valuable as are the Colonies to the parent country, and precious as the links that still bind them to England are to every patriot, the loss of no single colony could be a fatal injury to these kingdoms. So far distant are they, and so self- contained are their chief interests, that, much as separation would be deplored, the mother country might probably accept the clear determination of a colony ior independence without armed resistance. Besides, in the constitution of our Colonies there are none of the intolerable restrictions and anomalies of which Mr, Gladstone's Irish scheme is full. The Colonial legislatures are practically sovereign, though nominally under the superior authority of the Imperial Parliament. Mr. Courtney, speaking in the House of Commons on Feb. 17th, 1893, gave some very valuable illustrations as to the power- lessness of the veto in the British Colonies : — " When the Australian Government in New South Wales took action with respect to the admission of Chinese — action which was in some respects in violation oi our treaty relations — the Home Government remonstrated and attempted to use some influence to have this policy counteracted, but in vain ; and it was recognised at home that, having committed that power to the local Government, it was impossible to interfere with that power. The same thing had occurred with reference to New Zealand over and over again ; and with reference to Queensland the discussions were well known which took place on the question of the Kanaka traffic. It was felt that the proposals to renew that traflk were full of danger, but it was impossi- ble for the Government at home to e.xercise any influence by way of recommending that a veto should be placed on any legislation of that kind, because it lay in the sphere of the business committed to the Colonial Government. How, then, could the veto be carried into effect by any attempt his country made to use it ? " Happily for the Empire, however, all the tendencies on the part of our Colonies are towards greater union with the parent G 2 82 FORMER IRISH ASSEMBLIES. country, and not towards separation. If the Colonies, which are so remote, and whose separation would affect us so much less than that of Ireland, are desirous ot drawing" closer to Eng-Jand, how inauspicious a time to inaug^urate separation for Ireland, and to beg-in the dismemberment of the Empire ! Mr. Goschen's words upon this false Colonial analo.gy are well worth quotation : — " RemeniDering that the agrarian difficulty plays some part in this matter, we must consider that in the colonies there is boundless land, with ni ne of those difficulties which have overtaxed our state-men ; but the new colony of Ireland — if it is to be a colony — will find itself confront-d wit'i totally different difficulties from any with which our colonial Empire has to deal. So far as regards the position of Ireland itself ; but as regards England, I wish the House to remember in all the debates on this Bill that our interests, English, Scotcli, and Iri^h, are all interlaced in a manner totally different from any connection with the colonies. Look at the number of Irishmen who come over as labourers and in many other capacities to England. Look at the number of Englisli who go to Ireland. Look at the English capital which flows to Ireland. Look at the assistance which is rendered to England's food supplies by Ireland. The interests are so interlaced that when you come to your finance you will often find it a difficult thing to say whether the income to be taxed is English or Irish income. I wish it to be shown, not only that ihis offer is a generous offer, but that it is workable, and that it will not lead to an infliction so intolerable that it might afterwards either land us in civil war or in subjugation." FORMER IRISH ASSEMBLIES. Mr. Gladstone, in iS86, cited the eighteenth century as in a pre-eminent sense " the century of Empire, in which Empire was enormously enlarged, trade was established, and the British Navy broug"ht to supremacy, when England and Ireland had separate Parliaments.'" But Mr. Gladstone suppressed the all- important fact that the Irish Parliaments betore 17S2 were ParliaiTients of the Eng^lish pale, Protestant Parliaments, and Parliaments under the control of the British land-owning class. Moreover, these forvier Irish Parliamenis, thus composed and iri'egu- larly summoned, cotild originate no ?neasure nor pass any Bill which had not been prtviously approved by the Viceroy and the Irish Privy Council, and also by the King afid by the English Privy Council. Grattan's Parliament in 1782 was freed from these restrictions, and forthwith Ireland entered upon a disastrous course of political and commercial decline and social disorder. This culminated in the rebellion of 179S, and rendered the Union necessary. Grat- tan's Parliament was notorious for its venality, wastefuln.ess, and internal dissensions. To quote the opinion of the Sht£leld Telegraph : — "Grattan's Parliament had wearied nearly all classes of Irishmen, except the small class in Dublin who benefited by its extravagance. Mr. Pitt saw that it was an evil to be unproved off the face of the earth. Observation and experience had convinced him that the existence of two Parliaments under one Soveieign was un- desirable. Differences of race and faith, opposing prejudices, conflicting aspirations, and irreconcilable ambitions, made it necessary to have but one Legislature. He saw a great danger looming in the distance, and he thus expressed himself : — UNION— GOOD PRECEDENTS TO FOLLOW. 83 "'Will any man tell me when we come to treat of peace, for in- stance, or to consider any sabjecl of alliance with any foreign Power, or upon any question of trade or commerce, that then the local prejudices — I say prejudices, for they have great influence —may not occasion a difference between the Le'^islatures ufiivi points that may be essential to the laelfare oj the British Empire. No matter what the cause of diiference may be, it is enough that there may be such a difference. ' " A'Tiple proofs of the decadence of Ireland under the on'y real separate leg"isldture it ever p )S->essed will be found on a later pag-e. Mr. Gladstone also forgets that the French sent an army to assist the Irish rebels. But for our maritirn? ascendency in those days and contrary winds, before steam and teleg-raphs had annihilated distance, General Hoche's force might have caused Great Britain the .t^reatest dang-er. If a Parnelllte Parlia- ment were allowed to ori^anise and to arm the Irish people, a rebellion at the close of the nineteenth century would cost Great Britain twenty times the sacrifice of blood and treasure that the Irish rebellion of 1798 involved. But it mig-ht be with truth retorted to Mr. Gladstone's citation of the e.Kampie of the eighteenth century that, in those days, the destinies of England and the Empire were guided by statesmen who had the wisdom to rule and by ministers who had the courage to govern. The great men who in the eignteenth century directed the power of this country and built up its empire said what they meant and did what they said. They never shrank from treating the foes of England as enemies to be vanquished, or from repressing law- breakers and subduing rebels. The result was, as Mr Gladstone confessed, in 1S86, that the eighteenth century was the century of Imperial enlargement, of the establishment of trade and of our naval supremacy. Had Mr. Gladstone then been Prime Minister, England, instead of becoming the centre of the greatest and wealthiest dominion that the world has ever seen, would have sunk to the level of Holland or of Spain. GOOD PRECEDENTS TO FOLLOW. Against these inapplicable and unhappy precedents, which really constitute warning beacons to guard Englishmen from their fatal course, rather than precedents to follow, the con- spicuous instances of Germany, Italy, and the United States at once occur. These are the leading, the progressive, the pros- perous, and powerful nations of the world. Germany, Italy, and the United States owe their success and their present grandeur to the principle of unification, as opposed to that of disruption They have become great and strong by taking a course the e.xact opposite of that urged upon this country by Mr. Gladstone. 84 UNION- GOOD PRECEDENTS TO FOLLOW. There are three g-reat nations, and three only, that have made vast strides forward during" one generation in national strength and in general progress. These are Italy, Germany, and the United States. Each and all of those States has become strong and great because it has reversed and overthrown a Separatist policy and has adopted a policy of Union. Italy thirty-three years ago was a helpless congeries of different States and legis- latures, " a mere geographical expression." Italy established, instead, one Monarchy, with one army and navy, and one Imperial Parliament ; and Italy forthwith became a great nation and a first-class European Power. Germany had been for centuries, owing to her divisions, the prey of her enemies on East and West and South. Germany, twenty-three years ago, estab- lished an Imperial Parliament under one Emperor, with one German army and navy; and Germany is, in consequence, strong- and secure, the greatest military power in the world, and the Arbiter of Europe. It is true that German unity is not yet complete and absolute, as there are still some subordinate legislatures. But the supremacy of the Imperial Reichstag" is uncjuestioned. The movement in Germany has been entirely towards unity, and it is likely to continue. Last, and perhaps chiefest of all, thirty years ago the Democratic Republic of the United States was threatened with separation. One-third of the American people, not one- thirteenth, as in Ireland, wished to separate from the Union. The majority determined to preserve their unity, and for five years they carried on a terrible civil war in order to prevent separation. Union triumphed in the end, and since then the prosperity and progress of the United States have been almost boundless. A feeble attempt is sometimes made to compare the State Legislatures in America with a separate Irish Parliament. There are over fifty State Legislatures, and their position far more resembles that of English County Councils than a separate Irish Parliament. On the broad ground of principle, and from the lessons of history, there is nothing to be said for the Separatist policy. The British people will do well to copy the splendid example of German, Italian, and American union rather than that of Turkish disintegration and decay, or of Austrian embarrassment and weakness. FIVE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS TO A SEPARATE PARLIAMENT FOR IRELAND. The main objections to Mr. Gladstone's " Home Rule " may be summed up under five heads : — FIVE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS TO THE SCHEME. 85 I.— REPEAL OF THE UNION. That it ?neans repeal of the Union, i.e., separation between "^'^^pp England and Ireland, and weakening" of our Imperial power. Repeal of the Union will constitute the worst possible precedent for the future, it is a long- step towards the disinteg^ration of the British Empire, and it will lead to woes unnumbered for Ireland as well as for Great Britain. The creation of a separate Irish Parliament would be, in fact, a direct reversal of all that makes nations strong and great. II.— NO FINALITY. That there would be no finality in Air. Gladstone's Home videpp. Rule scheme. It would completely derange and upset all andss.' the existing relations between the two countries, and the entire fabric of Irish government. And it would put nothing satisfactory or stable in their place. Total separation between the two countries would be infinitely preferable to the arrangement under Mr. Gladstone's proposals. Ireland would then be a foreign country, and we should know exactly what to expect from her. ani how to deal with her. The Irish would have an opportunity of working out their own salvation, or more probably their own ruin, absolutely without interference, and without the power of blaming England or " British misrule " for their failure. The " Home Rule" scheme would produce all the disadvantages of a foreign state without any clearness or simpli- fication in the relations between the two countries. There are infinite sources of dispute, quarrel, and war established in the most blind and wanton way throughout Mr. Gladstone's proposals of 1893, j^st as in his Bill of 1886. The withdrawal of the army, the navy, the coinage, the constabulary, law-making as to navigation and external trade, and control over the customs, and the right of deaPng with questions of religious education and religious establishment from the Irish Parliament and the Irish people would constitute a multitudinous variety of grievances which would be the basis of constant ill-blood and agitation. The financial arrangements and the power of veto, which Mr. Gladstone proposes, have already been denounced by the Nationalist leaders as not sufficiently favourable to Ireland. One by one the removal of every disability would be clamoured for and exacted by the Irish. This would go on until the Irish succeeded in making their legislature absolutely sovereign and separation complete, or else in provoking Great Britain into a war of resistance to their inexorable demands. III.— UNFAIR TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. That Mr, Gladstone's scheme is most unfair to the people of videpp. England and Scotland, and especially to the tax-payers of the two ^'•^'^'^ S6 FIVE PRIXCirAL OBJECTIOXS TO THE SCHEME. countries. Mr. Gladstone contesse.d in iSS6 that, in order to win over the consent of the Irish party to their exclusion from We'^tminster, he had made Ireland, in his Irish Government Bill, a present of £\ 400,000 per year, and that he had reduced the proportion of the Irish contribution to Imperial expenditure from I -14th to r-26'h. Besides this^ then Mr. Gladstone proposed, in his Land Purchase Bill, to throw upon the British Taxpayers, without any safeg-uards, a responsibility for ^^'50. 000,000 at the least, and ultimately for /"150 000,000. His present scheme is hardlv less unfair to Great Britain. It lowers the Irish share in Imperial Expenditure from i-i4th to i-25th. It grives Ireland a surplus of £500.000 — that is, a " war indemnity " — at the expense of the British taxpayer. It g-ives the Irish the right of dealing- with their own taxes. Yet it removes the Irish estimates from all control of the Imperial Parliament, while at the same time it places that Parliament and the Imperial Ministry at the mercy of the 80 Irish members that are to be retained. IV. -COMPLICATIONS WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES. ^2to^o«. That the most serious and menacing^ complications would arise with the great Irish population in the LTnited States and with the Government of that country, and also with other Foreign Governments, if a separate legislature were granted to Ireland. v.— RUIN TO IRELAND— ULSTER. ^2-33^?' That a separate Irish Parliament would be the ruin of 113. ° Ireland. It would either cause civil war between the Loyalists and the Nationalist Separatists, or would necessitate the coercion of loyal and Protestant Ulster by British troops acting on behalf of the Nationalists. This the British people would never endure. The loyalists of Ireland have suffered because of their fidelity to the British Crown and to the British connection. Ulster is the centre and backbone of all that is progressive and prosperous in Ireland. The people of England and Scotland would never submit that their brethren in blood, in religion, and in loyalty should be forced by British bayonets into submission to the demoralising and oppressive yoke of the Nationalist factions and of Archbishop Walsh. Moreover, a separate legislature would prove the ruin of the Celtic majority of Ireland. Grattan's Parliament in t'le last century was a pitiable failure. A Nationalist Parliament would be a still more disastrous experi- ment. It would mean the absolute supremacy of the National League and of the band of conspirators, outrage mongers, and atrocious criminals by whom its power is enforced. It would mean the handing over of the government of Ireland to the dynamitards and assassins who, from across the Atlantic, so THE NATIONAL LEAGUE SUPRICME. 87 larg-ely controlled and supported the National Leag-ue and its leaders in Ireland. THE NATIONAL LEAGUE SUPREME. The establishment of a separate legislature in Dublin would mean simply the legalising- of the despotism of the National League and of the village tyrants through whom it worked. I'he National League was from 1S80 to 1887 over two-thirds of Ireland, practically supreme. Its agents were only restrained from wholesale plunder, and in many ca^^es from outrage and murder, by the existence of the police and by the dread of the British Army. The organisation by which its power was main- tained was similar to that of the Jacobin clubs which terrorised France in 1793. The bulk of the people were helpless before small cliques of organised ruffians, who maintained universal intimiilation by a carefully manipulated system of boycotting and lawless outrage. Until the power of this brutal society was broken, and the power of th-e law reasserted, self-government would have meant absolute ruin to every loyal, honest, and true man in at least three-fourths of Ireland. I do not wish to say anything unkind, still less anything unfair, of the Irish race. They have many interesting, brilliant, and attractive qualities. Sociallj ihere is no people more agreeable. They are generous, warm hearted, brave and hospitable. It would be a great pity, and a serious loss to Parliament, if all the Irish members were removed from St Stephen's; though perhaps their numbers might with advantage be reduced. But with all these fine and attractive qualities there are two prominent qualities in which the Irish Celt is deficient —order and industry. It is a mistake to suppose that this deficiency is confined to the Irish in Ireland. Cceten's paribus, that is allowing for the different conditions and advantages of life in the United States and in Australia, the want of these qualities is just as noticeable in those countries as in Ireland. Whatever may be the cause — race, or history, or religion, or probably a mixture of all three— the Cehk Irishman grncrallv kicks against the laiv, and is often fo?ider 0/ leisure than of zvirk. For this reason, it is of immense value to the Irish people and to social order that they should be mixed with, and under the influence of, races wanting their own gay vivacity, but steadier, more law-abiding, and industrious. The Irish might possibly in time evolve, after much struggle and suffering, a settled Government. But their interests are inextricably bound up with those of Great Britain. The experiment is needless and rash, and would do great harm to all three kingdoms and to the empire. It is childish to assume that all races have the same .governing capacity and the same qualities. The North German 88 I.— REPEAL OF THE UNION. is as different from the Neapolitan as the frigid from the torrid zone. The Irish Celts have not in any part of the world shown much aptitude for self-government or for constitutional progress. Mr, Gladstone has only been able to quote two instances in favour of his thesis of the suitability of the Celtic Irish for an independent Parliament. These were, oddly enough, the Irish soldiers in the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary. But both these examples tell ag-ainst his theory. The Irish soldiers and the Irish constabulary are admirable forces, but both have been trained and disciplined under British law and British leadership. This g'uidance in order and discipline is precisely what the Celtic race needs. It is only when acting under the beneficent influence and control of British orderand civilisation that they have ever been peaceful and prosperous. Under the separate legislature which is known as Grattan's Parliament, Ireland steadily retrograded both in social order and in commercial prosperity. Since the Union, and in consequence of it, Ireland has enormously progressed in material wealth and general comfort, as will be clearly demonstrated later. I.— REPEAL OF THE UNION. Vide pp. In spite of Mr. Gladstone's assertion to the contrary, his Bill of 23 24 & 85 1 886 bore within itself the principle of Repeal, and the ultimate result of that or of any similar measure must be, unless checked by foice, total separation. The essence of the Act of Union of i8oo, which begun by saying that "The Kingdoms of Great " Britian and Ireland shall be united into one kingdom by the " name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," lies in the third and chief article of the Union. This states "that " the said United Kingdom shall be represented in one and the " same Parliament, to be called the Parliament of the United " Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. " Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1 886 removed the Irish representatives from this united Parliament, and it deprived them of all voice or share in the control of Imperial affairs. On the other hand, it created a separate Irish Parliament for domestic affairs, and it forbade the Imperial Parliament to make laws for Ireland except on certain questions. Could such a change involve anything less than the repeal of the Union ? The Irish Parliament was to have no right of interference or authority in any foreign, colonial or Indian subject, or in any questions connected with the succession to the Crown, with the Customs, with the rights of the existing owners of land, with the Irish Exchequer division, with the army and the militia, and with external trade and navigation. II.— NO FINALITY IN MR. GLADSTONE'S NEW LEGISLATURE. 89 In all matters, however, not specially excepted, the new Irish legislature was to be supreme. The Imperial Parliament could not, under Mr. Gladstone's Bill of 1SS6, interfere to prevent Mr. Parnell and his followers from depriving the Loyalists of Ulster of the ordinary rights of citizens — from abolishing trial by jury, or suspending the Habeas Corpus. The principle of Separation is bad enough, but the certain consequences ot Mr. Gladstone's proposals are worse. They would place, beyond a doubt, an enormous leverage in the hands of those who are bent upon separation, and would lead to a complete estrangement and separation between the two countries at no distant date. It was clear in 18S6 that the Nationalist members only accepted the Home Rule Bill as an instalment, and as the means of getting total repeal and separation. Mr. Michael Davitt confessed this with much frankness when he said in 1S86: — "I have been asked whether Irishmen will be satisfied with these arrangements, and whether they will accept them as a permanent settlement of the question. I say that it is as inircaso/iabic as to ask me, after I haz'c had my brcakjast, to tc/rain from deynanding my dinner and my supper. " Mr. Gladstone then taught the Irish people to look upon them- selves as "foreigners," and British laws as "foreign." The Bill of 1893 not only puts great restrictions upon the sphere of the Irish Parliament, and thereby sows the seed of future dis- content, but it also creates, in the 80 Irish representatives to the Imperial Parliament, a machinery, capable of development in ihe adroit hand of the Irish agitator. How long will the impulsive Irish race submit to the numberless restrictions which both the Bills of 1886 and 1S93 imposed, or any other scheme for a sub- ordinate Irish Parliament, must impose upon an Irish Legislature. II.-NO FINALITY IN MR. GLADSTONE'S NEW LEGISLATURE. The chief objection to a "Home Rule "scheme is that it would lutoss' unsettle everything and settle nothing. It would be a great and ^'''^so.' alarming change in the constitution and government of these realms. Yet there could be no finality or pretence of finality about it. Mr. Gladstone's scheme is full of inconsistencies and paradoxes, and it literally bristles with materials for differences and disputes of the most aggravated kind. The three kingdoms and the Empire have been jjoverned by one united Imperial Parliament, which, with the Sovereign, forms the supreme legislative and executive authority and power over all British territory and British subjects. It is proposed to create a separate Parliament for Ireland, with So represen- tatives in the Imperial Parliament to sit at Westminster. This go SEPARATION OR CIVIL WAR Irish asseml)ly is to have sole control over the internal adminis- tration of Ireland, with some very important exceptions. The rriUection of the Customs is refused to the Irish, and left to the Imperial Parliament. The rigfht of endowing- any religious body is denied to the Irish Parliament. The control of any military force is also refused to them. The Irish Parliament is not to ha/e the smallest right of interference with, or control over, the foreign or colonial relations of the British Empire Yet they are to pay a yearly contribution of £2,370,000 towards Imperial expenses. Now, is it likely that any people who have gained a separate legislature would have been, or would be, content with such exceedingly limited and mutilated powers as those which Mr. Gladstone offers to Ireland.' The Irish Celts are probably the most exacting, pushing and aggresive race that the world contains. Their incessant and never satisfied demands from the British Parliament might surely convince the most shortsighted of British representatives as to their character. How long is it probable that the Irish people, or the Nationalist leaders and their followers, who would dominate an Irish Parliament, or the fiercer Irish-American revolutionists, who have thus far supported and controlled the Nationalist party, would be satisfied to maintain the restrictions which Mr. Gladstone's scheme imposes. How long would they consent to pay £2,370,000 to the Imperial exchequer, which will inevitably be described as a British tribute and a stamp of inferiority ? Everyone of these restrictions would be denounced, resisted, and its removal fiercely demanded of the Imperial Parliament. They could only be maintained by force — that is, by war. Every year that passed after the establish- ment of a separate Irish Parliament would make the enforcement of any terms of subordination more and more difficult, if not impossible. SEPARATION OR CIVIL WAR. Any proposals of '' Home Rule " mean one of two things — separation, or else war, sooner or later, to prevent separation. How long is it possible that a people so sensitive, excitable, and demanding as the Irish, would submit to marked inferiority .'' Indeed, it is evident that such a scheme as that of 1886 would never have been accepted by Mr. Parnell, or any of the Irish Nationalist leaders, but for their conviction that it would constitute a direct and potent lever towards the absolute separation which they have over and over again announced as their ultimate aim. THE DANGER FROM AN INDEPENDENT IRELAND. 91 Mr. Parnell himself proclaimed in 1880 that — " None of us, whether we are in America or in Ireland, or wherever we may Le, will be satisfied until we have destroyed the last link which keeps Ireland bound to Lngland. " Mr. Brennan, the Secretary ot the Land Leag-ue, and one of the most powerful in the band of Irish-American conspirators, said : — '• I ask you to keep before your minds the one ultimate object — the sovereign independence of your country. It is the duty of every man to work to make Ireland a nation. I mean no mockery of freedom. I mean Ireland mistress of her own destinies — Ireland with a national army to guard her shores, Ireland with a national senate, and Ireland with a national Government that will know no higher authority than the sovereign will of the Irish people." Mr. William O'Brien, said at Gorey on August 23rd; 1885 : — "When the complete programme of the Land League is accomplished, the soil of Ireland would be free, its people owning no master but the Almighty, and owning no flag hut the green flag of an independent Irish Nation. '\ These declarations could be matched from the speeches of almost every prominent Nationalist in and out of Parliament. Under the head of " No English Vkto " the objections ot many leading" Irish Nationalists to the Imperial veto hav'e already b^^en g'iven. The history of the world affords no instance of an independent legislature remaining satisfied without power over the ver) points which Mr. Gladstone proposed to deny to the new Irish Parliament. THE DANGER FROM AN INDEPENDENT IRELAND. Ireland is now comparatively pov\erless to injure the interests videpp. of Great Britain or of the British Empire. Ireland has been "^~~ ' discontented; not of late years with good cause, but simply on account of the licence which the feebleness of Mr. Gladstone's Ministry from 1880 to I b82 conceded to a seditious press and plat- form, and to an organised terrorism. But there can be no serious power for injury to England or to the Empire in Irish antagonism as Ireland now is. Our present garrison, even the gallant Ulster- men <tedly and avowedly criminal. Of what use would they be when they were called out to prevent conduct which the Irish Legislative Body declared to be legal, and v\ hen their actions would render them liable to be tried in courts presided over by judges responsible to the Irish Legislative Body, and by juries who would be s keen to convict them as they are at present to acquit per-sons accused of crimes another kind ? " /// the next place, how ivould the ti oops be set in motion ? No military officer would act on Ids own responsibility. The Irish magistrates, answerable to the Irish Legislative Body, would not call upon the troops to act against the orders of that body, though they might be compelled to act in obedience to it. Pass the Government Bill as it stands, and, as far as I can see, ihe only service on which British troops are ever likely to be employed in Ireland in a legal constitutional way would be in the suppress. on of any resistance which the Legislative Body might provoke on the part of the minority in Ulster and elsewhere." In 1883 and 1884 Mr. Gladstone's blundering- hroug-ht us to logg-erheads with the French Republic; and at any t me, we mig-ht be forced into a struggde with our great rival in Egypt and the Mediterranean. In April and May, 1885, Mr. Gladstone's blindness and lon^^-continued surrender made a war with Russia for the safety of India not merely possible but most imminent. Let Englishmen consider as practical men, in either of these terrible contingencies — which indeed may recur again, when Mr. Gladstone is m power, at almost any moment— what it would mean to our Imperial position and to our very existence as "THE LINK OF THE CROWN." 95 a free people to have a hostile army of 100,000 Irish men on our flank. It is not yet a hundred years since a French army landed in Bantry Bay. Had they been joined by 100.000 trained Irish soldiers the result mig-ht have been very different. The danger is most real. It is a peril which may not only weaken our power, multiply our ta.xes, and destroy our peace, but which may break up our Empire and overthrow our national independence. These are the conditions under which the Irish American agitators in Ireland would in future be encouraged and virtually invited to attack Great Britain. It needs no elaboration of detail to point out what a grave peril for this country is prepared by Mr. Gladstone's proposals. "THE LINK OF THE CROWN." It is said that there will be the link of the Crown, and that the Irish, with a separate Legislature, will become loyal and faithful subjects of the Queen. Before we put this vast power for evil into their hands it would be well to receive some signs of the loyalty which is at this twelfth hour so glibly promised. TheQueen's name has never been mentioned at Nationalist g'ather- ings; or, if it has been mentioned, it was greeted with shameful insults and disloyal demonstrations. Every emblem of the Queen's sovereignty and of Imperial union has been tabooed and affronted by those who follow the various factions of the Nationalists. The money which has supported these Separatists in Ireland has come from the ultra-Republican Irish fanatics in the United States. These have no idea of recognising British rule or Monarchy in any shape or form. Their influence is, and would be, predominant, and it would certainly lead an independent Irish Parliament to separation. Of what practical value is this link of the Crown, or the Royal veto. It is never exercised in the Imperial Parliament. Could it be used to check the resolve of an Irish Parliament to establish Irish independence .? But apart from this ever-present influence, would not the causes of contention between the two countries be incessant and endless ? If the Irish are not quarrelsome, they are certainly disputatious and polemical. Questions connected with Imperial taxation, with trade and navigation, with tariffs and Jiical policy, with religion, with the hundreds of thousands of Irish settled in England, with Irish agitation in Anitrica, with the Irish troops, with our policy toivards foreign States, would constantly arise. In a word, the causes of antagonism would be infinite, and would be certain to develop just at the moment that we least desired them. H 96 REAL OBJECTS OF THE NATIONALIST PARTY. England, in addition to her other dangers and her foreign foes, will have created for herself an ever-present dang-er upon her left flank, that will either have to be guarded against or succumbed to. An armed Ireland can only be guarded against by a great increase of our own army, by a large increase of our navy, and consequently by an enormous increase of our taxation. This is the plain, obvious, inevitable result of giving to Ireland separate legislation of any kind. If the British people allow Mr. Gladstone to make this last and most fatal sacrifice, it can only be said of them that they have lost the qualities that have made them great, and have forfeited the right to Empire. REAL OBJECTS OF THE NATIONALIST PARTY. The Duke of Argyll has stated, with the utmost plainness, the real objects of the Irish authors of this Separatist policy. " Why is it that the Parnellite party demand a separate Parliament for Ireland ? What is their object ? Can it be said with truth that the Imperial Parliament of late years has been unwilling to listen to the grievances of Irishmen? ("No.") Have we not been spending our days and nights, sacriticing the interests of every other part of the country, to consider in the mo:,t benevolent spirit the grievances, real or supposed, of the Irish people? Have we not dismissed political economy and common sense to Jupiter and .Saturn ? In the very last session of Parliament we advanced a credit of live millions of money to enable the smaller farmers of Ireland to buy their farms at a rate which would impose on them no sacrifice whatever. Can it be said with truth that the Imperial Parliament is not at this moment willing to give everyihing to Ireland except the abolition of the Ten Commandments? (Laughter and cheers.) Now I want to push this question home. Why do the Parnellites want a separate Parliament? I will tell you why. Because they want to do in Dublin what they know that no civilised Legislature in the world would do — abolish the Decalogue and take possession of the property of other men. (Cheers. ) Now I ask you who is it that has preached this doctrine to us ? Who is the leader who has impressed this upon i/s as the aim and object oj the Parnellite party ? I will tell you who it is — it is Mr. Gladstone. Yet Mr. Gladstone used these words in a speech at Leeds on October Sth, iSSi: 'For ' nearly the first time in the history of Christendom, a body, a small body of men ' have arisen, who are not ashamed to preach in Ireland the doctrine of public ' plunder. I make that charge advisedly in the situation which I hold (Prime ' Minister of the United Kingdom), and I shall ask you to judge whether it is not wrung from me by demonstrative evidence and by the hard necessity of the case.' Again, Mr. Gladstone said: — 'It is individual liberty, and peculiarly that, that we ' are endeavouring to' — implying that it was the suppression of individual liberty that Mr. Parnell was attempting to etTect. ' It is individual liberty, especially and ' peculiarly, that we are endeavouring to support. And why ? Because the ' association which we are endeavouring to deal with has struggled hard to put ' down individual liberty.' He goes on to say: 'The immediate object which is • proposed is rapine ; I do no call it by any other name. Sometimes at party 'meetings in this countiy the words confiscation and spoliation are talked of until ' the words lose some of their force by repitition and by the sense that they are ' used in the spirit of exaggeration ; but this is sheer rapine.' And listen to this concluding sentence: 'It is simply ruin for all who decline to obey the doctrine of ' the Laad League. ' " IN'JUSTICE TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. 97 III.-^INJUSTICE TO THE BRITISM TAXPAYER. The subject of the financial difficulties that must arise under Mr. Gladstone's "Home Rule" Bill of 1S93 have been referred to at some leng^th under the head of ''Equitable Reparation of Imperial C/iari^es" on p.p. 25 to 32. Mr. Arthur Balfour, in his speech at Ealing- on March 8th, 1893, dealt in very able manner with these difficulties. The following- are extracts from that speech : — " The peculiarity of the new state of things which the Home Rule Bill sets up 7,^^^^' is this — that, while by the testimony of the Irish members themselves it is likely and 85-86. to produce bankruptcy in Ireland, it must undoubtedly indict a very great financial wrong and hardship on LLngland and Scotland. Its injiiry is double. It injures Ireland and it injures us ; it is a separation of partnership, by which both partners are injured, and of which both partners have a right to complain. (Cheers.) I do not mean to-night to touch the Irish case. It will be sufficient if I say that Ireland under the Rill can only remain solvent so long as she is drunk. (Laughter.) Irish sobriety would be followed by Irish bankruptcy wiih absolute certainty under the provisions of this measure (cheers), for her sole substantial resource is Excise, and the Excise from which practically the whole of the money is obtained is the duty on spirits. (Cheers.) Ireland, however, is not at present my business. I am going to explain what your interests and the interests of the English and Scottish taxpayers are in this matter. "THE COLLECTION OF TAXES. " In the fiist place, i/ie collection oj taxes will become hopelessly complicated. No human being can tell what will be the state under this Hill — where any man's income-tax is to be levied. It is now a comparatively simple matter, though not always an easy matter. (Laughter.) Under this new Hill it will become a very complicated matter, and, as a matter of fact, almost impossible in many cases. But there is a far worse evil to which we shall be subjected by this measure than the mere complication which will be introduced in our whole system of collecting taxes ; and that evil is, we shall cease to be masters of our own system of taxation. At the present moment it is open to any Chancellor of the Exchequer lo come down and, if he thinks fit, to propose an increase in the income-tax or a decrease in the Customs duty, and to think only of the general bearings of such propo- sitions upon the classes who are asked to contribute more to the national resources and of the general effects on trade which will follow from his propositions. But put yourselves for a moment in the position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the future. Under this Bill Irish Customs are to be handed over wholly to the Imperial Exchequer ; Irish Excise remains entirely with the Irish Government. Therefore, you will see, the contribution of Ireland to the Imperial Exchequer depends wholly on the amount which is produced by the Customs duty. Supposing for general reasons it occurred to a Chancellor of the Exchequer at Westminster that either because he wanted to alter the incidence of taxation as between classes, or for any other reason he desired to alter the Customs duty — say, to lower it — what would be the result? The result would be that Ireland would cease to contribute even the inadequate amount she does now ; so that the Chancellor of the Exchequer's problem would be complicated by this fact— he would not merely have to consider whether he desired to raise or to lower the Customs duty on spirits, or the Customs duty on tea or tobacco— he would also have to consider whether he could permit the Irish taxpayer to get off paying that share of the Imperial burdens which under this Bill Ireland is bound to pay. Every Chancellor H 2 98 INJUSTICE TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. of the Exchequer frotn this time foi'th, therefore, so long as this Bill is allowed to exist, ivould come to the considei-ation of questions of Impe7-ial finance bound hand and foot. Every step he takes will be hampered by the consideration that he is modifying in one direction or another the contribution which Ireland is bound to pay to our general Imperial expenditure, ((.heers. ) Take one more case of the same kind. In moments of national emergency, when war is imminent or when war is going on, the first great instrument of taxation which the Chancellor of the Exchequer looks to is the income-tax. It is not the only one, but it is the great instrument in moments of national emergency. If this Bill passes ice shall have no power to put a single sixpence upon the Irish income-tax. The Irish income-tax under this Bill goes to the Irish Exchequer, and if, therefore, the Imperial Govern- ment were at war, and if, because they were at war, they had to put a penny or twopence on the income-tax, it would mean, in order to carry out some important Imperial object in which Ireland was as much interested as England or Scotland, that they luoitld have to put a tax of which England and Scotland ivotdd have to pay not only their 07un share, but also the share of Ireland. (Cheers.) Now, consider for a moment another question connected with taxation, or, rather, with the levying of taxation. It is rather more technical, but, believe me, it is not less important. You keep nominally the right to all the money which you get by Customs. How, let me ask, are you going to levy those Customs ? It appears you are going to keep, under the liill. Imperial Custom-house officers along the coast of Ireland to prevent the introduction of goods on which duty should be paid. Ireland at this moment is the paradise of smngf^lers. (Laughter.) What will it be, what must it be, when the only people iftterestcd in presenting smuggling are officials who come to Ireland in a foreign garb (cheers), in a foreign uniform, absolutely unsupported either by the public opinion of the country in which they are cariying out their duties or by any force which that country has at its disposal ? What chance have they of doing their duty with effect ? Their duty is hard, indeed, now ; how do you think it will be carried out under the new system ? I tell you it would not be carried out at all. (Cheers.) You trust, I suppose, to the loyalty of those men on whom you cast the duties, which, under the new circum- stances, will be of tremendous difficulty. Do you think they are likely to look with confidence to the support of the Bri;i-,h Government ? They have before them the example of the Irish constabulary. They know how a loyal force in Ireland is treated by the Imperial Governmen\ (Cheers.) They see before them a practical example of what the honour of English statesmen is worth ; and, believe me, they will find it more convenient and more lucrative not to trouble their heads too particularly about carrying out those onerous and unpopular duties; and the amount you will c^et from your Irish customs will be a small fraction of that which ought to be paid on Irish imports. (Cheers.) But even that is not all. I do not suppose many of you are aware, but it is nevertheless the fact, that the duty of the Custom-house does not end, and cannot end, at the mere port of entry. If such articles as coffee, cocoa, and tobacco are brought in, and duty is paid upon them, an inspection is still necessary in order to see that when they are introduced into the country they are not adulterated and the duty is thereby not evaded. It has been found absolutely necessary, in order to maintain our revenue upon such articles as tobacco — one of the most elastic scources of revenue -to arm officers of the Government with the most tremendous powers of entering at all hours into the manufactories of tobacco and other places where adulteration may be piactised in order to see that the tobacco is not dealt with in such a manner as to defraud the revenue. Will it be believed that in this Bill, as it stands, there is not the beginning or the scintilla of a proposition for dealing with this great practical financial difficulty ? And it cannot be dealt with unless you sow broadcast over Ireland Imperial officials, not confined to the ports of entry, not confined to the coast, but with the right to enter into every Irish manufactory and the place of every Iri-h wholesale dealer to see whether those duty-paying goods might by any possibility be adulterated. I want to know, in the first place, how lieland is going to tolerate the presence of INJUSTICE TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. 99 those officia's if you appoint them ; and how you are going to collect your revenue if you do not appoint tliem ? (Cheers.) That is a practical question which for, many mysterious reasons, together with several other practical (juesliuns, has never suggested itself to the ingenious and able framers of this measure (laughter) but which any man acjuainted with our system of finarce knows to be of first- class importance. (Cheers.) There is one more point with regard to the collection of what is d :e to us, under the Bil , from Ireland. I do not know how many of you have read the Bill. But those who have must, I am sure, have been struck, and even amused, by a clause which enables the Lord Lieutenai.t, in cases where duties are due from the Irish Exchequer to the Imperial Kxcheqi'cr, to declare that such paymeols shall be made, and that until they are made no other payments shall be legal. An e.xcellent provision. But how is it going to be enforced? The Lord Lieutenant under the new sy-tem will b*", no doubt, a worthy and able nobleman, sitting in .'^tate in the Castle, but not having command of a single policeman, not being obeyed by a single official, not being able to require the services of a single instrument by which the bthcsts of the Imperial Government are to be c&rried out. If he is defied, what is he going to do ? (Hear, hear.) There have been cases in which Lord Lieuteuints have been defied. I very well recollect that under Lord Spencer's governmeiit in 1882, at a time when Lord Spencer was still a Unionist and still a supporter of law and order (cheers), the corporation of Limerick we7-e required by the tribunals of the country to pay a certain sum. The corporation of Limerick fir7)ily but politely — by the way, 1 am not sure about politely (laughter) — refused to carry out the decrees of the Court. The Cover. nnent found that their only remedy was to imprison the whole of the corporation, and they shrank from such an extremity. The result was that the debt from the corporation of Limeiick, though as good a debt as ever was contracted, his never been paid from that day to this. (Cheers.) N..w, the Lord Lieutenant under the new Bill will not even have the power of putting into prison th>' Irish Administration (laughter), and I am utterly at a loss to understand how, if the Iri-h Administration act like the corporation of Limerick, this unfortunate representative of the Queen is to do anything but send piteous letters to the Honie Government, saying that, though he has received their or>:er-s, he is perfectly unable to execute them. I venture to prophesy that the debts of the Irish Government to the Imperial Government are as little likely to be paid as the del ts of the Irish teuants to the Irish landlords under the new system. (Cheers. )" IRELAND'S QUOTA. Equally g-ood was Mr. Balfour upon the subject of Ireland's proper quota of contribution to Imperial charge. "One more point in connection with this subject. I now want to discuss the amount of that quota, and to ask whether it is just. The principle on which the Irish members argue the amount which Ireland should pay to the Imperial Exchequer is two-fold. They take as their basis the amount which Ireland now pays, and they also consider the amjunt which it would be convenient to Ireland to pay. (Laughter.) I venture to say that as English and .Scotch taxpayers we have nothing whatever to do with either one of these considerations or the other. So long as Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom, so long as one system of taxation and one system of government are prevalent over the three kingdoms, then we need not iiujuire too curiously whether Ireland gains or does not gain by the transaction ; and I for my part have never hesitated to go further, and to say that the rich partner might well bring its resources to the aid of the poor partner (hear, hear), and that we may gladly give more than our fair share in order to assist the impoverished population in the west of Ireland. But very different principles must prez-ail if there is to be a dissolution of partnership. (Cheers.) If Ireland is going her outi way, with her own executive, her own Chancellor of the lOO IN'JUSTICE TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. Exchequer, and her own system of taxation, then we shall have to consider on what principle the liabilities of the two countries are to be determined. P^or my part, having considered this question to the best of my ability, I can only see three possible plans upon which Imperial burdens can be divided between Ireland and Great Britain. The first plan is based upon the relative wealth of the two countries. The .second is based upon the relative population of the two countries. The third plan is based upon the two principles together. If any one can suggest a fourth plan I shall be obliged to him. I have not heard it (laughter), because I do not adaiit that the amount ■which Ireland actually has contributed in the past under a totally different system of government is any guide at all. Under the plan of 7-dative -wealih Ireland 700iild be paying, in roiaid figures, somezvhat more than £1,000,000 less than she ought to be paying, and if you capitalize that sum it comes to a!)ou/ £jO,ooo,ooo at j per cent., the rate always taken in Government transactions. If, on the other hand, you take population, Ireland, being somewhere about one- seventh of the population of the United Kingdom, ought to pay about one-seventh of the Imperial burdens ; and in that case, under the Bill, Ireland is paying over £6,000,000 less than she ought to be paying. If you capitalize that sum // comes to over £200,000,000. Perhaps I shall be told that it is rather hard on Ireland, the poor couna-y, to deal with her simply by population, and I admit that. But also I think it is true that you ought not to deal with her simply by wealth, because there are many advantages which Ireland gets from the Imperial connexion which have nothing whatever to do with the relative wealth of the two countries. Every Irishman will obtain, u^^der the new system, the whole advantage of Imperial protection. He will obtain the whole advantage of being a citizen of the British Empire, of having his share in the government of India, and of having the English Civil .Service open to him — in fact, of being able to take part in any transaction in Great Britain, not as an alien, but as a ci'izen of the Queen. And these advantages will belong to him, not in proportion as he is a rich man, but by the mere fact of his existence. These benefits should be estimated by population and not by wealth ; and in as far as they are the whole advantages which he gets, the population basis is a sound one for the division of burdens. But I grant that there arc other benefits which he obtains with regard to which the amount of wealth is a determining circumstance. You do not expect, for example, that the poor man shall pay as much for his insurance as the rich man pays ; and it is fair enough that we, the wealthier country, should pay for the insurance of our wealth a greater sum per head than the Irish. Therefore, clearly a fair system on grounds of broad equity is that the Irish contribution to Imperial sources should be calculated partly on population and partly on wealth, a system not UHjamiliar in local government. Then, conrbining these two principles, Ireland n'ill pay at least three millions too little under Mr. Gladstone's proposal. In other nwrds, she is exacting a fine from the United Kingdom of about 100 millions stening, or the amount of the debt which we contracted in consequence of the Crimean war. (Cheers. ) I do not know whether this general survey of the effects which Home Rule will have upon you, not as citizens of the British Empire, but as Englishmen and Scotchmen, is likely to recommend that measure to your approval. (Cheers.) To me it seems the net result is this — that because the Irish, the so-called Nationalist party, partly by favouring crime and partly by favouring obstruction (hear, hear), have made them- selves formidable in the conflict in which they have engaged with the Imperial Government, and because those who now have under their control the Imperial Government appear to be of the opinion that they have been worsted in the fight — because they have now admitted themselves tobe beaten, or, touseourold Eton phrase, " have taktn a licking " (laughter) under terms which are absolutely ruinous to the citizens of this island (cheers) — 7ue are to pay 100 millions, not for the purpose of getting rid of the Irish question, but for thepttrpose of having the Irish question perennially with US. (Cheers.) JVe aj-e called upon to pay 100 millions not to be master in our own house, but to give up the control of our own affairs to those who have shown con- clusively that they have no love of our interests. (Cheers.) Ihe Irish are to tell us by 7vhat administrations 7ve are to be gcn'crncd : the Irish are to control our taxation ; INJUSTICE TO THE BRITISH TAXPAYER. loi the Irish are to manage our elections; and in order to remunerate them for this thankless task we are going gratuitously to hand over lOO millions of our money to their pockets. I am perfectly certain uf this, that the British elector is not swayed solely by a sordid interest in his own personal concerns. 1 believe he is capable of more generous emotions. I believe that he will not abandon the minority in Ireland. (Loud cheers.) He will not sacrifice the supremacy of Parliament. He will not sacrifice the interests of the Empire. But if there be a man so mean of soul that these great interests do not appeal to him, then I say look to your own pockets (laughter) ; look to your own influence over the management of your own affairs, and you will see that this Bill deals a not less deadly blow at that which you, in your shortsighted selfishness, think are solely your own interests than it deals at those Irish Loyalists whose interests I am convinced will never long be absent from our minds. (Loud and prolonged cheers.)" Mr. Gladstone proposed by his Home Rule Bill of iSS6 to present £[,400,000 to the Irish people in his then division of the Imperial expenditure, but he offered them much more in reality than this. He lowered the proportion of Irish contribution from ^^i\\, which he said was the just proportion to 2^gth. He now proposed to reduce it to one-twenty-fifth. The English and Scotch taxpayer would have, in future, contributed at the rate of £[ los. lid. a head, while the Irish taxpayers were only to be assessed at 13s. 5d. a head. In 1SS6 the proportion of total burdens was £2 los. iid. for each person for Great Britain, as against £1 7s. lod. for Ireland, so that Mr. Gladstone reduced the proportion of taxes a head for the Irish people by nearly one-fourth or 25 per cent. Ireland was also to be freed from all share in extraordinary expenditure in the future, and her annual contribution to the Imperial Exchequer was to remain fixed at £3,242,000, no matter what the burdens might be that England and Scotland had to bear. A war might have been forced upon the Empire in defence of interests as vital to Ireland as they are to Great Britain. Ireland would have shared the benefits of a successful struggle to the full, but she was to bear none of its charges. This excessive favour shown to revolutionary Ireland was over and above the very heavy responsibilities and burdens which Mr. Gladstones land purchase scheitie of 1SS6 would have placed upon the Imperial Exchequer. The creation of £50,000,000 of Consols at once, and the creation of at least £70,000,000 more in the near future, in order to enable Mr. Parnell's supporters among the Irish peasantry to own the land, was a tremendous additional price to pay for liis Home Rule scheme. These were the open and avowed sacrifices imposed by Mr. Gladstone's plans. Sir John Lubbock analysed the financial aspect of the Separatist Scheme in 1886. He said-: — "In the first place, as regards taxation, Ireland pays something like one- fifteenth of the Imperial taxation. It is proposed that she shall in future contri- bute one-tweuty-sixth, or, in round numbers, half as much as at present, and that 102 COMPLICATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. the other half should fall on us. But that is not all. Unfortunately our naval and military expenditure tends to increase, and the whole additional amount will fall on us. Moreover, if we are engaged in any war, the whole expenditure will have to be borne by Eni^land and Scotland. Again, out of the whole National Debt of ;^7 1 2,000,000 it is proposed that Ireland shall be responsible for ;^48, 000,000 only. The respective debts of Great Britain and Ireland were kept separate until 1817, when they were amalgamated. At that time the debt of Ire'and was ;^i2r, 000,000. Since then the general debt has been reduced from ;^9oo,ooo,ooo to ;^7i2,ooo,ooo ; so that the debt of Ireland is reduced in propor- tion from ;i^i 20,000,000 to ;/^ 1 00, 000, 000. But why should it be taken at ^{^48, 000, 000 only ? Why should we take on ourselves ;^t;o, 000,000 of Irish deb; ? Moreover, we are to render ourselves liable to Irish landlords for ^120,000,000. Indeed, it may be doubted whether this would be all the liability, for Mr. Gladstone, only two years ago, estimated the value of Irish land at from ^300,000,000 to ;^40o,ooo,ooo. W^hy should we incur this gigantic liability if we can trust the new Irish Parliament ? But, though these proposals will throw increased and ever-increasing burdens on England and Scotland, which are heavily taxed enough already, they will not benefit Ireland ; because any saving she may effect will be more than neutralised by the injury to her credit, her trade, and her manufactures, and the too well-grounded fear that autonomy would lead to ci\'il war. But for the mearmess of such a proposal I would strongly prefer separation to Home Rule." Eng-land would be bound to take measures of precaution and defence ; our army would have to be greatly increased ; our military and naval expenditure doubled ; constant watchfulness exercised; and our imperial power and credit in dealing" with foreign foes would be proportionately weakened. Ireland and the Irish people are bound by a thousand ties to this country which it is impossible to sever by political interest, historical connection, social and commercial relations of the closest character. Over £50,000,000 of English money is invested in videp.65 Ireland. What would be its value if Home Rule were granted ? The mere rumour of Mr. Gladstone's inclination towards separation has caused a panic, and the shares of the Bank of Ireland have fallen heavily. Mortgages on Irish landed estates are being hastily called in, and it has become impossible to borrow money on Irish land since the introduction of the " Home Rule" Bill. IV.-COMPLICATIONS WITH THE UrJlTED STATES. There is one extremely grave aspect of this separate Irish legislature which seems to have escaped notice. It is the tremendous visti" of complications and conflict that it opens up between this country and the United States of America. The Irish electoral power in the United States is very large and very carefully organised. It absolutely controls the government of COMPLICATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. 103 several of the largest American cities. It has turned many a presidential election, and it is a force which all American politicians have to deal with and are anxious to conciliate and win over. The Irish, both at home and abroad, have a special aptitude for political organization of the wirepulling- and Caucus kind. They vote, not according- to individual opinion, but in solid masses under the direction of leaders. They take, as if by instinct, to political conspiracy, and they show a pride in voting solid without regard to any other considerations than the bidding of their chiefs and victory. The way in which the Irish brigade in Parliament long obeyed Mr. Parnell, and the manner in which the Irish recorded their votes at the last two elections, moving in great masses under the direction of their priests and of the National League, are further proofs of the same tendency. THE IRISH IN AMERICA. But Irish politics in the United States afford the most remark- able evidence of this trait in the Irish character. The greatest city of America has been for years, so far as its government goes, practically an Irish Republic. The municipal control of New York City has long been in the hands of the Irish voters. These are drilled and disciplined to a perfection which is almost incredible. The result is that no local Bill or improvement can be carried without the consent of the leaders of the Irish electorate. These are not generally men of high education or political morals. The consideration required to gain the Irish vote is invariably a pecuniary one or its equivalent. The result is, as it must always be where electors decline to exercise individual judgment and vote as solid machines under dictation, that the grossest venality and corruption prevail. The municipal government of New York is, therefore, a mass of corruption, extravagance, and waste such as cannot be matched in modern, and probably not in ancient times. Tne same may be said of the other American cities, or portions of other cities where the administration is controlled by Irish vote. In order to escape any possible imputation of unfairness or prejudice in dealing with this painful subject, is here quoted the account which Mr. Labouchere, an ardent apostle of Irish Home Rule, gave of a Municipal Scandal in New York. The following is from Truth of April J2nd. 1886: — "A prettier gang of rascals than the New York Board of Aldermen could hardly be imagined. Their power for doing mischief, it is true, has fiom time to time been considerably curtailed by the citizens of New York, until only the right of granting franchises was left to them. These franchises applied to all kinds of affairs— such as street railways, signs, lamps, and even barbers' poles, not to forget ferries ; aiid it is estima'ed that they are worth a million sterling, although yielding I04 COMPLICATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. to the city of New York only some ^^50,000. The balance appears to have gone into the pockets of the worthy Aldermen and a set of sharpers who lived upon carrying concessions through the State Legislature and Board of Aldermen. Of these, a man rejoicing in the significant name of Jacob, or Jake, Sharp appears to have been the ringleader. The game went on for years with impunity until a particularly bold stroke of business, the Broadway Railway Franchise, led to an exposure of the swindle. There were twenty-four members of the particular Board of Aldermen which sold this franchise, it is said, against a bribe to themselves of ;i{^ioo,ooo, and with a loss to the city of ^180.000 a year. To their credit be it added that two of their number opposed the franchise, one of whom was Mr. Hugh Grant, since elected Sheriff of New York. Two others are dead, three have taken to their heels, and seveineen have b en iucarcera'ed, and are azuaitino their trial . They will, it is to be hoped, be sentenced to such enforced seclusion as will afford them time for n editation as to the risk conneced with granting franchises. The pecu- liarity of this Board was that it consisted of only one native American, an innkeeper. The others -were nearly all immigrants from Erin. Thtre was also a German and a Canadian. Their callings were not quite so aristocratic as might be expected from their position. One 'honourable Alderman ' was a butcher, another a pawn- broker; there were two bootmakers, a printer, and several keepers of publichouses or ginshops, &c. Peihaps these ' honouiables ' were none the worse for that, but ihey evidemly lacked a sufficient proportion of honesty to ei.able them to resist bribery of the most scandalous description." Up to this time American politicians, who have been anxious to court Irish support by opposition to and a tax upon England, have been obliged to content themselves with mere Platonic de- monstrations in the shape of resolutions in the State Legislatures, and occasionally in Congress. The resolutions in favour of Mr. Gladstone's new scheme have come exclusively from the Irish in the States, and from a section of political wire-pullers who wish to flatter the Irish vote. Just so, the Quebec legislature tele- graphed, in 1 886, a resolution of sympathy; but that only repre- sented the French-Canadian Separatists. The bulk of Canadian feeling is for the Union, as also are the majority of Non-Irish Americans. It is true that a private warfare of a most atrocious and infamous kind was carried on between 1880 and 1884 against this country by the band of assassins, under the leadership of Irish refugees like 0"Donovan Rossa and Patrick Ford, who have their headquarters in New York. This open propaganda of dynamite and destruction which was worked by the Irish- American conspirators would not be tolerated in any other country, and [irobably not in any other great city, even in the United States. But the New York authorities are powerless against the Irish vote, and that O'Donovan Rossa and his col- leagues knew well. The Irish are not popular in the United States outside their own circles. By the native Americans, who are mostly of English blood, and by the Germans, who have of late years immi- grated in enormous numbers, especially to the Western States, the Irish element is by no means beloved. It is a curious and perhaps a suggestive fact that the Irish do not, as a rule, colonise in the COMPLICATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. 105 same way in which the Germans do. The latter at once seek the new regions of the far west and throw themselves with energy into agriculture or any other industry that offers. They make excellent and hardworking citizens. They flourish and prosper. The Irish immigrants, on the other hand, for the most part, hang about the great towns of the East, and form a numerous and more or less floating and poor population, which is a source of much trouble and anxiety to Am.erican politicians— quite as great a difificulty indeed as in' English home politics. The Irish vote has, however, to be reckoned with. It numbers hundreds of thousands, and is a [.>otent factor in American politics. And here will come the danger of the future. Hitherto, as was said above, the anti-English action of American politicians has been of a platonic and more or less harmless character. They have, indeed, possessed no pied-a-tene for open interference. Ireland has been an integral part of the United Kingdom. The Irish, and all their afi"airs, have been under the direct sovereignty of the Imperial Parliament and the Monarch of the British Empire. It would be impossible, therefore, for any American politician, without absolutely reversing all the principles upoii which international law is based, and without affirming a most monstrous and unheard of right of interference in the internal affairs of a foreign country, to deny the right of the Imperial Parliament to deal as it pleases with its Irish subjects. But once give Ireland a separate Parliament and deprive Irishmen of all control over Imperial affairs, and the whole situation will be reserved. Ireland will then be regarded, certahily hy the Irish in the Stales, as an indepc7idtn>, or at all events as a qjiasi-indi pendent nation. Every dispone — and disputes are certain to be legion — ivhich arises betwee?i the Imperial and the Irish Pari anient 7vill be treated by the Irish vjirepullers i7i the States as a grievance and a cause /or agitation. The National League, or its equivalent, will oppose the payment of the tribute of £2,370,000 as arranged in Mr. Gladstone's HoiTiC Rule Bill, or any other contribution to the Imperial Exchequer, or will demand for the Irish Parliament the col- lection of the customs, or the right to establish the Roman C"hurch. or the right of interference in some foreign question. Then the whole pack of agitators in the United States will be started in full cry against Great Britain, and with very menacing results. A "Home Rule " Act would give the Irish conspirators in America the very ground and basis for interference which they now lack. They would claim for Ireland the position of a separate nation. They would demand for the Irish Parlia- ment all the powers and privileges of a sovereign legislature. There is too much danger that the ambitious and wirepulling politicians of the United States may be tempted to enter upon the io6 COMPLICATIONS WITH THP: UNITED STATES. inclined plane of concessions to Irish agitation, from which, when once entered upon, it will be almost impossible to draw back. THE DANGER IN IRELAND. That is the danger from the United States ; but what is the danger in Ireland itself .•' How different and how infinitely grav/er will be the conditions under which foreign interference in Irish affairs will then be threatened ? At present the whole control of Ireland, administrative, executive, financial, military, and police, is in the hands of the Imperial j)Ower. After a brief period under a separate Parliament the whole local administration of Ireland would be in the hands of the Nationalists and the Priests. There would be in every town and district local functionaries who would be, under the direction of the extreme Irish leaders, and very probably, as the National League was for so long-, under the ultimate control of the darker conspirators who furnished the funds and directed the policy from across the Atlantic. Mr. William O'Brien drew, in United Ireland, a graphic picture of "a hundred thousand of the hot-blooded youth of "Limerick flockiny^ to learn French drill and to shoulder French " rifles." Precisely so. At present we can easily prevent any such contingency. But if Ireland once has a separate Parliament, no French drill will be needed. A foreign invader will find on his arrival the Irish already drilled and armed. There would be most likely a large Irish volunteer force, il not a regular army. At prest nt it would be impossible for even a small filibustering band from tlie United States or elsewhere to set foot on Irish soil, without immediate destruction. Then, on the contrary, every local condition would exist to invite and to welcome the successful intervention of a foreign armament. A "Home Rulfe " scheme would create, close on our western shores, an organised, a disciplined, and an armed power, instead of a powerless, though discontented population. Mr. Gladstone admitted, in reply to a question in the House of Commons on March llth, that the estab- lishment of an Irish Volunteer force was not expressly forbidden in the present Bill as it was forbidden by the Bill of 1886. GENERAL INTERNATIONAL COMPLICATIONS. Not only are troubles certain to arise with the United states, but with other Foreign Governments as well. Great Britain will, under Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule scheme, be fully responsible to other powers for Ireland. But supposing the Irish sympathise strongly with one of two countries at war, as they did with France in 1870, or with the Pope in i860, what is to prevent the Irish local authorities, who are to be supreme in that country, from winking at the wholesale breach of the Foreign Enlistment THE BETRAYAL OF LOYAL IRLSHMEN. 107 Act, or from allowing- privateers like the Alabama to escape from Irish ports. The Imperial Government will be powerless to prevent these perilous acts, which may plunge us into war ; but we shall be held wholly responsible for these consequences. If Irish indiscretion does involve the Empire in war, still under Mr. Gladstone's monstrous Bill, Ireland was to bear no share whatever in the cost of such a war. The powerlessness of the United States Central Government in dealing' with the lynching" of Italians at New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, is a warnings as to what would happen under a separate Irish parliament. There can be little doubt that directly a " Home Rule" Bill is passed, Ireland would become the home of every Anarchist, Revolutionist, and Dynamitard who seeks a secure and convenient refug-e or poini d'appui. V.-THE BETRAYAL OF LOYAL IRISHMEN. The injustice offered to Ulster is the most g'rievous and re- vide ap: volting feature of " Home Rule." Ulster is far and away the T^ivi. most prosperous and prog"ressive portion of Ireland. The chief ?f i-oyai- manufacturing" industries of Ireland are to be found in Ulster. The great linen industry is the staple of Ulster, and a main source of its prosperity. At the annual meeting" of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce in February, 1892, the President (Mr. Mitchell), said : — " Last year a census of the United Kingdom was taken. The population of our city was returned as 255,896, as compared with 208, 122 in 1881, an increase of 47, 774, being equal to 23 percent. — a very striking increase, which indicates the rapid prosperity of our city. The inhabited houses in Belfast in 1891 were 46,432, as compared with 34,982 in 1881, and our valuations during last year amounted tO;/'738,404, as compared with ^597,913 in 1881. Our population now exceeds that of Dublin, as, according to the last census, the population of the metropolis amounted to 254,709, as compared with 246,602 in i88i, being an increase of 5, 107, which is equal to 2 per cent. The following is a lis' of the eight principal ports of the Kingdom as regards revenue and their collections under that department for 1890 : — "London ;i^9,834,i7i Bristol /«,3-23.445 Liverpool ... 3,263,301 Dublin 904,028 Belfast 2,128,440 Leith 669,907 Glasgow 1,341,435 Newcastle ... 378,319 " It will be observed that Belfast comes third on this list, the only ports exceed- ing her in revenue being London and Liverpool. The Customs revenue of our port for 1891 amounted to £2,247,^28, being an increase over 1890 of j^i 19,082. Beljast contributes Hie magnificent sum of over three and a half millions to the Imperial Exchequer. The statistics connected with our harbour give ample evidence of continued prosperity, not only in respect to the increase of shipping, arriving and departing, but also in regard to the increasing business transacted by the Harbour Board. The total tonnage cleared from the port during 1891 amounted to 1,931,177, as against 1,840,666 for 1890, while the revenue of the port for last year was ^121,533. This is an exceedingly satisfactory state of affairs in respect of revenue; when we take into account the fact that a reduction io8 THE BETRAYAL OF LOYAL IRLSHMEN. of about 20 per cent, was made some time ago 011 the dues on g^ods. The surplus this year amounts to ;,^25, 674, as compared with ;,{^25,bS9 last year. The value of the total propeiiy under the jurisdiction of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners now amounts to the enormous sum oi £i,j6o,g7j." At a meeting- of the Belfast Corporation, on March ist, 1893, it was stated that by the Home Rule Bill the loss in connection with municipal matters would be £76,000, independently ot £15,000 in connection with the poor law. To meet this an increased taxation of 2s. 6d. in the pound would be necessary. To illustrate the injustice of the Bill of 1S93 to Irish loyalists, A. H. writes in the Si. James's Gazttte of February iSth, 1893 : — " Perhaps it may not be irrelevant to consider whether the Nationalists or the Unionists would be the losers by the reduction and the le-distribution which it would entail. The population of Ireland in 1891 was 4,705,000 ; this number, divided amoag 80 members, gives rather less than 59,000 inhabitants to a member. The 21 constituencies (excluding the Univcrsiiy) which at presesent return Unionist member.-, contain a population of 1,150,000 ; the remaining constituencies, which return Nationalists, have a population of 3,555,000. It requires, therefore, no great knowledge of arithmetic to see that, out of 80 members. Nationalist Ireland would be entitled to sixty, and Unionist Ireland to 20 ; whereas, out of the present number of loi members, ihe Nationalists have 80 and the Unionists 21. " Here, then, is the reason why the present constituencies are retained for the Dublin Parliament. If the new ones had been used, the Nationalists would have lost 20 seats in that august assembly, while the Unionists lost but one. And Mr. Gladstone, in proposing (without a hint as to the true state of the case) to per- petuate the injustice from which the Irish Unionists at present suffer, deprecates ' the suspicion which is the besetting sin of politicians.' " Moreover, it must not be forgotten that the injustice is yearly increasing. The population of Ireland as a whole has declined 9"i per cent, during the last 10 years. The only important exceptions to the general decrease were the Unionists' boroughs of Belfast (which increased 23 '2 per cent.) and Londonderry (which increased 12 '8 per cent.). To these maybe added, curiously enough, the one Unionist division of Dublin. St. Stephen's Green, in which the population has increased 10 '8 per cent., while in the rest of the city it has slightly declined." Mr. Goschen gfave in the House of Commons (in 1886) some remarkable facts connected with the prosperity of Ulster: — "I believe that the whole financial equilibrium would bieak down if Ulster be excluded. The total return for all Ireland under Schedule D was ;^9, 900,000. Excluding Dublin, the total return was ;i{J5,6oo.ooo. and 45 per cent of that amount came from Ulster. Now, of the nine counties of Ulster, four are predominantly loyal — namely. Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Londonderry. These counties, which in 1885 returned to Parliament fifteen Loyalists and four Parnellites, show a return of ;{^2. 220. 000 under Schedule D. The remaining five counties, which are pre- dominantly Nationalist, and which returned to Parliament thirteen Nationalists and only one Loyali-t, show a return under Schedule D of only^30o.ooo. The question whether Ulster is to be excluded from this legislation is left open for Committee. It is, I think, a monstrous thing that it should be so left open. Anything more startling than the statement that the inclusion of Ulster was not a vital point in the Bill I never heard. I want to know what will be the future of Ulster industries under Home Rule, and what will be the conduct of the Nationalists in relation to those industries. In the Belfast Morning Xt'-ws, the paper of a hon. member opposite, it was recently suggested that the linen trade had been a scourge and not a blessing to Ulster: — '• • But for the linen trade Ulster could never have been rack-rented as it was, and as it continues to be. . . . But for the stone of flax, the hank of yarn, the web THE BETRAYAL OF LOYAL IRISHMEN. 10.9 of linen, the grinding landlord exactions which have kept Ulster poor, could not have been put in force. . . . The two are identical — for the linen trade of Ul'jter is solidly Orange. As an interest, and a powerful interest, it is the worst and most formidable enemy of the Irish people. To Northern public opinion the " linenites " are case-hardened. To Southern and \Vestern public opinion they may be more amenable — more especially if South and West resolve to do for linen what they did for land — if South and West rise up and establish a Flax and Linen League. . . . But, above and beyond all, American public opinion may Lc relied on as most effective with the unteachable "linenites. " ' " As Mr. Goschen observed " Such views do not bode much good to the linen industr)- of Ulster." The above quotation from a Nationalist paper is an e.xcellent example of the illog-ical and mad views upon economical, as well as upon political subjects, that are in vogue among" the revolu- tionaries of Ireland. The Loyalists of Ulster are largely of British blood, and Protestant in religion. Ulster has been for centuries the basis and backbone of British power and influence in Ireland. It is by reason of their fidelity to the British connection, and their unswerving devotion to the Union, that the Loyalists of Ulster, and the Loyalists who are scattered throughout the three southern provinces, a mere helpless handful amongst a hostile population, are to be exposed to spoliation, ruin, and even to massacre. How hopeless would be the condition of the Irish Loyalists is evident from the fact that, over and above the taxation necessary to raise the Imperial customs and excise, "a general power of taxation would pass unequivocally into the hands of the domestic legislation of Ireland." The new Irish Parliament would also have complete control over the Civil Service, the magistracy, the judges, and the police ; in fact, over the entire administration of Ireland. The terrible precedents of rebel ferocity in 1798, and in 1641, warn us what another outbreak would involve. It will be no child's play for the Loyalists in Munster, Leinster, and Connaught, it the Nationalists control the administration and judiciary of Ireland. The temper and tendencies of the great mass of the Irish population have been painfully demonstrated during times of license. The Irish Parliament would have power to organise and equip a police force. They can create a formidable force recruited mainly in the south, and can maintain that force in Ulster at the expense of Ulster. Refusal to fulfil their pecuniary obligations is probably the least of the evils the Irish Loyalists will have to expect from their Celtic neighbours. Horrible, atrocious outrages upon innocent and helpless men, women, and children, have been deplorably common. Mutilation and maiming of human beings, and even of the dumb and harmless beasts of the field, have been practised in many parts of Celtic Ireland. The stimulus of interested agitators, no THE BETRAYAL OF LOYAL IRISHMEN. the incitements of the assassination Press, and the long- indifference and weakness of Mr. Gladstone's Ministry, destroy healthy public feeling- in Ireland. So soon demoralised and debased did the tone of the people become in 1881 and 1882 that these crimes were nowhere execrated but actually aroused sympathy and admiration. Foul assassinations not of landlords only, but of poor men who dared to be honest and loyal, were then matters of almost daily occurrence in Ireland. These murders would have been numbered by thousands instead of hundreds, but for the restraining- presence of the armed police and for the fear of that very majesty of the law which blind sentimentalists and reckless lawbreakers unite in miscalling- " coercion." The Loyalists of Ireland bravely faced these tremendous and appalling- dangers in order to maintain British power, the order of the United King-dom, and the ascendency of law. They have borne anxieties and perils of which we in peaceful England have little conception. Are they, after all these sacrifices, and at the very crisis of their fate, to see themselves abandoned, helpless and hopeless, to those who have always been their own bitterest foes and the enemies of England ? No wonder that the Loyalists protest with all the energy of which they are capable against this policy of separation. The grotesque injustice of Mr. Gladstone's policy is well exposed in the following extract : — " Mr. Gladstone proposes to intensify this aversion of the capitali,-t for Irish soil. He will hand over law and justice in the island to the very men who, through an illegal organisation, have laughed at lawful decrees and frustrated justice. The new Ireland will require millions of money to start it well ; but where are they to be found ? Not in Lombard Street, not in Dublin, not at Belfast. Who make the bulk of the Irish payments to the Consolidated Fund ? Not the followers of Mr. Parnell, but the Upper aud middle classes who renounce him and all his works. Dublin and North-East Ulster pay five-sixths of the incjiiie-tax, and the same localities probably pay five-sixths of the indirect taxes. In fact, the division of the taxable wealth of Ireland is in inverse ratio to the political lines. It is impossible to attain exact accuracy in the calcu- lation ; but it may be safely said that the Loyalists — including the landlords, the merchants, the manuf.ictuiers, the professional men, and all classes in North-East Ulster — contribute five-sixths of the rez'enueive tio'w derive from Ireland. If, there- fore, the representation of that country is to be based on taxation, we should go further, and make the people taxed the principal constituents. Were such a principle to be applied in practice, Ireland, instead of returning to Westminster the present proportion, would send eighty-five Loyalists and about eighteen Parnellites. But Mr. Gladstone has based the Irish lepresentation on poverty and disloyalty, not on loyalty and weahh. He goes further, and says that not alone are the peasants in huts to command five-sixths of the representation at Westminster, but they are to obtain through a native Parliament complete control of the wealth which their co-residents in the island have amassed through generations of enterprise, industry, and thrift. There never was in the history of the world such a premium put on early marriages, large families, indolence, want of enterprise, and unthrift. There never was such a discourage- ment to capital, intelligence, industiy, and toil. THE DESPAIR OF THE LOYAL IRISHMEN. in Of two brothers — one a Scotchman settled in Glasgow, and the other a Scotchman settled in Belfast — the former will find his fictories, his nujnty, his property, his person still safe and sound under the regis of British law; but the latter will be placed under the thumb of men who are successful Socialists, and who have elevated outrage and plunder into a poliiical art. No com- pensation is even offered to persons who will find themselves hampered in every operation of their commerce by the word 'Ireland' at ihe head of their bills. Industrial Ulster contains a population attached to their creed, resentful of Romanist diciation, pr ud of their loyalty and their obedit-nce to law profoundly detesting the atrocities of the South ; yet what will be their position under a Parnellite Parliament ? They will be a minority detested because they retain aftection for everything English. Their own cities have a low Catholic popu- lace ready to rise at the word of command from the South. Emissaries from America have alreariy denounced their linen trade as ' Orange ' in its source. The progress of this controversy will det pen the discord ever readv to break out. They desire no lot or part in the new Ireland 'built in the eclipse' of Mr. Glad- stone's study, and 'rigged with curses dark ' of bewildered and disgusted Liberals. Parnellite judges, Parnellite magistrates, and a Parnellite police will ultimately dominate Ulster. All the properly of the Protestants will be at the mercy of Catholic legislation, backed by Catholic mobs. Now, it may be said as regards the landlords that they suffer for the sins ot their fathers. The merchants, the manufacturers, the operatives of Ulstc, however, have committed no offences. Their sins are loyalty to the Queen, love for England, patient industry, honourable thrift. Yet they are handed over helpbss to a majority of Roman Catholics, who hate them as old political and religious enemies. We rescue our isolated sentinels in the South ; we compensate lords and gentlemen about to lose their broad acres ; but we offer no consolatory millions to the Irishmen of Scotch and English descent who have made Ulster an oasis, and who feel no sympathy whatever with Social- ism, Parnellism, Rebellion, or Green Flags. Through invidious taxation, or parti- san iTiagistrates, or a popular police their liberties, their proper'ies, perhaps their lives, may be endangered ; but they are to be left to the mercv of their hereditary foes." THE DESPAIR OF THE LOYAL IRISHMEN. No more touching or effective protest against the betrayal of Loyal Irishmen has been made than the following letter from an Irish widow to Mr. Gladstone, dated March 1 3th, 1 893. This Irish lady, Mrs. Luke White, then wrote the following letter to Mr. Gladstone : — " Sir, — I pray you to read this letter. We are told in Ireland that you see no papers, read no letters, which do not uphold your views, but I I'ray you, in the name of thousands of women in Ireland, to listen for a few moments while I tell you, though in feeble words, what are our misery and despair at the prospect of your Home Rule /-ill becoming laii'. I have only one consolation, and thank God with all my heart that I am a widow, aiid that my husband is bcyonil the reach of this calamity, liroken down in body and mind by the trials of the year 1881 and those folU)wing, I can now thank God he died, and this feeling, Sir, is shared by others similarly placed. If your Bill passes there will be an exodus from Ireland oj every Protestant and many Roman Catholics who can possibly leave the country, for we know what we may expect. I am thankful that on my husband's death the insurance money which he left for our support was I'Ot invested in Ireland. We felt, Sir, that if you were in power again, brought in by your miscalled Nationalists, there would be n^i safety, no security, for any investment in Ireland. In your Bill of 1886 you distinctly said that Ifie laud question could not be left to an Irish Parliament to settle. In this Bill you have omitted all mention of the land, giving the so-called owners three years of grace, and then handing them over to I 112 THE DESPAIR OF THE LOYAL IRISHMEN. the Irish Failiament. It was depending on the good faiih and security of the British Government that we mothers and fatliers have denied ourselves many things to be aljle to gi^-e our sons the education to fit them for the Civil Service. Are they to be ruined with ourselves ? / hope and trust that niy only son, and every other loyal Irishman, loill join Ulster in fighting for our freedom. Better, far bettir, for them so to die, than try to exist under the g07'ernment of Archbishop Walsh. Vour supporters, Sir, in Jreland may gain ; they cannot lose, for they have no stake in the country. They are not among the merchants, shopkeepers, or business men ; they are not of the professional class ; they are but political agitators ; and, to advance their own ends, they go about trying to persuade the tenants that under Home Rule they will hive the land for nothing, and some of them implicitly believe this false t de. The last few years we have had a liitle rest, and while we pr.iyed with all our hearts 'Give peace in our time, oh Lord,' we were feeling a little hopeful for the future. Now all this is at an end if your Home Rule Bill is allowed to pass. — I am, yours faithfully, Eliz. White, Dublin." Can Engflishmen and Scotchmen endure to surrender their brethren, loyal and faithful, and imperilled by reason of their very loyalty and fidelity, to this most cruel wrong- and to heart- rending- despair.? Perish the thpug-ht ! It is too infamous, too base to ever prevail with a g^enerous people. When once Eng-lishmen realise what this fatal scheme of separation means for the Empire, and for the loyalists of Ireland, they will scout its very mention. The Imperial Anglo-Saxon race, that has pioneered the civilisation of the world, peopled vast continents, and built up a matchless dominion, will never yield its Empire to disruption, nor its faithful friends to ruin. To quote the memorable words which Lord Salisbury addressed to the g^reat Unionist meeting- on April 14th, 1S86, and the truth of which has been so marvellously borne out by the prosperity of Ireland after six years of Unionist Government : — " My belief is that the future government of Ireland does not involve any such unmanageable difficulty, if the people of this country will be true to the Empire to which they belong. (Loud cheers.) IVe 7iiant a 7oise, firm, continuous administration of the law. (Cheers.) But you must support it, or it will not take place. We want a steady policy that no considerations of wearinrss or difficulty at Westminster, that no considerations attaching to the manifold ties ol party government under which we live, shall drive aside from its strong course the policy upon which the people of England have decided. It is n^t enough for them to decide it. They must watch over it when it is decided ; they must by their constant and steady support, by the overwhelming force of their wdl, sweep away this bo iy of resistance which has hitherto at Westminster prevented anything like a steady, or constant, or wholesome policy for Ireland (cheers) ; for this matter, believe mi;, does not concern Ireland alone. There is a great responsi- bility upon you, and it will be a terrible thing if through your weakness the Irish people are abandoned to the anarchy under which assuredly they will fall. But there is something more which you, as the owners of a vast Empire extending to the ends of the earth, must consider before you take this fatal step downwards to which your rulers are inviting you now. There has been a great contest between England and the discontented portion of the Irish people. It is a contest that has lasted through many g nerations past, through many vicissitudes, and now you are asked to submit to a measure which is placed before you, and to end that contest by a complete and ignominious surrender. (Cheers.) It is not a surrender marked by the more ordinary circumstances of ignominy. It is a painful thing for a nation THE MISREPRESENTATION OF IRELAND. 113 to lose a great battle and have to acknowledge defeat. It is a painful thing if that defeat entails the loss of territory, and the nation has to be contented with a restricted empire. But these things do not represent the depth of infaaiy to which you will descend. There is something worse than all this, and that is when defeat is marked by the necessity of abandoning to your enemies those whom you have called upon to refend you, and who have risked their all on your behalf (Loud cheers. ) That is an infamy below which it is impossible to go ; that is an infamy to which you are asked to submit yourself now. " THE MISREPRESENTATION OF IRELAND. The following- points are dealt with by Mr. R. L. Jenkins in his brochure : — (i.) The anomalous representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament, created by Mr. Gl'idstone's jerrymandering- in 1885. (2.) The proposed anomalous representation of Ireland in the Leg-islative Assembly at Dublin, to be established under Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill of 1893. (3.) The anomalous representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament, proposed by Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill of 1S93. Dealing- with these seriatim, Mr. Jenkins says: — (i.) [a) General Averag-e. — The total constituencies in Ireland number 747. S29 voters, who are at present represented in the Imperial Parliament by 103 members, giving" an averag-e of 1 member to every 7,260 voters. {b) Constituency Party Average. — The 747,829 are sd divided that 561,027 belong- to 80 constituencies represented by Home Rulers, and 186,802 belong to 23 constituencies represented by Unionists. The 561,027 voters in Home Rule constituencies therefore have an average of i member to every 7,012 voters. The 186,802 voters in Unionist constituencies have an average of I member to every 8,121 voters, or on an average a Unionist has 1,000 more voters in his constituency than a Nationalist. And while the Nationalist average is 200 voters below the general average, the Unionist average is nearly 900 above the geneial average. (c) Party Strength Average. — Of the 747,829 voters in Ireland, Mr. Jenkins assumes that 570,443 voted at last election. (// shftild be remembered, hoicever, that in cases of unopposed rtttirns, he puts down the whole constituency to the party holding the seal, there beifig tio reliable method 0/ ascertaining the balance of parties in such constituencies. It should also be noted that Cork City returns 2 members, and has 16,295 votes credited as cast at last election, but there are only 10,276 voters on the register.) Out of the above 570,443 he gives 387,828 as voting for Parnellites or anii- I 2 114 THE MISREPRESENTATION OP IRELAND. Parnellites, and 182,615 fo^ Conservatives or Liberal Unionists. The 387,828 Parnellites or anti-Parnellites return 80 members, or an averag-e of i member to every 4,847 votes they cast. The 182,615 Conservatives and Liberal Unionists are represented by 23 members, or an average of I member to every 7.939 Loyalist votes. Thus if Loyalist opinion had representation on the same scale as Home Rule opinion, there would be 37 Unionists instead of 23 ; or if Home Rule opinion were put on a level with Unionist opinion, there would be 48 Home Rulers instead of 80 — but this would leave Mr. Gladstone in a minority. {d) Constituencies. — Having" disposed of the various tests by averag-e, let us g'lance at particular constituencies or g'roups of constituencies. There are 45 divisions returning' members in Ireland containing" less than 7,000 voters, that is 260 less than the g"eneral average shown above. Of these 47, 42 are represented by Home Rulers and 5 by Unionists. Of the 42 divisions represented by Nationalists, 17 contain less than 6,000 voters; 4 contain less than 5,000 voters; 2 contain less than 4,000 voters; and three constituencies have respectively only 1,909, l,So6, and 1,847 voters. The five Unionist divisions containing" less than 7,000 voters, are Dublin University ^^2) 4.352; Fermanag'h (N.) 5.937; Londonderry City. 5 161 ; Tyrone County, 6,481 ; so, except for the Dublin University, the most glaring anomalies rest with the Nationalist representation. It will be seen that taking the total constituencies of Counties and Boroughs, most of the Unionist Counties and Boroughs have at present over S.OOO voters to every member returned. In only 10 cases have Nationalist Counties and Boroughs a similar proportion. The figures speak for themselves, and show how gross is the misrepresentation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament. (2.) Although Mr. Gladstone recognises that the distribution of seats in Ireland is unfair — for he proposes to alter the repre- sentation in the Imperial Parliament from 103 to 80, knocking off 18 Nationalist members — yet he proposes ihat the Legislative Assembly in Dublin shall be composed of 103 members, returned under the distribution of seats which is shown in paragraph I to be grossly unjust, and he professes to protect the minority! It is to be hoped that Unionists will not tamely submit to this injustice. If the Irish Legislative Assembly is reduced to 80 (as it should bej, the Loyalists will number about 30. (3.) A very cur.'-ory glance at the comparative table will show that Mr. Gladstone is still "jerrymandering" the Irish representa- tion to the Imperial Parliament. Antrim County (C), with GENERAL LOSS TO IRELAND. 115 36.319 voters, has its representation r-^duced to a level with Doneg-al Countv (N.), containing- only 26,005 voters. Down County, with its 37.973 voters, is deprived of i member (reducing- members to 3), although Dublin City, with only 33,655 voters, continues to return 4 members. Dublin County is to return only 2 members with 21,788 voters, though Kerry is to return 3 members with only 21,762 voters. Compare Cavan and Clare in the same uay. Leitrim County, with 12,935 voters, will return 2 members, equal to Armagh County with 25.146 voters. Meath County will return 2 members for 12,528 voters, but Queen's County with 13,295 and Waterford County with 13,078 are reduced to i member each. And what are we to say of a re-distribution of seats which allows the following : — Galway City... i member, 1,909 voters. Kilkenny City, i ,, 1,806 ,, Newry I ,, 1.847 Waterford ... i ,, 3-974 „ In these cases, 9,536 voters are to return 4 members under the new distribution, although each of the divisions of Antrim will have 12,000 voters to return i member. We have seen, then, how Mr. Gladstone's majority in Ireland for Home Rule is made up, and how he proposes to maintain it by further juggling. It is to be hoped that the Unionist party will be alive to this grave scandal, and not allow Ireland io 56 captured in the manner adopted in 18S5. As that well-known Home Ruler, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, wrote in The Times of February 17th, 1893 : — "There is a powerful Unionist party in Ireland who would have to be reconciled to the new Parliament if we are to have tranquillity and prosperity in the country. A scheme which offered them a career in their native land would speedily win the young and ambitious to accept it, but there is no such offer in this measure. In the Legislative Assembly, which will be the centre of political power, which will control the public policy of the country, regulate finance, and make and unmake Governments, they would have about a dozen members out of 105, which is far elow their legitimate share. With the three-cornered constituency or proportionate representation they would probably constitute a third of the Assembly, and such a party would get its turn of office whenever the Government lost the confidence of a section of its supporters by any unwise or unfair proposal. We cannot get responsible government, which is the thing promised us, without a party in office and another party able and willing to take their places; and mark this — if you have not responsible government, you must have party despotism." GENERAL LOSS TO IRELAND. Many of the principal industries in the north of Ireland and in Dublin would be removed from that country if the Home Rule Ii6 GENERAL LOSS TO IRELAND. Bill was passed, and if Ulster was broug-ht under the control of the Nationalist maj irity. Mr. James Henderson, speaking- at the great meeting- in Belfast, February 2Sth, 1893, referred to two of these industries which mig-ht be transplanted from Irish to British soil. There is the g-reat shipbuilding- yard of Messrs. Hariand and Wolff, one of the largest in the world, which employs some 8,000 working- men, and contributes an enormous sum to the prosperity of Belfast. There is also the g-reat tobacco manufactory of Belfast, which contributes over jT ^00,000 a year to the Imperial Exchequer. It is well known that the proprietors of Guinness's Brewery, which employs thousands of workpeople in Dublin, would remove that g"reat industry to England if the Home Rule Bill becomes law. The Dublin Express of February 28th, 1893, puts very well the loss which Ireland would suffer under the Home Rule Bill from the withdrawal of the Imperial grants to Ireland: — "The farmers and labourers of Ulster care little, perhaps, for sentiment, but they appreciate the money value of legislation, if it has any, and if they find that they will have to pay heavily in the loss of advantages which they now derive from the Imperial connexion and from the increased burden of taxation which will be put upon them, they will have no hesitation in rejecting the Bill. They need no special instructions to enable them to calculate what they would obtain in return for the withdrawal of the Imperial grants, of which they have now the benefit. Who will supply the funds to enable them to buy their holdings under the Purchase Acts ? Who will pay the proportion of poor rate which the State now contributes for medical charities. If they want loans to build farm-houses or buildings or to drain their lands, where are they to get them? Is it from the Treasury of an Irish Parliament which will have nothing in it to start with, and if it is ever full will be under the control of men who have rendered no account of the thousands which have passed through their hands, and are openly charged by their most intimate associates, since they quarrelled with each other, with having grossly misapplied them -? The Government now pay 4s. a head for the maintenance ot lunatics — a class which is largely on the increase. That contribution will cease in future, and will a Parliament in College Green make it good '? A sum of ;^i, 500,000 a year is granted for free education. When that stops who will make good the loss '?" As Mr. Balfour said in his speech at Ealing-, on March, 8th, 1893 :- "Most of those who now listen to me are themselves personally interested, or are interested through their friends, in the great insurance societies (hear, hear), which, as I am given to understand, have vast sums invested in Irish mortgages. I want to ask what the value of Irish mortgages will be if this Bill becomes law. (Laughter and cheers.) Is there any human being who supposes that, with the duty of protecting the sheriff in collecting the rents due to a landlord left to the Irish Executive, it will ever be performed? Is there any one sanguine enough to suppose that if the sheriff is left unprotected he will be able to collect sixpence of rent from anybody ? (Cheers.) I am confining my attention to English interests, and I do not ask what would happen to Irish landlords or those in Ireland in- terested in the land question. But, I ask, what is going to happen to the English mortgagees, to the great societies interested in Irish mortgages ? Their security is not worth the paper on which they are written. But that is not all. I suppose GENERAL LOSS TO IRELAND. 117 many of you have noticed the way in which Irish securities have fallen since the details of this precious scheme have become known to the Irish investors. What does that mean ? It means that Home Rule will be followed by the exodus from Ireland of all that capital by which the prosperity of Ireland, such as it is, is main- tained at its present level. (Cheers.) If Irish capital leaves Ireland what is to happen to the Irish labourer ? The Irish labourer will folhnv Irish capital, and he will leave Ireland (laughter) ; and let ever}' working man in England take this truth to heart. Home Rule will be most inevitably followed by a great increase in England of the competition with Irish labour. (Cheers.) In the counties and boroughs alike the Irish labourer will be compelled, whether he likes it or not, to come over and compete with his English brother ; and more and more you will see the value of English labour driven down by Irish competition, more and more you will see the results of English municipal and Parliamentary elections not decided by the votes of Englishmen and Scotchmen, but decided by the votes of those who look for guidance, not to English and Scottish advisers, but to advisers on the other side of St. George's Channel. (Cheers.)" The following" extract also .shows the way in which the Irish ratepayers would be affected under the Home Rule Bill : — "An illustration of the injurious effect of the Home Rule Bill in puttin.if an end to contributions to Ireland from the Imperial Exchequer in aid of local rates was given on February i6th, at the meeting- of the guardians of the South Dublin Union. Mr. Caldbeck, one of the guardians, brought under the notice of the board the answer given by Mr. Gladstone to Mr. Balfour's ques- tion whether, under the Home Rule Bill, the contributions from the Imperial Exchequer for local purposes in Ireland were to be continued, and Mr. Gladstone was reported to have said that ' Contributions from the Imperial Exchecjuer to the local revenueof Ireland would cease.' Mr. Caldbeck asked the clerk how that would affect the rates of that union. The clerk replied that they had received from probate duties lately about £4,000; Government contribution in lieu of rates on Government property, £1,500; in payment of medical and educational expenses, £1,300 ; in relief of sanitary officers' salaries, £270. That represented, at about the very least, on the valuation of the union, which stands at £700,000, about 3d. in the pound." — Times, February 17th, 1S93. With regard to Belfast, the following appeared in the Xorthern Whig oi March ist: — " We publish this morning ceriain calculations with respect to the loss Belfast will sustain even in contributions which it has been accustomed to receive, and which have hitherto been regarded as a matter of course. There are, for instance, M'hat are called the Imperial contributions to our local poor rates. They are esti- mated at fourpence in the pound. Assuming that we might have no more paupers to maintain than we have now — they are likely, under Home Rule, to greatly increase — it is estimated that we should as ratepayers have to find fourpence in the pound to meet the deficiency in the poor rate by the Imperial contribution being withdrawn. This is but a beginning. It is only a loss of one outside contribution which the ratepayers will have to make good. " There is the cost of the police. The city pays fifteen thousand a year for these guardians of the public peace. The actual cost is about sixty thousand. Then come the clothing and the purchase of the barracks, on which in recent yearssome forty Ji8 THE WHOLE MORE IMPORTANT THAN A PART. t housand pounds have been spent. It is stated that this expense might have to be doubled Thus it might be found that the municipal rate would have an increase of fifty per cent., and the poor rate of twenty-five per cent. There are also the Imperial grants to gaols, to asylums, and to other institutions, all of which under Home Rule would have to be solely maintained at the expense of the ratepayers. It is thought that the loss to the city in this manner will amount annually to a hundred thousand pounds. This money will in some way or other have to be made up by the ratepayers. . . . It is calculated that an additional half-crown in the pound would be required on our present valuation to pay the amount mentioned." , The Irish will also suffer an undoubted loss in the question of lunatics. At present half the cost of the lunatics in Irish asylums, amounting- to £i 1 1,989 in 1891, is paid for out of the Imperial Exchequer. This will cease under the Home Rule Bill, and unless 12,000 Irish lunatics are to be let loose upon the distressful country, the Irish ratepayers will have to pay this sum. At present the Board of Works advances British money at a very low rate of interest for the building- and repair of Irish asylums. In future the money will have to be found on Irish credit — that is, at a much higher rate of interest. THE WHOLE MORE IMPORTANT THAN A PART. One of Mr, Gladstone's chief arguments in favour of the Bill is that eig"hty Irish members demand it. But the Imperial Parliament consists of 670 members; and why should the will of eig-hty Irishmen prevail ag-ainst that of the 590 other members .' If eig-hty obstinate and ag-gresive members are to impose their will upon Parliament, what a dangerous precedent will be established ! At any time, a determined clique may be formed, which will demand some special legislation, or even separation. Would the people oC Great Britain consent to give Wales, or Cornwall, or Yorkshire, or even Scotland, the right of separation ? Again, if eighty Nationalists may force separation from Great Britain upon their 589 fellow-members, why should not the nineteen Ulster Loyalists insist upon having Ulster separated from the rest of Ireland, and prevail over the eighty Nationalists upon a point so vital to Ulster. The argument — of which Mr. Gladstone made much — that even good laws are disliked by the Irish people because they are "foreign," and come in a ''foreign garb," is a very empty and mischievous one. It rests on the vaguest sentiment, and is just the sort of reasoning which delights Mr. Gladstone's unpractical and fanciful mind, and which, in his hands, has worked enormous mischief. It is an ignominious and overwhelming confession of failure on the part of Mr. Glad- stone, who has been fjr twenty-five years labouring to pacify Ireland by heroic and incessant legislation, legislation all of which he now describes as '-foreign and detested." Supposing MR. GLADSTONE'S EPITHET "FOREIGN." 119 the Irish Celts — who are, after all, only two-thirds of the Irish population — do reg^ard laws made by the Imperial Parliament as "foreig-n," is that a sufficient reason why the Empire should be dismembered, the Loyalists of Ireland abandoned to ruin, and infinite injury inflicted upon Great Britain .' The whole is more important than the part. It is puerile to the last degree to assume for an instant that this sentimental grievance of some three millions of disaffected Irishmen should prevail ayainst the interests of nearly thirty-five millions of loyal Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Irishmen, to say nothing of the 340,000,000 of our fellow-subjects in distant lands. MR. GLADSTONE'S EPITHET "FOREIGN." Ridiculous as his argument may be, the bare mention by Mr. Gladstone of this word "foreign" did infinite, perhaps irreparable, harm. For centuries Ireland has been an integral portion of these Kingdoms. Irishmen have borne their share in building up the Empire, and have taken a brilliant part in arms . and politics, as well as in all other professional life of tne whole country. To speak of a native of Ireland as ■' foreign " is a monstrous paradox. But the influence that the use of such a word, and of the policy which Mr. Gladstone has instituted, may be far more grevious and terrible in our dependencies and colonies even than in Ireland. The effect upon our splendid and precious dominion in India may be disastrous. India is wonderfully and admiraldy governed by laws, British made and administered in the main by British officials. Under our law and our rule over two hundred and fifty millions of the Queen's subjects in India enjoy a beneficent government to which they had before been absolute strangers. But there are ambitions, and jealousies, and race antagonisms in India. Once teach the Hindoo agitators that the Prime Minister of the Queen regards the laws and the rule under which they live as " Foreign," and therefore hateful to them, and a frightful impetus will be given to native discontent and to Imperial disruption. Home Rule or separation will be demanded by this and that race and govern- ment of India with ever increasing pressure. This Bill will be the lever and polestar of all those dangerous influences, within and without, which are ready and anxious to break up the Empire of England. Foreign rivals and fo'eign foes are ivatching eagerly, and with hopeful ambition, the disruption and enfeel-le- ment of the widest and wealthiest dominion that the world has ever known. Russia is l:)urning to be our legatee in Hindostan. France would gladly take our place in the Mediterranean and the far East. Even Germany, good and valuable ally as she is to England, when our power is firmly and consistently maintained I20 MR. GLADSTONE'S EPITHET "FOREIGN." hy ministers of courag^e and resolve, could not be expected to forego the tempting inheritance of our Colonial possessions. The Duke of Argyll, in his powerful speech at Glasgow, on April 2 1 St, 1886, vehemently attacked Mr. Gladstone's use ot Ihe word " Foreign " :— " Let me say a word as to the precaution, the limitations, the securities which Mr. Gladstone has invented. I believe them not to be worth the paper on which they are written, and, what is more, I tell you this — that Mr. Gladstone has him- self, by his recent speeches, put into the hands of the Irish people a weapon with which they will be justified in destroying it, for what was he tempted to say? He said that we were afoieign people to the Irish, and I suppose that if we are foreign to the Irish pi ic the Irish people are foreign to us. Well, now, look what will happen. Ti.e new Parliam. nt will assemble in Dublin, if this Bill passes, and the liih patriots will say, ' Look here, here is the Prime Minister of England telling you that the Acts passed at Westminster are the Acts of a foreign Parliament. That Parliament imposed a tribute of seven millions sterling upon us. That is a foreign tribute ; away with it.' Well, g ntlemen, there will be our ships coursing round t'le coasts of Ireland ; there will be our forts planted on the headlands of the Iiish coast, and we shall hive Nationalists pointing out and saying, ' Look here, Mr. Gladstone has taught us to say these ships are fjreign ships, that these forts are foreign forts, let us imll them down, let us send torpedoes against the fleets.' I do not see wh.it the argument is. If our former legislation was foreign so will this Bill be foreign. It will be passed at Westminster, and then look at the conditions which Ireland professes to accept. Ireland has no longer anything to do with Imperial policy. There are thirteen i^'reai siibjeets in this BUI from 7vhiek Irishmen are forn'cr exelnded. They are Imperial subjects. Irishmen are to have nothing to say to them ? Do you think that that condition of things is likely to last? Will not the Irish say, and say justly, 'these are humiliations put upon us by a foreign Power, and a foreign Parliament, and we will not submit to them ?' Therefore I say that all limitations, weak in themselves, we.ikly conceived, and weak in their own nature, will be blown up as it were by gunpowder, by the force which Mr. Gladstone has put into that teriible word 'foreign.' (Cheers.) I join in that protest of my distinguished friend, your chairnan, as to the use ot this word 'foreign.' It was not only in my opinion a monstrous word to use in Great Britain and the United Kingdom, it was a fatal word to use ; but besides being wrong, in my opinion morally wrong, historically wrong, it is pure nonsense. (Cheer-.) The Irish people are of the same race as ourselves ; there is a large Celtic element in them : and so I rejoice to say there is in .Scotland. I have been looking back lately into old documents connected with the iilh, I2th, and 13th centuries in this country, and I was amazed to find that even down so far into the low country as the county of Fife, the great mass of the population were of Celtic stock and spoke Gaelic up to a very recent date. (Cheers.) JTe are a mixed people : happily under the providence of Heaven our mixed races always have been the strongest. /;; our blood, in England, Scotland, and in Ireland as laell, the Saxon, Dane, and Norman have united in a happy and glorious combination. You may depend upon it that if Mr.Parncll and his followers accept this Bill they accept it only as a step. (Hear, hear.) The fact of their submitting to such humiliating conditions as regards Imperial policy is, in my mind, an absolute jjroof that they do not mean to keep to it ; they mean to make it a stepping stone to final and to total separation. T^e link to the Crown will become a mere nominal link ; and their proclivities and their tendencies, if they remain as they are, will be, I grieve to say, with the enemies of the United Kingdom. (Cheers.) I deny that we have a moral ri^ht to ■ cast adrift the Irish jieople. (Cheers.) We have no right, no moral right, to abandon two-fifths of the people of Ireland, the Protestant minority, and not the AN APPEAL FROM ULSTER. 121 Protestant minority only, but a very large proportion of Catliolics also who object to it — -(cheers) — no right to abandon the Protestant minority as such — you have no right to abandon the commercial classes as such — the bankers, the lawyers, the merchants of Belfast and Dublin, who with one voice have protested against that. I have Irish blood in my own veins. (Loud cheers.) I was born in a house and brought up in a house in this beautiful valley of thi Clyde, in the ancient province of Lennox, in which the sacred words, 'my milher,' when I heard them in childhood were always spoken of an Irish woman. (Cheers.) I deny, I repudiate the language of Mr. Gladstone. Tne Irish are not foreign to us, and we are not foreign io them. (Cheers.) They are bom of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. (Hear, hear.) They have contributed to our national glory great warriors, great lawyers, great statesmen — among them one of the greatest statesmen that ever graced the Parliament of Westminster — Edmund Burke. (Cheers.) They have contributed to buiUl up this glorious Empire ; we wish to keep them united to us ; we wish to keep them members of our glorious dominions, and under the security of our united lands." (Loud cheers.) The maintenance of the British Empire i.s a question of vital import to the masses of our people. Strip Eng-land of her possessions abroad and these islands, now the centre and heart ot a mig^hty and wealtho^ivingf Empire, would sink to the level of a third-rate power. With Empire will gro our commerce and manu- facture ; and with the loss of trade, the sustenance and lifeblood ot our working' classes are taken away. The population of these islands would be reduced one-half, either by emigration or by the terrible alternative of starvation. Destitution and ruin and misery of the most appalling- kind would reign throughout the land. The poorest classes Avould suffer the most, for the margin that separates them from want is the narrowest. Great social and economical -catastrophes always most effect the wage-earning classes. It behoves the working men ot England and Scotland, if they value their own dearest interests, to resist a scheme that will be absolutely fatal to their wellbeing. AN APPEAL FROM ULSTER. The Rev. Dr. Kane, the well-known Ulster Loyalist, concluded a brilliant speech at St. James' Hall, on June 22nd, with the following" appeal : He did not agree that the voice of the majority ought to prevail (laughter), and In Ireland, dominated by a coterie who boycotted and bulleted, the majority was sure to be bad. But, after all, the majority of the people in the United Kingdom were not in favour of Home Rule. When they knew how the majority was obtained in Ireland the majority ought not to prevail. Ought three millions of people, most of them illiterate, be in a position to demand a cha7ige which would ■affect the whole of the United Kingdom ? Only for his respect for age he should repeat what the late Mr. .Spurgeon said, that only a madman could propose the Home Rule Bill. (Cheers.) If he did not say it (laughter) he l:)elieved it. (Hear, hear.) Now they might ask him — what do you demand? They demanded nothing. They were content with the same legislation as the rest of the United Kingdom. They deserved at least as much as the moon- lighters of Kerry, and yet they did not make or presume to make a ■demand for a separate Parliament. They came there to tell them that poor Ireland had had a chequered history, and that the only change that the had had was daring the hst 1 00 years under the legislative Union with Great 122 AN APPEAL FROM ULSTER. l^ritain. Nothing had retarded lier progress or hindered h- r happiness except the restless, lawless spirit which had been the curse of Ireland during all her history. (Hear, hear. ) They had adjured the tnglish people in the name of their common empirii not to cast Ireland back into the cauldron of agitation under the delusion that they were besti>wing upon her self-government. They told the English people that during the last six years the country ha 1 enjoyed wonderful peace. (" Cheers for Balfour.") Let them renew the lease of power of those statesmen who had achieved that victory for Ireland and piloted her into the harbour of peace and happiness. (Cheers.) »^ as this making any special demand for Ulster? Their position was this — ojie Si>7'creign, ont- Constitution, one Parliament, one Kin^'dom. t gdher loith the fullest civil and relii^ious liberty, and equal justice for all the people of every creed and party inhabiting the British Islands. (Cheers.) That -A as their position, and they besought them not to heed the bluster and jeering of Sir VV. Ilarcourt (loud groans and hisses), who was so beautifully stewing in his I'wn Parnellite juice. Do not let them be misled by the imbecile platitudes and miserable cant of Mr. Gladstone. (Cheers and a voice, " Let him have it. ') Do not let these things blind them to the fact that within the next few weeks they had io give before God and the country a solemn and f dthful deliver- ance, in which was bound up with the lion lur of the Sovereign ihe greatness of their Kmpire and the civil and leligions liberty of their fellow-subjects in Ireland. (Cheers.) There was just one other point. He agreed with Lord Londonderry that thev were in a difficulty. If they spoke out their minds they were called rebels ; if they used moderate language they were said to have given only a luke- warm allegiance to Lord Salisbury. But he should like to ask one question. WTiat reception would a Home Rule Parliament meet in Ulster and from Irish Loyalists ? (Loud cheers. ) If he were to quote the words of a venerable statesman he would say. "That is a question which is not ripe foi' iliscussion," (Laughter and renewed cheer-.) When a Home Rule Parliament seemed to them to be inevitable they would tell them straight from the shoulder what reception it would get. (Heir, hear.) (Jnc nditinnal suhinissi'-'n was no part of the Englisk>nan''s creed. They had had their rebellions, and the English people had never accepted the doc'rine of unconditional submission. Thev had rebelled against injustice, oppression, and arbitrary power. Well, the Irish Loyalists claimed to hav^ the same sentiments as the English people. They had the same burning love of civil an 1 religious liberty thu ihy had. If they had to choose between arbitrary oppression and an appeal for justice to the God of battles, he had no more doubt than he had aliout h s existence that that appeal would be made and that Ciod would defend the right. (Loud cheers.) They would say in tones which could not be mistaken, '^ Hands off' whether those who assailed them were veiled rebels or an open foe or a statesman inebriated by the exuberance of his own verbosity. (Loud laughter.) They would be with Britain in saying "Hands off" to any man who proposed anything calculated to dim the glory, weaken the strength, or impair the unity of the Empire of their Sovereign lady the Queen. (Loud cheers.) THE WORK OF THE LEAGUES. Mr. Arnold Foster, in an article in the Nineleenth Century, of February, i886, entitled "Shall we desert the Loyalists?" wrote : — "If I could only help the public to realise, as I and all who have seen the thing face to face have realised, the sordid details of these Land League crimes ; if 1 could take them, stip by step, through ihe whole process of indimidation, robbery, and murder ; if I could show them who have been ihe victims, and who the organisers and perpetrators ; if I could take them to the lonely cottages, where men and women, sick with fear, and kno7ving they were deserted have waited till they THE TRUTH ABOUT COERCION. 123 heard tJie Land Lcai^uc's nussenge7-s 0)1 the threshold ; then, I think, I should not have to plead as I do for the protection of honest men in Ireland. Jf, for cue hour, this b.ise conspiracy could be stripped of the glamour of sham respectability with which the falsehoods 01 its promoters and the ready gullibility of some Eng- lishmen have invested it, I should cease to fear the triumph of the Land League. For the present, I fear there is no chance of this being done, and what I want the public to understand is that, in fact, at this very day, there is existing, within twenty-four hours' journey from London, a state of lawless and barbarous terrorism, brought about, if the late Prime Minister of England and five-sixths of his col- leagues are to be believed, by the operation of the very men to whom it is I'roposed to hand over the £overnment of Ireland " THE TRUTH ABOUT COERCION. Mr. Morleys excuse in 1886 for letting- the National League work, its will by merciless boycotting, by midnight outrage, and by dishonest repudiation of legal obligations, was that if the money subscribed did not " now go to the open purposes of the League, it would then go to the more execrable purpose of dynamite." A noble confession for a Minister of the Crown and a Minister of England to make! A greater incentive to the lawless and cruel coercion of the National League could not be conceived than that speech of Mr. John Alorley. It is easy to imagine the chuckle with which such confessions of impotence on the part of the Queen's Government are hailed by every traitorous conspirator, by every village tyrant, and by every lawless blackmailer from Dublin to Kerry, and from Donegal to Wexford. Mr. Morley, and those who like to delude themselves by cheap claptrap, raise a cuckoo cry against coercion, as if coercion was out of place to those who persistently and brutally defy the law. Coercion: There is a great deal of delusion about this word. What were the Irish people groaning under from 18S0 to 1886, but coercion i It was coercion of the worst and most demoralising kind — coercion of the loyal by the disloyal, of the honest by the dishonest, of the law-abiding by the lawless ; in a word, of the best elements of society by the worst. There was no freedom in Ireland then, there was tyranny ot the most barbarous, selfish, and licentious kind — the tyranny of a band of harpies who had been allowed to fasten their yoke upon the neck of an ignorant and excitable peasantry, it was coercion, inspired by self-seeking, living upon social greed, fed with foreign money, upholding its base ascendency by outrage, murder, and by a dark and fiendish system of terror. It was coercion that was stamping out of a people, capable of great and generous development, every sentiment of honesty, order, and loyalty. It was coercion, whose agents .spared neither the helolessness of women nor the innocence of children, nor the 124 THE TRUTH ABOUT COERCION. harmlessness of the dumb creation. It was a coercion that persecuted and menaced the g'allant daug-hters of a murdered Irish farmer, whose only crime was that they, with rare courage, helped their father to defend his homestead against armed assassins. It was coercion that cut off the ear and the cheek of a poor labouring" man of seventy years of age, and turned him out, mutilated and helpless, to the bitter blasts of a winter niofht. It was coercion that held down an innocent and defence- less woman, who tried to defend her child from ill-usage, that her feet might be gnawed and torn by savage dogs. It was coercion that publicly mocked at the agony of a poor widow, whose husband had just been foully murdered. For such a coercion as this, we say to Mr. John Morley, and to all of his kidney, that one remedy alone is applicable — and that is the majesty of the law. Every honest man in Great Britain would meet the foul and inhuman coercion of the National League by the just coercion of the law. Englishmen have so long enjoyed the priceless benefits of order and of equal justice, that there is danger lest they lose sight of the blessings which the reign of law has conferred upon all classes in England. If we look at epochs of past history, when the tyranny of a despot, or the no less destructive oppression ot democratic anarchy prevailed, it will be found that all classes suffered bitterly, owing to the absence of law, and none so much as the poorest. If we look at countries where in our own time there is capricious injustice and widespread suffering, such as the anarchi'-al republics of South America, or the blighting autocracy of St. Petersburg, or among the uncontrolled despotisms of Asia, it will be found that the main cause of all the wrong, discontent, and misery is the absence of a system of order and equal law. Before the law — which happily prevails in England and among the most civilised nations of the world — the rich and the poor have the same rights and the same verdict. For the reign of law is a primary condition of civilisation. Destroy the authority of the law and security, social confidence, the progress of trade, and national prosperity, are all overthrown. Mr. Gladstone was not Mr. Gladstone as he was always, in word, at least, indifferent to the duty of Governments, and to the supremacy of the law. These are the words he used in Parliament in 1849, upon a debate on the Canadian rebellion : — "When I speak of the honour of the Crown, I mean neither more nor less than a faithful discharge of the duties of Government, for the honour of the Crown consists in that; and one of the first duties of a government is that which appertains to the maintenance of public order, and which requires you to draw a clear line of distinction between those who rise up against the Government, and endeavour to overturn it by violence, and those who respect its laws, and who are ready to support it with their lives and substance. But if you obscure that line of TAMPERING WITH REVOLUTION. 125 demarcation — if you allow the loyal man and the rebel to be confounded — if yoir pervert the principles of mercy, which makes punishment lenient, and ertct them into a law ayainst the principle of justice, which determines between light and wrong, then you sin against the honour of the Crown, and abandon the most sacred- duties of a Government." But supjport for any and every view and for all policies, however mutually antag"onistic, can be found in Mr. Gladstone's speechej. He is a master of noble sentiments, the very Joseph Surface of politics. If the laws are not what we think they should be, they can be altered in a constitutional way. Xo one can say that there is any check upon political activity or ag"itation in this country, or any difficulty in making popular grievances widely and effectively known. Least of all can it be said that Irish grievances or Irish complaints fail to obtam a prompt hearing and ready redress. Lord Hartington, in his statesmanlike and most impressive speech in the House of Commons on April 9th, 1886, made the following remarks upon the misuse of the term "coercion": — " I cannot help thinking that the Prime Minister for the purpose of his argument has somewhat overstated the difhculties and the inefficiency and the impossibility of continuing to govern Ireland by the mingled system of remedial and repressive legislation. I do not admit that history, especially recent history, supports this argument. 1 appeal to the experience of his own Governnienr, and I maintain that Lord Spencer by his administration, by the firm exercise of the powers con- ferred upon him by the Crimes Act, did to a great extend restore the operation of law, and the confidence in that operation of law. I believe that if that law, instead of terminating as it did at the close of the last session, had been a permanent Act, to be maintained as long as the necessity continued — (Opposition cheers and Home Rule laughter) — I do not think that we should have heard my right hon. friend yesterday declaring that the future government of Ireland on the same lines as in the past was an impossibility.'' TAMPERING WITH REVOLUTION. Mr. Gladstone made, in 1886, the remarkable admission that during the predominance of Liberal Ministeries since 1832, or, as he puts it, "during the fifty-three years since we advanced far in the career of Liberal principles and actions," (oercion has greatly increased in Ireland. He showed by figures that in the thirty-two years from iSoo to 1832, when the Tory party was in the ascendency, that there were eleven years quite free from coercion against Ireland; but that in the fifty-three years from 1833 to 1885 there were only two years free from coercion. This seemed to the Priine Minister an amazing fact, though it is well known to the Conservative party that Irish disorder has always been the natural outcome of Liberal maladministration. For the Liberal theory of dealing with Ireland thus far has been first to tamper with revolution and lawlessness in the hopes of winning the Irish vote, and then, after the country has been plunged into crime and anarchy, to turn 126 MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. round and repress with a most savage coercion what they had previously encourag-ed. Mr. Gladstone said that the coercion hitherto employed had been "spurious and ineffectual," and that, to be successful, it must be "maintained with a greater spirit, courage, and consistency than heretofore." This is strictly true as to the enforcement of the ordinary or the extraordinary laws for governing Ireland. Excessive powers of repression are not needed ; it is the steady, resolute, and consistent administration by the Executive Government of those powers that is essential. MR, BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT OF 1887. There has been more Radical misrepresentation regarding Mr. Balfour's Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act of 1887 than any other part of the Government programme. It has been freely stated that the measure was not necessary, that it is uni)recedented and oppressive in its character, and that it has been cruel and unfair in its operation. As a matter of fact, Mr, Balfour's Bill was far less drastic in its provisions th an either of Mr. Gladstone's Acts of 18S1 or 1882. It created no new offences, it was used most sparingly, and it was most effective in its results. Agrarian crime fell from 4,439 cases in 1881, and from 1,056 cases in 1886 when Lord Salisbury took office, to 472 in 1892. There were in June, 1892, on ihe eve of the General Election, only two persons in prison under its operation, and the Act of 1892 was then in force in only a very few districts of Ireland. Its result was to restore order and peace to Ireland — to extirpate the curse of boycotting — and to give safety and happiness to loyal and honest subjects of the Queen. No law- abiding or honest citizen ever suffered from its enactment. Only the mutilators, outrage mongers, boycotters, and assassins were punished under it. PLAN OF CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN 1886. The Plan of Campaign — that most daring and dishonest off- shoot of the Irish agrarian agitation — had been launched in the autumn of 1886, and was in full swing. Meetings were being held ■ throughout the country at which the most vehement incitements to disorder were delivered, followed by the natural crop of out- rages and crime. The Nationalists had openly declared that it was their intention to make British Government in Ireland im- possible, and to force the Government to pass the Crimes Act. MR. JOHN REDMOND, M.P., at the Chicago Convention in August, 1886, spoke as follows: — '• The duty of the moment is clear. It now remains for us to prove, for the thousandth time, that as slaves we can be formidable foes. I assert here to-day NECESSITY FOR MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. 127 that the Government of Ireland by England is an impossibility, and I believe it to be our duty to make it so. ' ' NECESSITY FOR THE CRIMES ACT OF 1887. The condition of a great part of the South of Ireland when Mr. Balfour took up the reins of Government may be g-athered from the charg-es delivered by the Judg-es at the Spring- Assizes of 1887. On Feb. 28th Mr. Justice O'Brien, who had been raised to the bench by Mr, Gladstone in 1882, addressing- the Grand Jury of County Clare, said : — " All these returns which I have before me, and the information which has reached me, from other quarters of an unquestionably authentic character, lead me to the conclusion that laiOy to a great extent, has ceased to exist in this county." — {Freemati's Journal, March i, 1887.) And on the loth of March the same Judge addressed the Grand Jury of county Kerry, as follows : — "These returns present a picture of the county of Kerry such as could hardly be round in any country that has parsed the confines of natural society, and entered on the duties and relations and acknowledged obligations of civilized life. The law is defeated — perhaps I should rather say has ceased to exist — houses are attacked by night and by day, even the midnight terror yielding to the noonday audacity of crime ; person and life are assailed ; terrified inmates are wholly unable to do anything to protect themselves, and « stite of terror and laiulessness prevails everywhere^ — Freeman's yonrnal, March li, 1887. Similarly, on the 14th March, 1887, Mr. Justice Johnson, who had been Attorney-General for Ireland under Mr. Gladstone's Government, and had been raised to the bench by him, in his charge to the County Cork Grand Jury, said : — "The returns from this and the West Riding — and they cover a period of only three months since the last Winter Assizes — show that in a considerable portion of this great country the people who live in remote and isolated districts are subject to violence, alarm, and plunder, by day and by night — principally by night — from gangs of armed men, disguised mainly, who rove through tlie country seizing aj-ms, plundering property, always with a show of violence, often accompanied with threats, and sometimes iviih assaults of the meanest and most dastardly character.'" — Daily Express, March 15, 1887. FAILURE OF THE ORDINARY LAW. The attempt to cope with this state of things by means of the ordinary law had completely failed. Witnesses were afraid to give evidence, and people who had been assailed by moonlighters, and who had given evidence to the police in the heat of the moment, turned away when confronted with their assailants, and refused to identify them. Nor was this to be wondered at when they saw the persecution which followed persons like the I2§ NECEiJSITY FOR MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. Curtins, and Norah Fitzmaurice,* whose only offence was that they g-ave evidence which brought their fathers' murderers to justice. Even if evidence were forthcoming-, jurors were afraid to convict. Men who did their duty according- to their oaths were held up to popular execration and were boycotted, and both the Limerick and Clare Assizes in March, 1887, were adjourned by the presiding judges owing to verdicts of acquittal in cases where the guilt of the accused had been proved to demonstration. MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN'S TESTIMONY. In October, 1885, only a few months after he had ceased to be Chief Secretary for Ireland, had attacked the Conservative Government, in a speech addressed to the Scottish Liberal Association at Perth, for attempting to carry on the government of Ireland with the ordinary criminal law procedure, he said : — " But the key of the whole of this queslion was this — that in many parts ot Ireland, for certain classes of offences, especially offences of an agrarian character, they could not trust to the ordinary class of jurymen doing their duty, partly from ignorance, partly from prejudice, liut mainly owinj; to the cruel and overpowering system of terror under the National League. They could not be sure with the clearest evidence of being able to get a verdict. Now he maintained that, in order to uphold the arm of justice in Ireland, it was not merely reasonable, but tiecessary, to provide some measures which could overcome that difficu'ty, and it might very ivell' have been made part of the permanent laiu." After describing the state of terrorism existing in Ireland, he said : — "All I thought was wanting was that we should provide mean by which there could be secured, easily and equitably, and without injury to anyone, a fair and impartial trial for certain kinds of offences, in the trial of which you cannot depend upon the ordinary Irish Juryman doing his duty. I mean by a fair trial, a trial fair not only to the man charged, but to the victim of the offence, and to the * Mr. Curlin, it will be remembered, was a well to do farmer in Kerry, whose house was visited one night by moonlighters. He and his family resisted them, and Mr. Curtin was shot. His daughters identified two of their assailants, and secured their conviction. Mrs. Curtin and her afmily, who had previously been on good terms with all their neighbours, were thereupon completely boycotted. They could not go out or even attend their place of worship without being hooted and insulted. They were obliged to have a police protection hut at their door, and the persecution to which they were subjected was such that they were at last compelled to sell their farm and leave the country. The case of Norah Fitzmautice was precisely similar. Her father was shot before her eyes on the public road. She identitie i and secured the conviction of his murderers, for which offence she was cruelly boycotted, and obliged to be protected by police. Her sad story, told by herself, is to be found in the evidence taken before the Special Commission. MR. ]!ALFOUR\S CRIMES ACT. 129 community which is injured by the commission of the offence. WitlioiU this the crm of justice must be paralysed, unnerved, and I am much mistaken if tlaat is not the case at the present day." — Scotsman, October 24th, 1885. Mr, Gladstone himself stated, in the speech in which he in- troduced the Home Rule Bill of i386, that it was impossible to depend in Ireland upon the findinif of a jury in a case ct agrarian crime. THE CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE ACT, 1887. Under such circumstances the Government had no alternative but to ask Parliament to add to the effective force of the law such provisions as would enable the Executive to bring- guilty persons to justice. .Accordingly they introduced and carried through Parliament the Criminal Law and Procedure Act of 1887- This Act did not, as has been so constantly asserted, make any- thing an offence which was not one before, but simply introduced some changes in procedure. With two exceptions, its provisions are substantially taken from Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act of 1882, while it did not re-enact the severer portions of that Act or of Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act of 1881. The Criminal Law and Procedure Act of 1887 provides- (section i) for a preliminary inquiry upon oath where a crime has been committed, although no person has been charged with, the commission thereof (compare section 16 of the Crimes Act. of 1882); this being one of the provisions specially advccated by Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, in the speech at Perth, which has been already referred to. A similiv provision exh/s in Scotland as part of the oniinary criminal procedure; but when put into force in Ireland it was- described by the Nationalists as the "Star-chamber" clause. Section 2 provides for the trial before a court ot summary jurisdiction of any person committing any of the following oflfences in a proclaimed district: — (a) Taking part in any criminal conspiracy already punishabh by Unj. (b) Using violence or intimidaiion to any person, either to make him do that which he has a right to abstain from doing, or to abstain from doing that which he has a right to do. (e) Taking part in any riot or unlawful assembly. (d) Taking forcible possession of. a house or land within twelve months after execution of a writ of possession thereof (e) Assaulting or obstructing officers of the law in the execution of their duty. (/) Inciting any person to commit any of the above offences. K 2 I30 MR. GLADSTONE INTENDED THE SAME LAW. All these provisions, with the exception of (a), are practically identical with those contained in sections 7 and 8 of Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act of 1882; and the sole object of this section is to secure a fair trial in these cases. (See Mr. Campbell-Bannerman's speech at Stirling, already quoted.) The remaining- sections contain provisions for /rial by special jury, change of venue, the proclamation of certain districts for the purposes of the Act, and for the proclamation by the Lord Lieutenant of any association as being dangerous, if he is satisfied that it is formed for the commission of or for encouraging- crimes, promoting or inciting to acts of violence or intimidation, or interfering with the administration of the law (compare sections 4, 6, 9, 23, and 34, Crimes Act, 1882). The punishment ww^Ktr the Act of 1887 ?> limited to six months' impriso?imcnt; and the widest powers 0/ appeal are open to anyone convicted under it. MR. GLADSTONE INTENDED THE SAME PLAN. We have it on the authority of Sir George Trevelyan, M.P., who was Chief Secretary for Ireland under Lord Spencer, that, in the summer of 1885, // was the intention of Mr. Gladst07ie's Government {of which Sir George Trevelyati was then a member) had they remained in office, to have passed a precisely similar measure to this Act, for which a Conservative Government has been so .abused. Speaking to his Scotch constituents in May, 1886, ihe said : — " In last June, Mr. Gladstone and his Cabinet determined to maintain the law in Ireland. They resolved to have a prcUniiiiary investigation on oat/i into undetected crime, 'tvhicli you have in Scotland. They resolved to have power of changing the scene of a trial from a locality where public feeling was too strong for that trial to be a fair one, a power which you have in Scotland. They resolved to call a special jury in cases of crime, as a substitute for the far more potent and effective system of convicting or acquitting by a majority of jurors, which you have in .Scotland. Thev resolved to allow a summary sentence of a Jcio months to he inflicted for crimes ofvilence and intimidation by t-^co stipendiary magistrates, who answer in essential respects to your Scotch sheriffs. That is coercion ! That is the system, greatly effective as a check on crime, but absolutely without any terror . or danger to law-abiding citizens. ' — Mr. Trevelyan at Galashiels, The Times, May ■Sth, 1886. THE CRIMES ACT OF 1882. The Criminal Law and Procedure Act, of 1887 did not re-enact the severer portions of Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1882, such as the provisions giving power — (a) To try cases of treason, murder, arson, attacks on dwelling-houses, &c., without a jury, by a Special Commission of three Judges (Prevention ot Crime Act, 1882, sections 1—3) ; PROCLAMATION OF THE LEAGUE. 131 (d) To any constable to arrest any person in a proclaimed district out of his place of abode at any time after one hour later than sunset and before sun- rise, under circumstances giving rise to a reasonable suspicion of a criminal intent (section 11) ; the person arrested being liable to three months' imprison- ment (section ii) ; (c) To a constable to arrest any stranger found in a proclaimed district, under circumstances giving rise to a reasonable suspicion of a criminal intent, and to bring him before a Justice of the Peace, who might require him to give security, and in default commit him to prison for one month (section 1 2) ; ((/) And to the Lord Lieutenant to seize any newspaper (section 13). The Criminal Law and Procedure Act of 1S87 became law on the 19th of July, and the first question which the Government had to decide was, whether or not the National League, which had been allowed to spring up under Mr. Gladstone's administration, after the suppression of the Land League, and which had been described by Sir "William Harcourt as the " apostolic successor " of //m/ lody, should be prcclaimcd a: a ' dangerous assccia/ion.' Mr. Parnell had warned the Government on the introduction of the Act that " coercion " had been answered in former times by " dynamite, and by fresh attempts at assassination and con- spiracy." The real question at issue, however, was which was to be supreme in Ireland, the (.xovernment or the National League. PROCLAMATION OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE. On the 19th of August i8S~, the Governmenl threw down the gage, and proclaimed the Xa/ zonal League as a " dangerous asso'ciafi'on." Mr. John Morley revoked that proclamation in September, i8q2. Mr. Balfour's proclamation was received by the Nationalists with a howl of derision, but Mr. Balfour went quietly to work, disregarding the clamour which was raised both in Ireland and England. The Irish Nationalist Members had declared that under the "Crimes " Act the gaols would be filled to overflowing. Mr. \V. O'Brien, M.P., speaking at the Rotunda, in Dublin, on October lOth, 1887, said: — •'I tell him '" (Mr. Balfour) '• candidly here to-night that the fixed resolve of all the millions of men and women is to defy this infamous and abominable Act, ami to thwart and obstruct it in every possible way." — Freeman's yoitrnal, Ofiioh&v wxh, 18S7. The Keny Sentinel, the organ of Mr. E. Harrington, ^I.P., declared, in a leading article dated March ist, 18S7, that — •' The jails li'ill be craninicd, and the Coercion Act must soon die out, a victim to its own rapacity. " And the Weekly News, edited by Mr. T. D. Sullivan, M.P., in a leading article, on April 9th, 1887, wrote as follows : — " It only needs, therefore, that seven or eight hundred men shall be immured, to 132 MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. render Mr. Balfour's Bill less valuable tlian the paper on which it is printed. He can imprison no more than the prisons can hold, and those who are outside then can snn)> their fingers at his best or worst." SMALL AMOUNT OF COERCION. In view of these declarations it is interesting" to note what a small amount of so-called coercion has actually taken place, and what excellent results it has produced. The total luimher of persons proceeded against under the Criminal Law and Procedure Act, from the date of its passing- to the 31st of March, 1892, was 3,775, of whom 1,047 were discharged, and 2,728 convicted. In 671 cases the defendants were ordered to find sureties or enter into recognizances for their good behaviour, and the number of individuals who have been imprisoned under the Act to the 31st of March, 1S92, is only 1884. The highest penalty which can be inflicted u?ider the Act is six months' im- prisoJimcnt, and onh' 181 persons have been sentenced to more than three months imprisomnent, while 1,099, or considerably more than half the total number imprisoned, were sentenced for terms not exceeding one motith. The number of persons who were imprisoned twice was 88, among" them being Mr. John Dillon, M.P., who spent his time on ■each occasion in hospital. Fifteen were imprisoned three times, and only two four times — namely, Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., and Mr. O'Sullivan, a Town Councillor of Galway, and an -ardent Parnellite. The total number of persons in prison under the Act on the \stcf JSlay, 1892, 7vas six, and in June, 1892, only ttvo persons. APPEALS. There were 565 appeals against decisions under the Act, ■Vkith the result that 344 decisions zvere aflirmed, 80 reversed, and in J 4 1 cases the seiitence was reduced. ONE THOUSAND PERSONS IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL BY MR. GLADSTONE. , It must be remembered that under the Criminal Law and Procedure Act of 1887 no one can be imprisoned without a fair trial in open Court, whereas, under Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act of 1 88 1, his Government arrested and imprisotted over one thousand persons as " suspects," without any trial whatever. The number ot prosecutions under the Act of 1887 steadily diminished each year. Thus the number of prosecutions in 1888 was r475 ; in 1889, 839; in 1890, 531 ; and in 1891, 243; but though the Act became by 1892 in practice almost a dead letter, the effect which it produced was eminently satisfactory. .EFFECT OF MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. 133 DIMINUTION IN NUMBER OF AGRARIAN OUTRAGES. The number of agrarian outrages diminished from 1,056 in 1886, to 455 in 1891, or less than in any year since 1878. The following- table, compiled from the Government Returns, shows the number of agrarian outrages in each year since 1S80: NUMBER OF AGRARIAN OUTRAGES. Year. N umbel ■ of Outrages. 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 2,585 4,439 3-433 870 762 1 Under Mr. Gladstone's Government. 1885 1886 944 1,056 Change of Government iu each year. 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 S83 65o 534 519 472 f ^ Under the Unionist Government. 1892 455 It will be observed that the number of agrarian crimes, which in I '"^81 and 1882 reached the enormous totals of 4,439 and 3,433, largely diminished as the result of the Crimes Acts passed in each of those years, but that on the Crimes Act of 1S82 being allowed to lapse in 18S5, the finmber 0/ agrarian outrages immediately began to rise, until it was again checked by the Act of 1S87. DECREASE OF BOYCOTilNG. On the 30th of June, 1887, immediately Ijefore the Criminal Law and Procedure Act became law, no less than 4,901 persons were boycotted. On the 31st of December, 1890, the number had been reduced to 472, since which date boycotting has practi- cally died out. The number of persons relieved from the intoler- able tyranny of boycotting is therefore more than double the number of persons who have been imprisoned under the so-called '• Coercion " Act. The improved state of the country enabled the Government in June, i89(, to suspend the operations of those portions of the Criminal Law and Procedure Act which conferred on the magis- .134 EFFECT OF MR. BALFOUR'S CRIMES ACT. trates summary jurisdiction as regards criminal conspiracy, using violence, or intimidation (those being the portions chiefly objected to as "coercion "), over the whole of Ireland except in the County Clare, and three baronies in Gahvay, one in Doiiegal, and one in Tipper aiy. In April, 1892, these five baronies zvtre also exempted. REDUCTION OF POLICE FORCE. It was also possible largely to reduce the number of police, t,he actual strength of the Royal Irish Constabulary on the 1st of May, 1892, being between 300 and 400 less than on the 1st of May, 1886. The average number of Irish police in the five financial years of ]Mr. Gladstone's Government, iS 1852 Crime and Outrage Act (Continuance) Cons, 1853 Ditto Lib. 1854 Ditto >> i8^S Ditto »> 18^6 Peace Preservation Act i8s6 Unlawful Oaths Act (Continuance"! >> Date. Acts. Vlinistiy 1870 Peace Preservation Act Lib. 1871 Protection of Life and Property (West- meath Act) )> 1873 Peace Preservation Act, &c. (Continuance)... ?) 187s Ditto ditto Cons. 1881 Protection of Life and Property Act Lib. 1881 Arms Act )) 1882 Crimes Prevention Act ») 1887 Criminal Law Proce- dure Act Cons. MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. 137 MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. When Mr. Gladstone asks this country to follow him in his latest and wildest experiment as to Ireland, it is right to pause and to ask what credentials he bringfs from the past for the confidence of his countrymen. And here Mr. Morley may be reminded that his slipshod generalisation as to all British Government in Ireland having been an hopeless failure, is a very easy way of getting rid of historical facts. It is not true to say that what Mr. Morley calls coercion, but what we call vindication of the law, has been a failure in Ireland. The reverse is the case. Whenever the law has been firmly and steadily asserted and upheld, then peace and prosperity have prevailed in that country. From 1S50, down to 1866, Ireland made regular and remarkable progress. It was not till Mr. Gladstone discovered his upas tree, and commenced his onslaughts on English supremacy, that the downward course was begun. Ag'ain, from 1874 till 1880, under Lord Beaconsfield's resolute administration, the descent towards anarchy was completely checked. After, however, Mr. Glad- stone's nerveless and anarchising hand took possession of the helm of state in 18S0, Irish affairs went steadily backwards. From 1886 to 1892 under the firm administration of Lord Salisbury, crime was again dispelled, and peace and prosperity reigned. The real danger is in England, not in Ireland. The arch enemy of order and Imperial union is not so much the Nationalist Party as Mr. Gladstone. Ireland had been rapidly improving in 1866, when Mr. Gladstone began to turn the Chapel Bell into a dominant political force. The old race hatred was dying out and order and prosperity went hand in hand. The record of Mr. Gladstone and of his party in their dealings with Ireland has been a record of universal, unbroken failure. In 1868 Mr Gladstone made the overthrow of British ascendency in Ireland his basis, and the keystone of his future policy. He laid his destructive axe at " the upas tree of British ascendency." The Prime Minister of England, bound by every consideration of honour, duty, and patriotism to uphold and strengthen the civilising and beneficent influence of his country, deliberately undertook to destroy British ascendency in Ireland. Fatally has he succeeded. The Church, the rights of the loyal landowners, the principles of economy, the majesty of the law, the peace of the realm have all been sacrificed to this perverse and injurious policy. Now the end has come. He now wishes to make the last 138 MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. and most desperate sacrifice of all to the insatiable demands of the Irish revolution. Mr. Gladstone is prepared to abandon the security of the United Kingdom, the union and strength of the Empire, and capitulate before the menaces of a sordid conspiracy. Each blow aimed by Mr. Gladstone's fatal axe at British ascendency in Ireland has brought to the ground a goodly prop of civilisation and progress. He has felled what he stigmatised as the upas tree of British power and influence — the Protestant Church, the influence of loyal proprietors of British blood, the majesty of the law. These he has, indeed, destroyed, and what did he set up in their place ^ As foul and dark a upas tree as ever tyrant or demagogue constructed — the upas tree of brutal crime, of soul-crushing terror, of social hate, of widespread dis- honesty, and of national demoralisation. This was Mr. Gladstone's handiwork, and for all this he is directly responsible. Every predict io7i he inade has been falsified ; every promise he lavished has been broken ; lawlessness instead 0/ order, violence instead of peace, hatred and sedition instead of pros- perity and content have been the direct outcome of his legislation and his policy. In 1868 the loyal and Protestant Church of Ireland was the first to be flung to the wolves of revolution. The only effect was to bring them on with whetted appetite. In 1870 the land was attacked ; but the first attempt at agrarian legislation only produced the Fenian conspiracy and Mr. Gladstone's severe Coercion Bill of 1871. Lord Beaconsfield's firm and benign Administration from 1874 to 1880 cast some rays of sunshine over the distressful politics of Ireland. He, indeed, lightened the repressive powers that Mr. Gladstone had taken in 1871 ; and yet under Lord Beaconsfield Ireland enjoyed the maximum of peace and order with the minimum of coercion and the minimum of crime. With Mr. Gladstone's resumption of office in 1880 there burst forth afresh that chronic crop of crime and menace, the inevitable and fatal product of the dragon's teeth, which Mr. Gladstone's policy of alternate weakness and coercion has always sown in the receptive soil of Ireland. In 1881, without any compensation whatever, 25 per cent, was taken oflF the property of the loyal landowners of Ireland and given to Mr. Parnell's disloyal followers. This was done by a Minister, w'ho, in his youth, had demanded and ob- tained the amplest compensation for the enfranchisement of his father's slaves. Two dra:.tic Coercion Bills marked this third phase of Mr. Gladstone's attack upon British ascendancy. Before the General Election of 1885 Mr. Gladstone painted in graphic language the danger to England and to the Liberal MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. 139 party if Mr. Parnell should hold the balance of power in the new Parliament. Mr. Gladstone, in his first Midlothian speech in November, 1885, said : — " Now, gentlemen, I tell you seriously and solemnly that, though 1 believe the Liberal party to be honourable, patriotic, and trustworthy, in such a position as that it would not be safe for it to enter on the consideration of a measure in respect to which, at the first step of its progress, it would be in the power of a party coming from Ireland to say, ' Unless you do this and unless you do that we will turn you out to-morrow. ' " What he then dreaded came to pass. The result of that elec tion was to give Mr. Parnell the balance of power which Mr. Gladstone deprecated. How, under the circumstances, did the Prime Minister act ? Instead of facing- the danger and repudi- ating and resisting the disloyal and injurious schemes whose influence he clearly anticipated, Mr. Gladstone at once capitulated to Mr, Parnell, and he tried to purchase a brief and discreditable lease of power by placing Ireland and Great Britain at the mercy of a band of men whom he himself had described as "marching " through rapine to the disintegration of the Empire." BLACKMAIL TO LAW BREAKERS. Mr. Gladstone's failure has been due to his persistent negation of economic laws, and of political common sense. Cowardly concession on the part of a Government to lawless agitation and to criminal violence has never purchased peace, and never will. Mr, Gladstone has confessed that the Fenian outrages of 1866 and 1867 were the "motor muscle" of his Irish policy. Mr. Parnell accepted the lesson, and formally promised to profit by the confession. The conspirators have thoroughly mastered the character of their tool, and have improved upon their knowledge. Their agitation has paid, and is paying too well for them to abandon it. So long as agitation was i^rofitable, so long did it continue. The backbone of the Irish agitation is unpunished outrage and crime. Till the supremacy of the law be vindicated, firmly and constantly, the revolution, fed on agrarian crime and nurtured by the pusillanimous concessions of Ministers, develops and flourishes. Mr. Gladstone has repeated the old fatal policy of the Danegelt, In the tenth century England had a king, Ethelred the Unready, When the Danes harassed his kingdom, instead of manfully resisting their invasion, he off"ered them a sum of money, in order to purchase a temporary peace. Mr. Glad- stone in 1868 gave to the Irish revolutionaries the sop of the Irish Church, The Danes came upon Ethelred the next year in greater fc /ce. Again the craven monarch bribed them off, this time with a larger sum of money. Just so Irish agitation was inflamed by I40 MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. the sacrifice of the loyal and Protestant Church in 1 868, and Mr. Gladstone tried his second bribe — the Land Act of 1870. The Danes came a third time ag-ainst Ethelred. and, in order to buy them off, he was compelled to drain his king-dom of its resources. Mr, Gladstone, confronted in 1880 and 1881 by a fiercer and more formidable outbreak of lawless agitation, made his "supreme effort"' of concession, cast political economy to Jupiter and Saturn, and assigned to the enemy 2c, per cent, of the property of the loyal landowners of Ireland. This surrender was to give Ireland content and peace. Fond delusion ! The Danes returned, flushed with success, and furnished by the English tribute with the sinews of war, and in this last invasion took from the wretched Ethelred his kingdom, and from his people their independence. So now the Irish Revolutionists triumphantly demand from Mr. Gladstone not merely the sacrifice of a Church the property of landowning Loyalists, and the principles of political economy, but the very existence of the United Kingdom. The union of the three peoples, the continued integrity of the British Empire, the very principle and keystone on which our national and Imperial strength and greatness rest, are now being offered to the ever-swelling demands of the revolutionary horseleech. It rests now with the British people to decide their own fate. They can at this tremen- dous crisis make the parallel complete, by following Mr. Gladstone, and by placing their national power at the mercy of the Nationalist leaders and their Irish-American instigators, or they can take the better and the safer course, follow the warnings of the best men of all parties, and brace up their nerves and their resolution for a final contest with the forces of anarchy and disintegration. Thus and thus only will England, Scotland, and Ireland enjoy real peace, union, and well-being, so long as courage and firmness guide the counsels of the State. .•5 CONTEMPT FOR ECONOMIC LAWS. Besides the political folly of paying blackmail to lawbreakers, there has been the grievous contempt for the elementary and essential laws of political economy. It is easy for politicians to devise excuses, and very specious ones, for State interference with those eternal rules which regulate the conditions of free society, and the material development of a country. The law of supply and demand is an inexorable taskmaster, and in the long run finds out and overcomes those who try to evade, cheat, or overbear its operation. It is pitiable, and perhaps comical too, to read Mr. Gladstones speeches upon the Land Act of 1 88 1, by the light of his speeches and views expressed in 1870 upon his Land Act of that year. The principles of the Prime Minister in 1870 and 1881 — if the word principle is in any sense MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. 141 applicable to his sophistical and fickle rhetoric — were directly opposed to, and contradictory of, each other. The Land Act of 1881 was based on " fixed " or "fair rents," "free sale " and "fixity of tenure." These were the very theories which in 1870 Mr. Gladstone denounced with the most unbounded vigour. Nor can his arguments of 1870 be effectually answered by any- thing he said in defence of the Land Act of 1881. Indeed, he practically gave up reason and fact, when he "cast political economy to Jupiter and Saturn." A few of his opinions upon fixity of tenure and free sale are quoted below. Speaking on the Irish Land Bill in 1870, Mr. Gladstone said upon the subject of "fair rents :" — "If I could conceive a plan more calculated than anything else, first of all, for throwing into confusion the whole economical arrangements of the countiy ; secondly, for driving out of the field all solvent and honest men who might 1)6 bidders for farms, and might desire to carry on the honourable business oi agriculture ; thirdly, for carrying widespread demoralisation throughout the whole mass of the Irish people ; I must say, as at present advised, to confine myself to the present, and, until further convinced, it is this plan and this demand that we should embody in our Bill, as a part of permanent legislation, a provision by which men shall be told that there shall be an authority always existing ready to release them from the contracts they have deliberately entered into. "It is said that there ouglit to be a power to reduce excessive rents ... I own I have not heard, I do not know, and I cannot conceive what is to be saitl for the prospective power to reduce excessive rents. In whose interest is it asked ? Certainly not in the interest of the landlord ? Is it asked in the interest of the tenant? Shall I really be told that it is for the interest of the Irish tenant bidding for a farm that the law should say to him — 'Cast aside all providence and fore- thought, g<3 into the market and bid what you like, drive out of the field the prudent man who means to fulfil his engagements ; bid right above him, and induce the landloid to give you the farm, and the moment you have got it come forward, go to the public authority, show that the rent is excessive, and that you cannot pay it, and get it reduced ! " And again upon the subject of "fixity of tenure" Mr, Gladstone was in 1870 equally emphatic: — "I ask the House whether, during these four uighis in this gieat arena of reason and discussion, any argument 'whatever has been madeby any English, Scotch, or Irish representative to show that fixity of tenure, to be applied as a means of secur- ing justice and peace in Ireland, can for a moment abide its trial at the bar of reason. "We must endeavour to make reason reach the ears and the minds of the Irish people. Perpetuity of tenure is a phrase that 1 llatter myself is a little going out of the fashion, if I have contributed anything towards disparaging it, I am not sorry. '■^ My p7-oposition is that ij yoii value rents yo it may as vjell, Jor every a7'ailahle piirpcse, adopt perpetuity of temtre at once. It is perpetuity of tenure only in a certain disguise. It is the first link in the chain, but it drags after it the last. *' However, what I do wish is, in the first place, that there should be a clear manifestation of the views of the Government ; and, secondly, of the House, that we are not ready to accede to a principle of legislation by which the State shall take into its own hands the valuation of rents throughout Ireland. I say, take into its own hands because it is perfecdy immaterial whether the thing shall be done by 142 MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE. a State officer forming part of the Civil .Service, or by an arbitrator acting under State authority, or by any other person invested by the law with powers to deter- mine on what terms as to rent every holding in Ireland shall be held. If you are to value rents, you must take into your hands the tixiug of every other condition of agricultural holdings because otherwise in vain do you fix rents."' These were accurate principles, clearly laid down, and quite unanswerable. Yet, eleven years later, in 1881, Mr. Gladstone swallowed the whole of these deliberate opinions, and, in his Land Act of 1 88 1; embodied and crystallised the very faults which he so indig-nantly repudiated in 1870. Of course, the Land Act of [881 was a failure. It irritated all classes and satisfied none. The value of land has fallen. The landowners are well- nigh ruined. The land itself was bound to be worse rack-rented than ever before under the joint operation of fixed rent and free sale. The effect of his legislation of 1881 was exactly as Mr. Gladstone predicted in 1S70 such blundering- would result. It "cast aside all prudence and forethought." It " threw all the economical arrangements of the country into confusion." It "drove honest men" out of Ireland. It most undoubtedly, "carried widespread demoralisation through- out the whole mass of the Irish people." The deteriora- tion of Mr. Gladstone as a politician has been most painful. Ten years ago he would have scouted as the last insult, the bare suspicion that he could ever descend to introduce his Separatist Bill or even his Land Act of 1881. His political degeneracy may be well gauged by the cjuality of his supporters. Quantwn 7Hittaius ab illo Hcctore ! PROMISES FALSIFIED. It is instructive to recall some of the promises so freely distri- buted and the anticipations so fondly indulged in by Mr. Gladstone \\'ith regard to his Irish measures. He has always predicted a Utopia of peace and well-being as the outcome of each of his blows at the "Upas tree of British ascendency." The exact reverse of these pledges and hopes has in every case come about. Ireland has rapidly gone from bad to worse under the impulse of Mr. Gladstone's fantastic legislation and revoluionary changes. Disaffection and disorder reached such a pitch that nothing will satisfy the Nationalist party but separation. By the result of his past policy, and, by its universal failure, the fruits of the new and most fatal surrender can best be judged. In itself his scheme is objectionable enough. It bristles with causes of dispute and peril. It was bound to unsettle everything, and it can settle nothing. It would end in separation or civil war, and therefore in the enfeeblement of British power. If there are any who are still disposed to blindly trust Mr. Glad- ■stone's quack nostrums, and who are still sanguine enough to MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE, 1870. 143 expect some vague solution of the Irish problem from his Home Rule scheme let them be convinced by a perusal of the absolute failure and collapse of all Mr. Gladstone's past promises and hopes. The success of his Plan is based on even more illusory grounds than his confidence and bright expectations of 1S68, 1870, and 1 88 1. MR. GLADSTONE'S HOPES FROM THE LAND BILL OF 1870. '• What I hope is, that having witnessed the disaster and difficulty which have arisen from this long procrastination, we shall resolve in mind and heart by a manifold effort to close and seal up for erer, if it may be, this great question which so intimately concerns the welfare and haffincss of the people of Ireland. Our desire is, that when it has received the sanction of the Legistature it may become a great gift to Ireland, and may put an end to the griexances and sufferings which have so long accompanied the tenure of laud in that country. We found it necessary to propose a Bill which in our judgment should be adequate. And if again I am asked what I hope to effect by this Bill, I certainly hope we shall effect a great change in Ireland ; but I hope also — and confidently believe — that this change will be accom- plished by gentle means." — Mr. W. E. Gladstone, February 15th, 1870. " Hansard," c.kci.k., 335, 382-3, 386. " We, who think that a reasonable Bill on the subject of the Irish land laws may attain its object, are justified in hoping and expecting, if we meet the reasonable IR- GLADSTONE'S RECORD OF UNBROKEN FAILURE, 1881. greater care, laljour, and anxiety in the consideration of the proposals which we shall have to submit to the House." — Mr. W. E. Gladstone, April 5th, 1881. "Hansard," cclx., 790-I. "Well, sir, neither, I am bound to say, should we think it just to propose legislation on this great matter, on the ground, whether expressed or implied, of general misconduct on the part of the landlords of Ireland ; on the contrary, as a ride, they have stood their trial, and they have, as a rule, been acquitted .... I have never, as a Minister, felt overwhelmed with as great a sense of the enormous importance of the topics and the propositions involved in it ; and there is nothing that can legitimately be done by the Government which we shall hesitate to do for the purpose of promoting such legislation as shall deal effectively with the Land Question in Ireland. . . . Justice, Sir, is to be our guide. And, as it has been said that love is stronger than death, even so justice is stronger than popular excitement, stronger than the passions of the moment, stronger even than the grudges, the resentments, and the sad traditions of the past. Walking in that light we cannot err. Guided by that lit^ht — that Dii'ine light — we are saje." — Mr. W. E. Gladstone, when introducing the Land Law (Ireland) Bill, April 7th, 1881. "Hansard,' cclx., 892, 898, and 926. " I believe we have put into operation processes by which, not in a moment, but yet by a steady and sure advance, the Irishman will learn — to a great extent the Irishman has learnt — to cease to view in the law of the Government of his country his natural enemy. (Cheers.)" — Mr. W. E. Gladstone at Birmingham, June, 1877. " I have heard the argument used many times in these discussions, that after this Bill jmsses there will be no purchasers of land in Ireland but the State. 1 do not believe that at all ; but this I must siy, that this proposition that the State is to buy nothing except within a limit of twenty years' purchase is, in my opinion, most unjust. The Government thought of introducing a limit of value ; but I am Ijound to say that, adverting to the average sales that have taken place, we placed that limit at seven years higher than my hon. friend proposes ; but, finally, we came to the conclusion that it was not desirable to have any limit at all. thinking it wiser neither to stimulate prices nor to artificiallv reduce them."— Mr. W. E. Gladstone, July 8th, 1881. "Hansard," cclxiii., 387'. " When the good results which the Government anticipated from this Bill are gradually realised, I shall be slow to believe that the Tory party will not acknowledge the benefits of the Act."— Mr. W. E. Gladstone, July 20th, 1881. -'Hansard." cclxiii., 1422. ' ' We have been endeavouring, by an almost supreme effort, to bring about a great and rapid change in the social condition of Ireland. It is upon that ground alone this proposal can be justified ; but resting upon that ground, we hope to receive the approval of the Committee. "—Mr. \V. E. Gladstone, July 21st, 1881. "Hansard," cclxiii., 1568. I would be bold enough now to repeat in effect what I said in 1870, which was that I then believed— the result having justified my expression of belief — that in a moderate but at the same time perTectly apprecialily degree, the effect of the legis- lation then proposed has been to raise the capital value of estates in Ireland, as far as the landlords are concerned. I may repaet that Her Majesty's Government enter- tain the same hope, as far as this Bill is concerned. I do not now propose to enter into the question of whether the action of the Court in fixing a judicial rent may not, upon the whole, lower the rents rather than raise them, in its first operation. It is perfectly possible that this may be .so, and I have no doubt that such a result is largely anticipated on the other side of the house ; but if, in its first effects, the action of the Court has that tendency, then all I can say is, that it is perfectly within the probal)ilities of the case that its nltericr tendency in giving confidence, in producing harmony between landlords and tenants, and in bringing about a larger MR. GLADSTONE'S RECORU OF UNBROKEN FAILURE, i?8i. 145 development of tlic pi'oductive powers of the soil may be to repoy (tiC landlords for the incidental mischief of the Act, twofold or three''oId. Without presuming to attempt to determine the future relations of tlie judicial rents to the present rents, I will only say that I, for one, shall be Ijiltcrly dis- appointed with the operation of the Act if the property of the landlords in Ireland does not come to be worth more than twenty years' purchase of the judicial rent. IVt' Ihiievc that the iiiaL^ic of security ivill scatter those e^'il influences, ij ParliaDient adopts this le^i^islation. We believe tliat such a measure as this will obtain the moral support of all that is best throughout the country. " I believe that the people of Ireland — and this is a matter which the next few weeks or months will have to determine — desire, in accordance with the advice of their old friends, their bishops and trusted friends, to mal;e a full trial if the Land Act. (Hear, hear.) And, gentlemen, if they do, you may rely upon it, that luill give peace to the country — peace, which is not the object 0/ these men ; and, therefore, in the prosecution of their policy the very thing which is most of all necessary for them to do is to intercept the progress of the Land Act it the law, purged from def ct and from any taint of injustice, is still to be- refused, and the first condition of political society to remain unfulfilled, then I say, gentlemen, without hesitation, that the resources of civilisation are not yet exhausted. IVehai'e, /repeat, no fear of the people of Ireland in the nuiss. V\Tiatwe have a fear of is lest some should be corrupted by demoralising doctrines and lest — and it is the greatest fear of all — more, and many more, should, one by one, be terrified out of the exercise of their just constitutional rights, and unhappily induced, through intimidation and from no other motive, to make over their private liberty and the exercise of their civil rights into the hands of self-constituted dictators — (cheers) — and to place those rights under unknown provisions of an unwritten law. dictated by nothing but an arbitrary will." — Mr. W. E. Gladstone at the Guildhall. Times, October 14th, 1881. •' I am happy to say that the effect of this Act (Land Law Ireland Act) is thit it is inducing the people, for the first time, to place confidence in the Courts ol Justice. (Cheers.) Jt is laying the foundation of that harmony bctivccn the people and the law, which, of all other objects, is familiar to us on this side of the Channel, but unhappily is foreign and new in the history of Irish Associations. It is a foun- dation of good, on which I feel assured the people may build, and I feel convinced that the greater solidity of the social state which these changes are bringing about will well repay the landlords for everything they ore called on to surrender. "—Mr. W. E. Gladstone at Edinburgh. Times, September 2nd, 1884. Is it possible for anyone to go through without anger and dis- gust, this long list of sentimental and fatuous predictions, originated without basis or justification, and only bolstered up by a lavish use of all the resources of rodomontade and exaggerated rhetoric ^. Anger, that the British people can ever tolerate a further and more disastrous experiment upon their credulity! Disgust, that there are men untaught by countless failures, still capable of pursuing the same course of needless disaster, and willing to sacrifice even the integrity of our Imperial Power on the altar of their blind incapacity of their selfish ambition. Many other quotations might be made ; but, if a crowning example of fatuity is wanted, it can best be supplied from a speech of Mr. Childers', made at Pontefract on December 5th, 1883, That eminent person then said: — L 2 146 WHY A SPECIAL ALTERNATIVE SCHEME? "About the; Land Act and the Arrears Act, I may say on good authority that we are ttoiv witliiii vicasiirahlc distance of the completion of luliat I niav call the 'new sctthincut'' of the country. (Cheers.) This settlement, unless disturbed by wild schemes for ihe relief of the landlords by State purchase, will cement a new social order, brought al^out without revolution. (Cheers.) " The "good authority" was naive. The "new settlement" and the '• new social order" were admirable. But in view of Mr, Gladstone's .subsequent Land Purchase Bill of iS86, " the wild schemes for the relief of landlords by State purchase," was truly superb and inimitable. WHY A SPECIAL ALTERNATIVE SCHEME? It is the fashion to assume that some special scheme must be substituted for that of Mr. Gladstone by those who oppose a policy of separation. But why? This is the age of fantastic nostrums and of political quackery. What real reason is there for treating- Ireland differently from the rest of the United Kingdom .' There are no rights or privileges granted to England and Scotland which are denied to Ireland. Rather is the opposite true. Full justice, pressed down, shaken together and running- over, has been meted out to Irishmen during the past thirty years. If exceptional legislation to repress crime has been necessary, Ireland has also had e.xceptional legislation in her favour to benefit the agricultural classes. Four land bills of a very special kind have been since 1870 conceded to Ireland. If as England and Scotland have had their system of local government improved and extended, by all means let Ireland have the same now that the authority of the law is restored in Irelan:!, and the general social demoralisation of 1880 to 1883 has I)een remedied. Mr. Balfour's Local Government Bill of 1892 would have given to Ireland every fair privilege of local self-government, but the Irish and Radical parties obstructed its prog'ress. This statement will be probably met with the cuckoo cry of coercion. But what is coercion .? It is simply repression of crime. It means nothing more than the punishment of criminals, as they are punished in England and in every free and civilized country. The maintenance of the law is essential to the progress and prosperity of every community, just as needful for the poor as for the rich. There can be no popular progress and no national well-being where anarchical license prevails. The policy of the National League, unless speedily and effectually checked, would soon bring Ireland to the appalling condition of the South American Republics. The internal life of those wretched countries consists of internecine war ; all freedom and prosperity have long since been withered up by the destroying WHY A SPECIAL ALTERNATIVE SCHEME? 147 blight of lawlessness. All we ask is that the same suj^remacy of the law shall be asserted in Ireland as prevails in England and Scotland. We demand that men who commit foul murder shall meet the doom of murderers, that those who rob shall be punished as thieves, and those who maim and mutilate and terrorise shall be punished as the authors of cruel outrage are punished in England and Scotland. But so misguided and unwholesome has a large section of public opinion become upon this Irish question that men stigmatise as coercion in Ireland what in England they would call simple law and justice. By the pitiable weakness of Mr. Gladstone's Administrations during the twenty five years agitation has been turned into a fine art, and has been rendered the most profitable employment for clever Irishmen. In 1869 Mr. Gladstone confessed that the murder at Manchester and the explosion at Clerkenwell Gaol harl extorted from him the destruction of the Irish Church. Air. Farnell acknowledged the value of this fulcrum. Speaking at Brooklyn, January 15, 1880, he said: — "Mr. Gladstone in one of his Midlothian addresses said thr.t it was net until a policeman had been shot at Manchester by a Fenian, and Clerkenwell Prison had, been blown up that the Irish Church question came within the domain of practical; English politics. He admitted in that way that you have to act upon English public opinion in some extraordinary and unusual manner in order to obtain any attention for the Irish question We are, therefore, obPged to make the situation a veiy hot one indeed." Darker spirits behind Mr. Parnell improved upon the earlier methods, Mr. Morley's scandalous speech in the House of Com- mons on the 1 2th of April, 1886 was a fresh incitement to the outragemongers. So long as agitation pays it will continue, and continue vigorously. There are agrarian causes at work in Ireland which need careful attention, and Great Britain has grudged no practical remedy. The desire of the Irish peasant to own the scil he cultivates was gratified by Mr. Balfour's great Land Purchase Scheme of 1891, which benefits alike tenant and landowners; hut iirsf and foremost the authority of the laiv must be asserted. It is the primal condition of all national progress and social amelioration, and until the law prevails all else will fail. MR. GLADSTONE'S NEW THEORY. The English people have proved themselves to be a great Imperial race. They have colonised continents, civilised vast countries, given law and good administration to hundreds of millions of alien peoples. The two great characteristics of English ascendency have been individual liberty and the reign of equal law. English rule has conferred priceless blessings where- ever it has been exercised with the old British qualities of courage, 148 MR. GLADSTONE'S HISTORY. resolution, and common sense, and, above all, with the unswerving" assertion of the majesty of law. Mr. Gladstone is of a different opinion. He thinks that the anarchical instincts of the Celts of Connemara are preferable to the reig^n of English order, law, and progfrefs. Ireland and England have suflFered bitterly enough in honour and tran- quillity, and commercial prosperity from the license and anarchy which his misrule has fostered. Capital was for long paralysed, and terrified into foreign channels. The value of land was terribly depreciated. The resources which go to employ and to feed the wage-earning- class were destroyed by his impolicy. The Nationalist ascendency over Ireland is based on directly opposite principles — upon the cruel suppression of all individual freedom, and upon the tyranny of a lawless terrorism. MR. GLADSTONE'S HISTORY. Mr. Gladstone's history is stranger and more perverted than the colouring- he places upon modern opinion. He finds fault with the patriotism of that section of the Whig party, which, in the throes of the terrible and cruel French Revolution of 1 793, supported Mr. Pitt in his far-sighted and courageous policy. He establishes a parallel betu'een his own policy now and the un-English policy of Mr. Fox at the close of the last century. That great Liberal leader allied himself first with the anarchical Jacobins of the French Revolution, and then with the oppressive despotism of Napoleon I. Had Mr. Fox had his way, England would have looked on while that bloodthirsty tyrant subjugated Europe and oppressed the world. But for England — the glorious England of Pitt, of Nelson, and of Wellington — the military •conqueror who overran all Europe, inflicting the most appalling miseries upon mankind, and causing' the slaughter of two millions of men, would have been master of the world. Mr. Gladstone thinks that Mr. Fox's unpatriotic course was right, and that the true-hearted Whigs who then supported Mr, Pitt were wrong. As the Prime Minister has reviled Lord Palmerston who ■despised him, so he now tries to disparage ^ilr. Pitt, the greatest statesman that England has ever possessed. The splendid display of British valour and statesmanship under Mr. Pitt's guidance rescued the liberties of Europe, saved England, established our naval supremacy, built up and secured the Empire we now possess, and gave the world fifty years of peace. Mr. Gladstone could not have chosen a worse comparison. Like Fox, in 1793, so now in 1886 Mr. Gladstone is acting as the foe of his own country, and as the supporter of anarchy and despotism. Like the patriot Whigs who refused to follow Fox in UNIVERSAL FAILURE. I49 his selfish and fatal policy, so Lord Hartington and his patriot friends, who have refused to follow Mr. Gladstone in his insane schemes of disunion, will save the Empire and earn the eternal gratitude of Englishmen present and to come. UNIVERSAL FAILURE. Mr. Gladstone has set up a novel and bogus set of principles. In these, cowardice disguised under the veil of false sentiment, sup- plants courage. Vacillation and Parliamentary vote-hunting supplant resolution. Every fantastic fad and harebrained crotchet supplant common sense. And, worst of all, a steady surrender to agitation, the payment of blackmail to lawbreakers, and the apotheosis of criminal agitation supplant the majesty of the law. Many are deluded by these wretched shams, dressed up in an elaborate clothing of ornate, equivocating, and, to the inexperienced, attractive rhetoric, and paraded before Parlia- ment and the country with all the resources of an impressive manner, a singularly persuasive voice, and a great reputation. Mr. Matthew Arnold has touched the keystone of Mr. Gladstone's popularity, and of the fetish worship of which he Is the object. His admirers have mistaken political victory for stucess. There is nothing, no policy, no adminisiralive functio7i in which Mr. Gla is/on? has leally succeeded. His policy has been at all points a failure, complete, disastrous, and conspicuous. It has been for twenty-five years an abject failure in Ireland ; it was a pitiable and sanguinary failure in Egypt ; it was a costly and, for the future, a most woeful failure in Afghanistan and India : it was a dishonourable and humiliating failure in South Africa ; it was a most stupid failure in the alienation of our European allies, and in the neglect of the interests of our colonies. His foreign policy has been one long series of disaster and disgrace, beginning with the betrayal of Denmark in 1S64, and ending with the desertion of Gordon in 1885. Financially, his policy raised the Budget to portentous dimensions, greatly increased the burdens upon this country and upon India, and benefited nobody. Politically, it lowered our credit among the nations, and brought England into general feebleness and disrepute, if not contempt. Econo- mically, it did nothing for British trade and for national prosperity, but rather allowed many avenues for our commerce to be cut off. Never was the outlook for British trade so dark and depressing as in 18S5, after five years of Mr. Gladstone's ascendancy. Once again, in 1893, his fatal unrest and unsettle- ment is harassing and depressing trade in Ireland and throughout the Empire. At the polling booths alone has Mr. Gladstone ever triumphed, but his victory has already cost the electors very dear. If he wins in the great struggle now pending, the price ISO CONSTITUTION OF 1886 PARLIAMENT. they will pay will be their national and Imperial greatness, Surrender to Russia, surrender to France, surrender to the United States, surrender to Germany, surrender to the Irish rebels, and lawbreakers, have reached the climax of evil and infamy in the proposed surrender of the Union of the three Kingdoms and of our loyal garrison in Ireland to the lawless conspiracy that is the bitter enemy both of English greatness and of Irish well- being. CONSTITUTION OF THE 1886 PARLIAMENT. The new legislature was to consist of two " orders," who were to sit and vote together in the same chamber, but who might on the demand of either order, sit and vote separately on any special occasion. Either -'order" was to have a right of veto on the decisions of the other, and this veto was to be effective for a period of three years. The first order was to consist of the twenty- eight Irish peers, who were to be removed from the Imperial House of Lords, and relegated to the new Irish legislature, and of seventy-five elective members whose con- stituencies with voters possessing a holding worth at least £25 a year. These elective members of the first order, themselves required property qualification of at least £1,000, or an income ot £200 a year. The second or lower order was to consist of the present representatives of Ireland, taken from the Imperial House of Commons, together with an additional 103 elected by the same constituencies, and in the same way. There were, therefore, to be 206 members of the second order. The new Irish legislature was to be quinquennial, and not as the Imperial House of Commons, a septennial body ; that is, the Irish legislature was to be elected every five years. The solitary touch of humour in Mr. Gladstone's protracted oration was when he referred to the doubt whether the privilege of sitting in the new legislature would be largely taken avail of by the Irish peers. THE LAND PURCHASE BILL OF 1886. Mr. Gladstone stated in 1886 that land purchase and Home Rule are inseparably connected, and that the land purchase proposals of April i6th, 188O, were an essential part of the plan of an Irish separate Parliament laid before Parliament on the 8th. To quote his own words : — " The tivo questions of land and of Irish government are in our vir.u — whatever they may be in that of anyone (tX's.^ — inseparable the one from the other. They are the two channels through wliich we hope to find access . . to that question which is the most vital of all, namely, the question of social order in Ireland." It is not, however, surprising to find that Mr. Gladstone, later on THE LAND PURCHASE JilLL OF 1886. 151 discovered some grounds — to himself amply satisfactory — for the separation of these two "inseparable" measures, and for a complete alteration of his plan. The astonishing ease and the deplorable frivolity with which Mr. Gladstone chang-ed his policy on this most important question are illustrated both in his pro- posals for Land Purchase and for a separate Irish Parliament. On April Sth, 1886, the Prime Minister emphatically stated that it was impossible to distinguish purely Irish from Imperial questions, and that, therefore, the exclusion of Irish representa- tives from the Imperial Parliament and the Imperial control of the Customs were vital parts of the Bill. His words were : — " These two vital propositions are essential parts of the foundation of the Bill, viz., that the Irish representation in the Parliament at Westminster should cease, and next, that the fiscal unity of the Empire should be absolutely maintained.'' But the opposition of Mr. Chamberlain and others extorted the confession that even these vital points were open to re-con- sideration and change. When Mr. Chamberlain left the Cabinet in April, 1886, the sum that the Prime Minister then deemed essential for his scheme of Land Purchase was £113,000,000. A few years before he had estimated the amount at £300,000,000. Mr. Gladstone afterwards reduced these sums to j^5O,0OO,OO0, and he thanked Mr. Chamberlain with mock humility for enabling- him to see that his first proposal was too high. This reduction was a mere artifice to catch votes. Mr. Gladstone was particular to say that his scheme applied to all landholders and not merely to a part, and that he had no doubt that Parliament would in the future vote further sums if needful. It was obviously monstrous and unjust that one-third of the landowners should receive compensation, and that the other two- thirds, equally deserving and equally imperilled, should be left out in the cold. Yet Mr. Gladstone's proposal must have come to this. He reduced the chances of the loyal landowners to a struggle for first place, and then it was " occupcl extremicm scabies." It was, in fact, to be a scramble for the £50,000,000, in which those who were not first must lose all. The outcome of Mr. Gladstone's Irish schemes would certainly have been separation and the repudiation by Ireland of the debt she would have owed to Great Britain, amounting- to from £6,000,000 to £9,000,000 a year, according to the amount of injustice done to the landowners. That is, the taxpayers of England and Scotland would have been mulcted in a capital sum of £150,000,000 to £225,000,000, and would probably have to pay, in addition, the cost in blood and treasure. 152 MR. GLADSTONE'S COURSE IX 1886. Mr. Gladstone's speech, on the i6th April, 1886, was certainly one of the finest he has ever made. He showed, beyond the possibility of refutation, that if the loyal landowners in Ireland had been to blame in the past, the British Government and the English people shared to the full their responsibility. To cjuote his own words : — " The deeds of the Irish landlords are our deeds. We are participes criniiius ; we, with power in our hands, looked on ; we not only looked on, but we encouraged and sustained. The landowners were our garrison in Ireland. We planted them there and we replanted them in 1641, and in 1648, and again in 1798." This is perfectly true, but it is not the whole truth. The Pro- testant population of British blood in Ireland has not only been the British garrison, but it has been the source of almost all the civilisation, commerce, and material prosperity which Ireland possesses. Loyal Ulster contains three-fourths of the manu- factures and wealth of Ireland. Dublin and North-East Ulster — that is, the loyal landlords, merchants, manufacturers, professional men, and the flourishing- Protestant working classes of these localities — pay nearly five-sixths of the revenue that the Imperial Exchequer now derives from Ireland. Ireland would be hopelessly ruined, and the Imperial Ex- chequer would not have the smallest chance of receiving the contributi.ons due from Ireland under any " Home Rule" Scheme Bill, if life in that country were rendered unendurable to the loyalists — as it assuredly would be — by a Nationalist Parliament. » MR. GLADSTONE'S COURSE IN 1886. Mr. Gladstone introduced the first part of his scheme on April 8th. This was the first Separatist Bill, creating a separate Parliament for Ireland. Mr. Gladstone brought forward this measure in an elaborate speech of 3^ hours' length. So great was the desire to be present that some members took up their places before 6 a.m. on that morning. Extra chairs had to be placed on the floor of the House. There were over 5,000 applications from strangers for admission into the galleries. The debate on the introduction or first reading was a very brilliant one. and lasted four nights. On the 1 6th April, Mr. Gladstone introduced the second portion of his scheme, that is, the Land Purchase Bill, which he declared to be '' inseparable from the other." The speech in which this was proposed by the Prime Minister was shorter but much more brilliant than that upon the " Government for Ireland Bill." The debate on the introduction of this second measure MR. GLADSTONE'S COURSE IX 1886. 153 only lasted a single night. Then there came a long- period of delay. The reception of the scheme was extremely unfavourable. All independent opinion in and out of Parliament, and the Press, especially the great London newspapers, so strongly condemned the proposals that their author was much taken back. CONCESSION AND SURRENDER. Every effort was made in the two months that passed before the vote on the second reading, to satisfy the members of the Liberal party who had opposed the Bill. The exclusion of Irish members from the Imperial Parliament under the new arrange- ment was described by Mr. Gladstone, on April 8th, to be a "vital and essential" part of the scheme. He had also deliber- ately and forcibly stated that " the distinction between Irish and Imperial affairs passed the tuil of man " to devise. To win over the dissentients this "vital and essential'' principle was aban- doned, and a plan was said to have been discovered. This plan, however, was never made public till February, 1893. The elTect of the Land Purchase Bill was minimised, and hints were freely dropped that it would never reach maturity. Finally, when the special offers made had failed to win over Mr. Chamberlain and his Radical followers, Mr. Gladstone made his last desperate offer to secure the passage of the second reading attheparty meeting held on May 27th. 18S6. at the Foreign Office. Here the Prime Minister proclamed that those who voted for the second reading would only vote for the bare " principle of a separate legislature for Ireland," and would not be committed to any details ; that the Bills would be immediately withdrawn for the present session ; and that before reintroducing them the Government would gladly welcome any amendments or any improved scheme. For the moment it seemed as if this complete surrender would enable the second reading to be passed, and thus save the Government. With commendable promptitude, however. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach exposed the real meaning of this last mana^uvre by moving the adjournment of the House the next night, Friday, May 28th, 1886. Lord Hartington, in an admirable speech, strongly supported him from the Liberal benches. Mr. Chamberlain held firm, and the artifice failed. The main debate itself had been unreasonably delayed by the Government in order to give time for negotiations. THE CRITICAL DIVISION. The division took place on June 7th, at i .30 a.m., and resulted in the defeat of Mr. Gladstone and his Separatist policy by the 154 GREATNESS OF THE VICTORY. unexpectedly large majority of 30 votes; the numbers being" 341 ag-ainst the Bill to 311 for. This minority of 311 included 86 Parnellites. There was, therefore, in Great Britain a majority of 116 against the Government. It is curious that in the House of Commons, elected a few weeks later in July, 1886, the majority, not for Great Britain only, but for the three king-doms, was 1 16 ag^ainst Separation. That is, the results of the elections were to exactly neutralise the Parnellite vote of 86 by a corresponding" g"ain to the Unionist cause in England and Scotland. The most intense excitement prevailed when the numbers were declared. The Unionists cheered loud and long ; the Parnellite members were in a condition of desperate frenzy, and their conduct in several instances greatly outraged Parliamentary decorum. Mr. Gladstone immediately moved the adjournment of the House till the following Thursday, June lOth. Supplies were voted up to the end of October, and on June 25th the Queen formally dissolved Parliament. The writs were issued on the 26th. The first elections took place on June 30th. The first poll was at Colchester, on July 1st, when a Conservative was returned by a majority of nearly 300. The last elections, excepting that for the Orkneys, were over by July 17th. The result was a striking and complete overthrow of Mr. Gladstone and his Separatist policy. GREATNESS OF THE VICTORY. The victory of the Union was a conspicuous one, and, in reality, was more complete than it appeared from the mere numbers. In England only 124 Gladstonian Separatists were returned out of 465 members, and in Scotland 43 out of 70 members. But of these 124 English Separatists, at least 50 were due to the miners' vote, which was notoriously given under the orders of the Miners" Trades Unions, and not at all upon political grounds. Then, again, in Wales there were 23 Gladstonian Separatists out of 30 members. But these were not elected upon Mr. Gladstone's Irish policy, or upon the issue of " Union or Separation." The Welsh would vote under the influence of their bitter Dissent and Radicalism ag-ainst any question which was denounced as Conservative. Much the same happened in Scotland. There the infiuence of Air. Gladstone's name was very great. It was also freely put about by the extreme sectaries of the " Free Kirk" that Mr. Gladstone would support disestablish- ment if only he were returned to power again. Yet with all this personal devotion and religious passion Mr. Gladstone's total vote only exceeded that of the Unionists by 28,000 out of 355.000, or less than 8 per cent. There were actually 90,000 fewer CAUSES OF MR. GLADSTONE'S DEFEAT. 155 Scotch electors who supported Mr. Gladstone's policy in 1886 than in 1885. Mr. John Bright's remark that, but for Mr. Gladstone's name, "not 20 members, outside the Parnellites, would have voted for the Bill" was perfectly true of the House of Commons. CAUSES OF MR. GLADSTONE'S DEFEAT. The main reasons for the public condemnations of the Bill were four : — First and foremost, a profound distrust and disapproval of Mr. Parnell and his followers, their conrluct, policy, and professions. This permeated all classes and localities of the British electorate. It is well e.xpressed in Mr. Bright's famous sentence : — " My six years' experience of them " {i.e. "the Irish Parliamentary party," "of their language in the "House of Commons, and of their deeds in Ireland, makes it " impcssihle for vie to cotnent to hand ffver to ihevi the proper tj and the '' rights of five millions oj the Queen's subjects, our countrymen in "Ireland." This feeling was a Nemesis and a just one upon the Irish Parnellite party, who fattened on the outrages, terrorism, and extortion of the Land and National Leagues. If not themselves directly responsible for murders and criminal violence upon man and beast, they were the confederates and friends of the outragemongers, and benelited by their lawlessness. The second cause was the strong sense of sympathy with and duty towards the Irish loyalists, and an intense aversion to placing the loyal Irish of the Protestant faith and of Bridsh blood under the tyranny of a Parnellite Parliament and of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in Ireland. The third cause was the conviction that this policv of Mr. Gladstone's meant separation; that is, the breaking up of the United Kingdom and the dismemberment of the Empire. This feeling was very strong among the more intelligent electors. There was, lastly, a widespread feeling against the cost of Mr. Gladstone's policy. It was not only the Land Purchase Bill and the /i 50,000,000 that were unpopular. All the financial arrangements of the scheme were looked upon with grave suspicion. The present of ^{"1, 400, 000 of British money every year to Mr. Parnell's Parliament; the imposition of £52,000,000 of the Irish share of the National Debt upon the British taxpayers; the freeing of Ireland for the future from all extra contribution towards the cost of imperial wars ; the heavy expense which Great Britain would 156 SUMMARY OF RESULTS IN 1886. have to incur for naval and military defence a_o-ainst an armed and organised Ireland ; the probability of a large influx of Irish labourers into this country if capital and manufactures were driven out of Ireland by a Parnellite Parliament — all weighed against the Bills. HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE. Among the men to whom the country owes a deep debt of gratitude for the result of these elections, and to whom the salvation of the Union is mainly to be attributed, the name of Edward Saunderson, the member for North Armagh, stands foremost, if not first. With the appearance of Colonel Saunderson in the House of Commons there opened a new era in the relations between Ireland and England. Colonel Saunderson faced Mr. Parnell and his formidable phalanx, told the truth about them, turned them into ridicule, and beat them most completely on their own ground. Moreover, he demon- strated to the country that the Loyalists of Ireland were a force that must be reckoned with, and that in them this country possessed not only some of the staunchest and most splendid of her children, but a body of resolute men who would defend their liberties and their rights to the last drop of their blood. SUMMARY OF RESULTS. The Unionist and Conservative triumph was most remarkable in England itself; that is, in the heart and centre of these realms, and of the British Empire. England pronounced irresistibly for the Union. There were 340 English members opposed to Separation, of whom 284 were Conservatives and 56 Liberal Unionists. That is to say, England returned a verdict of "40 members for the Union, as against only 124 Gladstonian Separatists; or a Unionist majority of over two and a half to one. Of these the English boroughs sent 166 Unionists, as against 60 Separatists ; and the English counties 169 Unionists, as against 65 Separatists. Scotland was not so good ; the proportion being 29 Unionists to 43 Separatists ; but the voting power was very close throughout. There were 163,000 Scotch Unionist electors, as against 190,000 Separatists. The Unionist vote was strongest in the best and most prosperous portions of the Lowlands of Scotland, that is, in the most Saxon or English part of the country. It was in 1S86, as also in 1S93, the Celtic fringe around England, always Separatist and crotchety and turbulent, from which SUMiMARY OF RESULTS IN 1886. 157 Mr. Gladstone g-ot his main support. The Roman Catholic Celts of the south and west of Ireland returned 85 Nationalist Separa- tists in 1886 and 1893, 80. The bitter Dissenting- Celts of Wales returned 23 Separatists in 18S6, and in 1893, 28. The Crofter Celts of the extreme north of Scotland also returned a solid Separatist vote. Deduct these, about 150 Celtic Separatists, and Mr. Gladstone only had in 1886 a wretched following- of 124. However, the English race never has, and never will be, dictated to, or ruled by, the less-civilised Celt. The voting- returns were even moresig-nificant. In the elections of November, 1885, 2,156,952 electors voted for Gladstonian candidates, and 1,943,316 for Conservative candidates, thus giving- a majority of 213,636 votes for Mr. Gladstone, In the elections of July, 1886, the total Conservative vote was 1,106,651, the Liberal Unionist vote 417,456, and the Gladstonian vote 1,347,983. This gave a nominal majority for the combined Unionists of 176,124 votes. These figures showed a decrease of votes forMr. Gladstone of 808,969, or 37 per cent. But this by no means does justice to the Unionist victory, nor to the strength of the Conservative reaction. There was an unusually large proportion of Tory seats uncontested in the elections of 1886 — 91 seats. The Conservative total vote, there- fore, lost in the comparison the benefit of its great prepon- derance in these, the safest Tory seats. Allowing roughly a majority ot 1,000 in each of these seats — which, in view of what happened in other constituencies, and of the results in November, 1885, is a low estimate, and deducting the same number for the 34 Gladstonian seats that were not contested — some 57,000 votes would have to be added to the Unionist majority, giving the Union a total majority of 233,000 votes in 1886. And this w^as in the face of the personal devotion of a large portion of the electors of Mr. Gladstone; of the consider- able Irish vote in many of our large towns and in Western Scotland ; of the immense power of Radical Dissent in Wales and other districts; of the strong Gladstonian bias, of the Scotch Free Kirk and of the solid pro-Gladstonian mining vote, which gave him fifty seats on grounds wholly distinct from the main issue. The triumph of the Union among the electors was, therefore, as remarkable as the num.ber of seats gained in Parliament. THE AMERICAN VIEW OF THE IRISH QUESTION. No Englishman will need to be assured that Americans look at the treatment of the Irish (juestion by the English Government I5S THE AMERICAN VIEW OF THE IRISH QUESTION. with a very vivid interest, and one in which an intellig-ent study of the Irishman and experience of his quaUties enter to add a personal colour. So far as I can see, there is, outside of the Irish part of our community, no sympathv whatever with Irish agitation for separaiion. We have, too, lately been broug-ht face to face with the question of separation of the State and the con- sequences of unsound decentralisation to have any admiration for measures so utterly retrog'rade in State org"anisation as the division and weakening' of the org'an of paramount authority which must be the end of the Nationalist movement in Ireland. We know the advantages as well as the disadvantag'es of a federal system, and I am of the opinion that most thotight/nl Americans favour rather the strengthening of the centralising tendency than the contrary, and recog^nize that the general prosperity ot the country and efficiency of our Government would be promoted by the Federal authorities taking- over to their control some prerogatives still retained by the States. Brought face to face with all the consequences of a great scission, we were obliged to study its probable effects with all the concentration a nation is capable of, and the result was as you all know, that we decided at any cost of blood and money to prevent it ; and time has shown, I believe, that we were right. And the Irish we have ever with us. and we are not, as some of you seem to be, blinded by apprehension, interest, or any party animosities to the fact that Nationalist 7novemtnt means a total and definite separation fro77i England a^id the formation of an Indeperulent State, necessarily a hostile State, and, being weak, necessarily always on the look out for some Foreig'^n Government with an interest to sustain Ireland as against England. This we conclude, knowing the Irishman familiarly and to the core. We hiow him to be unstable, i7tconsta7it, and inco7iseque7ii ; quarrelsome, giveti to de/nagogy and faction; a7i excellent servant or soldier, but a detestable politician, ivhdher as boss or rank a7id file partisan. He is constitutionally disloyal,, and even under a Government which has, like ours, given him the fullest rights and all the privileges which any American has, except that of becoming President, he has no co7iceplion of loyalty towards the country which has adopted him, and which he has professed to adopt, but individually and collectively, habitually regards it as only a machine for his private emolu/nent and adva'ice7nent, and an outside base of operations against England — operations in which he ardently hopes, at whatever loss to Amf^rica, to compromise the Republic to which he has sworn allegiance. Calum 7ion ani/nu/n 7nutat — he hates Eugla7td and does not love America, and he considers his substantial treason to the latter quite justified by his animosity to the former. This is a curious position and well worth the reflection which, THE AMERICAN VIEW OF THE IRISH QUESTION. 159 probably, no Irishman has ever given it. The German RepuhUean reftii^cc comes to America and becomes an American ; even the Pole, when he settles, ceases to wage war in his heart on Russia, and considers his new home as the object of his labours, if not at once of his aiTections. The Irishman comes from a land which, perhaps, whisky and ignorance oppress as much as the landlords, and where the Government has certainly made concessions which no other would have made, and which, as we fully understand, have not been accorded to the English population; and, coming from that land to one which instals him in all the dignity of a citizen, invested with plenary political powers from the day in which he- becomes a voter, he is no more concerned with the political issues vital to the United States than with those at stake in Turkestan, but beats his brains to find some way in which he can lend his new allegiance to some intrigue against England, or help some party which will, as he hopes, adopt a policy offensive to the mother country of most Americans, at no matter what sacrifice or danger to the United .States. He is alivavs an Irish- man — ahuays an enemy of England, and coolly ciilculates the adoption of any measure, however ruinous to America, provided it will pay a part of the debt of revenge he fancies he owes to England. Venal in (he last degree on all ordinary questions, and holding his vote at the command of the highest bidder, he will forego his five dollars for it if his head centre says that Brown must be defeated because he voted in the House of Repre- sentatives for a resolution which expresses sympathy with the Queen; or that O'Reilly must be elected because he is ready to vote for a resolution to withdraw the American Minister from ■ London because the English Government have imprisoned an Irish-American agitator, a fellow who emigrated for his safety, and having made his preliminary declaration of his intention to become a citizen, runs back to continue his plottings under cover of the new Nationality. In these cases the Irish vote goes solid where it is told to go. In short, Paddy is never an American — he is but one of a band of political freebooters encamped on American soil preparing for a raid on England which they will never have the courage to execute, and using the rights they have acquired as Americans to help their countrymen in Ireland to carry on the war on landlords and the English system Our politicians, cowardly and corrupt, stand always ready to purchase the Irish support at the polls by voting for any bumombe resolvJion about ihe oppression of Ireland, or against any measure which is supposed to be for the good of England, and bury out of sight the moral obligation of the country and international good faith by an alliance with what they know to be practically political brigandage, and, party against party, outbid each other in wordy promises which they know the law will not permit them to i6o THE IRISH HORRORS OF 1641. fulfil, or in sympathy, expressed or implied, with acts which they know to be of the grossest political immorality. If this is a fair picture of the Irishman in American politics (and I challenge the expression of honest American opinion to the contrary), it is easy to conjecture what will be the result of his introduction into English politics as a Home Ruler, The first .cotiscqtiaice ivould he the restoration to Irish politics of all the heroes ivho now send dynamite and dollars, extorted from Irish servant girls and labourers, for the war against English civilisation. Nobody here is ignorant of the intention of these veiled patriots to use every appliance and facility granted them for the establishment of the Irish Republic, and that every concession granted by the English Government is so much more vantage towards their jjupreme purjiose. If anybody in England doubts it, it must be through wilful blindness or incapacity. Give Irishmen the liberties you give Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Welshmen — so much and no more — and there is no race in •existence competent, as sinnin.g less, to throw stones at you. — An American Correspondent of the Times. THE IRISH HORRORS OF 1641 AND 1798. WHAT THE LOYALISTS HAVE TO DREAD. The unshakable resolve of the Irish loyalists never to submit ito a Nationalist and Priest-ridden Parliament in Dublin, is well- founded in past experience. The men of Ulster know what their ancestors and kinsmen suffered when the Celtic and Roman Catholic elements were in the ascendant. It is especially note- worthy that the rebellion of 1798 and its horrors took place after the Irish had possessed a separate parliament for 16 years, and that the Union was established in iSoo because of the absolute and ruinous failure of that separate parliament. The following quotations give authentic narratives of what has taken place in Ireland :• — 1641. [From Froude's "English in Ireland,"] It wns determined by the Irish Roman Catholic rebels that, on October 23rd, 1641, Sir Phelim O'Neill should surprise Londonderry ; Sir Henry O'Neill. Carrick- fergus, Sir Con Magennis, Newry, Lord Maguyre, and Hugh MacMahon undertook the more difficult enterprise at Dublin, while on the whole North on the same day the Irish people were to rise and dispose of the English settlers and their families. The order was to drive them from their houses, strip them, man, woman, and c'^i'd, of their property, strip them even of their clothes upon their backs, to take such chnnces of life as the elements would allow, in the late autumn, to human THE IRISH HORRORS OF 1O41 161 ■existence turned adrift amidst steel and rain, without fuerately wounded. The Ancient Britons were quarted in a private house. They, too, were hated almost equally, for they had made themselves notorious in the disarming of Uli-ter. Eight of the twenty-three leapt out of a back window, and escaped across the country in the darkness. The rest were killed. Their horses, arms, .and uniforms were taken by the rebels. i64 THE IRISH REBELLIOX OF 179S,. As the roof of the barracks fell in, men and women flung themselves weeping" in each otliers arms. Tears only could express their joy. ' ' Ireland is ours again, " they cried. '' Dublia is taken — Xaas is taken--Ireland is ours I Where are the heretics?" shrieked savage voices. " Down with the heretics I" The depression of Irish manufactures had been the first article of Ireland's complaints. Manu- factures had come back, finding work for the starving and food for the hungry, but the benefactor of Prosperous was an Englishman and a Protestant. The day was breaking. A shout arose, ' = To Brewer's house ! " A few moments later Mr. Brewer was lying in his shirt on the pavement with his skull cloven by an axe the mob yelling over the body of "the heretic tyrant." 1 he landlord's tuin followed. Mr. Staines, the owner of most of the town, was staying, rmluckily for himself, with a lady at a house in the neighbourhood. The alarm had been given. The lady concealed her guest, and when the insurgents came to the door and demanded him she said that he was gone. The watch had been too good. They knew that he was in the house. They could not find liim, and they cried for fire to fetch him out. To save needless destruction Mr, Staines, like a brave man. came out of his hiding place, and was instantly shot. The same scenes had been going on thioughout the country wherever there was a toun or village held in the name of the Government, and outside the towns %\ hercver Protestants were to be found. All day lon^ terrified families were- streaming into Naas. All day long the smoke of burning homesteads was seen' rising from every ]ioint of the horizon. Kildare tnwn had been considered secure- so many arms had been surrendered there \\ithout any resistance. General' Wallord, who was in charge, had \\ithdrawn on the 23rd to j<;in Geneial Dundas- at Kilcullen. He was no sooner gone than Kildare was occupied by 2,000 rebels- with crosses painted on their pikes. General Dundas, irresolute and unequal to the sudden call upon him, was confounded by the sudden outpouring of so many nests of hornets. They were here, they were there, they were on all sides. Afew hundreds of them showed themselves near Kilcullen. He sent a party of Yeoman^ cavalry to ride them down. They threw themselves into line ; the Yeoman rode upon the (likes only for their horses to fall, and for themselves to be pierced as- they roile 1 on the ground. Dundas fell back on Nais. taking the judges with him, who were on their way to Clonmel assizes. Kilcullen was left to iis fate. The gentry and clergv'men were deserted to shift for themselve-;. Their houses were burnt. Those who failed to escape were piked. The entire country was a scene of ruin, terror, and confusion. The news of Dundas' retreat spread south. The same night several thousand insurgents gathered ia Sir Iklward Crosbie's park, outside Carlow, led by a farmer named Roach. The town w as held like Naas, by a company or two of militia. At half-past two, on the morning of the 25th, the rebel force went in upon them in the darkness, with the wild Irish howl. After the defeat of the yeomanry at Kilcullen, they expected to carry all before them, and came on with the utmost audacity. They were exjiected. Part of the garrison were drawn U]i in the market j)lace, antl received them with a volley, which turned the heads of their column. The)- swerved and flung themselves on the gaol. Another volley from the gaol -windows was delivered into the middle of them with deadly efl'ect. They reeled, stag;;ered, and then, struck with panic, flnng down their pikes and tried to fly or hide themselves in houses. '1 he troops- had heard on tlie previous evening of the treacher\- and cruelty at Prosperous- Savage in turn, they chased the miserable wretches into the bye lanes and passages, shooting and liayoneting every man that they fi)und. Four hundred bodies were* taken up and Iniried at daybreak. Many others were carried off wounded, and died afterwards. It was supposed that the number of those who lost their lives was at least six hundred. The intention had been to encompass Dublin with insurrection, to force i he- Government to relax its grasp upon the city. On the same 25th the Meath insurgents rose and assembled on Tara Hill, the scene of the mythic glories of ihe- ancient Iri^h Kingdom, four thousand strong. On the 26th they were attacked by THE IRISH REBELLION OF 179S. 165 Captain Pieston and I-ord Finj^al, with 200 Fencihles and as many mounted yeoman. Their commander, distint^uished by his green uniform, was killed. Three hundred and fifty rebels fell with him. The rest were scattered over the country, to venture no more battles, but to confine themselves to private murders, for which they were better fitted by experience and temper. Finding that Dublin remained quiet ; that the camp at Tara had been broken up, andthat the attack on Carlovv had failed, the Kildare men who were in fierce at KilcuUen, thouglit it prudent to temporise. If the general insurrection had missed fire, they held it better to save and reserve themselves for another opportunity. THE INSURRECTION IN WEXFORD. On the 23rd of May, after Lord I^dward's arrest, when ii was known thai a. rising was intended, the magistrates issued a nc;tice that unless the pikes were given up, companies of soldiers would be sent among the villages en free quarter ; and three gentlemen of family and fortune, who had made themselves notorious for the violence of their political opinions — Mr. Bagennl Harvey, Mr. John Colclough, of Ballyleigne, and Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, of New Park — were arrested and confined in Wexford Gaol. On the 25th came the news that Kildare and Carlow were in arms, and it fell like sparks on tinder ready to kindle. O11 the 26th began the month of horrors, which has left one more indelible stain on the history of the Catholics of Ireland. On that Saturday evening, the long May day fa'ling to twilight, a beacon was seen to blaze into flame on Carrigrua Hill, ten miles west of Ferns. A fire answering to it was seen immediately after on lioulaboguc, between Carrigrua and the sea ; and by an instinct easily explicable the inhabitants of Wexford felt that the hour was come, and prepared to meet it. If there had been doubt before of the character and aims of the rebellion, that doubt was no longer to exist. Con- ceived originally by Jacobins, it had become by this time a si ruggle of the Irish Catholics to get possession of the county. Father fohn Murphy, of lioolavogue, was the son of a peasant of I'erns, and had been educated for the priesthood at Seville. He had been settled in his own country a few miles from his birthplace, and there he had remained waiting for the salvation of Israel, antl had grown into a big, course, powerful man of forty, when his country called upon him for his- services. It is to be hoped that his action was unpremeditated, for he had recently taken an oath of allegiance, and made solemn protests of loyalty. The arrest of Lord FLdward had, perhaps, absolved him. This man it was that lighted the signal fire en Carrigrua Hill. The next day was Whit-Sunday, and Father John was about liis work betimes. His first move w^as against his Protestant rival j)astor, Mr. Purrows. The Protestant families in the neighbourhood, seeing the hre, had crowded for shelter into the parsonage ot the adjoining parish of Kilmuckridge. Father John, with an army of jnkemen. ap]:)eared soon after daybreak on the lawn before the tloor. He demanded arms, and when the arms were refused, set fire to the outhouses. From the outhou-es the flames spread to the parsonage itself. Mr. Burrows, a harmless gentlemen, ajipearf d at a window and begged for mercy for his family and flock. He was told that if they would come out their lives should be spared. He obeyed, and was inst.intly piked, with his son, a lad of sixteen, and seven of his male paiishioners. The women were spared. Father John was swift, for he had a long day's woik before him. (lathering up the muskets and fouling-pieces which had belonged to the house, he was soon in motion again, leaving Mrs. Burrows, with her niece and four children, sitting among the bleeding bodies, beside her dead husband and her dying boy in front of her blazing home. i66 THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1798. Having destroyed the heretic clergyman, the next object was the heretic bishop. The palace was at Ferns, and Ferns being Father John's native place, the purgation of it was of special consequence to him. While the day was still early, he marched across country, pausing only to fire such Protestants' dwelling-houses as lay in his way Perhaps, too, having begun the Holy War-, he was anxious for a blessing on it, and halted to say mass. Arrived at Ferns, he applied the torch in like manner to heretic residences, but his special object was the palace. Dr. and Mrs. Cleaves and their children had happily escaped. Their servants and their labourers, many of whom the bishop supported out of charity, gave Father John a hearty welcome. An orphan lad, whom the bishop had found starving, and had fed and brought up and educated, displayed his gratitude by singular eagerness to assist in the injury of his benefactor. The palace was plundered. The valuable lil^rary was torn to pieces. The vellum bindings of the books of divinity were stripped off and used for saddle covers. When the spoils were all secured, the shell of the house was set on fire, and all that would burn was consumed. THE CAMP AT VINEGAR HILL. The insurgents were increasing with marvellous rapidity, and their numbers soon amounted to many thousands. Men in good position came — John Hay, of Newcastle, a so-called gentleman ; Edward Roche, a wealthy yeon an ; Father Roche, his kinsman, and tsventy other priests. With men came women, some vagrants, some whisky selling, some to dress their husband's or brother's food, some for the wild enjoyment of the strife. With such organisation as he could extemporise. Father John made his preparations for their entertainment. The weather was warm and dry, and well-suited for an out-door encampment. The Protestant houses in Enniscorthy, and for many miles round, were searched and relieved of their contents. Before the evening of Whit-Tuesday the slopes and brow of Vinegar Hill were dotted over with hundreds of booths, of motley colours, shape and material. Carpets, window curtains, sheets, blankets, whatever came first to hand, were stretched on poles, and made into rude tents. The women appropriated the ladies' wardrobes, and fluttered in silks and feathers. Barrels of wine and ale were rolled up out of the cellars of squire and parson, and mounted on tressels, for all who pleased to help themselves. Pianos were brought for such as had skill in music. Blini minstrels were gatheied from far and near, and sounded out the old airs of Ireland on harps, which but a few days before were touched by delicate fingers. In curious contrast, the manners and habits were revived spontaneously of the great days of Erin's ancient chiefs. Cattle were driven in from neighbouring farms and parks. At feeding times cows and oxen were knocked down, and slices were cut from the unflayed and fresh bleeding carcases, and toasted on the points of pikes. All sorts were gathered together— men of good condition, traders, farmers, shopkeepers, interspersed with plundering ruffians. All ranks blended harmo- niously together in the upspring of the true Irish nature, such as were left to itself it tended to become. So little trust had they in each others' honesty that they slept on their faces, with their hats and shoes under them, lest they should wake and find them gone. Two exercises only were discharged with regularity and punctuality on Vinegar Hill. Law might be forgotten, but religion was remembered. Twenty priests said mass each day at different points of the camp. Each day a holocaust of Protestants was offered to the national divinities. The windnaill on the brow of the hill and a barn at the bottom were appropriated as prisons, and gangs of ruffians were sent out to scour the country and firing in every Protestant that could be found. Ringwood, where the feeblest of the Enniscorthy fugitives had taken refuge for the night, was drawn in the morning, as hounds draw a fox cover. Many poor creatures — and those perhaps the happiest — were piked upon the spot. Others were carried captive to the hid. THE IRISH REUELLION OF 1798. 167 •where a council of leaders was held lo determine on the treatment of tht-m. Some were for an instant and undiscriminating massacre ; others — Father Roche especially — were against murder in cold lilood altogether. It was decideil fmally that those only should be put to death who could be proved to have beer, actively traitors to the Irish cause. A court martial was established in permanent session outside the windmill. The prisoners v^ere brought before it in batches, like the aristocrats before Fouquier Tinville, and, on receiving sentence, were passed out to instant execution on the pikes of the rebel guard in waiting. On the first day, as nn inauguration ceremonial for the camp, twenty-four \ictims were condemned, and were stabbed or shot. As the Windmill prison was emptied it was re-filled from the barn. The barn was kept supplied from the country. Every day. so long .i^s the camp continued, the bloody work went forward -the crimson blossoming of the tree of liberty which had been planted by Grattan in '82. A large tub of water was daily blessed to sprinkle the miserable assassins, and persuade them that they were Christ's soldiers. On the morning of the 31st the rel>els from Three Rocks moved on to Wexford. They halted outside the barriers for the whole line to kneel and pray, and they then rushed in upon the spoils. For three days there was a saturnalia of madness, the houses of the Protestants were sacked, the gaol was thrown oj-'eu, the prisoners, Bagenal Harvey among them, were released in triumph, and loyal Protestants were thrust in to take their places. Wild Amazons rode about the streets with plumed hats and pikes in hand. A man, named Keogh, once a captain in the army and a magistrate, was appointed governor, and ihe green llag of Ireland floated over the barracks. The ships which had been liired to carry the fugitives to England were still in the harbour. .Vmong the largest shipowners at Wexford was a man named Dixon, a tavern and billiard-room keeper on the quay. This person, having extorted enormous sums for the use of his vessels, had con- trived under various pretexts to delay their sailing. When the English flag was hauled down, and the Irish harp was blowing out in its place, the Protestants on board prayed the captains to cut their caliles and depart. The same sacred emblem of liberty was run up for answer to ihe mastheads. Roats came off from the quays, led by Dixon in person. The fugitives were invited by mocking courtesy to disembark and return. Some were carried to the crowded gaol, some were forced on board a hulk, below the bridge which was converted into a prison ship. THE BATTLE AT WEXFORD. From the market a long, broad street ran parallel to the river, half way up the hill, and issued at the Three Bullet Gate, to which the road descended from Corbet Hill and Wexford. The rebel camp was a mile and a half distant, the troops were under arms all night. They were paraded at two in the morning, and as day Jiegan to break, the peculiar Irish cry was heard rising in gathering waves of sound in the direction of the camp. Nearer and nearer it came ihrough the morn- ing air. The rebels came on slowly and in enormous numbers. Scouts said they were not less than thirty thousand, and General Johnstone considered that "from the myriads which came down, they c<5uld not be much less. They marched in order, by parishes and by baronies !" The Dublin Regiment under Mountjoy, the dragoons, and other com.panies were drawn up outside the Three Rullet Gate, an open ground. The rebel masses bore down the hill towards them. When a rifle shot off they halted. Priests were seen moving up and ddwn the lines in their vestments, and carrying crucifixes. Ma-s was said at the head of every column, the men kneeling with marked and earnest devotion. lor the moment Johnstone thought that they were hesitating, but was swiftly undeceived. It was now a little after three o'clock, daylight being scarcely yet fully estab- lished. They rose from their knees, the lines opened, and between them came i68 THE IRISH REBELLION OF 179S. herds of wild cattle, rushing on amidst shouts and yells which burst from the enormous multitude, the rebels pricking them forward with their pikes. A fourth part of the rebel army had firearms, but their main strength was in the pikemen, who formed in line behind the cattle and charged with a fierceness of resolutioir for which the English and Scotch officers present were unprepared. They rushed' upon the Dublin regiment, which was in some confusion, and drove it back through the gate. Mountjoy fell wounded, and was carried off into the insurgent lines. The dragoons charged, but without effect, and recoiled with loss. A gun was taken, and the reliel pikemen poured into the town after the retreating: troops. According to their usual tactics, they instantly fired the houses. C'annoiT had been placed in the long straight street which leads from the market-; lace to the Bullet Gate, and poured round-shot and grape into their tlense ma-ses. Mul- titudes fell. An entire column was annihilated ; not a man escaped out of it. Brave as they were, so terrible a reception startled them. They fell back for awhile, and the troops had time to rally and reform. But soon they came on, through smoke and flame, their courage and their overwhelming numl)ers com- pensating for want of discipline and inferiority of arms. Xcr was the pike, in the hands of a strong, bold man a weapon to be lightly regarded. With a shaft twelve or fifteen feet in length, a long taper point— with a hook, at limes, attached which would drag a horseman from his saddle — it was an overmatch, ui der some conditions, for the bayonet. Johnstone's advantage was in his heavy guns. The rebels had no artillerymen, and such cannon as they captured they wire unable to use. Careless in their desperate fanaticism, the Irish shewed for once in rebellion the contempt of danger, which as soldiers in the army of ihcir sovereign, they never fail to show. Four guns were taken. They forced the troops backwards- and downwards to the river, part into the market-place, where, as at Enniscorthy, the stone buildings became a fortress, which they could neither burn nor penetrate, part down over the bridge and into Kilkenny. At one time they seemed to have won the day, and they would ha\e won it could their leaders liave restrained them in victory. But they turned uncon- trollably to plunder, and incendiarism, and whisky, and discipline, resumed its- superiority. Behind the river the broken troops again formed— Johnstone led them back to the charge, and the rebels, now scattered, were driven back in turn at the bayonet's point. The guns were recovered, and agai.i began to work havoc in the disordered crowds. The carnage was now dreadful. No quarter had been given by the rebels at the beginning of the engagement-~none was allowed them at the end of it. They were driven out through the gate at which they had entered. They attempted a stand within the lines where they first appeared in the morning. Johnstone stormed in upon them, and broke them. There Lord Mounijoy's body was found, far from the place where he had fallen, mangled and butchered in the most horrid manner. Mountjoy was the Luke Gardiner of '82, who had wrung from the Protestant Parliament the first concessions to the Catholics, nnd this was his reward. The sight of their commander thus brutally mutilated drove the Dublin regiment to fury. Three gentlemen had been murdered near Ross the day before with peculiar brutality. The Militia generally had behaved excellently in action, but when the fighting was over could be no longer restrained. Major \'e«ey says the carnage was now shocking ; the troops were exasperate ', and could not be stopped. The battle had raged for eleven hours. It began at four in the morning. At three in the afternoon, when it was at last over, \'esey estimated the rebel bodies which lay strewed round him as at least two thousand. Musgrave, on further inquiry, placed the number of those who were killed in the fight and after it at two thousand six hundred. DEFEAT OF THE REBELS AT VINEGAR HILL. At sunrise on the 21st of June the columns closed in upon the Irish camp, Dundas and Loftus' divisions came down the east bank of the Slaney, spread TIIL IRISH REBELLION OF 179S. 169 bver a front of almost a mile, and, as they approached tl;e hill, formed round it at various points from the nortli to the south-east. Johnstone came up simul- taneously from Ballymakessy. The rebels held Enniscorthy in force, and Johnstone's duty was to dri\e them out and take possession of the bridge before the general attack commenced. A second time within three weeks the liitle town of Enniscorthy became the scene of a desj^erate and bloody engagement. Only after two hours of severe fighting, Enniscorthy was taken, the bridge secured, and the rebel garrison forced back over it to their friends on the hill. It was now seven in the morning. The rebel army, sixteen thousand strong, was drawn upon the open ground on the brow. Their gims, thirteen in all, of various shapes and calibre, were at the windmill. General Lake, with Dundas, attacked on the east side-. Sir [ames Duff, with part of Loftus' division , on the north-wes.t, from the bank of the liver, i-oftus himself w.^s between them. On these three sides they forced their way simultaneously up the slope. The Vi bels held their ground for an hour and a half with moderate firmnes?. lake's horse was killed under him. early in the action. Father Clinch, of Enniscorthy, an enormous mnn, on a tall white horse, specially distinguished himself i'ut successive defeats had cooled the courage which had been so eminent at Arklow and New Ross. There was no- longer the contempt of death, which will make even the '.east disciplined enemy formidable. Lord Roden singled out Father Clinch and killed him. The rebels- were afraid of being surrounded, ard. seeing ihe southern side cf the hill still open, they fled down it, and escaped through Needham's Gap to Wexford from the scene of their brief and wild supremacy. Father Roche was taken, tried by court mania!, and hanged at the scene of the massacre on the bridge ; John Hay, Father John's brother. General on Vinegar Hill, was hanged beside him. Special care was taken to make no distinctions on the score of religion. The Protestants concerned in the rebellion, though guiltless of a fhare in the murders, were more criminal in principle. Cornelius Grogan had" an estate worth _^io,ooo a year. He had misjudged events, and had joined the insurgents to save it. He was found at his own house, brought in, tried by the" same tribunah anil hanged also. liagenal Harvey and Colclough had disappearetl. They had gone off in a boat to the larger of the Saltee Islands, Grogan's property which Colclough rented of him, and they hoped to lie concealed there till the storm was over. Some one be- trayed their secret ; and on the 23rd June (.'aptain Willoughby was sent in the A'M//a;/(/ cutter to find them and bring them back. There was but one house in the island, and there were unmistakable signs of their recent presence, in the sheets- upon the bed, and the clothes which were lying abcut the room. The cabin was searched, the Island was searched. They were not to be found. A boat had been seen stealing away when the cutter was approaching, and it was thought that they had escaped. As a last chance the cutter's gig was rowed round the island under the cliffs. One of the crew, watching narrowly, observed a place \\here the earth seemed to have been recently disturbed. They landed and di; covered a cave, where the two gentlemen, with Colclough's wife, were lying concealed. They were carried back to Wexford, and sentenced to immediate death. IJagenal Harvey, Cornelius Grogan, and a wealthy citizen of Wexfoid. named Frendergast, were hanged on the 27th. Colclough suffered the same fate on the following date. The insurgents who escaped with Father John over the r>arrow, after lavaging. part of Kilkenny, and finding the peasants, contrary to their expectation, di-inclined' to join them, doubled back iiito Wexford, and thence into the Wicklow mountains, where divided into roving gangs of murderous banditti, they protracted throup li- the summer the bloody and miserable struggle. Father John, either separntecl from his companions by accident, or having designedly withdrawn from them, found his way in disguise to Taghmon, where he was recognised and arrested. When seized he struggled like a wild beast, but vengeance had overtaken him. After forty five years of hitherto inoffensive life he had become possessed vith the- i-o DECLINE OF IRELAND, 17S2 TO iSoo. ^' Irish idea,"' and after one desperate month of niurder, triumph, defeat, and ruin, 3ie closed his career on the gallows on the 26th of June. It is to preserve Ireland from Civil War and such horrible scenes as these : — Brutal massacre followed by retributive repression that the Unionist party appeal to the Nation. DECLINE OF IRELAND UNDER A SEPARATION PARLIAMENT, 1782 TO 1800. In 1782, the separate and almost independent leg-islature, known as Mr. Grattan's Parliament, was granted to Ireland. The experiment was a most disastrous one. Ireland rapidly declined in trade, material prosperity, and social order under this separate Parliament. Finally, the bloody outbreak of 1798 con- summated the proof of the failure of the Irish Parliament. The Union was then established by Mr. Pitt as the only remedy for the evils of Ireland. The Irish Loyal Union published a very interesting pamphlet upon the relative prosperity of Ireland before and after the Union. From it much of the following facts are obtained. Tonnage and shipping belonging to Irish ports from 1788 to J 797 inclusive: — 1788. 1792 1795 1797 Tons 60,776 50 (1790) 69,567 42 58.778 33 53.181 19 No. of Ships . . . The Irish tonnage, therefore, fell 12-5 per cent, between 1788 and 1797 ; and in the years 1798-99 together, the whole tonnage only amounted to 69, 152 tons. The Irish shipbuilding fell off between 1794 and 1799 41-9 per cent. ; and the tonnage of these ships 32-5 per cent. DECLINE OF IRELAND, 1782 TO iSoo. 171 N 0\ fO 5: =§ r* & M^ 4 1 0' 1 n 1 " P) cc ■* 1 * ' 1 - -) t^ t^ 00 s = - t-» h4 Ln w N M aj . rn ? 1 eT^ t« 00 r^ ri *-» Pi CrC p; ir ^ 10 »H ■ C •— ' vr 1 ir ■) < > •5; " ^1 Ch t^ t^ •* c N \f "> ,r^ . t^O \ §) 5; T)- PJ P •^ H n r-^ \^ ir ■) « 00 N N r>. 1-4 M N I 1 >-i " CO p5 c . ' P QO "■ 1 N - i oi r/i '^" VC w ^ i2ooo 1) CO ^ I " Ah c '3 r— » 1 (N ^ a H ^ . vn N r' 1 ci rt ^ C/C Tj Tl f P 11 -^ c ■<: : ;*• fe ^ 5 'jSm 00 »o ^ ,a r-. c -> •< • C4 Ph X w '• j h-i »— t Ol u 3C 1— 1 o\a ^ u5 t^t~ •« 0) 1— ( i^ ^ [ a> c 1 >• u-1 P CO c 1 1-* t-- I a > 1> ? 5 [/I i CS 1 ) 1-^ 1 1 1 a C.iS (U u ^ o o coo u * ^ *- t-« CO rt O ►-• ro fO d '^"^ •^ "^ fO d CNOO o "-1 O 00 CO o 1/^ vp 00 CO . ■* — j2 u-i tj- ^ ro ... 1824-25-26 225,766 lOI -o 1833-34-35 337-77^ 203-7 1843-44-45 631,981 462-6 NUMBER AND TONNAGE OF SHIPS BUILT IN IRELAND. Decennial Periods. No. of Ships Built. No. of Tons. From 1790 to 1799 inclusive ... ,, 1821 to 1830 ,, Being an increase of the second period over the first of. 332 415 15,957 20,733 S3 ships 1 4,776 tons And an increase per cent. 01 25.0 in Ship-building and 29-9 Tonnage. The returns after this are deficient. 1/4 BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE UNION. TABLE OF THE IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF IRELAND Before and after the Union in two consecutive decennial periods. Decennial Periods. Value of Imports. Value of Exports. P'rom 1 790 to 1801 49,396,254 74,511,058 51,322,620 63,483,71s I*"rom 1S02 to 1 81 3 Increase during the latter period (1802-13) 25,114,804 12,161,098 Being an increase per cent, of 50-8 Imports and 23*7 Exports. ANNUAL AVERAGE VALUE OF IRISH EXPORTS AND IMPORTS For Two Triennial Periods, one before and one after the Union, witli their actual value in 1836. Periods. Value of Imports. Value of Exports. Average for three years ending March, 1790 Average for three years ending January, 1S26 3-535'588 7,491,890 4,125,383 8,454,918 Vear 1 836 15,337,097 17,394,813 Increase between first and last period 11,791,509 13,269,430 Increase ne* vent 333-5 3217 The above table shows that the commerce of Ireland quadrupled within forty years after the Union. BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE UNION. 175 GROWTH OF TRADE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Years. Imports into Ireland from Great Britain. Exports from Ireland to Great Britain. 1 801 3.270,350 3.537,725 1805 4,067,717 4,288,167 1809 5.316,557 4,588,305 1813 6.746,353 5,410,326 1817 4,722,766 5,696,613 1821 " 5,338.838 7.117,452 1825 7,048,936 8,531,355 This shovv^s that the increase of imports was i IS'5 per cent, and the increase of exports I4ri per cent., within twenty-five years after the Union. After 1825 a separate record of Irish trade was no long"er kept. INCREASE IN STAPLE PRODUCTS OF IRELAND In the Years 1800 (Union) and 1846. 1800. Amount of Wheat, Barley, Oats, and Meal exported from Ire- land to Great Britain Export of Horned Cattle from Ireland to Great Britain Export of Sheep „ Tigs ■ 500,000 qr.>. 30,000 Scarcely any 6,000 1846. 3,251,901 192,846 259,257 480,827 Increase per cent. 550 543 over 7,oco This enormous increase in the exportation of live stock is of the greatest importance to Ireland. In the period between 1800- 1846 the increase in the export of Pig's increased nearly eig^hty- fold, as shown by above table. N 176 BE.NEFICKNT EFFECT OF TFIE UNION. INCREASE IN IRISH CONSUMPTION OF LUXURIES, giving lour of the most important articles of comfcrt and luxury, between iSoo and 1845. Period. Tea. Sugar. Coffee. Spiriis. At tlie Union ... lbs. 1,700,000 cwis. 2O0,OJO lbs. 150,000 gallons. 3,ooo.oco 7,600.000 4,600,000 In 184.; 6,600,000 415,000 1,000.000 Increase in 1845. 4,900,000 215,000 850 000 Increase per cent. 288-2 107-5 566-7 A nation that can afford to consume and import the luxuries of life in such largel}' increasing- quantities cannot be said to be growing" poorer, or to be retrograding in any commercial sense. On the contrary, Ireland vastly improved in material prosperity as a result of the Union. SINCE THE FAMlNE-1 852- 1885. Referring to the terrible years from 1S46 to iSj 1. ti'.e writer Part HI. of •' The Vindication of the Union ' savs : — of '•There is no peri d, since the Union, at which ihc Engli->]i connection ]noved -of greater advantage to Ireland. Who, liiat reniemliers that awful lime, can doubt that but for the active sympathy and assistance, both public and private, afforded by the English people, the sufferings of the poor in Ireland would have been immeasurably greater than they were ? Speaking from personal knowledge, we can assert that for a great portion of the time during which the famine lasted j/iiittitiidcs of persons, oi'er large areas of t/ie eoiiiilry, -i\'re indebted for tmir daily •Itread to the funds supplied from Enfland, over and ulnn'e ttt- ■norinous grants J>y rarlianieiit for tlieir relief. What they might have expected, had they been runhappily living under Home Rule, may be gathered fiom the experience of a ■similar calamity in 1740-I, the • btiadliain an air,'' or year of slaughter, ' when the ordinary churchyards were not large enough to contain those who died by the road- side, or who were taken from the deserted cabins' ; and when no measures were adopted either by the Legislature or the Executive to relieve th:- li-Uess. "" The same writer proceeds to state : — •'The Irish people are at this moment very far in advance of the condition of their ancestors at the time of the Union. They are better housed, better clad, better fed ; they receive better price for the produce of their farms, and higher w ages for their labour ; they have greater liberty and better protection in health, abundant provision for sickness, and facilities for the education and advancement in life of their chihlren, such as w,;re undreamt of eighty years ago. No measure has b-in jiasscd. since the BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE UNION. 177 Union, for the benefit of the English or Scotch people in which they have not shared ; iind many Acts have been passed speciallyfor their benefit which have not been extended to Scotland or England. These are facts which cannot be controverted, and which no one, except hireling agitators, would attempt to deny or distort. The depression in the prices of agricultural produce and the stagnation of trade are ■quite as keenly felt in England and .Scotland as in Ireland— possibly more so — but we hear of no proposal to pull the Constitution to pieces as the only remedy for the distress. Orators preaching communistic doctrines may spout at debating clubs or hole-and-corner meetings ; but they are not listened to by the mass of the English or Scotch people ; they are not applauded in their National Press ; they iire not encouraged by their National Churches. It is only in Ireland that such doctrines find favour ; it is only in Ireland that half-educated men, \\ hose only qualification consists in fluency of speech, are accepted as economists and states- men, whose utterances are to be received fx cathedra without question or proof." SECOND PERIOD FROM 1S52 TO 1885. DEVELOPMENT OF IRISH COMMERCE FROM 1S52 ONWARDS ^hown by the amount of shipping frequenting Irish ports duiing that period: — Year. 1 1 1 onnage Inwards. Tonnage Outwards. i 1852 1884 3.047-941 6,723,269 2,238,171 6,578,578 Increase in 1885 over 1852 ■3.675^328 4, 340, 307 ! Increase per cent 1 1 20 -6 193-9 The above Table shows an ag-gregate increase of I5f6per cent. — in other words, the shipping- commerce of Ireland was two-and-a-half times as great in 1884 as it was in 1852. In the same period the revenue of Great Britain increased in a ratio ol 2 per cent, less than that of Ireland. GROSS REVENUE OF IRELAND IN 1852 AND DEPOSITS 1885. 1852. ^5Q, Increase ^^^> percent. Gross revenue of Ireland r 4,414,413 10,773,000 7,770,626 29,370,000 76 172-6 Total ff deposits and private balances in Irish Joint-Stocv Banks X 2 I7S BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE UNION. GROWTH OF DEPOSITS IN IRISH SAVINGS BANKS, Class of Savings Bank. 1S51. 1884. i £ Trustee i.347,6f7 f 2.119,264 2,224.519 Post Office ! — 1 Total 1.347,617 4,343,7^3 1 Increase per cent — 244'6 ! The same writer say.s of these increased deposits : — " An increase of 245 per cent in the amount deposited in Irish Savings Banks- is of itself a pretty conclusive proof of the growing prosperity of the humbler classes. The number of depositors in the Trustee Savings Banks has also risen from 49, 554 in 1851 to 52,655 in 18S4, an increase of 6'3 per cent. ; and the average amount to the credit of each depositor from £27 3s. in 1851 to /^^o 5s. in 1884, an increase of 48*0 per cent. Meanwhile, the Post Office Savings Banks, which opened in 1862, have attracted the smaller depositorsto thenumber of 124,973 in 18S4, with an average balance of £1^ i6s. 6d. Combining the two classes of savings banks, we find no less than 177,628 depositors, in 1884, wiih an average balances of ;^24 los. due to each, against 49,554, with an average balance of ;^27 3s. to credit in 1S51. We have thus, in the thirty-three years, an increase of 152 per cent, in the number of depositors, and an increase of 245 per cent, in the aggi'egate amount lodged. Only i in 132 of the total population of Ire- land was a depositor in a savings bank in 1S51 ; while in 1884. I in every 28 had become a depositor." It must not be supposed that the price of wheat or of barley has any practical influence upon ag-ricultural property in Ireland. The Irish climate is not suited to wheat or to barley. The Irish wheat crop is a very small one. In 1885 only 7 1,000 acres out of 5,000;000 acres were under wheat, that is only 1-49 of the total cultivated acreage. The only really important cereal crop of Ireland is oats. There has been a decrease from 1852 to 1885 in the amount of acres cultivated under oats of 41-8 per cent.; but. on the other hand, the prices have increased by one-fifth, and the value of straw has g^reatly increased. The g-reat increase, however, in Irish agricultural profits has been from the rearing of stock, which railways and steamers bring within reach of the British markets, and which more than compensates for the light fall in the value of oats. liENEFICEXT EFFECT OF THE UNION. INCREA.se IN IRISH STOCK. 179 Black Cattle. 1852. 1885. Increase. Increase per cent. Under i year old I vear but under 2 Over 2 years old 600, 763 621,287 1 = 873,017 981,041 881,741 2,365,969 4,228,751 380,278 260,454 492,952 65-5 - 41 9 26-3 Totals 3.095=067 1,133,684 366 Sheep Pigs 2.613,943 1,072,658 3,477,840 1,269,122 863,897 196,464 330 183 The same authority says : — " These increases of 37 per cent, in number uf black cattle, 33 per cent, in the number of sheep, and iS per cent, in the number of pigs in Ireland are of them- selves sufficiently strong evidence of agricultural prosperity ; but it is only by combining the increase in the numbers with the advance in prices, that the full extent of the improved position of the Irish farmers can be measured." The following Table will make this plain : — VALUE OF IRISH STOCK. Description. i . 1 Value in \ alue in Increase in 1852. 1S85. ' Value. Increase per cent. Cattle Sheep Pigs 24.760,000 3,529,000 2,091,000 £ £ 50,745,000 25,985,000 6,086,000 1 2,557,000 3,173,000 1,083.000 i 105-0 72-5 151 8 Totals 30,380,000 60,004,000 1 29,624,000 97-5 1 i "The average prices above are estimated as follows : — Black cattle at ^^Sapiece in 1852, and at £12 in 1885; sheep at £l 7s. in 1852, and at ;^I 15s. in 1885; and pigs at ^i 19s. in 1852. and at £2 los. in 1885. Thes; prices are the result of a wide and careful induction, and there has been an increase in value of over ^29,000 000, amounting to 97-5 per cent. Potatoes and wool alone are cheaper now than they were in 1852. " Manufactures also have made steady progress during the past thirty-three years. The linen trade of Ulster has attained very large proportions ; and the manufacture of woollen goods has been established in several places in the other provinces. Irish friezes and Irish tweeds now compete successfully with the best productions of English and Scotch looms. Shipbuilding, also, has been successfully revived in Belfast." I So BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE UNION. An irrefragable proof that Ireland has advanced in material' prosperity since 1852 may be drawn from the remarkable increase in the amount raised by excise duties in 1S52 and 1885. 1582 1885 1,515,092 4,493,404 lucrease per cent. ; 196-6 IMPROVEMENTS IN DWELLINGS. A most remarkable progress has also taken place in the dwelling's of the people, as the following' table will show: — 1 1 Class of House Accommoda'ion. Number ' Jamilies. Increase -|- or Decrease- Per 1851. 1881. Cent. First Class ... 39.370 96,568 + 57, '9S •-'5 Second Class... 292,280 467.387 + J75-'07 45 Third Class ... 588,440 393,094 -19S.3+6 50 Fourth Class... 284,229 41,025 -243-^04 700 Totals 1.204,319 995.074 -209,246 "The classification of luuses adopted by the Cen>us Conimi»ioner.s is as- follows: — Fourth Class houses are built of mud and have only one room; Third Class houses are also built of mud, Init hive from two to four rooms and wii.dows;. •Second Class houses consist of good farm or town houses, having from five to nine rooms and windows ; First Class houses include a!l c.f a better description than those already specified. " The rei urns prove that in 185 f there were in round numbers S73. coo families living in the poorer classes of house, or 72-3 per cent, of the whole, and only 27 'T" per cent, occupying the two better classes of liouse ; there were in iSSi only 43-3 per cent, living in the poorer classes of house, and 56 '7 per cent, living in the- better cla.ss ; only 4"i per cent, of the whole being housed in mud cnbins." The real need of Ireland is well stated in the following words : — " The truth is that what Ireland want^ is not lei^islali >n but Government, not new laws, but the steady enforcement of cxi.-ting laws. The cur^e of the " Iri^h peo]:)le' — we use the word in its Parnellile ■-ense — is that they look U> I'ariianient for help in every difficulty, and Parliament, or, rather, the rival parties in Parlia- ment, have much to answer for for encouraging this helpless spirit. Tried by every test, Ireland has advanced in prosperity since 1S52. Her commerce is now two-and- a-half times jrreater ti-.an it was then. Her available capital, measured by the deposits in the banks, has increased two-and-three-quarter fold. Her revenue, i:i 1SS5, was one-and-three-quarter times as great as in 1S52, and has increased THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONISTS. i8i during tlie interval in a greater ratio than the revenue of the rest of the United Kingdom. The extent of her railway accommodation had been quadrupled. Oats, the only cereal crop cultivated to any extent, is now more profitable in the ratio ot five to four. The cattle, sheep, and pigs, owned by the farmers of Ireland are now twice as valuable as the stock in their possession only thirty-three years ago. The excise duties levied last year were treble the amount paid in 1852, and the people are far better housed. When Ireland entered on her career of prosperity in 1852, she had not a third of the resources at her command that she has now." In 1 782 the sovereig-n remedy for which the people clamoured was applied — Home Rule was granted. Within ten years the country was the scene of lawlessness and outrage, not only in the provinces, but in the metropolis, under the very shadow of the Houses of Parliament ; and ivilhin sixteen years the people were in open rebellion. Then came the end. So sure as Parliament is led by any infatuation to sanction the revival of an Irish Parliament in any shape or form, so sure will the scenes of the closing" years of the last century be re-enacted. Ireland will again become the theatre of outrage and crime,, before which the worst days of the Land League will sink into in- sig-nificance. The ''White Boys," the '"Assassins," the "Tarring- and Feathering Committees,'' the "Houghers," the " Defenders, ''' the 'Revolutionists," will again appear on the stage ; they are only waiting till the strong- hand of England is withdrawn to issue from their hiding- places. And then will come rebellion aticT civil war; and, when thousands of lives and millions' worth of property have been destroyed, England will be compelled ta conquer the country once more. THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT. The great rise in prices since 1886 has similarly been due, for the most part, to a return of public confidence. In all cases prices are now much higher than in 1886: and this rise is as- marked in cases where dividends are the same, or even in some instances lower, as where dividends are higher. The deposits and cash balances in Joint Stock Banks in Ireland,, which stood at ;^29,370,ooo on December 31st, 1885, had risen in December, 1891, to no less than ^34,532,000, the highest figure recorded, being considerably more than in 1876, which has been, always regarded as the most prosperous year Ireland has ever seen, the amount of deposits and cash balances in that year having- been ^^34, 240,000. — (Parliamentary Return, 1892, C. 6612, and previous Returns.) l82 THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONLSTS. SAVINGS BANKS. The following- figures show the balances in Post-office and Trustee Savings Banks in Ireland, representing principally the savings of the humbler classes, at five-yearly intervals for the last twenty years. BALANCES IN POST-OFFICE AND TRUSTEE SAVINGS BANKS. Date, Amount. 1871, 31st Decern] >er, ^2,953,000 1876, ,, 3,277,000 I88I, )» 3,765,000 1886, >> 4,710,000 1891, • 5 5,932,000 — C. 6612, and previous Returns. It will be observed that the increase during the last five years has been considerably greater than in any other of the four quinquennial periods given above, and it is also greater than in any other similar period during the last fifty years. On the other hand, the amount of Government and Indi'afi Stocks held in Ireland has fallen from jC2g,68g,ooo on the 31.$'/ of December, 1885, /' In connection with the foregoing observations it is important to note that during the six years since 1886, a number of large manufacturing and mercantile businesses in Ireland have been transferred from the ownership of private firms to that of Limited Liability Companies, The Capital of thirteen of these Companies, including that of A. Guinness, Sons & Co., but not including any brought out in Belfast, or any whose Capital was less than £100,000, amounts to about Ten Millions Sterling.* *New Companies : — A. Guinness, Sons li Co. ... ... /" 6, 000,000 A. Thoin & Co. • • • ... 207,000 Bolands .. . • • . * ■ 280,000 Castlebellingham and Drogheda Breweries 265,000 Dublin City and Baaagher Distillery 150,000 Dublin Distillers 1,000,000 P:. & J. Burke (I) 800,000 Ferrier, Pollock & Co. 100,000 ' ' Freeman 's Journal " 110,000 H. Denny & Sons (I) 400,000 Johnston. Mooney & O'Brien 200, 000 Kinahan & Co. 210,000 Pirn Brothers (2) 250,000 ^9,972,000 (1) Only the Preference Shares in these Companies have been issued to the public. (2) Re-constructed in 1S89, since when the shares have been put upon the market. i84 THE DEVELOl MENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONISTS. No doubt a large proportion of the shares and debentures in these companies still remains in the hands of the vendors, but the greater proportion has been absorbed by the general investing public in Ireland. The shares of most, oi these companies now stand in the market at a substantial premium, so that the ten millions is now worth, at market prices, over seven- teen millions. The absorption of the capital of these Irish companies taking place simultaneously with extensive investments by Irish people m new companies brought out in England and America, and a great increase in the deposits in the Irish Banks, and in the Post Ofhce and Trustee Savings' Banks, is most conclusive proof of the rapid growth of capital throughout Ireland during the past sixyears. RAILWAY RECEIPTS. The total railway receipts, which in 1881 were £2,601,000, and in 1886 £2,751,000, in 1891 amounted to £3,146,000, the hisfhest annual amount recorded in Ireland. DECREASE OF POPULATION. It is sometimes assumed that the fact that the population of Ireland has decreased during the last forty-five years is a proof of the absence of prosperity. 77/? populalion at the lime of the Union has hen estimated at 5,299,000 (Thorn's Officinl Dincory), and in 1846 it had increased to 8,288,000, according to the estimate given in the returns of the Registrar-General. " Prior to 1846," says Dr. Grimshaw, "the potato bore exactly the same relation to the population of Ireland that rice does to the population of several districts of India at the present day, and the famine of 1847 ^^^"^ consequent diminution of the population, was due to the failure of the potato crop." Dr. Grimshaw. however, is careful to point out that emigration does not necessarily mean decay; he thinks '-the want of sufficient emigration before the Irish Crisis was the cause of great, rapid, and unexampled decay which has only been stayed by emigration." — {A Statistical S/z/zry of Ireland from \'^\o to 1888 By T. W. Grimshaw, m.a., ji n., Reg.-Gen. for Ireland.) DECREASE IN RATE OF EMIfiRATION FROM 1886 TO 1890. T]ie rate of em igr at ion lias, however, nittirafv b.iU less in the more prosperous years, and has falleii during the period 1886- 1890, as THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONLST.S. 185 compared with the preceding- five years. Thus the average decrease in the estimated population each year, from 1S81 to 1885, was 56,000, and from 1885 to 1890, 47,000; the average rate of emigration per 1,000 of the estimated population in tht^ former period having been 16-5, and in the latter, 14-9. 7'he 7iumhir of Emii^ranls hi i8yg was 47,065, m 1883 the figmts had risen fo 108,724. /;/ 1885 the vtimbcr had fallen to 62,034, bul had risen again in 1887 to 82,923, since when there has been a steady decline in Emigration, the number in 1891 having been 59,623. THE HOUSING OF THE PEOPLE. The following- Table, furnished by the reports of the Irish Census, shows the great improvement which has taken place in the housing of the people of Ireland. The fourth class of houses includes all single roomed houses ; the third, a better class, with from two to four rooms; the second a g-Qod farm- house, or small town-house, with five to seven rooms ; and the first class all houses of a beJter description than the preceding. TABLE SHOWING THE NUxMBER OF FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH CLASS OF INHABITED HOUSES. Census Periods. First Class. Second Class. Third Class. FourtJi Class. Total. 1 84 1 40, oSo 264,184 533.297 491,278 1,328,839 1851 50, ! 64 318,758 541,712 135.589 1,046,223 1S61 55.416 360,698 489,668 89.374 995,156 1871 60,483 381,114 363.042 156,741 961. 3S0 1881 66,727 422,241 3^4.475 40,665 914, loS 1891 70, 740 466,632 312,589 20, 61 7 870,578 Thus, while the number of first and second class houses have increased, the third and fourth class have diminished. i86 THE DEVELOPMPINT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONISTS. The following' Table shows the number of families occupying" ihe different classes of house-accommodation. Number of Families Occupying . \ccommodation of the ,- 1st Class. 2nd Class. 3rd Class, 4th Class Total. 1 841 3*' JJJ 241,664 574,386 625,356 1,472,739 I85I 39,370 292,280 588,440 284,229 1,204,319 I86I 44,302 333,440 553,496 197,062 1,128,300 I87I 49,693 357,752 432,774 227,379 1,067,598 I88I 57,673 403,862 443,247 90,292 995,074 i89r 62,6ij 454,870 359,308 55.322 932,113 i 1 Thus, while the total number of families in Ireland has declined from 1,472,739 in 1841, to 932,113 in 1891, the number of families occupying house-accommodation of the first and second class respectively, has nearly doubled, and the number of those occupying- house-accommodation of the third and fourth classes have very largely decreased. The Registrar-General states, in his " Statistical Survey ot Ireland," already referred to, that a somewhat different plan of tabulation was adopted in 1871, which accounts for the apparent increase of the fourth class houses, and of the number of families with fourth class accommodation, in that year. PAUPERISM DECREASING. The total number of paupers in receipt of indoor and outdoor relief has decreased every year since 1886, the number in that year having been 633,000 and the cost £904,000 as compared with 455,000 relieved in 1890, at a cost of £856,000. The average daily number of persons receiving- indoor relief in the year 1881-82 was 52,772; in 1886-87, 45,^89; ^.nd in 1890-91,41,793; the average claily number receiving- out-door relief in the same years being 60,196, 78,241, and 62,235 respectively. The very large increase in out-door relief in 1886 was caused by the gross maladministration, by the Boards of Guardians, of Mr. Morley's grant of £20,000 in the six poorest THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONLSTS. 187 unions in tlie West of Ireland, the number of persons on tiie list of those in receipt of out-door relief in some cases exceeding the population of the district. The average annual cost of pauperism in the first half of the decade 1881-1890 was £962,000, and in the latter half £864,000. According- to the figures given in the Financial Reform Almanac for 1892, the average number of paupers in England and Wales in the five years 1885 to 1889 was 28 per looo of the estimated population, in Scotland 24, and in Ireland 23 per 1000; the average annual cost of pauperism per head of the population in the same period being 6s. in England, 4s. 6d. in Scotland, and 4s. 4d. in Ireland. INCREASE OF LIVE STOCK. There is, perhaps, with the exception of the figures as to joint- stock and savings banks, which have been already quoted, no more remarkable test of the material prosperity of Ireland than the increase in the number of live stock. The following are the figures for 1881, 1886, and 1891, respectively : — TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF LIVE STOCK IN 1S81 and 1891. Year. Horses & Mules. Asses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Goats. Poultry. i88i 1886 1891 573.980 578,299 621,501 187,356 196,245 216,268 3,954,479 4,183,924 4,448,477 3,258,583 3,366,043 4,722,391 1,088,041 1,263,142 1,367,776 266,553 266, 1 76 336,257 13,965,760 13,909,822 15,216,543 It will be observed that in every class of live stock, with the exception of pigs, the increase has been far greater in the years 1 886-1 891 than in the preceding quinquennial period. VALUE OF LIVE STOCK. The following Table shows the value of live stock in Ireland' at decennial periods from 1841 to 1 881, and also in 1886 and 1891, at the prices assumed by the Census Commissioners of 1841: — - i88 THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND UNDER UNIONISTS. namely, horses and mules £8 each; asses £i; horned cattle £6 los.; sheep £i 2s.; pi^s £i 5s.; goats 7s. 6d.; and poultry 6d. Years. Amount. — 184I i;2 1, 105,808 1851 27.737.-395 1861 33-434-385 1871 37oi5-2ii 1881 35>847-3" 1886 37,747,27s 1891 41,514,236 The prices of the different descriptions of live stock have risen very much as compared with those taken as average prices in 1S41; and the actual value of the live stock in Ireland is therefore far more than is represented by the above figures. Even taking those figures, however, the increase of wealth in live stock is over £20.003,000 in 1891, as compared with 1841. It is true there has been a diminution both in the quantity and value of cereal crops, owing to the fall in the prices of grain, but ithe loss arising from this source is small as compared with the .enormous increase in live stock. The value of the horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs in Ireland, according to a new rate of valuation, is put down in " Thom's Official Directory " as ^63,099,500 in 1886; and ;^68,247,i9g in 1891, instead of ;^4i,oco,ooo according to the old rate ot valuation, the value of the asses, g"oats, poultry, &.C., being, moreover, included in the ^41,000,000 though not in ihe new valuations for 1886 and 1891. TEXTILE INDUSTRIES. The following figures, taken from the Statistical Abstract, show Tthat there has been a considerable advance in the textile industries •of Ireland : — Year. Number of Spinning Spindles. Number of Doubling Spindles. Number of Power Looms. 1885 1890 963,031 970,119 30,875 46,092 25,472 28,612 BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 1S9 There has also been a very lar^e increase in the business transacted by the PostOffice Department in Ireland. ■ . - . The following- Table gives some of the principal figures, ooo being omitted :- Vear, Letters Delivered. Book Packets and Circulars. Telegrams Forwarded. Money Orders. Postal Orders. Issued. Paid. Issued. Paid. j88i 82,238 14,164 1,862 '.274 jC 1.729 £ 90 £ 94 1885 89,700 17,80 J 2,22\ '>'35 2,009 4S4 461 1890 99-859 '24,543 3>634 1,363 2,256 884 88 SPIRITS AND BEER. PMnally, the number of gallons of spirit distilled during the year 1881 was -9,407/Doo ; -in. 1S86, 10,6.27,000, and in ,1890,, 12,989,000, an increase of 38-1 percent, as compared with 1881. The number of barrels of beer (including porter) brewed in Ireland in 1881 was 1,920,000; in 1886, 2,150,000, and in 1890, 2,490,000, an increase of 29-1 per cent, as compared with i88r. BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE. MR. GLADSTONE. Mr. Gladstone, on receiving the freedom of the City ot Aberdeen, on the 26th September, 1871, dealt specially with the Home Rule question, and said : — " This United Kingdom, which we have endeavoured to make a united kingdom in heart as well as in law — (applause) — we trust will remain a united kingdom — (loud applause) — and although as human beings the issues of great even's are not in our hands, but are directed by a higher Power, yet we intend and mean, every one us both high and low — not those merely who meet in this hall, but those who crowd the streets of your city, and every city from the north to the south of this island — we intend that it shall remain a united kingdom. (Loud applause. ) " We are told that it is necessary for Ireland to close her relations with the Parliament of this country, and to have a Parliament of her own. Why is Parliament to be broken up? Has Ireland any great grievances? What is it (that Ireland has demanded from the Imperial Parliament, and that the Imperial Parliament has refused? (Cheers.) It will not do to deal with this matter ia I90 BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE.— MR. GLADSTONE. vague and shadowy assertions. I have looked in vain for the setting forth of any practical scheme of policy which the Imperial Parliament is not equal to deal with, ©r which it refuses to deal with, and which is to be brought about by Home Rule. " Has Ireland great grievances ? What is it that Ireland has demanded from the Imperial Parliament, and that the Imperial Parliament has refused ? (Cheers.) It will not do to deal with this matter in vague and shadowy assertions. I have looked in vain for the setting forth of any practical scheme of policy which the Imperial Parliament is not equal to deal with, or which it refuses to deal with, and which is to be brought about liy Home Rule. I have seen nothing, except that it is stated there is a vast quantity of fish in the seas that surround Ireland, and that if they had Home Rule they 7voiild catch a great deal of these fish. But there are fish in the seas which surround England and Scotland. England has no Home Rule, and .Scotland has no Home Rule, but we manage to catch the fish. (Cheers, and laughter.) You would exjiect when it is said that the Imperial Parliament is to be broken up — you would expect that at the very least a case should be made out, showing that there were great subjects of policy and gieat demands necessary for the welfare of Ireland, which the representatives of Ireland had united to ask, and which the representatives of England, Scotland, and Wales had united to refuse. (Applause.) There is no such sentiment. There is nothing that Ireland has asked and that this country and that this Parliament has refused. This Parliament has done for Ireland -li'hat it would have scrupled to do for England or for Scotland. (Cheers. ) " What are the inequalities of England and Ireland? I declare that I know none, except that there are certain taxes still remaining which a7e levied over Englishmen and Scotchmen, and which are not levied over Irishmen ; and likewise that there are certain purposes for which public money is freely and largely given in Ireland, and for which is not given in England or Scotland. (Cheers.) That seems to me to be a very feeble case indeed for the argument which has been used, by means of which, as we are told, the faliric of the united I'arliament of this coun'rv is to be broken. " There is no doubt that, if the doctrines of Home Rule are to be established in Ireland, I protest on your behalf that you will be just as well entitled to it in Scotland. (Hear, hear.) And, moreover, I protest on behalf of Wales, in which I live a good deal, and where there are eight hundred thousand people who to this day — such is then- sentiment of nationality— speak hardly anything but their own Celtic tongue — a larger number than speak the Celtic tongue, I apprehend, in Scotland, and a larger number than speak it, I apprehend, in Ireland. 1 protest on behalf of Wales that they are entitled to Home Rule there. (.A.pplause.) Can any sensible man, can any rational man, suppose at this time of da) — in this condition of the world — ive are going to disintegrate the p-rcat capital institutions of this country for the ptiipose of tnaki7ig ourselves riaiculous in the sight of all mankind, and crippling any poaver -zve possess for bestowing benefits through legislation on the country to ivhich w; belong ? Speaking- at Dalkeith, on November 27th 1879, Mr, Gladstone said : — " In England circumstances occurred which drew the attention of the people to the Irish Church. I had, in 1865, said I believed it was out of the range of practical politics. Now it came to this — that a goal in the heart of the metropolis BRITISH STATESMEN ON IlO.Mi: RULE.— MR. GLADSTONE. 191 was broken open in circumstances wliich tlrew tlie attention of the English people to the state of Ireland ; and when in Manchester a policeman was murdered in the execution of his duty, at once the whole country became alive to the question of the Irish Church — it came within the range of practical politics." " There is one limit, and one only, to the extension of local government ; it is this— nothing can be done by any wise statesman, or rightminded Briton, to weaken or compromise the authority of the Imperial Parliament. The Imperial Parliament must be supreme in these three kingdoms, and nothing that creates a doubt upon that supremacy can be tolerated by any intelligent or patriotic mind. {Cheers.) ■' I will consent to give to Ireland no principle, nothing that is not to be given on equal terms to Scotland, and to different parts of the kingdom. " (Cheers.) Mr. Gladstone at Edinburg-h, in a speech at the Liberal Club, on April 1st, 1880, expressed the following- opinion of Ireland after six years of Lord Beaconsfield's administration : — •'There was a great deal of difliculty still to contend with in the state of Ireland ; but as to those panics and apprehensions of fear that the people of Ireland wanted to tear Ireland away from its connection with this country, he told ihem frankly that he did not believe that ; he thought it was an old woman's apprehension — (laughter) —not that he meant to apply the phrase ' old woman ' 10 any person, but to apply it strictly— as qualifying the character of the apprehension." '■Speaking generally, the cultivation of Ireland has been carried on for the last eight years under cover and shelter of the land law in Ulster,_and the North, and the other three provinces in Ireland, ^ith a sense of security on the part of the occupier — with a feeling that he was sheltered and protected by the law, instead of feeling that he was persecuted by the law. There is an absence of crime and outrage with a general sense of comfort and satisfaction such as is unknown in the previous history of the countr)." At JUNIPER GREEN, March 22nd. 1880. '• Mr. Gladstone then proceeded to animadvert on a handbill issued to the electors of Southport, calling on them lo vote for Colonel Blackburn and Mr. Secretary Cross, who were prepared to maintain ' one Queen, one Parliament, and one Empire.' (Laughter.) They were being intimidated by being told that the Liberals of this country were not prepared to support Queen, Parliament, and Empire. It was intended to insinuate that the Liberals were disposed to break down the authority of Parliament by fostering the Home Rule movement. There ■was not a shadow of evidence to be produced in support of the charge." At EDINBURGH, November 9th, 1885. " From one end of Great Britain to the other I trust there will not be a single representative returned to Parliament who, for one moment, would listen to any proposition tending to impair the visible and sensible Empire— the unity of the Empire. Whatever demands may be made on the part of Ireland, if they are to be entertained, they must be subject to the condition that the unity of the Empire shall be preser\ed, and that all the authority of Parliament — of the Imperial Parliament — which is necessaiy for maintaining the unity of the Empire, shall be steadfastly maintained. "Let me now suppose that the Liberal party might be returned to the coming Parliament— that is rather a staggering supposi'.ion— (laughter)— but I beg you to O 192 BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE.— SIR W. HARCOURT. indulge me for an instant — (laughter) — might be returned to the coming Parliament in a minority, but in a minority which might become a majority by the aid of the Irish vote ; I will suppose that owing to some cause the present Government has- disappeared, and a Liberal party was called to deal with this great constitutional question of the Government of Ireland in a position where it was a mmority dependent on the Irish vote for converting it into a majority. Now, gentlemen, I tell you seriously and solemnly, that though I believe the Liberal party to be honourable, patriotic, and trustworthy, in such a position as that it would not be safe for it to enter on the consideration of a measure in respect to which, at the first step of its progress, it would be in the power of a party coming from Ireland to say, 'Unless you do this and unless you do that we will turn you out to-morrow.' (Cheers.) • ■•••••■..••••••.>*•*•• '•We believe it is essential for the public welfare that the party which may have to deal with ]^Ir. Parnell, or to check and virtually govern the dealings with Mr. Parnell, should be a party not dependent upon his suffrages." SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT. In December, 1885, speaking- at Lowestoft, Sir. W. Harcourt professed the greatest indignation at the alleged alliance between the Conservative party and the Nationalists. The charge was false; but Sir William Harcourt's fury is very interesting in view of his present attitude, and he said that a Parnellite alliance would not be tolerated by this country. " The Tories propose to govern the country by an intimate alliance with mem who openly avowed their object was the dismemberment of Ireland from England^. Was it possible the country was going to tolerate such a transaction ? Liberal* must not be in a hurry to turn the Tories out. He would let them for a few months stew in their own Parnellite juice, and when they slank in the nostrils of the country, as they would siink, then the country would tling them, discredited and disgiaced, to the constituencies, and the nation would pronounce its tinal judgment upon them. Tney would hear no more of Tory reaction for many generations. " Speaking on the University Education (Ireland) Bill, Sir William demonstrated why Home Rule should not be granted (Jlausani), Vol. 214, p. 1,618: — "If we are to govern Ireland according to Irish ideas, I fear we .shall find ourselves reduced to the consequence of not governing Ireland at all. . . ._ . For myself, not being a ' Home Ruler,' I have never adopted the idea of governing Ireland according to Irish ideas. I have always regarded Ireland as a part of Her Majesty's dominions — as an integral fraction of a united empire — and if that be so, Ireland, like all other parts of the dominions of the Queen, must be governed not according to Irish, but according to Imperial ideas. Imperial ideas are exactly opposite, so far as I can judge, to Irish ideas. The House of Commons has not to consider whether a measure squares with Irish ideas, or satisfies the demands of any section of the Irish people, but whether it is consistent with equal justice ; and having matured such a uieasure, it is our duty to offer it for acceptance by the Irish people, leaving to those who reject it the responsibility of that refusal." MR. JOHN BRIGHT. Mr. Bright expressed himself with equal decision in a letter written in 1872. The letter was addressed to The O'Donoghue, then candidate for Kerry, in oppo.sition to th6 candidate chosen by the Home Rulers :— BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RUEE.— EARL SPENCER. 193 "My dear O'Donoghue. — It is said some persons engaged in the canvass of the County of Kerry have spoken of me as an advocate of what is termed Home Rule in IreUmd. I hope no one will venture to say anything so absurd and untrue. If it has been said by anyone of any authority in the county, I will feel obliged if you contradict it. To have tivo representative Legislative Assemblies or Parliaineiits in the United Kingdom luonld, in my opinion, bi an intolerable mischief, and I think no sensible man can wish for two within the limits of the present United Kingdom, who does not wish the United Kingdom to become two or more nations entirely se[mrate from each other. Excuse my troubling you with this. It is no duty of mine to interfere with your contest, but I do not wish to be misrepresented." And in his memorable address to the electors of Birmingham in June, 18S6, Mr. John iSright used these striking words. EARL SPENCER. Speaking- at BRISTOL, November 14, 1881 : — "What we have to do is this — we have to tell the Irish that their just grievances always will be redressed ; that we will extend to them every privilege and liberty that we Englishmen possess ; but we must tell them plamly at the same time, ihat no party in England, whether Conservative or Liberal, will put up with anarchy ; and, what is more, that they are beating the air if they agitate for repeal of the Union. (Cheers.) We hold that the continued union of Ireland with this country is of vilal importance to us. We feel like the Americans when the integrity of their country was threatened, and, if necessary, we mast shed blood to maintain the strength and salvation of tins country. (Hear, hear.) " At BELFAST, June i8th, 18S4. "The deeds of those men to whom I referred will, however, be as futile as they are dastardly. They will not terrify the English nation. Tiie statesmen of the nation, and the nation itself, will face their enemy with a determination not to be beaten, and they will not give up one point or one idea which they consider necessary to maintain the United Parliament of England — (cheers) — and the sovereignly of the Queen. (Cheers.) I say this, not only to the English and Scottish nation, but I say it to the Iri>h nation." SIR GEORGE TREVELYAN. Sir George Trevelyan was a Unionist during the General Election of 1886, although after his defeat at the Border Boroughs, he apostasised and be came a Separatist and Gladstonian. The speeches of Sir George Trevelyan are a perfect mine for quo- tations in support of the Crimes Act, or against the Coercion of the League. Speaking at Hawick on February loth, 18S3, Sir Georg-e Trevelyan said : — " If you ^^•ant to get at the truth, you must never forget that there are two Irelands —the Ireland of men of all parties, and creeds, and ranks, and callings. who, whatever else they differ upon, unite in wishing to preser\e law and order, and the right of every citizen to go about his business in peace and safety ; and there is the oth^r Ireland — the smaller Ireland, as I firmly believe — -of the men who foment and condone and sympathise with crime. // is the gravest mistake to underrate the numbers and the claim to respect of the party of order in Ireland. It is not a political party. (Hear, hear.) It includes the great Liberal parly of the north which, in its essential features, resembles the Liberal i^arty in Scotland. O 2 194 BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE.— SIR G. TREVELYAN. "/ iin'cr came across awn more ready, at a crisis, cheerfully and unoslentationsly to place patriotism before party than the Conservatives of the sister island. " The party oj order includes ei>ery farmer who does not ivant to rob the landlord of his due, and who does not want to be forced to pay blackmail to agitation — every poor fell O'lV uho have not concealed their intention of paying them out 7i.'hene7'er they can get a chance. "The real meaning of what has occurred is, that the Government hai'c obtained the Farnellite vote by losing the support of a good many more of their most faithful and tiied supporters in the House of Commons. "/7i'/// not be a party to giving them {the Irislf\ the uncontrolled care of la-o and order. " Nothing but the fact that the police and resident magistrates were in the hands of a strong central government //vjtv-zvfl' certain districts in the South and West of Ireland from ivholesale massacre. " IVhat is called coercion was merely the putting in force the steps ivhich are re- quired to ensure conviction and to carry out the ordinary la\\-. " They set up a separate Executive, and they know that this Executive will be composed of members of the Land League who haz'C been teaching that rent is robbery. " For my own part the idea of making the ex-members of the Land League the land agents in Ireland of the British Treasury is the wildest that ever entered the brain of man. "Scotland is much less well off than Ireland, which is a sort of spoiled child."' Speaking- at Harwich on July 2nd, 1886, SirG.Trevelyaii said : — r "If I had supported that scheme after what I said to you in November last, all I can say is that, though you might have been willi "'g to elect me, I never should have ventured to look you in the face again. " I could quote by the hundred passages of extraordinary violence and impro- priety which were spoken by leading members of the Land League during the recent trouhles^>assages which would prove, as I think, that they are unfit now to he entrusted with lazu and order.'''' MR. JAMES BRYCE. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is now an ardent advocate for a separate Parliament for Ireland, has gone through the same remarkable change of views that most of his colleagues have undergone. Mr. James Bryce wrote an article in the Cenlury Magaziiw for June, i SS3, under the title of "Eng'land and Ireland," from which the following is an extract: — "On the other hand, England cannot bring herself to accept the social revolu- tion, and to let the numerical majority of Irishmen carry out their will, whatever that may prove to be, for England holds herself responsible for whatever happens in Ireland. If Ireland were cut adrift, a civil war mii;ht possibly have to decide the issue between the aboriginal nation and the Anglo-Scottish or Protestant colony, or rather (since the distinction of Parties does not closely follow the difference of blood) between the tenants and labourers of the S.W. and the upper classes. "Whichever faction triumphed, whether by arms or by votes, would abuse its power and trample on the rights of the other. England feels unable to tolerate this. If Ireland were left independent, and a civil war followed, England could not stand by and see excesses like those of the Communards and the Assembly at Paris of \%1\ without interfering. If, a connection of the countries being maintained, domestic Irish legislation were committed to an Irish Parliament, and that Parliament used it to dispossess landowners without compensation, and establish the Roman Catholic Church, England would be irresistably m.oved to interefere. Therefore she clings to the idea that the United Kingdom is one, and when the idea presents itself of cutting Ireland adrift, asks whether that would not be treason to those inhabi- tants of Ireland who do belong to the British rather than to the Irish nation, and to whom her faith seems so deeply plighted." 196 BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE— LORD ROSEBERY. LORD ROSEBERY. Lord Rosebery thus described, at Plymouth, in ^lay, 1S87, the plan now adopted by the Cabinet: — " Nothing could more effectually condemn the retention of the Irish members. "Suppose you give the Irish members a Parliament of their own for their own affairs, and give them at the same time their present representatives in the Imperial Parliament, then you put them in a vastly preponderant and superior position, because they have not merely the exclusive right to manage their own affairs but they have also a very considerable right in the management of ours. This is a great disturber of the balance of the Constitution, and that, on the whole, seems to be undesirable. But, on the other hand, if you say, as many have said : 'We will admit the Irish member, but only for Imperial matters' — what are you to do with the Irish meml)ers \\'hen Imperial matters are not going on ? /s the Speaker to ring the bell and say, ' The Irish members may come in'' — (laughter) — and then some English member who objected to the Irish members will say, ' Sir, I object to the Irish members coming in ; this is not an Imperial matter,'' and we shall haT'c a debate, perhaps, of two nights as to zohether or no! it is an Imperial matter, and the Irish members may come in — (laughter) — and then, just in the middle of question time or at the end of any debate you may find the Speaker ringing his bell again and saying, 'The Irish members will please return to their own quarters,' and you will have these unfortunate Irish members in a state of perpetually suspended and restored animation. (Laughter.) " This is what the Government propose. It is a perfect scheme for ensuring waste of time and confusion at Westminster." LORD ROSEBERY ON A NATIONALIST ALLIANCE. Speaking- at Paisley on the 15th of October, 18S5, Lord Rosebery said in connection with the alleg-ed alliance between the Tories and the Irish Nationalists : — " The engagement has been only scaled so far ; it has not been ratified. We shall have to pay for th2 ratification. The followers of Mr. Parnell do not give votes for nothing. I fear the result will be disastrous. Try and imagine to your- selves the future of this country governed by Mr. Parnell and Lord Randolph Churchill — (ironical laughter) — on the principle which Prince Bismarck c?X\'ido utdcs — ' give that you may give ' — on the principle of 'scratch me and I will scratch you.' (Laughter.) We may be certain that it is not England, or Scotland, or Wales that will benefit by this new and interesting alliance. (Cheers.) Now, that is a grave prospect that the electors should weigh. I am not the least apprehensive about the Protective duties, but what is proposed is this, as I understand it — that Ireland should be treated as a colony, and that the Crown should be the only link between Ireland and the mother country. Well, it is so with the colonies, and Mr. Parnell wishes Ireland to be treated as a colony. But there is one great and essential difference between Ireland and our colonies, and it is this — that the colonies are loyal, and Ireland, I greatly fear, is not. (Cheers.) I wish I could believe it, but I cannot. "I think the Irish vote should no longer be a factor in the British Parliament, and for this reason, that there is no reliance to be placed upon it. The Irish vote is not guided by consideration of what is best for Great Britain and for the Empire. (Cheers.) ■•■■•■••• " It seems to me that in consideiiug this question, we have gained something if we have made up our minds that we are no longer to regard the Irish Parliamentaiy vote — (cheers) — and it seems to me if we come to that conclusion we have gained something more, because we have gained a perception of the only right policy to be BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE— SIR ROBERT PEEL. 197 pursued toN\'Ciids Ireland. I am afraid there is only one policy to be pursued io^oards Ireland, and it is t/iis — to treat Ireland exactly, so far as may be, as you would treat .any other part of the United Kingdom, whenever you can do it, without regard to the language of menace or insult, or language of opprobrium from those you are trying to banefit. Whenever you can do it, try and treat Ireland exactly as you ■would treat Scotland or Wales. (Cheers.) If you pass a measure of local govern- ment A)r Great Britain, pass as near as may be exactly the same measure of local goveriunent for Ireland. (Cheers.) She will not thank you ; she will receive your ?neasure rather loith a curse than with a blessing ; but what I want to point out is, that it is unworthy of British statesmen, who know so much of Irish affairs, to heed any longer the reception which may be given by the leaders of public opinion in Ireland. (Cheers.)" — Scotsman, i6th October, 1S85. MR. CANNING. Mr. Canning;- exclaimed on one occasion — " Repeal the Union ! Rcslore the Heptarchy ! " This was the only answer Canning- vouchsafed when he heard the first whisper of a repeal of the Union and the establishment of a separate Leg-islature for Ireland. As Peel said, Canning- declined argument because he was convinced that repeal of the Union with Ireland was tantamount to the dissolution of the British Empire : — SIR ROBERT PEEL. Sir Robert Peel, in the Session of 1S34, delivered an important speech on th.2 introduction of O'Connell's Bill for the repeal of the Union. He said : — " J'he security of the Empire dependel on the ?haintenance of that Union, without which England would be recluced to the condition of a fourth-rale Power an Europe, and Ireland to the desolation of a wilderness. Looking at the relative positions of -the islands with the other Powers of Europe, and the Empire rising on the other side of the Atlantic, it was impossible not at ouce to perceive the impracticability and madness of such a proposition as that before the House. Nature herself proclaimed the folly of such a scheme. To preserve the existence of the^e idands as a leadnig Power of Europe it was absolutely necessary that they should be governed and directed by one supreme head and one supreme Legislature A separate Legislature could not alleviate the poverty of Ireland. The establishment of a really independent Legislature in Ireland would lead to incalculable evils in the administration of the affairs of the country. 7he one Exccuthe and Parliament of the Empire ivojild be contimially coming into collision -^'ith the other. It could not safely be left to Ireland to fix her own proportion of the public burdens of the two countries, and, on the settlement of the commercial system, or on the subject of foreign relations, the \ery existence of tv.'o independent Legisla- tures would involve both countries in inextricable difficulties. These apprehensions had been more than once realised. One dispute occurred between the Legislative assemblies of the two countries in the year 17S5 ; and this was followed liy another on the subject of the Regency, which involved the fundamental principles of all civil government. There had been but two occasions on which the English and Irish Parliaments could quarrel, and on both they did quarrel. . . A separate Parliament for Ireland icould amount to a disbanding of Society." EARL GREY. Lord Grey, the great Reform Premier, speaking on this question of Home Rule in the House of Lords in the Session of 1834, said: — "Connected as were these two great branches of the United Empire (Creat Britain and Ireland) by the LegiL-lative Union — the severance of that Union would 198 BRITISH STATESMEN OX HOME RULE.— LORD PALMERSTON. imply 7iot merely a separation of the Governtitent, but of the people of both countries — the dissevering of that link which could only be destroyed by the agency of the people the?nselves — the dissolving of all those ties which now connected the two count) ies. Suppose this is to be effected, what would be the consequence? It would be to expose both kingdoms, thus weakened, to the attacks of foreign enemies." LORD BROUGHAM AND SIR JAMES GRAHAM, Lord Brougham spoke in a similar vein, beseeching" the deluded people of Ireland not to attempt to sever the bonds which linked two peoples together, but to receive and profit by all the benefits which the perpetuity of those bonds was alone calculated to insure them. Sir James Graham said, in the course of the exciting- Session of 1843, '^\hen the repeal agitation was at its height: — '■•A war — -much as he deprecated such an awful calamity — would be safer than the repeal of the Union. It they hesitated to repress the rebellious spirit which was at work in the struggle of repeal, the glor)' of the country was departed." THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. The Duke of Wellington, himself an Irishman, said : — " / shall resist to the last all measures which aim at making a divided Empire and a divided Legislature.'' LORD PALMERSTON AND LORD MACAULAY. Lord Palmerston, in supporting in 1845 Peel's Bill to increase the grant to Maynooth, said, upon the question of the Union of the Empire: — "Those who think that a separation between the two countries would be fatal to the British Empire, and that a civil war for the prevention of that separation would be a calamity less great only than the separation itself, must feel, as I do, the greatest anxiety to assist in carrying any proper mea-ure which can tend io undeceive the Irish as to the true feelings of England towards them, and which may have the effect of cementing those ties which I trust may long, for the benefit of mankind, bind the people of the two islands together." Lord Macaulay's answer to those who proposed the repeal of the Union and a separate Legislature for Ireland was, "Never! never I never! " EARL RUSSELL. Earl Russell, writing on the 12th of October, 1872, observed :— "I fear if an Irish Parliament is set up in Ireland, all her energies will be wasted in political contention. I therefore wish to divert the forces which might give heat and comfort, instead of concentrating them to produce a conflagration. This is the more necessary as the Irish nature is so verj' inflammable that it prefers a bonfire to the warmth of a moderate fire. I fear, however, that wisdom will be wanting both in England and Ireland," The present Lord Derby, in a speech delivered at Liverpool on the 9th of January, 1872, expressed his strong opposition to all Ultramontane and Home Rule demands. BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE— MR. DISRAELI. 199 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE IN 1874. The Duke (then jNIarquis of Hartington) spoke, in the Session^ of 1874, during the debate on Mr. Butt's motion in favour of Home Rule, and said : — " In honour and in honesty, ihe Imperial Parliament of Great Britain are bound to tell the Irish people that, whatever arguments may be used in reference to this- question as it applies to Ireland, while giving eveiy consideration to the just claims of Ireland, we can only look at it from an Imperial point of view ; and that we are convinced that, whatever may be the effect of the proposal upon the internal aftairs- of that country, we can never give our assent to the proposal of the hon. and learned member for Limerick. ... I can say fur myself — and I think J may say the same on behalf of those who sit round me — that no motive 0/ personaf avibitiou, no consideration cf party advantage, can ever induce 11s to purchase' the support of hon. members rep7cscntsng Irish constituencies by any sacrifice' jvhich, in our opinion, would endanger the Union between the two countries.'" MR. DISRAELI. Lord Beaconsfield, then Mr. Disraeh, in closing- the debate on Mr. Butt's motion, showed the utter impracticability of an Irish Parliament. He concluded his speech as follows : — "I am opposed to this motion because I think there are involved in it ihe highest and nearest interests of our country. I am opposed to it for the sake oj the Irish people as much as for the sake of the English and the Scotch. I am opposed to it because I wish to see united, at an important crisis of the world— a crisis that, perhaps, is nearer arriving than some of us suppose — because I wish to see a united people welded in one great nationality, and because I feel that if we sanction this policy, if we do not cleanse the Parliamentary bosom of all this 'perilous- stuff," we shall bring about the diiintegration of the kingdom and the destruction, of the Empire.'^ Mr. M'Culloch, the able economist, remarks : — "Unless it were resolved or wished to put an end to all political connecti^^n be- tween the two countries, nothing could be more inexpedient and absurd than the existence of a separate independent Legislature for Ireland. Perpetual jealousies- could not have failed to arise between it and the Legislature of (ireat Britain, which must necessarily in the end have led to estrangement, and probably separation. A legislative Union was the only means of obviatig these and other sources of mischief; its repeal would make Ireland a theatre for all sorts o/proj.cts and intrigues, and it would be sure to be followed, at no distant period, by the dis- memberment of the Empire." — limes. PROFESSOR GOLDWIN SMITH. Professor Goldwin Smith, well-known as a strong Radical, wrote from Toronto to \.\\e Da:h' Xews, of January I3ih, 1S86, emphatically against a separate legislature for Ireland. He said: — "In this quarter of a century I have learned something mora abo-.it Irish character, on its political side at least, from what I have seen in the United States ;■ and I know th:it Irish self-government means the government of Mr. Tweed. Vou can hardly doubt that an Irish Parliament means separation, the avowed aim of Mr. Parnell, who i; not a reformer, but a sworn enemy of great Britain. You may impose limitations, b.tt they will not bi woith th:- p.ip.-r they are piinled on. 20O BRITISH STATESMEN ON HOME RULE— MR. LECKY. The a^ilatioji for their abolition will commence on the morroro of the .capiluLaiion. Nor, depend upon it, will dismemberment stop there. By want of patriotic leadership the spirit of your people is being broken, and they are being prepared to abdicate their greatness. Is it not better to show a little British fortitude and patience before we strike our flag ?" MR. FORSTER. One of Mr. Forster's latest acts before his most untimely death -was to give a clear expression of his opinion upon the question .of Home Rule. Writing- from the Osborne Hotel, Torquay, he said : — "To prevent misconstruction, I wish to say that I do not believe that in Home Rule, or in any form of Irish Parliament, we should find a deliverance from the Irish difficulty, and I also think that they would be fraught with danger to Great Britai.T as well as to Ireland itself'' Mr. LECKY. j\Ir. W. E. H. Lecky addressed a letter to the Times on the Irish question. The following- are extracts : — "TRAITORS OR FOOLS. "The essenual fact of the Irish question is that the party which demands Home Hule, the party which has won eighty-five seats in the present representation of Ireland, is a party which is animated by two leading ideas — a desire to fiutider the %ohole landed property of the country, and an inveterate hatred of the English connection in every form. No one who has read the speeches of the leaders of that party in Ireland can doubt it. The party in America, who are the paymasters .iind the real directors of the whole movement, have openly, uniformly, and ostentatiously avowed their objects, and if any English politician has still illusions on the suljject, he has an easy way of dispelling them. Let him read for only three months United Ireland, the most accredited organ of the party. I \\'ill venture to say that any English statesman who reads that paper, and tlun proposes to hand over the property and the virtual government of Ireland to the men whose ideas it represents, must be either a traitor or a fool. "THE CONSTITUTION OF IRISH SOCIETY. "The fundamental condition of the situation iti Ireland is not difficult to understand. A third of the population are thoroughly loyal to the Union and the .connection, and that third constitutes what, till a few years ago, would have been generally considered the natural governing body of the countrv'. It comprises almost all the Protestants, the Catholic gentiy. the great majority of the Catholics in the professions, an important section of the Catholic middle-class, as well as those numerous Catholics, who in the army and the constabulary have shown themselves on so many trying occasions the most devoted servants of the Crown. Two-thirds of the population, on the other hand, have supported the disloyal side ; but among them are the poorest, the most ignorant, and the most dependent in a .country where extreme ignorance and poverty are much more common than in England, and this party has been mainl)' supported by foreign subsidies. Much of this disloyalty is due to genuine political or religious animosity, but much also to intimidation, to hopes of plunder, or to a beliet that the disloyal side is the winning one. " RESTORE THE LIBERTY OF THE PEOPLE. "What is wanting in Ireland is not an extension of local government, but a ■restoration of the liberty of the people, of that first and most fundamental LIBERAL STATESMEN ON THE IRISH NATIONALISTS. 2or £Onditioji of liberly, a slate of society in whicli men may pursue their lawful business and fulfil their lawful contracts without danger or molestation. Repre- sentative institutions, newspapers, public meetings, and juries are excellent things, itd the liberiy of the individual is more precious than any of them, and there is far more of it at the present time in Russia and in Turkey than in Ireland Unless there is sufficient patriotism in the English jiarties to combine, and that verj' speedily, to restore the empire of the law, industrial ruin must speedily follow, and with it a state of anarchy that can only be quelled by the sword." S^Jhis was luritten in iS86. " Since then individual liberty has been restored by Mr. Balfour s administration with the most blessed results to Ireland and the Irish people ^^ MR. J. S. MILL. " It is my conviction that the separation of Ireland from Great Britain would be most undesirable for both, and that the attempt to hold them together by any form ■of federal union would be unsatisfactory while it lasted, and would end either in reconquest or in complete separation. For generations it is to be feared that the two nations would be either at war or in a chronic state of precarious and armed peace, each constantly watching a probable enemy so near at hand that in an instant they might be' at each other's threat. By this slate of their relations it is almost superfluous to say that the poorer of the two countries would suffer most. To England it would be an inconvenience ; to Ireland a public calamity, not only in the way of direct burthen, but by the paralysing effect of a general feeling of insecurity upon industrial energy and enterprise. Let it not be supposed that I should regard either an absolute or a qualified separation of the two countries otherwise than as a dishonour to one and a serious misfortune to both." MR. MATTHEW ARNOLD. In an article entitled "The Nadir of Liberalism,"' in the Kine- ieenih Ceniitry for May, 1886, Mr. Matthew Arnold says ot Mr. Gladstone's Irish schemes : — " The project of giving a separate Parliament to Ireland has every fault vhich a project of State cnn have. It lakes one's breath away to find an English statesman propounding it. With islands so closely and inextricably connecttd together by nature as these islands of ours, to go back in the at least formal polidcal connection attained, to make the political tie not closer but much laxer, almost to undo it — what statesman.ship I And when, estranged from us in feeling as Celtic Ireland unhappily is, we had yet in Ulster a bit of Great Britain, we had a friend there, you propose to merge Ulster in Celtic Ireland ! you propose to efface and expunge your friend ! Was there ever such madness heard of?" LIBERAL STATESMEN ON THE IRISH NATIONALISTS. MR. GLADSTONE ON HIS ALLY, MR. PARNELL. This is Mr. Gladstone's opinion upon Mr. Parnell and his followers, expressed at Leeds on October 7th, 18S1 : — " For nearly the first time in the history of Christendom, a body — a small body — of men have arisen tuho aie not ashamed to preach in Inland the doctrines of public plunder. I take as the representative of the opinions I 202 LIBERAL STATESMEN ON THE IRISH NATIONALISTS. denounce the name of a gentleman of considerable ability — Mr. Parnell, the- member for Cork — a gentleman, I will admit, of considerable ability, but whose doctrines are not S'lch as really need any considerable ability to recommend them. Ij yon vo forth upon a Diissicii to deinoralise a people by teaching them to make the property rf their neighbattrs the objects of their covetous desire it does not require superhuman gijts to find a certain number of follo'uers and adherents for a doctrine such as tkai.'^ At LEEDS, October 8th, i8Si. "Mr. Parnell is very copious in his references to America. He has said America is the only friend of Ireland ; but, in all his references to America, he has never found time to utter one word of disapproval of, or misgiving about, what is known as the assassination literature of that countrj*. "' At the Guildhall on the 14th of October, 1S81, Mr. Gladstone described his subsequent ally, Mr. Parnell, as "The man who has unhappily made himself beyond ali others prominent in tht attempt to destroy the authority of the law, to subsiitttte what would end in being nothing more or less than anarchical oppression exercised upon the people of Ireland." At Knowsley, on the 27th of October, 188 1, Mr. Gladstone said of Mr. Parnell and the Land Leag'ue : — " It is a great issue ; it is a conflict for the very first and elementary principles- upon which civil society is constituted. It is idle to talk of either law or order, or liberty or religion, or civilisation, if these gentlemen are to carry through the reckless and chaotic schemes that they have devised. Rapine is the first object ;. but rapine is not the only object. It is perfectly true that these gentlemen wish to march through rapine to the disintegration and dismemberment of the Empire, and, I am sorry to say, even to the placing of different parts of the Empire in direct hostility one witlr the other. That is the issue in which we are engaged. Our opponents are not the people of Ireland. We are endeavouring to relieve- the people of Ireland from the weight of a tyrannical yoke." On January 28th, 188 1, Mr. Gladstone said: — "We have got before us a state of crime widely extended. Gentlemen would' have us to suppose that this crime is owing to distress in Ireland, that it is owing to evictions in Ireland. It is evident, by the testimony afforded by facts, that it is- owing neither to the one nor to the other .... With fa'al and painful precision the steps of crime dogged the steps of the Land League.^'' Again, on January iith, 18S2, he said: — " They (hon. gentlemen) must explain, by some statement of fact, if they could give a different colour to the relations of the Land League to the crimes committed in Ireland, and they must explain the reason of the breaking down of the adminis- tration of justice. What did the breaking down mean ? it meant the destruction of the peace oj life ; // tneanl the placing in abeyance of the most sacred duties and the most cherished duties ; it meant the servitude of good men, the impuni'y and supremacy of bad men. "' On April 4th, 18S2, Mr. Gladstone uttered these words: — " In my opinion that item which the honourable gentleman (Sir J. Gorst) has- omitted from his speech, is by far the most formidable feature in it, namely, the really strong presumption that behind the commission of these outrages there are influences at work higher than any that belon^ to those who commit them." It is to these " higher influences" that Mr. Gladstone has beerv on his knees on since 1886. LIBERAL STATESMEN ON TUK IRISH NATIONALISTS. 203 ON THE NATIONAL PRESS OF IRELAND. '■ Whnt that literature is is well known. It is well known how it teaches and preaches in every form, with an amount of boldness and audacity varyini^r from week to week and from mouth to month, hatred of the institutions and government of .the United Kingdom. It is known how that weekly literature poisons the minds of the people in Ireland who read it against all law and against the Constitution of their country. It is known how it inllames the passions of the people by rhetoric d descriptions of the wrongs of other days. It is known how it makes it impossible for those who read that Hterature, and read none other, to know the truth with respect to public affairs, and the real conduct and intentions of the Government of the country. It is well known how constantly— sometimes openly and undisguisedly, sometimes under some disguise more or less thin— it points, not to any Constitutional means for the redress of what may be deemed grievances, not to any action within the law and Consiitution, but to violence and cii'il ivar.'^ IV. E. G., Hansard, vol. 200, /. too, I'th March 1S70. THE OBJECTS OF IRISH AGITATORS. " . . . But these are not persons seeking amendment of the law. They are seeking to dismember the British Empire. Now, sir, it appears to me that the Executive, in the face of a fact like this, had one duty to perform, not its only duty, but certainly its first duty, and one so distinct and important that nothing should be mixed up with the peiformance of that duty which can possibly be construed into a condition or a restriction." — W. E. C, Hans., vol. r8i, /. 268, .8—2—66. MR. GLADSTONE QUOTES MR. PARNELL. " Comparing his language in and out of Parliament. The hon. gentleman (Mr. Parnell) gave us in this House a most attractive account of the operations and objects of the Land League. Nothing could be smoother than his language, nothing could be more moderate than its purposes, as he described them. But let us see what is the language he holds on the other side of the water. ' Now, what are you to do,' he asks, 'for the tenant who bids for a farm from which his niighbour has been evicted ? ' " Amidst constant interruption from Irish M.P.'s, lAr. Gladstone read Mr. Parnell's reply to his own question — a reply sworn to and proved by a special reporter in a Court of Justice. " You must show him on the roadside when you meet him ; you must shoio him in the streets of the town ; you must show him at the fair and market- place, and even in the House of Worship, by leaving him severely alone, y sending him to a moral Coventry, by isolating him the rest of his kind, as if he were the ieper of old ; you must shoTH him your detestation of the crime he has committed, and you may depend upon it if the counties of Ireland carried out this doctrine, that no man, no matter how full of avarice, how lost to shame, will transgress your unwritten code."' — W. E. G., Hans., vol. 257, /. 1,691-93, Jani4ary i%th, 188 1. CONCESSION CREATES NEW DEMANDS. "It is with concern, and even melancholy, I observe that the greater the extension 'ue can give to the scope of the Bill the greater become the demands which are made npon ns There are, hoithver, limits to the embarrassfnents of proprietorship, in which it is undesirable that we should involve ourselves, and the extent of the operations we propose to undertake are limited by the Bill."— /r. E. G.. Hans, vol., 263, /. 603, Jttly nth, 18S1. I 234 LIBERAL STATESMEN ON THE IRISH NATIONALISTS. INGRATITUDE OF IRISH MEMBERS. " This House, I say, has acceded to much to which it was rekictant to accede, and many hon. members from Ireland seem to take no account of that. The hon. member for Longford (Mr. Justin M'Carthy) how does he take account of it. He expiesse 1 no acknowledgment, no gratitude to the House — (Mr. Healy : ' Not a bit'). He expressed no acknowledgment, no gratitude to the 550 representatives- of England and Sco'land for the provisions they have adopted in this Bill, the extraordinary measures they have adopted in this Bill out of consideration for the circumstances of Ireland. " — JK E. G., Hans., vol. 263, p. 658, August I2th, 1881. CRIME AND THE LAND LEAGUE. " So that with fatal and painful precision the steps of crime dogged the steps of the Land League, and it is not possible to get rid by any ingenuity of facts such as I have stated by vague and general complaints, by imputations against parties, imputations against England, imputations against Governments." — IV. E. G ., Hans., vol. 257,/. 1,697, January 28th, 1881. JUSTICE. '•It is the administration of justice which constitutes the safety of the private individual, and which is the true guarantee both of rights and liberties." — ]V. E. G., Hans., vol. 257,/. 1,697, January 28th, 1881. -LESS THAN CHILDREN" TO GRANT HOME RULE "Her Majesty's Government would be less than children in the practice of the business of the .State and of Parliament, if they could be so weak as to suppose it was possible to bring the policy recommended by them to Parliament inlo harmony with the objects which the hon. member for Cork is believed to pursue." — W. E. G., Hans., vol. 253,/. 1,654, 5th July, 1S80. MR. BRIGHT AND MR. CHAMBERLAIN. This same Nationalist party, Mr. Brig-ht declared at Bir- ming-ham, on tlie 14th of June, 18S2, to be "An Irish rebel party, the main portion of whose funds for agitation came directly from the avowed enemies of England, and whose oath of allegiance i& broken by association with its enemies. " Mr. BRIGHT, speaking at BIRMINGHAM, January 3rd, 1882, said : — "I should like very much to ask any man not inflamed by pi'ejudice or passion — I should like to ask you how it would be possible to treat a portion of the United Kingdom with greater freedom and generosity with regard to represen- tation than Ireland is treated by the Union, and is treated now. " But surely one may ask, Why is it that in Ireland, where there is a great field for it, this capital does not find great and constant and profitable employment? It is because, in that country, there is disorder and insecurit}' — (hear, heai) — anrl every Irishman who, in pursuit of political objects, stirs up disorder and insecurity, is not the friend, but the enemy, of his country, (Loud cheers.)" AT BANQUET AT THE REFORT^I CLUB, July 24th, 1885. "Who were the assailers of the noble earl (Lord Spencer) ? They were to be found in some of the representatives of those who professed to be the representa- tives of Ireland. Now, these men— he spoke of those who had brought those LIBERAL STATESMEN ON THE IRISH NATIONALISTS. 205 hideous charges against Lord Spencer — were disloyal fo the Crown, and directly hostile to Great Britain. (Cheers.) They obstructed all legislation which wa.%- intended to discover, or to prevent, or to punish crime. They had insulted and denounced every man in Ireland concerned with the just administration of the law. They had attacked the \'iceroy in a manner hitherto unkno\\n. They had attacked- the judges. They had displayed a boundless sympathy for criminals and nmrderers. (Cheers.) But irom their lips not one sentence of emphatic condemnation of the murderers had passed, and not a word of pity for their victims." SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT. Sir William Harcourt declared at Glasg-ow. on October 25 ih, 188 1, that the Liberal party would resist Mr. Parnell's policy to- the last extremity. " It ii true there is a strong party of irreconcilable politicians who do not represent Ireland, . . . men whose object, I am sorry to say, I believe is not so much to benefit Ireland as to injure England. Theirs has not been a policv of 7-econciliation and reform, but of hatred and disunion. No doubt we are at issue with them to the last extremity, to the extremity which was- unhappily reached in the United States of America, where men were satisfied to pour out their blood like water to maintain the integrity of their country and their empire. , . . The land agitation in their hands was an agitation whose object was to destroy the union of the empire and to overthrow the estab- lished Government of the United Kingdom. Mr. Parnell admits now that what he wants is not fair rent, he wants no rent at all. He wants to get rid of the land-- lords, in order that he may get nd of the English Govermjient ; and for this object ever)' kind of intimidation has been employed to deter honest men from doing their duty and fulfilling their obligations. The Land League has employed terms whose avowed object is to set aside and overrule the law of the land. It is utterly im- possible that any Government, i-esponsible for civilised society, can tolerate such a condition of things. The Lar,d League has thrown over the false coloitrs of Fa'r Rent ; it has hoisted the Red Flag, and the bnccamering craft sails nnder its true colours. The I^iberal paity never will have anything to do with attacks npon property, any more than upon the person of our fellow-citizefis. The landowner has just as good a right to a fair rent as you or I have to the coat upon our back. Whenever the Liberal party has allied itself with anti-social ideas, whenever it follows some of these misty philosophers in courses which have destroyed the safety' of society, it has come to grief, as it deserved to come to grief." At Plymouth, in September, 1SS5, Sir William Harcourt affirmed that the Liberal party repudiated Mr. Parnell's policy: — "There has been a still more serious question than boycotting raised in Ireland ;■ because, since the declaration of Mr. Parnell, there can be no doubt what is the policy that he and his party have adopted — it is a policy of absolute separation of the two countries. How has that declaration been met ? Two speakers, eminently entided to represent the Liberal party — Lord Hartington and Mr. Chamberlain — have spoken on this matter, and they have spoken in a manner worthy of their position, and worthy of tlie party they represent." Both Lord Harting-ton and Mr. Chamberlain thus spoke strong-ly against any grant of -'Home Rule," and distinctly re- pudiated in their speeches the Separative Policy of which Sir William Harcourt is now the champion. 2o6 THE VIEWS OF THE He connected with the Fenian conspiracy. — ("Hansard," vol. 229, p. \bo et seq.) " Mr Parnell said that for himself he had the greatest respect for many Fenians ■who believed in the separation of Ireland from England by physical force. Am I right or wrong in saying that this Land League organisation is really Fenian, and Fenian in its character? Mr. Dillon said that the Land League had three objects in view — first, to paralyse the Government ; secondly, to obstruct Parliament ; and, thirdly, to supersede the action of the law. But if they had accomplished these objects they would have done all that the Fenian organisation cvntemplated — they would have overthrown ■the Constitution as much as if they had attacked it successfully by open force. Mr. Parnell has never denied that there are a great number of P'enians connected with the Land League in America. He cannot deny it. When we see men seeking the support of arms to assist their purposes, and find members of the Land League in communication with Communism in Paris and Fenianism in America, then I say the maxim applies, 'Xoscitur ex scciis. '" — (' Hansard,' vol. 250, p. 842.) THE VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS. MR. PARNELL. At CINCINNATI, February 23rd, 1880. '■^ Xonc of us, whether we are in Amei'ica or in Ireland, or wherever wc may be, 'ivill be satisfied until wc luivc destroyed the last link which keefs Ireland bound to England:' VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. PARNELL. 207 At BROOKLYX. January I5lh, iSSo. ^^ Mr. Gladstone, in one of his Midlothian addresses, said that it was not until a policeman had been shot at Manchester by a Eenian, and Clerkenwell Prison had been blown up, that the Irish Church question came within the domains of practical English politics. He admitted in that way that you have to act upon English public opinion in some extraordinary and unusual manner in order to obtain any attention for the Irish question. We are therefore oblis^ed to make the situation a very hot one indeed. .... It is impossible to suppose that the gixat cause can be won without shedding a drop of blood. '' At NEWARK (New Jersey), January 6lh, 18S0. ^'' I think these people murdered yesterday zoill help usjorwaid /nnc." At CORK, October 3rd, 1S80. "We are determined to do our very utmost to make Ii-eland great, glorious, prosperous and free, to take the power of governing Ireland out of the hands of the English Parliament and people, and to transfer it into the hands of our own people. Determined as we are to acliieve these ends, we believe that we can only achieve them by making the land of Ireland as free as it was when the waters of the flood left it.'" At MAYO, on November 3rd, 1885. "Speaking for myself, and I believe for the Irish people and for all my col- leagues, I have to declare that we will never accept, either expressly cr implied, anything but the full and complete right to arrange our own affairs, and make our land a nation, to secure for her, free from outside control, the right to direct her own course amongst the peoples of the world." (Loud and prolonged cheering.) — Oviited Ireland, November 7th, 1885. At GALWAY, October ist, iSSo. " I would not have taken off my coat and gone to this work if I had not known that we were laying the foundation in the movement for the regeneration of our legislative independence. ' ' At LIVERPOOL, November 30th, 1879. "Let us see, as in 1782, one hundred thousand swords, both Catholic and Protestant, leaping from their scabbards, and believe me, fellow countrymen, it will not be a question of chicanery or of Acts of Parliament, or of anything that can possibly interfere between the rights of our people to make their own laws on the soil of Ireland. ... I believe the time will come when those thousands, of whom Mr. Killen spoke, shall awaken from their slumbers and herald the Irish nation in its future path of liberty and greatness." At CORK, March 22nd, 1880. Replying to Nationalists' address on his return from America, he said that their- refusal to take any part in the elections, he was sure, was determined upon after due consideration, and he added that, "In America, both young and old were determined to uphold the cause they upheld in Ireland — the rii^ht to take her place amongst the nations.^'' In another speech on the same occasion, he said: — "The time was not f:ir distant when their countrymen in every part of the civilised world would be all united with them as one man in helping Ireland to spring to her feet and strike off the detestable yoke of Irish landlordism. And when they had shattered this infamous system, the time would not be far distant when Ireland would gain the greater right — the right of self-government — the right of nationhood. If we succeed in emigiating the Irish landlords, the English Govern- ment will soon have to follow them." 2oS VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. PARNELL. At DUBLIN, on April 29th, 1880, on his return from America. "Before I go, I will tell you an incident that happened in America. A gentle- man came to the platform and handed me twenty-five dollars, saying, ' Here are five dollars for bread and twenty dollars for lead.' '' At CORK, October 4th, 1880. "Now we are a party occupying an independent position in the House of Commons, pledged to remain aloof from every English party who will not con- cede to Ireland the right to home government ; pledged in the words of Mr. Fred Lucas, to be a separate element in the Legislature, and, if n ecessarv-, 'disorderly, disorganizing, interfering with every business that may "be transacted, as far as it i& expedient or feasible.' (Cheers.) We can push the policy just as far as ve like." At WATERFORD, December, 6th, 1880. "We stand to-day in the same position that our ancestors stood. We declare that it is the duty of every Irishman to free his country if he can. We refuse to inflict needless suffering on the masses of our people. We will work by constitu- tional means as long as it su/is lis. We refuse to plunge this country into the- horrors of civil war when she has not a chance ; but I ask any man at this board, I ask any true Irishman, be he priest or be he layman, whether he would not consider it the first duty of an Irishman to do what he could to enable his country to take her place amongst the nations of the world. If it could be shown to him that there was a fair prospect of success from the sacrifice, I ask my reverend and lay friends whether they would not consider it their highest duty to give their lives- for the country that gave them birth." At WEXFORD, October loth, iSSi. "He (Mr. Gladstone) would have you to believe that he is not afraid of you because he has disarmed you, because he has attempted to disorganise you, because he knows that the Irish nation is to-day disarmed as far as physical weapons go ; but he does not hold this kind of language with the IJoers. ^^ hat did he do at the commencement of the session ! He said something of this kind with regard to the Boers. He said that he icas going to put them doaoii, and as soo?i as he had discovered that they were able to shoot straighter than his cnan soldiers, he atloiued! those fei.0 men to put him and his Goi'eriunent doii'7i, and, although he has attempted to regain some of his lost position in the Transvaal by subsequent chicanery and diplomatic negotiations, yet that sturdy and small people in the distant Transvaal have seen through \Mlliam Ewart Cdadstone ; and they have told him again, for the second time, that they will not have their liberties filched from them ; and I believe that, as a result, we shall see that William Ewart Gladstone will again yield to the people of the Transvaal, and I trust that, as the result of this great movement, we shall see that, just as Gladstone, by the Act of 1881, has eaten all his old words, has departed from all his formerly declared principles, now we shall see that these brave words of this English Prime Minister \\\\\ be scattered as chaff before the united and advancing determination of the Iri>h people to regain for themselves their lost land and their lost legislative independence." AT DROGHEDA, April 15th, 1884. " I said in New York, in 1879, when I landed there, wliat I say to you to-night — that you must either pay for the land or fight for it Constitutional agitation and organisation can do a great deal to whittle down the price that the landlord asks for his land ; but it must be paid for unless you adopt the other alternative, which I say nothing about. . . In my judgment the Irish land question, if it is to be settled by constitutional means, will have to be settled before the National question can be settled by Constitutional means. I do ask the people of Ireland, as rational beings, not to be turned aside from the idea that they have followed, and followed successfully for the years of the Land League agitation — not VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. PAR.XELL. 209 to be turned asidt' to the pitrsiiit of a Will 0' the Wisp f'i.e., DavitCs Natiotialisation oj the laud scheme, "which is an impossibility, and whicli may lead to serious disunion and which undoubtedly will postpone the settlement of the land question, and make the heart grow sick regarding the probability of the restorati n of an Irish Parliament. " At CORK, January 21st, 1SS5. " We could not ask for less than the re"stitution of Grattan's Parliament. \Vhile we struggled to-day for that which it may seem possible for us to obtain, we may struggle for it with the proud consciousness that we are doing nothing to hinder or prevjiit better men who may come forward in the future from gaining better things than those for which we are now struggling." In LONDON, March 17th, 1S85. "I do not pretend to predict in what way the rights for Ireland will be ultimately gained, but a man in my position ought to consider that in anything he does, and in anything that he says, he ought not to hamper the people in their march for their liberties — he ought not to prevent them from obtaining the utmost and the fullest measure of their rights which may hereafter become possible. We can none of us do more than strive for that which may seem attainable to-day ; but we ought, at the same time, to recollect ihat we should not impede or hamper the march of our nation ; that though our programme may be limiied and small, it should be such a one as shall not prevent hereafter the fullest realisation of the hopes of Ireland. " In DUBLIN, August 25th, 1SS5. '■■ I hope it may be possible for us in the new Parliament to have a programme and a platform with only one plank, and that one the plank of A'ational Independence. I feel convinced that our great work and our sole work in the new Parliament will be the restoration of our own Parliament. And when we have obtained it, what will be its functions and what will be its powers ? We shall require our new Parliament to do for us these things which we have been asking the British Parliament to do for us. . . . We have, therefore, a great work before us, both in the English House of Commons, for a while, and also in the Iriih Chamber. I hope it will be a single chamber, and that we shall not have a House of Lords to cumber us. " In DUBLIN MANSION HOUSE, September 1st, 1SS5. " We are told upon high authority that it is impossible for Ireland to obtain the right of Self-Governnieut. I believe that if it be sought to make it impossible for our country to obtain the right of administering her own affairs, that we will make all other things impossible for those who so seek. . . . There shall be no legislation for England." THREAT TO TAX ENGLISH PRODUCTS. At WICKLOW. October 5th, 1SS5. " I have claimed for Ireland a Parliament that shall have power to protect Irish manufactures, if it be the will of the Parliament and of the Irish people that they should be protected. I have claimed that no Parliamentary asscml)ly will work satisfactorily which has not free power over Irish affairs ; which lias not power to raise a revenue for the purpose of Government in Ireland a5 shall seem fit and best to that assembly. ... I claim this for Ireland, that if the Irish Parliament of the future considers that there are certain industries in Ireland which could be benefited by Protection, which could be nursed by Protection, and which could be placed in such a position as to enable them to compete with similar industries in other countries by a course of Protection extending over a few y^'ars, the Parliament P 2 210 VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. MEALY. ought to have power to carry out that policy. . , . ATy advice to English statesmen on this question (of guarantees against Separation) is to trust the Irish people altogether or trust them not at all." ON THE HOLLOWNESS OF MR. GLADSTONE'S LAND ACT OF 1881. At DUBLIN, September 17th, 1881. " To Collins, President Land League, Boston. The Convention has just closed, after three days' session. Resolutions were adopted for National self-government, the unconditional liberation of the land for the people, tenants not to use the rent-fixing clauses of the Land Act, and follow old Land League lines, and rely upon the old methods to reach justice. The executive of the League is empowered to select test cases, in order that tenants in surrounding districts luay realize, by the result of cases decided, the hollowncss of the Act." (Signed) P.vrnell. THE INITIATION OF BOYCOTTING At ENNIS, September iSth, 1880. " When a man takes a farm from vvhich another has been evicted, you must show him —you will find what the meaning of the word ' show ' is afterwards — on the roadside when you meet him, you must show him in the sti-eets or the town, you must show him at the shop counter — (a voice, ' Shun him') — no, the word was not 'shun,' but ' show' — in the fair, and in the market-place, and even in the house of worship. Leaving him severely alone, by putting him. into a moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his kind, as it he were a leper of old ; you must show him that that is your detestation of the crime he has committed ; and you may depend upon it, that if the population of an entire county in Ireland carry out this doctrine, there will be no man so full of avarice, so lost to shame, as to dare the public opinions of all right-thinking men within the country, and to transgress your unwritten code of laws. " MR. BIGGAR. At BERMONDSEV, 2nd March, 1S79. "Physical force is the one thing for which the English governing classes care. Ihey care nothing Jor justice, they care nothing for reason, they care nothing Jor the rights of the people, either Irish or English ; they are mm'cd only by their fears. I urge all my countrymen to imite in some organisation — I do not care which — and make as much display of physical force as possible. You may be few in numbers ; but, when you remember the great results which flov.-ed from the determined action of the handful of men at Manchester and Clerkeuwell, you cannot doubt of their ultimate success. ' ' At CORK. 21st March, iSSo. '• We have seen what Hartinanu has done in Russia, and if the Constitutional course we are pursuing in Parliament at present fails in its object, / think Ireland may be able to produce another Ilartinann, and probably -with better results.^' MR. HEALY'S RECORD. At LlAiERICK Election, 1SS3. "The people of this country never will be satisfied, and never ought to be satisfied, so long as a single penny of rent is paid for a sod of land in the whole of Ireland." VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. HEALV. 211 At WEXFORD, November 24th, iSSo. "What is that mandate? To give expression on every occasion and in eveiy way to the undying spirit of hostility which animates us all to British domination in Ireland." At NEWPORT, January, 1SS4. "The Government said, and others also said, the Land Act was a full and final settlement of the land question. All I say is, 'Wait till after the next General Election, and they will find out their mistake.'" At MULLINGAR, ist June, 1S84. "Never since the passing of the accursed Act of Union have the hopes of the Irish people for independence been more likely than now to be accomplished." At BOSTON, from the Irishman, December 24th, iSSl. "W^e believe that landlordism is the prop of English rule, and we are working to take that prop away. To drive out British rule from Ireland, we must stiike at the foundation, and that foundation is landlordism." At a meeting' of the National League, in Dublin, September 3rd, 1884. "What was it that first induced Mr. Gladstone to pay attention to the demands of Ireland? Well, as far as he (Mr. lloaly) could gather, it was the outrages that were committed in the country ; and they were, therefore, to under- stand in regard to the British Parliament, which was absolutely deaf to argument, that the best way — the best speaking trumpet — to rea:h its deaf ear, was the moutli of the blunderbuss. "Until the rattle of slugs was heard upon the roadside, the Prime Minister of England would not even take the trouble to investigate the oi'dinary facts in connection v.'ith the commonest grievance of llicir native land." — IrisJi Times, September 4th, 1S84. AtKILLUCAN, November 4th, iSSj. " But the turn in the tide had set in, and before the wrath of an indignant people, landlordism and British domination was crumbling away. (Cheers.) A party was formed now, led on by a chief who was not afraid to face the foremost champions of the Empire — (great cheering for Mr. Parnell) — and whatever benefits might have been won for Ireland by the assistance of those wh.) had seconded his efforts, Parudl ivas the point of the pike.'''' SPEECH IN HOUSE OF COMMONS. "The Government would find face to face with them in Ireland men with no fear in their hearts, who would carry on to the bitter end the glorious struggle for Irish Nationality. " At NEWPORT, CO. MAYO, January, 18S4. " The Government said, and others also said, the Land Act was a full and final settlement of the Land Question. All he would say was, '■tuait till after the next general election,'' a)id they would find out their mistake. They were able to enfore their rack-rents by means of the Crimes Act, and was it intended by the Government to make the Crimes Act perpetual in this country? (A voice — 'we won't have it.' ") At NEW ORLEANS, January, 1S82. "We wish to get rid of British rule in Ireland. Landlordism is the prop of that rule, and it must be abolished. (Cheers). We are engaged in a great struggle — the reconqucst of Ireland." 212 VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. W. O'BRIEN. On the NO REXT MANIFESTO, IN TEXAS. January, 1882. "The landlord press of America attack this (the No Rent Manifesto) but let them compare it with the tea incident in Boston Harbour. Now it is rank treason. They rai.sed the cry, 'no freedom, no tribute ;' we raise the cry, 'no liberty, no rent.' What was the cry of liberty in Boston one hundred years ago becomes the cry of Communism in Ireland to day . . . Landloidisni is tlic prop of the British Go7'er/t/)ic>it, and it is that tve want to kick a'ccay. The struggle is for Irish liberty, and landlordism stands between us and the glorious .sunlight. " — United Ireland, January zSth, 1882. At KILKENNY, November 7th, 1S85. " Let the people cast aside all personal dis.sensions, and let them have one enemy only, ?en.A that enemy the British Government.''^ (Cheers) — United Ireland, Ao-c'embe/'jth, 1S85. THE PLAX OF CAMPAIGN OX FUXDIXG THE REXT AND OUTRAGES AT ERRIGAL TRUAGH, October 4th. 1885. "He could tell the landlords, however, that if they carried on the evictions there would be outrages. Because, as surely as smoke follows fire, so surely, if they light the torch of destruction, and set it to the houses of the poor, will the poor rely on the arm of justice where the Government fails to protect them. The landlords at the present time said they could not afford to give any further reductions ; they said if they made any farther reductions they could not live. Well, let them die. If the landlords again had the campaign of evictions, what the N^ationalist leaders would have to recommend was ths: that the half million of tenant-farmers of Ireland shculd ])ut up their rents into one common fund, and instead of paving it to the landlords to pay it to trustees. They would then have a sum of six or seven or ten millions of money as a campaign fund — a war chest— to tight the 1 attle with — (Cheers) — and he believed if the landlords jaw that the people had even a single million of money to fight with, while they themselves had been delivered of their rents, they should speedily give in and kick the bucket." IVIr. WILLIAM OBRIEN, M.P. At LETTERKENNY, 20th Feb., 1885. '• If England's difliculty is Ireland's opportunity, as it is (cheers), England's difficulties are at this moment crowding pretty thick upon her. (Cheers. ) (A voice, ' The Mahdi is the boy for her.') Her trade is bad at home, and, as a voice behind me reminds me, her armies are not doing a bit too satisfactory out in the country ol that black gentleman, the JNIahdi. (A voice, 'Three cheers for the Mahdi.') . . . All sorts of new democratic forces are rising up ; and if you, the people of Donegal and the people of Ireland, only do your part here at home, as Mr. Parnell and themen who fight under his banner will try to do in that foreign Parliament in the citadel of the enemy, )'ou will not have to wait long for the opportunity of vindica- ting the rights of Ireland, and driving famine and landlordism and English rule for ever from the shores of Ireland." (Loud cheers.) — United Ireland, February 21st, 1SS5. At LETTERKEXXV, March 6th, 1885. "The English may howl until they are black in the face, but if they find that sort of thing {i.e. eternal and unquenchable war in the House of Commons with the tyrants of the Irish people) disagreeable for them, they have two remedies, and two remedies alone. They must either suppress the representatives of Ireland altogether, and make up their minds to rule us for evermore with the naked sword — and the sword is sometimes a double-edged weapon — or else they will have to VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. W. O'BRIEN. 213 give us a Parliainent of our own — (applause), — in which tlie will and the wants of the Irish people shall have full and free expression — in which their aspirations shall find satisfaction and contentment, and prosperity and freedom . . . The time has come when the Irish people may occupy the same position between. England and her foes as the Irish party occupy every night between the rival English parties in the House of Coininons.'''' — United Ireland, March "jth, 18S5. At TULLA. "We would be unworthy of our forefothers, we would deserve the scorn and contempt of those who come after us, if in this day of dawning hope and power for the Irish race we ever faltered or flinched until we have banished the twin demons of landlordism and English rule for ever from our shores, and until we plant upon the highest pinnacle of Dublin Castle the flag of a redeemed and regenerated Irish nation. '' (Loud Cheers.) — -United Ireland, 2,'^th May, 1SS5. At SHEFFIELD. "The cause of National Independence for Ireland is immortal and indestructible. It depends upon no man and no party, and if they should fail (but they would not) it would be taken up by other men in other times, who would fight it out, perhaps not as they were doing it in Parlianient, but, perhaps, upon the hill-sides of Ireland." — United Ireland, Ai/gnst 15///, 1S85. At TULLA, 24th May, 18S5. "I ani sorry to observe by one of your resolutions that the land-grabber is a species of reptile that is not yet quite extinct ; but whenever I find a land-grabber still poisoning ths air, I generally find it is rather the fault of the people than the law, because I defy all the Crimes Acts that ever were passed to prevent the people from making a land-grabber — a man who steals his neighbour's farm and cuts his neighbour's throat — to make him feel that he is an outcast and the object of scorn, and contempt, and loathing in the sight of his neighbour. They may prevent you from calling it Boycotting, but Boycotting by another name is just as effectual a process. "— T'V'trwf?//, April zyh, 1885. ON THE ABOLITION OF LANDLORDISM. AT GO REV, August 23rd. 1885. "When the complete progi-anime of the Land League is accomplished, land- lordism would vanish from the country, and the soil of Ireland would be free, its people owning no master but the Almighty, and owning no flag but the green flag of an independent Irish nation.'' — Irish Times. August 24///, 1S85. AT KANTURK, CO. CORK. "England is now entering upon a gigantic struggle with Russia. (Enthusiastic cheers.) It seems to me to be just the moment for the Irish people to proclaim to the world, and to warn England, that in the hour of her peril she will have to deal* with an Irish nation, which she has oppressed, impoverished, ruined and plundered (prolonged cheering) a nation which burns and longs for an opportunity of putting an end for ever to English misgovernment in Ireland by peaceable means and by friendly alliance, if that be possible ; but, if not, by any means that 'God's providence may send to close our long struggle for National independence." (Prolonged cheering. ) — United Ireland, April i%th, 1885. At CARRICK-ON-SUIR, September 7th, 1S84. " If we must have hunting at all. let us keep our hands in practice by hunting landlords. (Loud cheers. ) Hunt'landlordism up hill and down dale until land- lords are as scarce as the foxes, that it is now their desire to rear and protect. 214 VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. T. P. O'CONNOR. (Loud cheers. ) Earl Spencer stated at Gowran the other day that there were no more concessions to be given to Ireland. Well, that is in my opinion, a good indication that a change was coming. They said that before, and Fenianism gave them their answer. (Cheers.) They renewed it again, and the Land League movement made them change their tune. (A voice: 'U'/ia/ about lAv. Gladstone?')' JVell, lie is one of the best of the ctit-throats Oo on. organise, pull togetlier, until the sight of a landlord in Ireland shall be as rare an animal as the wolf. "' — Irish limes. At DUBLIN, September 3rd, 18S6. They are dealing now, not with this small land, but with the gigantic Ireland across the Atlantic, an Ireland where the British Coercion Acts never ran — (cheers) — and where a British red-coat nn'cr set his foot except to ran. (Laughter and cheers.) I will say no more to you now, because I know you are exhausted. Cries of "No.") Well, any way, I am exhausted if you are not. / want to say bejore I retire that these Irish Aniericaris are very extreme men. So are we all, I ]iope, extreme men. (Cheers.) We are all, I hope, as extreme as they in resenting' and resisting- English rule in Ireland. (Cheers. ) This is the message that that great nation of ours across the water bade us bring to you — '' Gcr on as you haz'c l>een going. Give a good account oj the Churchills — (hisses) — a7ia the Beaches — (hisses) — and the Castlereaghs — (prolonged hisses) — and the Bnllers — (hisses) — and all the rest oJ the Bull family — (laughter) — 7oho came over here to govern ns against our will. Go on as you have been going, and I pro mi se you, for all these millions in America, that they nrver will spare their treasury, aye, and ij the chance offers they 7uver 7vill spare their blood. (Loud cheers. ) On ando)i -until this great fight is ended in the happiness and the independence oJ the bright green- land that bore us. (Cheers.) — Irish Times' report. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P., At CHICA(;0, December 3rd, i8Si. •• Ths landlord has not got any rent from the ten thousand who are ejected from' his farms, and ha is not going to get any rent. What becomes of the ten thousand farms meantime ? We will put the tenants as near those farms as we possibly can ;, and if I were a?i agent for an insurance society 1 7vould not like to haz'e my whole organisation and corporation dependent on the ten thousand farmers who will go into- the farms that the other ten thousand have been evicted from. " — Nation, January 'jth, 18S1. At ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, Feb., 1S82. " The Laud League binds members not to enter land from which another has- been evicted, and I am proud to say out of 600,000 not twelve traitors have been- found. I declare I should like to have an insurance policy on the life of the man who- would take possession of an evicted farm We have changed the whole- tide of history, and a new epoch has dawned for Ireland. The landlords are all driven out, and the aliens will follow as soon as we can manage.'' — Ujiited Ireland,. February nth, 18S2. At MAINE, October 26th, 1881. "The English Government is based upon murder, rapine, violence, confiscation, sacrilege, buckshot, bayonets, and flying columi-is. Oh ! that these latter were to- meet the Irish people in ^Vmerica — then, indeed, would they be flying columns." ON THE ABOLITION OF RENT. At ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, January, 1882. " We have arisen to the station and dignity of political manhood and strength in Ireland^ and we will have it. (Loud cheering, in which the speaker's voice was- VIEWS OF THE IRISH LEADERS.— MR. SEXTON. 215 drowned.) I want you to understand, tliat the reduction of rent we require is not' a small, or a petty, or a legal reduction, hut the total abolition of rent. We want the people of Ireland well fed, well housed — to have the full rights of citizens and the full rights of labour. (Loud cheering. ) .... Gladstomzoants a fixed rctit ; the Land League -wants to abolish rent. Gladstone wants to retain the relations of landlord and tenant. The Land League wants to get rid of the relations of landlord and tenant. (Cheers.) After seven centuries of misrule, after a thousand- defeats in battle, after ten thousand scaffolds, after the million of cells, the Irish people are unconquered and unconquerable to the end of time." (Loud cheers.) — United Ireland, Janua;-}' 2%tJi, 1882. At BORRIS, Co. CARLO W. "Now the Irish people had no arms, but a hundred years ago they had their volunteers, and the volunteers of '82 gave them — not in its plentitude, but in a degree — National independence, and that National independence was what the people had in view, and which they would recover, arms or no arms (cheers). The resolution of the Irish people to reeoz'er their A'ational independence icas inflexible and ttnsive)-:man came up at the head of a mob. Reilly said to the cleigyman that "he was vilifying our member." Then the clergyman told him that he had insulted him. Then Reilly said he was going to say the truth according to his conscience, that he had every right to support the cause of the kingdom as well as another, and the clergyman then told him to shut up. And Reilly then said that the clergyman struck him after saying "shut up," and knocked him down, that the blow v\ as on the butt of the ear, and that he was senseless for awhile. rOUTICS AND PRIESTS. 229 A POOR OLD WOMAN MALTREATED. Mary Caffrey, an aged woman, was sworn and examined by Mr. Kelloe : — Now, Mrs. Caffrey. \\"here do you live? I live in Navan, in a place called Butter Street. Do you remember the loth July? Indeed, I do, sir, right enough. I have reason. (Laughter. ) Do you remember a crowd of Mr. Davitt's supporters coming in on that day? \'es, sir. What happened? They were the most unruly crowd I ever knew. They pulled down a flag belonging to Mr. Pierce Mahony. Was that in the street ? Yes, in the street. Did you try to get the flag? Yes, I did. What happened ? Instantly I went down, thinking they would not meddle with me, but they riz me up, leaped on me, and put my hip out of joint. How long were you laid up ? Five weeks, your Honour, and I will be laid up the end of my life, I am afr.dd. Did they kick and strike you ? They just riz me up and leaped on top of me ; I asked to be taken in. Was there any priest there at the time ? There was, sir. Did he say anything ? He said, ' Let Iicr lie there, the old b '. Now, when the priest made use of that expression, what happened ? I strove to get away, and some one brought me to my door. ABUSE OF THE CONFESSIONAL. When is the Retreat of the Sacred Heart held ; was it held before the election? It was. One of the clergymen, I believe, was the Rev. Father Jones ? Yes. Did you go to confession to him ? Yes. Mr. Justice Andrews : Where was this ? In Kells. Was it before the election you went to confession ? Mr. O'Shaughnessy : After tlie confession was over — I am not asking you for anything that occurred during confession — Mr. Justice Andrews : Can you tell me the time approximately before the election — was it shortly before it or long before it ? I think, after refreshing my recollection, it was over a fortnight. Mr. O'.Shaughnessy : After confession was over did this rev. gentleman speak to you about your vote? He did. Did he speak about voting for Mr. Davitt ! He did. Mr. Justice Andrews : What is his Chiistian name ? Mr. O'Shaughnessy : He is an auxiliary priest, brought down for the retreat. (To witness) : You decline to accede to that ? Yes. Tell me about this confessional. I suppose you went into the coniessicn box ? Yef. You were on your knees ? Yes. Was it when you were on your knees this conversation took place ? Yes. You were in the box ? Yts. On your knees ? Partly on my knees. I was going out, but I knelt down again. To whom did you give the information ? Mr. Friery. When ? .Some time ago. • How long ago ? A good while ago. A month ? More. 230 POLITICS AND PRIESTS. THE PRIEST TOLD HIM HE WOULD BE IN HELL. Patrick Douglas was examined by Mr. Diummond: — Are you a voter in the polling district of Navan ? I am, sir. \Vhat age are you ? I suppose I am nearly 70 or over it — 70 or 75. Do you remember a few days before the polling day coming in here to the town of Trim ? I do. Did you come to a lodging-house kept by a lady in Trim ? Yes. What's her name ! Mrs. Reilly. After you were there did Father Behan come in ? \'es. You knew him before ? Yes, and he knew me. He is parish priest of this parish ? Yes. What took place between you and him? He says, "I know you" "Of course," said I, " you know me ; sure you were a long time in Navan." He said, "Who are you going to give your vote to ?" " Well, I'm going to give my vote, sir," said I, 'to Pierce Mahony." Then he said, " Are you going to go against your good Bishop and your priests, and give your vote to Pierce Mahony?" I said that the Bishop was good to him, but he was no use to me. (Laughtei.) Well? And that I was under no compliment to him. He said, "Didn't he confirm your children." I said it was necessaiy that that should be done. Then he called me an old reprobate — (laughter) — and he called me an old devil. (Laughter.) Did you make any answer to these observations? Not a word, sir. lie told lite I 'ivoiild he in hell. Was there anything further ? I said, " (lod forbid, " and he said "Out of this house with you," and he boxed me in the face. Did he put you out? He threw me into the street. Did he drag you ? He dragged me and boxed me every place he could, and left me a black eje. THE JUDGMENT. " Mr. Justice Andrews and Mr. Justice Johnson, at Trim, gave judgment on the 23rd ult. in the petition preferred by Mr. Pierce Mahony again.t the election cf .Mr. Michael Davitt as Member of Parliament for North ISleath. Mr. Davitt and his counsel were al)sent, but Mr. Mahony occupied a seat at the solicitors' table, accompanied by Mr. W. Redmond, M.P. "Mr. Justice Andrews, in fist giving judgment, recited the various allegations in the petition — undue spiritual influence, bribery, treating, and illegal hiring — and said that before the trial commenced the leading Counsel for the respondent stated to the Court that, having regard to a recent judgment in the South Meath case, and to the fact, which he admitted, that ihe Pastoral letter of the Bishop of Meath was read from the allar in all churches and chapels throughout ihe diocese — including the Northern Division of Meath — the respondent's advisers did not consider that they would be justified in defending the prayer of the petitioner, so far as it sought to void the seat on the ground that such general influence prevailed through the Northern Division of the County duting election as to render the election void at common law. He now proceeded to deal with what had been proved during the trial of this case. And fijst, in respect to a charge of undue influence. The undue influence which wau relied upon by petiiicuer's counsel was that species of undue influence which consisted of SPIRITUAL INTIMIDATION. The evidence here disclosed a considerable number of cases in which clergj-men had involved themselves, as he thought, most unfortunately, in the strife and struggle of an election — had allowed Ics of temper to betray them into deplorable acts of personal violence, which, in some instances, were sworn to have been committed even against women, and some of which no provocation could justify. As regarded POLITICS AND PRIESTS. 231 THE BISHOPS PASTORAL LETTER. \\liicli has undergoue so much discussion, he had on a previous occasion been obliged to express his opinion, which was not formed without consideration, and which he had Ijeen unable to change. It was his duty to declare that their action with reference to the Pastoral, pending an election, was distinctly illegal, and none the less so because history offered instances, some of them very remarkable instances, of spiritual intimidation at Irish elections, at least, as far back as the Clare election of 1829. He did not entertain the slightest doubt that, wholly irrespective of anything like corrupt motives, the Pastoral, promulgated as it was by the Bishop's instruction, throughout the entire Roman Catholic constituency of North Meath, in which it was publicly read at the altar in all the chapels and at all the Masses on the 3rd July, amoioited to undue spiritual influence of the most potent kind ; and, as the express purpose of the Pastoral 7uas to induce the electoratr to vote at the coming election in opposition to one candidate and in favour of the other, the election "was voided at common hnc, by reason of the widespread general it \- of its influence, a?id under statute law jby reason of its amounting to undue influence within the meaning of the Act of 1883. With regard to the promulgation of the Pastoral having been by the agents of the respondent, the evidence irresistibly established the fact that, during the election, the respondent was aware of, and adopted and availed himself, without objection, of the action of the Bishop and clergy, and thus HE MADE THEM HIS AGENTS, and involved himself in responsibilities for their action in that regard. Some of the clergy commented upon it and enforced it ; others read it without comment. In both cases it received their sanction and obtained publicity as an authorised Pastoral from the Bishop. Sermons had been delivered during the election by the Bishop and a number of the clerg)', and these he could not leave unnoticed, though he desired to refrain from any unnecessary reference to them. Some of them were upon the lines of the Pastoral, and others were irrespective of it. There were i:iortions of some of these sermons which appeared to him, if he might be permitted to say so, to be LITTLE IN HARMONY WITH THE SACRED OFFICE of the preachers, and the temples of religion in which they were preached. The preachers sadly misused their powerful influence. To what further extent could undue spiritual influence go than for a bishop to declare, from the altar, that Parnellism, which was the political faith of one of the two contending parties, was no better than heresy, and that he would approach the death-bed of a profligate oi- a drunkard with greater confidence in his salvation than that of a Parnellite ; or for a priest to say from the altar that to believe in Parnellism was to commit a mortal sin, and so to defy the Church." " Mr. Justice Johnson said he entirely concurred in the judgment of Mr. Justice Andrews. The Bishop's Pastoral laid down that Parnellism, or the profession of certain political principles, struck at the ver>' root and sapped the foundation of the Catholic faith. The election must, under the Act of 18S3, as well as under the common law, be set aside." Mr. Michael Davitt, the clerical and anti-Parnellite member, was consequently declared unseated. Electors ! This is an accurate account of evidence g^iven on oath, sifted out and judg-ed in a court of law. In the face of it. can English vote for putting- the Irish Protestants under the heel of the Irish Priests? MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. MR. GLADSTONE'S ii HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. N.B. — The Bill of 1893 is printed in the left hand column, exactly as in the Parliamentary paper. The whole of the Bill of 1SS6 is also given, but the order of the Clauses has been re-arranged so as to be opposite (as far as possible) the corresponding subjects in the Bill of 1S93. 1893. 1886. LEGISLATIVE ESTABLISHMENT OF IRISH LEGISLATURE. (1) On and after the appointed day there shall be in Ireland a Legislature consisting of Her Majesty tlie Queen and of two Houses, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. POWERS OF IRISH TURE. LEGISLA- (2) With the exceptions and subject to the restrictions in this Act mentioned, there shall be granted to the Irish Legii'atute power to make laws for the peace, order, and good Government of Ireland in respect of matters exclusively relating to Ireland or some part thereof. AUTHORITY. ESTABLISHMENT OF IRISH LEGISLATURE. (1) On and after the appointed day there shall be established in Ireland a Legislature consisting of Her Majesty the Queen and an Irish Legislative body. POWERS OF IRISH LEGISLA- TURE. (2) With the exceptions and subject to the restrictions in this Act mentioned, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty the (^ueen, by and with the advice of the Irish Legislative Body, to make laws for the peace, order, and good Govern- ment of Ireland, and by any such law to alter and repeal any law in Ireland. EXCEPTIONS FROM POWERS OF IRISH LEGISLATURE. (3) The Irish Legislature shall not have power to make laws in respect of the following matters or any of them : — (1) The Crown, or the succession to (3) The Legislature of Ireland shall not make laws relating to the following matters or any of them : — (i) Thestatusordignity of the Crown MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" F.ILLS COMPARED. 'jj 1893. the Crown, or a Regency ; or the Lord Lieutenant as representative of the Crown ; or (2) The making' of peace or war, or matters arising from a state of war ; or (3) Naval or military forces, or the defence of the realm ; or (4) Treaties and other relations wiih foreign States, or the relations between different parts of Her Majesty's do- minions or offences connected with such treaties or relations ; or (5) Dignities or titles of honour ; or (6) Treason, treason-felony, alienage, or naturalisation ; or {7) Trade with any pl-.ce out of Ireland ; or quarantine or navigation (except as respects inland waters and local health or harbour regulations); or (8) Beacons, lighthouses, or sea marks (except so far as they can con- sistently with any general Act of Parlia- ment be constructed or maintained by a local harbour authoiity) ; or (9) Coinage ; legal tender ; or the standard of weights and measures ; or (10) Trade marks, merchandise marks, copyright, or patent riglits. Any law made in contravention of this section shall be void. 1886. or the succession to the Crown, or a Regency-; (2) The making of peace or war ; (3) The army, navy, militia, volun- teers, or other military or naval forces, or the defence of the realm ; (4) Treaties and other relations with foreign states, or the relations between the various parts of Her Majesty's do- minions ; (5) Dignities or titles of honour ; (6) Prize or booty of war. (7) Offences against the law of nations, or offences committed in violation of any treaty made, or hereafter to be made between Her Majesty and any Foreign State ; or offences commitied on the high seas ; (S) Treason, alienage, or naluralis.i- tion ; (9) Trade, navigation, or quarantine. (10) The postal and telegraph service, except as hereafter in this Act men- tioned, with respect to the transmission of letters and telegrams in L-eland. (11) Beacons, lighthouses, or sea marks. (12) The coinage; the value of foreign money; legal tender; or weights and measures ; or (13) Copyright, patent rights, or other exclusive rights to the use or profits of any works or invention.s. Any law made in contiaventlon of this section shall be void. RESTRICTIONS ON POWERS OF IRISH LEGISLATURE. 4. — The powers cf the Irish Legisla- ture shall not extend to the making of any law — (i) Respecting the establishment or endowment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or (2) Imposing any disability, or con- ferring any privilege, on account ot religious belief ; or 4. — The Irish Legislature shall not make any law — (i) Respecting the establishment or endowment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or (2) Imposing any disabilily, or con- ferring any privilege, on account ol religious belief; or 234 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. (3) Abrogating or prejudicially affect- ing the right to establish or maintain any place of denominational education or any denominational ins'.itution or charity ; or (4) Prejudicially affecting the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money, without attending the religious instruclion at that school ; or (5) (New) lV/u'i-ti)v any person may he deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or may be denied the equal protection of the laws, or whereby private property may be taken ■without just compensation ; or (6) Whereby any existing corporation incorporated by Royal charter or by any local or general Act of Parliament (not being a corporation raising for public purposes taxes, rates, cess, dues, or tolls, or administering funds so raised) may, unless it consents, or the leave of Her Majesty is first obtained on address from the two Houses of the Irish Legislature, be deprived of its rights, privileges, or property without due process of law ; or (7) (New) Whereby any inhabitant of the United Kingdoni may be deprived of equal rights as respects public sea fisheries. Any law made in contravention ol this section shall be void. 1886. (3) Abrogating or derogating from the right to establish or maintain any place of denominational education or any denominational institution or charity ; or (4) Prejudicially affecting the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending the religious instruction at that school ; or (5) Impairing, without either the leave of Her Majesty in Council first obtained on an address presented by the Legisla- tive Body of Ireland, or the consent of the corporation interested, the rights, property, or privileges of any exisiing corporation incorporated by Royal char- ter or local and general Act of Parlia- ment ; or (6) Imposing or relating to duties of customs and duties of excise, as defined by this Act, or either of such duties, or affecting any Act relating to such duties or either of them ; or {7) Affecting this Act except in so far as it is declared to be alterable by the Irish Legislature. PREROGATIVES OF HER MAJESTY AS TO IRISH LEGISLATIVE BODY. 5. — Her Majesty the Queen shall have vide ist the same prerogatives with respect to '^''^gg'^"'^ summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the Irish Legislative Body as Her Majesty has with respect to summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the Imperial Parliament. DURATION OF THE IRISH LEGISLATIVE BODY. 6. — The Irish Legislative Body when- vide st ever summoned may have continuance ^'^'.'^q'?"^® for five years and no longer, to be reckoned from the day on which any such Legislative Body is appointed to meet. MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" RILLS COMPARED. 235 EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY. 1893. EXECUTIVE POWER IN IRELAND. 5. — (i) The Executive power in Ire- land shall continue vested in Her Majesty the Queeji, and the Lord IJeu- teuant, on behalf of Her Majesty, shall exercise any prerogatives or other execu- tive power of the Queen, the exercise of which may be delegated to him by Her Majesty, and shall, in Her Majesty's name, summon, jirorogue, and dissolve the Irish Legislature. (2) There shall be an Executive Com- mittee of the Privy Council of Ireland to aid and advise in the government of Ireland, being of such numbers, and comprising persons holding such offices as lier Majesty may think tit, or as may be directed by Irish Act. (3) The Lord Lieutenant .shall, on the advice of the said Executive Committee, give or withhold the assent of Her Majesty to Bills passed by the two Houses of the Irish Legislature, subject nevertheless to any instructions given 1)V Her Majes'v in respect of any such liill. 1886. CONSTITUTION OE THS EXECUTIVE AUTHORITV. 7. — -(i) The Executive Government of Ireland shall continue vested in Her Majesty, and shall be carried on by the Lord Lieutenant on behalf of Her Majesty with the aid of such officers and such council as to Her Majesty may from time to time seem fit. (2) .Subject to any instructions which may from time to time be given by Her Majesty, the Lord Lieutenant shall give or withhold the assent of Her Majesty to Bills passed by the Irish Legislative Body, and shall exercise the prerogatives of Her Majesty in respect of the sum- moning, proroguing, and dissolving ol the Irish Legislative Body, and any prerogatives the exercise of which may be delegated to him bv Her Majestv. USE OF CROWN LANDS BV IRISH GOVERNMENT. 8. Her Majesty may, by Order in vide Council, from time to time place under 'i^'' the control of the Irish (Government, any such lands and buildings in Ireland as may be vested in or held in trust for Her Majesty. CONSTITUTION OF LEGISLATURE. Yklf? COMPOSITION OF IRISH LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. viHu.ciu, 6.— (I) (New) The Triih Legislative i8s<;. Council shall consist offortv-ei'jht coiiii- jindTth .,, JJ ^ ^ :?cheinle ClllOI S. (2) Each of the constituencies men- tioned in the first schedule to this Act shall return the number of councillors named opposite thereto in that schedule. (3) Every man shall be entitled to be registered as an elector, and w hen regis- tered to vote at an election, of a coun- cillor for a constituency, who owns or occupies any land or tenement in the constituency of a rateable value of more than twenty pounds, subject to the like conditions as a man is entitled at the CONSTITUTION OF IRISH LEGISLATIVE BODV. 9. — (i) The Irish Legislative Body vwe shall consist of a first and second order, c"*"?,* rr^^ 1 1 II 1 T'l and 1st (2) The two' orders shall deliberate schedule together, and shall vote together, except '*'"^" that, if any question arises in relation to legislation, or to the .Standing Orders or Rules of Procedure, or to any other matter in that behalf in this Act speci- fied, and such question is to be deter- mined by vote, each order shall, if a majority of the members present of either order demand a separate vote, give their votes in like manner as if they were separate Legislative bodies ; and if the result of the voting of the two ^36 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. passing of this Act to be registered and vote as a parliameutaiy elector in respect of an ownership qualification or of the qualification specified in section five of the Representation of the People Act, 1884, as the case maybe : Provided that a man shall not be entitled to be regis- tered, nor if registered to vote, at an election of a councillor in more than one constituency in the same year. (4) The term of office of eveiy coun- cillor shall be eight years, and shall not be affected by a dissolution ; and one half of the councillors shall retire in everv' fourth year, and their seats shall be filled by a new election. COMPOSmON OF IRISH LEGIS- LATIVE ASSEMBLY. Vide 7. — (i) (New) The Irish Legislative •^''^"If "■ Assemblv shall consist rf one hundred and 7th aitJ three numbers, retui tied by the ^"^^h^z^}^ existing Parliatfientary constituencies in Jrelcind, or the existing divisions thereof, and elected by the rarliamentary electors for the time being in those comtduencies or divisions. (From the oppohite. ) (2) The Irish Legislative Assembly when bunimcned may, unless sjoier dissolved, have continuance for five years from the day on which the summons directs it to meet, and no longer. (3) (New) After six years from the fas iingtf this Act, the Irish Legislature may alter the qualification of the electors and the constituencies, and the diUribu- iion of the members of the constituencies, proi'ided that in ntch distribution due regard is had to the population of the constituoicies. Vide Clauses?, 188G. DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO HOUSES, HOW SETTLED. 8. — If a Bill, or any provision of a Bill adopted by the Legislative Assem- bly, is lost by the disagreement of the Legislative Council, and after a disso- lution, or the period of two years from such disagreement, such Bill, or a Bill for enacting the said provision, is again adopted by the Legislative Assembly 1886. orders does not agree, the question shall be resolved in the negative. 10 Legi FIRST ORDER. i) The first orders of the Irish ative Body shall consist of one Vide Clause G nd 1st hundred and three members, of whom ''1893" seventy-five shall be elective members, and twenty-eight peerage members. (2) Each elective member shall at the date of his election, and during his period of membership, be bona fide possessed of property which — (a) If realty, or partly realty and partly personalty, yields two hundred pounds a year or upwards, free of all charge ; or (A) If personalty yields the same in- come, or is of the capital value of four thousand pounds or upwards, free of all charges. (2) For the purpose of electing the elective members of the first order of the Legislative Body, Ireland shall be divided into the electoral districts speci- fied in the First Schedule to this Act, and each such district shall return the number of members in that behalf speci- fied in that schedule. (3) The elective members shall be elected by the registered electors of each electoral district, and for that purpose a register of elecLcrs shall be made an- nually. (For continuation of Clause 10 see belou: ) LEGISLATIVE BODY. Vide Clauses, and li-i 23. — If a Bill or any provision of a Bill is lost by disagreement between the trt-o orders of the Leg si ative Body, and ^"'Ji'slwy'*' after a period ending with a dissolution of the Legislative Body, or the period oithree jvjri'whichever period is longest, such Bill, or a Bill containing the said provision, is again considered by the Legislative Body, and such Bill or pro- vision is adopted by the second order and negatived by the first order, the same shall be submitted to the whole Legisla- tive Body, both orders of which shall vote together on the Bill or provision, and the same shall be adopted cr MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 23: 1893. and fails within three months after- wards to be adopted by the Legislative Counci', the same shall forthwith be submitted to the members of the two Houses deliberating and voting together thereon, and shall be adopted or re- jected according to the decision of the majority of those members present and voting on the question. 1886. rejected according to the decision of the majority of the members so voting to- gether. RETENTION OF IRISH MEM- BERS. REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT OF IRISH COUN- TIES AND BOROUGHS. Schld"uie 9.— (New) Unless and until Parlia- 189). intnt otlienvise dtterniints, the folhnoing prcnnsions shall have effect — • (i) After the appointed day each of the constitnencii's navied in the second schedule to this Act shall return to serve in Parliament the nii?nher oj members named opposite thereto in that schedule, and no more, and Dublin University shall cease to return any member. (2) The existing divisions of the con- stituencies shall, save as provided in that schedule, be abolished. (3) An Irish representatiT'C peer in the House of Lords and a member oJ the House of Commons for an Irish con- stituency shall not be entitled to deliberate or vote on — (a) any Bill or motion in relation thereto the operation of which Bill or motion is confined to Great Britain or some part thereof ; or (b) any motion or resolution relating solely to some tax not raised or to be raised in Ireland ; or (c) any vote or appropriation of money made exclusively for some service not mentioned in the third schedule to this Act ; or (d) any motion or resolution exclu- sively affecting Great Britain or some part thereof or some local authority or some person or thing tfierein ; or (e) any motion or resolution, incidental to a>iy such motion or resolution as either CESSER OF POWER OF IRELAND TO RETURN MEM- BERS OF PARLIAMENT. 24. — On and after the appointed day Ireland shall cease, except in the event hereafter in this Act mentioned, to return representative peers to the House of Lords or members to the House of Commons, and the persons who on the said day are such representative peers and members shall cease as such to be members of the House of Lords and House of Commons resiiectively. CONTINUATION OF CLAUSE X. X. continued — (4) An elector in each electoral district shall be qualified as follows, that is to say, he shall be of full age, and not subject to any legal incapa- city, and shall have been during the twelve months next preceding the twentieth day of July in any year the owner or occupier of some land or tenement within the district of a net annual value of twenty-five pounds or upwards. (5) The term of office of an elective member shall be ten years. (6) In every fifth year thirty-seven or thirty-eight of the elective members, as the case requires, shall retire from office, and their places shall be filled by elec- tion ; the members to retire shall be those who have been members for the longest time without re-election. (7) The offices of the peerage mem- bers shall be filled as follows, that is to say : — ■ {a) Each of the Irish peers who on the appointed day is one of the twenty- eight Irish representative peers, shall, on giving his written assent to the Lord Lieutenant, become a peerage member of the first order of the Irish Legislative Body ; and if at any time within tliirty years after the appointed day any such peer vacates his office by death or resig- nation, the vacancy shall be filled by -3S MR. GLADSTOXE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. IS last mentioned, or relates solely to some tax not raised or to be raised in Ireland, or incidental to any such vote or appro- priation of money as aforesaid. (4) Compliance -with the provisions of this section shall not be questioned other- 7C'ise than in each House in manner pro- 7wded by the House. (5) The election laws and the hues relating to the qualification of Parlia- mentary electors shall not, so far as they relate to Parliamentary elections, be altered by the Irish Legislature, but this enactment shall not prti'ent the Irish Legislaturefrom dealing with- any officers concerned with the issue of tvrits of elec- tion, and if any officers are so dealt with, it shall be lawfitl for her Majesty by Order in Council to arra)ige for the issue of such writs, a?ui the w)-its issued in pursuance of such Order shall be of the same effect as if issued in manner hereto- fore accustomed. 1886. the election to that office by the Iri-.h peers of one of their number in manner heretofore in use respecting the election of Irish representative peers, subject to adaptation as provided by this Act, and if the vacar.cy is not so filled within the proper time it shall be filled by the election of an elective member. (/') If any of the twenty-eight peers aforesaid does not within one month after the appointed day give such assent to be a peerage member of the first order, the vacancy so created shall be filled up as if he had assented and va- cated his office by resignation. (3) A peerage member shall be en- titled to hold office during his life, c r until the expiration of thirty years from the appointed day, whichever period is the shortest. At the expiration of such thirty years the office=; of all the peerage members sha'l be vacated as if they were dead, and their places shall be filled Ijy elective members qualified and elected in manner provided by this Act with respect to elective members of the first order, and such elective niembe-s may be distributed by the Irish Legislature among the electoral districts, so. how- ever tliat care shall ht taken to give additional members to the most popu- lous places. (9) The offices of members of the first order shall not be vacated by the dissolution of the Legislative Body. (i.o) The provisions in the Second Schedule to this Act relating to members of the first order of the Legislative Body shall be r>f the same force as if they were enacteJ in the body of this Act. Ml GLADSTONE'S "ilo.Mi: RULK" BILLS CO.MrARED. 239 1886 -CiVttinited. SECOND ORDER. 11.— (i) Subject as in this section hereafter mentioned, the second order of the Legislative Body shall consist (jf two hundred and four members. (2) The members of the second order shall be chosen by the existing constituencies of Ireland, two by each constituency, with the exception of the city of Cork, which shall be divided into two divisions in manner set forth in the Third Schedule to this Act, and two members shall be chosen by each of such divisions. (3) Any person who, on the appointed day, is a member representing an existing Irish cons'.ituency in the House of Commons shall, on giving his written assent to the Lord Lieutenant, become a member of the secoud order of the Irish Legislative F.ody as if he had been elected by the constituency which he was representing in the House of Commons. Each of the members for the City of Cork, on the said day, may elect for which of the divisions of that city he wishes to be deemed to have been elected. (4) If any member does not give such written assent wi'hin one month after the appointed day, his place shall be filled by election in the jame manner and at the same time as if he had assented and vacated his office by death. {5) If the same person is elected to both orders, he shall, within sci'in days after the meeting of the Legislative Hody, or if the Body is sitting at the time ot the election, within seven days after the election, elect in which order he will serve, and his membership of the other order shall be voi J, and be filled by a fresh election. (6) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, it shall be lawful for the Legisla- ture of Ireland at any time to pass an Act enabling the Royal University of Ireland to return not more than two members to the second order of the Irish I^egislative Body in addition to the number of members above mentioned. (7) Notwithstmding anything in this Act, it shall be lawful fir the Irish Legislature, after the first dissolution of the Legislative Body which occurs, to alter the constitution or election of the second order of that body, due regard being hid ii the distribution of members to the population of the constituen- \_cies ; provided that no alter.ition shall be made in the number of such order. y this .\cl to be made to the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom. Thirdly, of the annual sums required by this Act to lie paid to the Com- missioners for the Reduction of the National Debt ; Fourthly, of all sums by this Act declared to be payal)le out of the moneys carried to the Customs and Ilxcise account ; Fifihly, of all sums due to the Consolidated F'und of the United Kingdom for interest or sinking fund, in respect of any loans made by the issue of bank annuities or otherwise to the Government of Ireland under any Act passed in the present session relating to the purchase and sale of land in Ireland, so far ^as such sums are not defrayed out of the moneys received under such Act. Vide Clause] J, iind .U-d .Schedule 16iB. 1893 — eon tinned. TREASURY ACCOUNT (IRELAND.) 13. — (i) There shall be established under the direction of the Treasury an account (in this Act referred to as the Treasur)' account (Ireland) ). 1886 —continued. (2) So much cf the moneys carried to a separate account under this section as the Treasury consider are not, and are not likely to be required to meet the abo\e-mentionetl payments, shall from time to time be paid over and applied as part cf the public revenues under the control of the Irish Government. Ml (iLADSTOXE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 343 1893. (2) There shall be paid into such account all sums payable from the Irish Exchequer to the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, or from the latter to the former Exchequer, and all sums directed to be paid into the account for the benefit of either of the said Ex- chequers. {3) All sums, which are payable from either of the said Exchequers to the other of them, or being payable out of one of the said Exchequers are repay- able by the other Exchequer, shall in the first instance be payable out of the said account so far as the money stand- ing on the account is sufficient ; and for the purpose of meeting such sums, the Treasury out of the customs revenue collected in Ireland, and the Irish Gov- ernment out of any of the public rev- enues in Ireland, may direct money to be paid to the Treasury Account (Ireland) instead of into the Exchequer. (4) Any surplus standing on the account to the credit of either Ex- .chequer, and not required for meeting ]iayments, shall at convenient times be paid into that Exchequer, and where any sum so payable into the Exchequer of the United Kingdom is required by law to be forthwith paid to the National Debt Commissioners that sum may be paid to those Commissioners without being paid into the Exchequer. (5) All sums payable by virtue of this Act out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom or of Ireland shall be payable from the Exchequer of the United Kingdom or Ireland, as the case may be, within the meaning of this Act, and all sums by this Act made payable from the Exchequer of the United King- dom shall, if not otherwise paid, be charged on and paid out of the Con- solidated Fund of the United Kingdom. CHARGES UN IRISH CON- SOLIDATED FUND. 14. — (i) There shall be charged on Vide Cina«:e 15, - .J 1^. the Irish Consolidated Fund in favour s'j'ieriuie of the Exchequer of the United King- isu. (|^^.j jjg ^ j-^,.gf charge on that Fund all sums which — ■ 1886. CHARGES OX IRISH CONSOLIDATED FUND. vide 15. — (i) There shall be charged on cia\ia Act on the Irish Consolidated Fund. (2) It shall be the duty of the Legis- lature of Ireland to impose all such taxes, duties or imposts as will raise a sufficient revenue to meet all sums charged for the time being on the Irish Consolidated Fund. l!-TO. IRISH CHURCH FUND. 16. — Until all charges which are vide payable out of the Church property {q t^auseis Ireland, and are guaranteed by the Treasury, have been fully paid, the Irish Land Commission shall continue as heretofore to exist, with such Com- missioners and officers receiving such salaries as the Treasury may from time to time appoint, and to administer the Church property and apply the income and other moneys receivable therefrom; and so much of the salaries of such Commissioners and officers and expenses of the office as is not paid out of the 244 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. {(7) are payable to that Exchequer from the Irish Exchequer; cr (d) are required to repay to the Ex- chequer of the L^uited Kingdom sums issued to meet the dividends or sinking fund on guaranteed land stock under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, or {c) otherwise have been or are required to be paid cut of the Exchequer of the Ll^nited Kingdom in consequence of the non-payment thereof out of the Ex- chequer of Ireland or otherwise by the Irish Government. (2) If at any time the Controller and Auditor-General of the United Kingdom is satisfied that any such charge is due, he shall certify the amount of it, and the Treasury shall send such certificate to the Lord Lieutenant, who shall there- upon by order, without any counter- signature, direct the payment cf the amount from the Irish Exchequer to the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, and such order shall be duly obeyed by all persons, and until the amount is wholly paid no other payment shall be made out of the Irish Exchequer for any pur- pose whatever. (3) There shall be charged on the Irish Consolidated Fund next after the foregoing charge; {a) all sums, for dividends cr sinking fund en guaranteed land stock under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, which the Land Purchase Account and the Guarantee Fund under that Act are insufficient to pay; {l>) all sums due in respect cf any debt incurred by the Government of Ireland, whether for interest, management, or sinking fitnd; (c) an annual sum cl five thousand pounds for the expenses of the household and establishment of the Lord Lieu- tenant; (d) all existing charges on the Con- solidated Fund of the United Kingdom in respect of Irish services other than the salary of the Lord Lieutenant; and (e) the salaries and pensions of all Judges cf the Supreme Court or other superior Court in Ireland or of any 1886. Church property shall be paid out of the moneys carried to the Customs and Excise account under this Act, and if those moneys are insufficient, out of the Consolidated Fund of Ireland, and if not so paid, shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament. Provided as follows:— {a) All charges on the Church Pro- perty for which a guarantee has been given by the Treasury before the passing of this Act shall, so far as they are not paid out of such property, be paid out of the moneys carried to the Customs and Excise account under this Act, and if such moneys are insufficient, the Con- solidated Fund of Ireland, without pre- judice nevertheless to the guarantee of the Treasury; {b) All charges en the Church pro- perty, for which no guarantee has been given by the Treasury before the passing of this Act shall be charged on the Consolidate i Fund of Ireland, but shall not be guaranteed by the Treasury nor charged on the Consolidated Fund of the L'nited Kingdom. (2) Subject to any existing charges on the Church property, such property shall belong to the Irish Government and any portion of the annual revenue thereof which the Treasuiy, on the ap- plication cf the Irish Government, certify at the end of any financial year not to be required for meeting charges, shall be paid over and applied as part of the public revenues underthe control cf the Irish Government. (3) As socn as all charges on the Church property guaranteed by the Treasuiy have been paid, such property may be managed and administered, and subject to existing charges thereon dis- posed of, and the income or proceeds thereof applied in such manner as the Irish Legislature may from time to time direct. (4) "Church property" in this section means all property accruing under the Irish Church Act, 1S69, and transferi'ed MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 245 1893. County cr ether like Court, who are appointed after the passing of this Ac% and are not the Exchequer Judges here- alier mentioned. (4) Until all charges created by this .\ct ujjon the Irish Consolidated P'und and for the time being due are paid, no money shall be issued from the Irish Exchequer for any other purpose what- ever. 1886. to the Irish Land Commission by the Irish Church Act Amendment Act, i88x. PUBLIC LOANS. Vide Clause IG, 1S8C. IRISH CHURCH FUND. 15. — (i) x\ll existing charges on the Church properly in Ireland — that is to say, all property accruing under the Irish Church Act, 1S69, and transferred to the Irish Land Commission by the Irish Church Amendment Act, 1881 — shall so far as not paid out of the said property be charged on the Irish Con- solidated Fund, and any of those charges guaranteed by the Treasury, if and so far as not paid, shall be paid out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom. (2) Subject :o the existing charges thereon, the said Church property shall belong to the Irish Government, and be managed, administered, and disposed of as directed by Irish Act. LOCAL LOANS. Vide Claust s 16.- (i) All sums paid or applicable i« & 17, in or towards the discharge of the in- terest or principal of any local loan advanced before the appointed day on security in Ireland, or otherwise in re- spect of such loan, which but for this Act would be paid to the National Debt Commissioners, and carried to the Local Loan Fund, shall, after the appointed day, be paid, until otherwise provided by Irish Act, to the Irish Exchequer. (2) For the payment to the I_x)cal Loans Fund of the principal and in- terest of such loans the Irish Govern- ment shall after the appointed day pay by half-yearly payments an annuity for forty-iihie years, at the rate of four per cent, on the principal of the said leans, exclusive of any sums written otf before the appointed day from the account of assets of the Local Leans Fund, and 17. — (i) All sums due for principal or interest to the Public Works Loan Commissioners or to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland in respect of existing loans advanced on any security in Ireland shall on and after the appointed day be due to the Go- vernment of Ireland, instead of the said Commissioners, and such body of persons as the Government of Ireland may appoint for the purpose shall have all the powers of the said Commis- s'oners or their secretary for enforcing payment of such sums, and all securi- ties for such s'lms given to such Com- missioners or their secretary shall have effect as if the said body were therein substituted for those Commissioners or their secretary. (2) For the repayment of the said loans to the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom the Irish Government shall pay annually into that fund by half-yearly payments on the first day of January and the first day of July, or on such other days as may be agreed on, such instalments of the principal of the said loans as will discharge all the Ican-i within thirty years from the appointed day, and shall also pay interest half- yearly on so much of the said principal as from time to time remains unpaid at the rate of three per cent, per annum, and such instalments of principal and interest shall be paid out of the moneys carried to the Customs and Exci>e account under this Act, and if those are insufficient, out of the Consolidated Fund of Ireland. Vide liu?el6, 1S93. U6 MI GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULi: '• BILLS COMPARED. 1893. such annuities shall be paid from the Irish Exchequer to the FIxchequer of the United Kingdom and when so paid shall be forthwith paid to the National Debt Commissioners for the credit of the Local Loans Fund. (3) After the appointed day, money for loans in Ireland shall cease to be advanced either by the Public Works Loan Commissioners or out of the Local Loans Fund. ADAPTATION OF ACTS AS TO LOCAL TAXATION ACCOUxNTS AND PROBATE, &c., DUTIES. schldiii ■'■'''• — (^^ ^° much of any Act as 1893. directs payment to the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account of any share of pro- l)ate, excise, or customs duties payable to the Exchequer of the United King- dom shall, together with any enactment amending the same, be repealed as from the appointed day without prejudice to the adjustment of balances after that day ; but the like amounts shall con- tinue to be paid to the Local Taxation Accounts in England and Scotland as would have been paid if this .\ct had not passed, and any residue of the said share shall be paid into the ICxchequer oi the United Kingdom. (2) The stamp duty chargeable in respect of the personalty of a deceased )ierson shall not in the case of adminis- tration granted in Great Britain be chargeable in respect of any personalty situate in Ireland; nor in the case of administration granted in Ireland be chargeable ia respect of any personalty situate in Great Britain ; and any ad- ministration granted in Great Britain shall not, if re-sealed in Ireland, be exempt from stamp duty on adminis- tiation granted in Ireland; aiid any administration granted in Ireland shall not, when re-sealed in Great Britai ■■, he exempt from stamp duty on adminis- tration granted in Great Britain. (3) In this section the expression " administration '" means probate or letters of administration, and as re- spects Scotland, confirmation inclusive of the inventory required under the Acts relating to the said stamp duty; and the expression "personalty" means persnoal or movable estate and effects. 1886. ADDITIONAL AID IN CASE OF WAR. 18. — If Her Majesty declares that a state of war exists, and is pleased to signify such declaration to the Irish Legislative Body by speech or message, it shall be lawful for the Irish Legisla- ture to appropriate a further sum out of the Consolidated Fund of Ireland in aid of the army or navy, or other mea- sures which Her Majesty may take for the prosecution of the w.ir and defence of the realm, and to provide and raise money for that purpose; and all money so provided and raised, whether by loan, taxation, or otherwise, shall be paid into the Consolidated P'und of the United Kingdom. MONEY BILLS AND VOTES. 19.— (I) It shall not be lawful for the Irish Legislative Body to adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address, or Bill for the raising or appropria'ion for any purpose of any part of the public re- venue of Ireland, or of any tax, duly, or impost, except in pursuance of a recommendation from Her Majesty sig- nified through the Lord Lieutenant in the Session in which such vote, resolu- tion, address, or Bill is proposed (2) Notwithstanding tha^ the Irish Legislature is prohibited l>y this Act for making laws relating to certain subjects, that Legislature may, with the assent of Her iMajesty in Council first ob- tained, appropriate any part of the Iiish is;i;. MR. GLADSTONE'S '-HOMi: KLLK" 1;ILLS CUMrARLD. 24; Vide Clause lit, ISBfi. 1893. MONEY BILLS AND VOTES. 18. — (l) Bills for appropiiatiug any part of the public revenue or for im- posing any tax shall orig'nale in the Legislative Assembly. (2) It shall not be lawful for the Legislative Assembly to adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address, or Bill for the appropriation for any purpose of any part of the public revenue of Ireland, or of any tax, except in pur- suance of a recommendation from the Lord Lieutenant in the Session in which such vote, resolution, address, or Bill is proposed. 1886. jiublic revenue, or any tax, duty, or impost imposed by such Legislature, for the purpose of, or in connection with, such subjects. Vide Clause 20, 188«, and 3rd Schedule EXCHEQUER DIVISION AND REVENUE ACTIONS. EXCHEQUER DIVISION AND REVENUE ACTIONS. 20. — (i) On and after the appointed day, the Exchequer Division of the High Court of Justice shall continue to be a Court of Exchequer for revenue EXCHEQUER JUDGES FOR REVENUE ACTIONS, ELECTION PETITIONS, &c. 19. — (i) Two of the Judges of the Supreme Court in Ireland shall be Exchequer Judges, and shall be ap- P"'"*^tJ ..nder the Great Seal of the United Kingdom; and their salaries and pensions shall be charged on and paid out 01 me Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom. (2) The Exchequer Judges shall be removable only by Her Majesty on address from the two Houses of Parlia- ment, and each such Judge shall, save as otherwise provided V)y Parliament, receive the same salary and be entitled to the same pension as is at the time of his appointment fixed for the Puisne Judges of the .Supreme Court, and during his continuance in office hu salary shall not be diminished, nor his right to pension altered, without his consent. (3) An alteration of any rules relating to such legal proceedings as are men- tioned in this section shall not be made except with the approval of Fler Majesty the Queen in Council ; and the sittings of the Exchequer Judges shall be regu- lated with the like approval. (4) All hga! proceedings in Ireland, which are insUtuted at the instance of or agiinstthe Treasuiy or Commissioners Vide Cl luse I'.'. 18t3. purposes under this Act, and whenever any vacancy occurs in the ofhce of any judge of such Exchequer Division, his successor slrall be appointed by Her Majesty on the joint recommendatiori of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. (2) The judges of such Exchequer Division appointed after the passing of this Act shall be removable only by Her Majesty on address from the two Houses of the Imperial Parliament, and shall receive the same salaries and pensions as those payable at the passirg of thi> Act to the existing judges of such Divi- sion, unless with the assent of Her Majesty in Council first obtained, the Irish Legislature alters such salaries or pensions, and such salaries and pensions shall be paid out of the moneys carried to the Customs and Excise account in pursuance of this Act, and if the same- are insufficient shall be ]:>aitl out of the Irish Consolidated Fund, and if not so paid shall be paid out of the Consoli- dated Fund of the United Kingdom. (3) An alteration of any rules relating to the procedure in such legal proceed- 248 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. of Customs, or any of their officers, or relate to the election of members to serve in Parliament, or touch any matter not within tlie powers of the Irish Legislature, or touch any matter affected by a law which the Irish Legis- lature have not power to repeal or alter, shall, if so required by any party to such proceedings, be heard and determined before the Exchequer Judges or (except where the case requires to be determined by two judges) before one of them, and in any such legal proceeding an appeal shall, if any party so requires, lie from any Court of first instance in Ireland to the Exchequer Judges, and the decision of the Exchequer Judges shall be subject to appeal to Her Majesty the (Jueen in Council, and not to any other tribunal. (5) If it is made to appear to an Exchequer Judge that any decree or judgiTient in any such proceeding as aforesaid has not been duly enforced by the sheriff or other officer whose duty it is to enforce the same, such Judge shall appoint some officer whose duty it shall be to enforce that judgment or decree ; and for that purpose such officer and all persons employed by him shall be entitled to the same privileges, immunities, and powers as are by law conferred on a sheriff and his officers. (6) The Exchequer Judges, when not engaged in hearing and determining such legal proceedings as above in this section mentioned, shall perform such of the duties ordinarily performed by other Judges of the Supreme Court in Ireland as* may be assigned by her Majesty the (^ueen in Council. (7) All sums recovered by the Treasury or the Commissioners of Cus- toms or any of their officers, or recovered under any Act relating to duties of customs, shall, notwithstanding any- thing in any other Act, be paid to such public account as the Treasury or the Commissioners direct. 1886. ings as are mentioned in this section shall not be made except with the approval of the Lord High Chancellor of (Jreat Britain, and the sittings of the Exchequer Division and the judges thereof shall be regulated with the like approval. (4) All legal proceedings instituted in Ireland by or against the Commis- sioners or any officers of Custom or Excise, or the Treasury, shall, if so required by any party to such proceed- ings, be heard and determined before the judges of such Exchequer Division, or some or one of them, and any appeal from the decision in any such legal pro- ceeding, if by a judge, shall lie to the said division, and if by the Exchequer Division, shall lie to the House of Lords, and not to any other tribunal ; and if it is made to appear to such judges, or any of them, that any decree or judgment in any such proceeding as aforesaid, has not been duly enforced by the sheriff or other officer whose duty it is to enforce the same, such judges or judge shall appoint some officer to enfore such judgment or decree ; and it shall be the duty of such officer to take proper steps to enforce the same, and for that purpose such officer and all persons employed by him shall be entitled to the same immunities, powers, and privileges as are by law conferred on a sheriff and his officers. (5) All sums recovered in respect of duties of Customs and Excise, or under any Act relating thereto, or by an officer of Customs or Excise shall, not- withstanding anything in any other Act, be paid to the Treasury, and carried to the Customs and Excise account under this Act. MR. GLADSTOxNTE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 249 POST OFFICE, POSTA SAVINGS 1893. TRANSFER OF POST OFFICE AND POSTAL TELEGRAPHS. 20. — (l) As from the appointed day the postal and telegraph service in Ireland shall be trans.f'erred to the Irish Government, and may be regulated by Irish Act, except as in this Act men- tioned and except as regards matters relating : — (a) to such conditions of the transmis- sion or delivery of postal packets and telegrams as are incidental to the duties on postage ; or {b) to foreign mails or submarine telegraphs or through lines in connection therewith ; or {c) to any other postal or telegraphic business in connection with places out of the United Kingdom. (2) The administration of or inci- dental to the said excepted n,iatters shall, save as may be otherwise arranged with the Irish Post Office, remain wi'Ji the Postmaster-General. {3) As regards the revenue and ex- penses of the postal and telegraph service, the Postmaster-General shall retain the revenue collected and defray the expenses incurred in Great Britain, and the Irish Pest Office shall retain the revenue collected and defray the ex- penses incurred in Ireland, subject to the provisions of the Fourth Schedule to this Act ; which schedule shall have full effect, but may be varied or added to by agreement between the Postmaster- General and the Irish Post Office. (4) The su);is payable by the Posi- inastci--Genei-al or Irish Post Office to the other oj them in pursuance of this Act shall, if not paid out of Post Office moneys, be paid from the Exchequer oJ the United Kingdom or of Ireland, as the case requires, to the other Exchequer. (5) Sections 48 to 52 of the Telegraph Act, 1863, and any enactment amending the same, shall apply to all telegraphic lines of the Irish Government in like manner as to the telegraphs of a com- pany within the meaning of that Act. L TELEGRAPHS, AND BANKS. 1886. In the Bill of 1S86 this subject was dealt wi'h under the head of " iJ//Va'/- laneous,'" as follows : — POST OFFICE AND SAVINGS BANK.S. Vide 32. Whenever an Act of the LegisI a- clauses ture of Ireland has provided for carrv- ^o^^j.* , 111 1 • •' Schedule mg on the postal and telegraphic service 4, 1893 with respect to the transmi-siou of letters and telegrams in Ireland, and the post office and other savings banks in Ireland, and for protecting the officers then in such service, and the existing depositors in such post office savings banks, the Treasury shall make arrang- ments for the transfer of the said service and banks, in accordance with the said Act, and shall give public notice of the transfer, and shall pay all depositors in such post office savings banks who re- quest payment within six months after the date fixed for such transfer, and after the expiration of such six inonths the said depositors shall cease to have any claim against the Postmaster- Cieneral or the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, but shall have the like claim against the Consolidated Fund of Ireland, and the Treasury shall cause to be transferred in accordance with the said Act the securities representing the sums due to the said depositors in post office savings banks and the securities held for other savings banks. 2SO MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. TRANSFER OF SAVINGS BANKS. 1893— conhnn^d. 21 — (i.) As from the appointed day there shall be transferred to the Irish Government the Post Office savings banks in Ireland and all such powers and duties of any department or officer in Great Britain as are connected wiih Post Office savings banks, trustee savings banks, or friendly societies in Ireland, and the same may be regulated by Irish Act. (2) The Treasury shall publish not less than six months previous notice of the transfer of savings banks. (3) If before the date of the transfer any depositor in a Post Office savings bank so requests, his deposit shall, according to his request, either be paid to him or transferred to a Post Office savings bank in Great Britain, and after the said date the depositors in a Post Office savings bank ia Ireland shall cease to have any claim against the Postmaster-General or the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, but shall have the like claim against the Government and Consolidated Fund of Ireland ; (4) If before the date of the transfer the trustees of any trustee savings bank so request, then, according to the I'equesr, either all sums due to them shall be repaid and the savings bank closed, or those sums shall be paid to ti.e Irisli Government, and after the siid date thi trustees shall cease to have any claim against the National Debt Commissioners or the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, but shall hive the like claim against the Government and Consolidated Fund of Ireland. (5) Notwithstanding the fore:joing provisions of this section, if a sum due on account of any annuity or policy of insurance which has befure the above- mentioned notice been granted through a Post Office or trustee savings bank is not paid by the Irish Government, that sum shall be paid out of the Ex- chequer of the United Kingdom. W CO 00 Cm O m THE DECISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. Vide Clause 2.*>, 1886. 1893. IRISH APPEALS. 22. — (i) The appeal from Courts in Ireland to the House of Lords shall cease ; and where any person would, but for this Act, have a right to appeal from any Court in Ireland to the House of Lords, such person shall have the like right to appeal to Her Majesty the Queen in Council ; and the right so to appeal shall not be affected by any Irish Act ; and all enactments relating to appeals to Her Majesty the Queen in Council, and to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council shall apply accor- dingly. (2) When the Judicial Committee sit for hearing appeals from a Court in Ire- land, there shall be present not less than four Lords of Appeal, within the mean- ing of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876, and at least one member who is 1886. CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS TO BE SUBMITTED TO JUDICIAL COMMITTEE. 25. — Questions arising as to the Vide powers conferred on the Legislaiuie of *" ' i^jiT.'^^' Ireland under this Act shall be deter- mined as follows : — ((?) If any such question arises on any Bill passed by the Legislative Body, the Lord Lieutenant may refer such question to Her Majesty in Council ; (/') If, in the course o other legal proceeding, arises on any Act of the I any parly to such action proceeding may, subject this section mentioned, decision on such question in Council; f any action or such quesion riih Legislature or other legal to the rules in appeal from a to Her Majesty MR. GLADSTONE'S " HOMK RULE ' BILLS COMPARED. 2U 1893. or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court iu Leiaud. (3) A rota of Privy Councillors to sit for hearing appeals from Courts in Ire- land shall be made annually by her Majesty in Council, and the Privy Coun- cillors, or some of them, on that rota shall sit to hear the said appeals. .\. casual vacancy in such rota during the year may be filled by Order in Council. (4) Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction of the House of Lords to determine the claims to Irish peerages. SPECIAL PROVISION FOR DECISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. vin of the Judicial Committee shall l)e given in like manner as if it were the decision of an appeal, the nature of the report or recommendation to Her Majesty being stated iu open Court. (3) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice any other power of Her Majesty in 1886. ((•) If any such (luesiion arises other- wise than as aforesaid on any Act of the Irish Legislature, the Lord Lieutenant or one of Her Majesty's principal .Secre- taries of State may refer such question to Ller Majesty in Council ; {d) Any question referred or appeal brought under this section to Her Majesty in Council shall be referred for the consideration of the Judicial Com- mittee of the Privy Council ; (<■) The decision of Her Majesty in Council on any question referred or appeal brought under this section shall be final, and a Pill which may be so decided to be, or contain a provision, in excess of the powers of the Irish Legisla- ture shall not be assented to by the Lord Lieutenant ; and a provision of any Act which is so decided to be in excess of the powers of the Irish Legi.slature shall be void ; (y") There shall be added to the Judicial Committee when sitting for the purpose of considering questions under this section, such members of Her Majesty's Privy Council, being or having been Irish judges, as to Her Majesty may seem meet ; {g) Her Majesty may, by Order in Council from time to time, make rules as to the cases and mode in which and the conditions under which, in pursuance of this section, questions may be referred and appeals brought to Her Majesty in Council, and as to the consideration thereof by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and any rules so made shall be of the same force as if they were enacted in this Act ; (//) An appeal shall not lie to the House of Lords in respect of any ques- tion in respect of which an appeal can be had to Her Majesty in Council in pursuance of this section. The subject of the following Clauses not dealt with in the Bill of 1893 : — POWERS OF HER MAJESTY. ^2,. — On and after the appointed day there shall be reserved to Her Majesty— (i) The power of erecting forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and 252 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED, 1893. Council to refer any ques'Lion to the Judicial Co-nmittee or the right of any person to petition Her Majesty for such r.-ference. 1886. other buildings for military or naval purposes ; (2) The power of taking waste land, and. on making due compensation, any other land, for the purpose of erecting such forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- yards, or other buildings as aforesaid, and for any other military or naval purpose, or the defence of the realm. LORD LIEUTENANTS AND CROWN LANDS. Vide Clause 2 ' 18Si. OFFICE OF LORD LIEUTENANT. 24. — (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrarj' in any Act, every subject of the Queen shall be qualified to hold the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, without reference to his religious belief (2) The term of office of the Lord Lieutenant shall be six years, without prejudice to the power of her Majesty the Queen at any time to revoke the appointment. Vide Clause 8, 1886. USE OF CROWN LANDS BY IRISH GOVERNMENT. 25.— Her Majesty the Queen in council may place under the control of the Irish Government, for the purposes of that government, such of the lands and buildings in Ireland vested in or held in trust for her Majesty, and subject to such conditions or restrictions (if any), as may seem expedient. OFFICE OF LORD LIEUTENANT. 26. — (i) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any Act of Parliament, everj' subject of Her Majesty shall be eligible to hold and enjoy the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, without reference to his re- ligious belief. (2) The salary of the Lord Lieutenant shall continue to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of the United King- dom, and the expenses of his household and establishment shall continue to be defrayed out of moneys to be provided by Parliament. (3) All existing powers vested by Act of Parliament or otherwise in the Chief Secretary for Ireland may, if no such officer is appointed, be exercised by the Lord Lieutenant until other provision is made by Act of the Irish Legislature. (4) The Legislature of Ireland shall not pass any Act relating to the office or functions of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Ti7c C -I use 1:4. it93. JUDGES AND CIVIL SERVANTS. TENURE OF FUTURE JUDGES. Vide 26. — A Judge of the Supreme Court *'^'is!u.^' cr other superior court in Ireland, or of any County Court or other Court with a like jurisdiction in Ireland, appointed after the passing of this Act, shall not be removed from his office except in pursuance of an address from the two Houses of the Legislature of Ireland, nor during his continuance in office JUDGES TO BE REMOVABLE ONLY BY ADDRESS. 27. — A judge of the Supreme Court ^,'^'''\, of Judicature or other Superior Court mt^. of Ireland, or of any County Court or other Court with a like juiisdiction in Ireland, appointed after the passing of this Act. shall not be removed from his office except in pursuance of an address to Her Majesty from both orders of the MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. -o> 1893. shall his saLiiy be diminished or right to pension altered without his consent. AS TO EXISTLXG JUDGES AND OTHER PERSONS HAVING SALARIES CHARGED ON THE CONSOLIDATED EUND. CW23 27.— (1) AH existing Judges of the iS8«. ' Supreme Court, County Court Judges, and Land Commissioners in Ireland, and all existing officers serving in Ire- land in the permanent Civil Service of the Crown and receiving salaries charged on the Consolidated Eund of the United Kingdom, shall, if they are removable at present on address from both Houses of Parliament, continue to be removable only upon such address, and if remov- able in any other manner shall continue to be removable only in the same manner as heretofore ; and shall con- tinue to receive the same salaries, gratui- ties, and pensions, and to be liable to perform the same duties as heretofore, or such duties as her Majesty may de- clare to be analogous, and their salaries and pensions, if and so far as not paid out of the Irish Consolidated Fund, shall be paid out of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom: Provided that this section shall be subject to the pro- visions of this Act with respect to the Exchequer Judges. (2) If any of the said fudges, Com- missioiwrs or Officers retires from office ivith the Queeii's approbation before completion oj the period of service en- titling him to a pension, her Majesty may, if she thinks fit, grant to him such pension, not exceeding the pension to zohich he loonld on that completion have been entitled, as to her Majesty seems meet. AS TO PERSONS HOLDING CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS. Vide 23. — (I) All existing officers in the 188?.'"' permanent Civil Service of the Crown, who are not above provided fur, and are at the appointed day serving in Ireland, shall after that day continue to hold their offices by the same tenure and to receive the same salaries, gratuities, and pensions and to be liable to perform the same duties as heretofore or such duties 1886. Legislative Body voting separately, nor shall his salary be diminished, or right to pension aliered during his continu- ance in office. PROVISION AS TO JUDGES AND OTHER PERSONS HAVING SALARIES CHARGED ON THE CONSOLIDATED FUND. 28. — (i) All persons who at the c!;yu'fe27, passing of this Act are Judges of the isss. Supreme Court of Judicature or County Court Judges, or hold any other judicial position in Ireland, shall, if they are removable at present on address to Her Majes'.y of both Houses of Parliament, continue to be removable only upon such address from both Houses of the imperial Parliament^ and if removable in any other manner shall continue to be re- movable in like manner as heretofore ; and such persons, and also all persons at the passing cf this Act in the per- manent civil service of the crown in Ire- land whose salaries are charged on the Consolidated Fund of the United King- dom, shall continue to hold office and to be entitled to the same salaries, pensions, and superannuation allowances as here- tofore, and to be liable to perform the same or analogous duties as hereto 'ore ; and the salaries of such persons shall be paid out of the moneys carried to the customs and excise account under this Act, or if these moneys are insufficient, out of the Irish Consolidated Fund, and if the same are not so paid, shall con- tinue charged on the ConbOlidatedFund of the United Kingdom. (2) If any of the said persons retires from of/ice icith the approbation of Her j\Iajesty bej'ore he has completed the period of service entitling him to a pension, it shall he lawful J'or Her Majesty, if she thinks fit, to grant to that person such pension, ?tot exceeding the pefision to which he would have been entitled if he had completed the said period of se7i'ice, as to Her Majesty seems meet. AS TO PERSONS HOLDING CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS. 29. — -(i) All persons not above vide provided for and at the passing of this 'isll. * Act serving in Ireland in the permanent civil service of the Crown shall continue 254 MR. GLADSTONE'S "IIOMK RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. as llie Treasury may declare to be anal- ogous ; and the said gratuit'u's and pen- sions, and until three years after the passing of this Act, the salaries due to any of the said officers if rem lining in his existing office, shall be paid to the payees by the Treasury out of the Ex- chequer oj the United Kingdom. (2) Any such officer may, after three years from the passing of this Act, retire from office, and shall, at any time during those three years, if required by the Irish Government, retire from office, and on any such retirement may be awarded by the Treasury a gratuity or pension in accordance with the Fifth .Schedule to this Act ; provided that — {a) six months' written notice shall, unless it is otherwise agreed, be given either by the said officer or by the Irish Government as the case requires ; and (/') such number of officers only shall retire at one time and at such intervals of time as the Treasury, in communica- tion with the Irish Government, sanction. (3) If any such officer does not so retire, the Treasury may award him after the said three years a pension in accordance with the Fifth .Schedule to lliis Act which shall become payable to him on his ultimate retirement from the service of the Crown. {4.) The gratuities and pensions aioarded in accordance ii>ith the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall be paid by the 'JVeaswy to the payees out of the Ex- chequer of the United Kingdom. (5) All sums paid out of the Ex- chequer of the United Kingdom in pursuance of this section shall be repaid to that Exchequer from the Irish Ex- chequer. (6) This section shall not apply to officers retained in the service of the < loverument of the United Kingdom. Vide C!ivis€30, 15!3. ((?) The existing law relating to the Exchequer and the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom shall apply to the Irish Exchequer and Consolidated Fund, and an officer shall from time to time be appointed by the Lord Lieu- tenant to fill the office of the Comp- troller General of the receipt and issue of Her Majesty's Exchequer and Auditor General of public accounts so far as respects Ireland; and {/>) The accounts of the Irish Con- solidated Fund shall be audited as ap- propriation accounts in manner pro- \ ided by the Exchequer and Audit De- partments Act, 1 866, by or under the direction of the holder of such ofhce. PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES. LAW APPLICABLE TO BOTH HOUSES OF IRISH LEGISLA- TURE. oZi^ii 32.— (i) Subject as in this Act men- itSd." ' tioned, and particularly to the Seventh Schedule to this Act (which Schedule shall have full eft'ecl) all existing election laws relating to the House of Commons and the members (hereof, shall, so far as applicable, extend to each of the two Houses of the Irish Legislature and the membeis thereof, but such election laws so far as herebyextendedmay be altered by Irish Act. (2) The privileges, rights, and im- munities to be held and enjoyed by each House and the members thereof shall be such as may be defined by Irish Act, but so that the same shall never exceed those for the time being held and enjoyed by the House of Commons, and the mem- bers thereof. SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS AS TO POWERS OF IRISH LEGISLATURE. c) After the first dissolution of the Legislative Body, the Legislature of Ireland may, subject to the restrictions in this Act mentioned, alter the laws and customs in this section mentioned. THE POWER TO BORROW MONEY. 1893. — lonliniicii. LIMITATION ON BORROWING BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. 34.— 'J'he local authority for any county or borough or other area shall not borrow money without either — [a) special authority from the Irish Legislature, or [b) the sanction of the proper department of the Irish Government; and shall not, without such special authority, borrow; (i) in the case of a municipal borough or town or area less than a county, any loan which together with the then outstanding debt of the local authority, will exceed twice the annual rateable \ alue of the property in the municipal borough, town, or area; or (ii. ) in the case of a county or k rger area, any loan which together with the then outstandi g debt of the local authority, will exceed one-tenlli of the annual rateable value of the property in the county or area; cr (iii) in any case a loan exceeding one half of the above limits without a local inquiry held in the county, borough, or area by a person appointed for the purpose by the said department CO 00 o PQ TRANSITORY PROVISIONS. 1893 —CO nil lined. TEMPORARY RESTRICTION ON POWERS OF IRISH LEGISLA- TURE AND EXECUTIYE. 35 — (i) During three years fro m Vide i"sG.' ' the passing of this Act, and if Parlia- ment is then sittintr until the end of that 1886. — couliitiiai. In the Bill of 1886 these iirovisions are dealtwith in Clause 31, as follows: — •31. — The pro\isions contained in the v;do_ I'ifth Schedule to this Act relating to 'iwi;;. the mode in which arrangements are \xi l)e made for setting in motion the Irish S 2 2SS MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. 1893. session of Parliament, the Irish Legisla- ture shall not pass an Act respecting the relations of landlord and tenant, or the sale, purchase, or letting of land gener- ally ; Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the passing of any Irish Act with a view to the purchase of land for railways, harbours, waterworks, town improvements, or other local un- dertakings. (2) During six years from the passing of this Act, the appointment of a Judge of the Supreme Court or other superior Court in Ireland (other than one of the Exchequer Judges) shall be made in pursuance of a warrant from Der Majesty countersigned as heretofore. 1886. Legislative Body and Government and for the transfer to the Irish Government of the powers and duties to be trans- ferred to them under this Act, or for otherwise bringing this Act into opera- tion, shall be of the same effect as if they were enacted in the body of this Act. REGULATIONS FOR CARRYING EFFECT. THE ACT INTO TRANSITORY PROVISIONS. Vide 36.— (i) Subject to the provisions '^^IX'"' of this Act Her' Majesty the Queen in Council may make or direct such arrangements as seem necessary or proper for setting in motion the Irish Legislature and Government and for otherwise bringing this Act into opera- tion. (2) The Irish Legislature shall be summoned to meet on the first Tuesday in September, one thousand eight hundred and uiiiety-fcur, and the first election of meml)ers of the two Houses of the Irish Legislature shall be held at such time before that day as may be fixed by Her Majesty in Council. (3) Upon the first meeting of the Irish Legislature the members of the House of Commons then sitting for Irish constituencies, including the members for Dublin University, shall vacate their seats, and writs shall, as soon as con- veniently may be, be issued Ijy the Lord Chancellor of Ireland for the purpose of holding an election of members to serve in Parliament for the constituencies named in the Second Schedule of this Act. (4) The existing Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and the senior of the existing puisne Judges of the Exchequer Division of the Supreme Court, or if 35. — (l.) The Lord Lieutenant of , vide^ Ireland may make regulations for the ^'*i^|, following purposes : — {(7) The summoning of the Legisla. tive Body and the election of a Speaker, and such adaptation to the proceedings of the Legislative Body of the procedure of the House of Commons as appears to him expedient for facilitating the con- duct of business by that body on their first meeting ; {b) The adaptation of any law re- lating to the election of representative peers ; (r) The adaptation of any laws and customs relating to the House of Com- mons or the members thereof to the elective members of the first order and to members of the second order of the Legislative body ; and {d) The mode of signifying their assent or election under this Act by representative peers or Irish members of the House of Commons as regards becoming members of the Irish Legisla- tive Body in pursuance of this Act. (2) Any regulations so made shall, in so far as they concern the procedure of the Legislative Body, be subject to alteration by Standing Orders of that Body, and so far as they concern other matters, be subject to iteration by the ^[R. (JLADSTOXF/S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMrARED, 2S9 1893. it'iey or either of them are or is dead or iinal)le or unwillinsi; to act, such other •of the Judj^es of the Supreme Court as Her Majesty may appoint, shall be the «irst lixchequer Judg) by the substitution of the Irish Consolidated Fund or moneys provided by the Irish Legislature for the Con- solidated Fund of the United Kingdom, lor moneys provided by Parliament; or (c-) by the substitution of confirmation l)y, or other act to be etween Great Britain and Ireland, after deducting from that expense the sum iixed by the Postmaster-General as incurred on account of foreign mails or telegraphic communication with a place out of the LTuited Kingdom as the case may be : and (ii) Five per cent, of the expenses of the conveyance outside the United Kingdom of foreign mails, and of the transmission of telegrams to places outside I tJie United Kingdom : and (iii) Such proportion of the I'eceipts for telegrams to places out of the United Kingdom as is due in respect of the transmission outside the United Kingdom of such telegrams. (3) The Postmaster-General and the Irish Po=t Office respectively shall pay to the other of them on account of foreign money orders, of compensation in respect of postal packets, and of any matters not specifically provided for in this Schedule such sums as may be agreed upon. (4) Of the existing debt incurred in respect of telegraph?, a sum of five hundred .and fifty thousand pounds Tvvo-and-Three-(^i.iirters per Cent. Consolidated Stock shall be treated as debt of the Irish Post Office, and for paying the dividends on .:ind redeeming such stock there shall be paid half-yearly by the Irish Exchequer to the Exchequer of the United Kingdom an annuity o^ f!,i,''/itcai thaiisaiid poinids for sixty years, and such annuity when paid into the Exchequer shall be forthwith paid to the National Debt Commissioners and applied for the reduction of the National Debt. (5) The Postmaster-General and the Irish Post Office may agree on the facilities to be afforded by the Irish Post Office in Ireland in relation to any matter the administration of which by virtue of this Act remains with the Postmaster- ( reneral, and with respect to the use of the Irish Telegraph lines for through lines ia connexion with submarine telegraphs or with telegraphic communication with any place out of the United Kingdom. FIFTH SCHEDULE. Jord Lieutenant in Council ^''de ''"iSI '^' ^^^^y rnake regulations for adapting the existing election laws to the eleciion of is-js. ' members of the two Houses of the Legislature. (12) Annual sessions of the Legislature shall be held. (13) Any peer, whether of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, ^y-de Scotland, or Ireland, shall be qualified to be a member of either House. {14) A member of either House may by writing under his hand resign his seat, and the same shall thereupon be vacant. (15) The same person shall not be a member of both Houses. (16) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, if the same person is elected to a seat in each House, he shall, before the eighth day after the next sitting of either House, by writ'en notice, elect in which House he will serve, and uj^on such election his seat in the other House shall be vacant, and if he does not so elect, his seat in both Houses shall be vacant. (17) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, any such notice electing in which House a person will sit, or any rmtice of resignation, shall be given in manner directed by the Standing ( )rders of the Houses, and if there is no such direction, hhall be gis-en to the Lord Lieutenant. (18) The powers of either House shall not be affected by any vacancy therein, or any defect in the election or qualification of any member thereof (19) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, the holders of such Irish oflices as may be named by Order of the Queen in Council before the appointed day shall be entitled to be elected to and sit in either House notwithstancling that they hold offices under the Crown, but on aL'ceptance of any such oftice the seat of any such person in either House shall l)e vacated unless he has accepted the office in fciiccession to some other of the said offices. TRANSITORY. (20) The Lord Lieutenai)t in Council may, before the appointed day, make regulations for the following purposes : — (a) The making of a register of electors of councillors in time for the election of the first councillors, and with that object for the variation of the days relating to registration in the existing eleciion laws, and fur prescriliing the duties of ofticers, and for making such adaptations of those laws as appear necessary or proper for duly making a register ; {/') The summoning of the two Houses of the Legislature of Ireland, the issue 01 writs and any other things appearing to be nece^>ary or proper for the election ot members of the two Houses ; (c) The election of a Chairman (whether called Speakei', President, or by anv .other name) of each House, the quorum of each House, the communications 270 MR. GLADSTONE'S "HOME RULE" BILLS COMPARED. between the two Houses, and such adaptation to the proceedings ofthe two Houses of the procedure of Parliament, as appears expedient for facilitating the conduct of business by those Houses on their first meeting ; ((/) The adaptation to the two houses and the members thereof of any laws and customs relating to the House of Commons or the members thereof ; (c) The deliberation and voting together of the two Houses in cases provided by this Act. (21) The regulations may be altered by Irish Act, and also in so far as they con- cern the procedure of either House alone, by Standing Orders of that House, but shall, until altered, have effect as if enacted in this Act. THE SCHEDULES OF 1886. In the Bill of 1886, there were no details whatever g^lven in the proposed Schedules, and consequently no comparison can be made between them and the Schedules in the Bill of 1893. The following- skeleton was all that appeared in the 1886 Bill : — FIRST SCHEDULE. FIRST ORDER OF THE IRISH LEGISLATIVE BODY. Electoral Districts. Number of Members. Rotation. SECOND SCHEDULE. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE FIRST ORDER OF THE IRISH LEGISLATIVE BODY. THIRD SCHEDULE. BOUNDARIES OF DIVISIONS OF THE CITY OF CORK FOR THE PURPOSE OF RETURNING MEMBERS TO THE SECOND ORDER OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY. FOURTH SCHEDULE. PROVISIONS AS TO SUPERANNUATION ALLOWANCES OF PER- SONS IN THE PERMANENT CIVIL SERVICE. FIFTH SCHEDULE, TRANSITORY PROVISIONS. PROMISE 7: PERFORMANCK. 271 APPENDICES. Appendix I, PROMISE V. PERFORMANCE. The Radical Party are again trying- their old tactics of 1880 and 1885. Before the Election of 1880 Mr. Gladstone and his friends deluged the country, especially the agricultural constitu- encies, with promises of every kind. The Electors rashly trusted these promises, and Mr. Gladstone came into power with the enormous majority of 120. Mr. Gladstone was in office for over five years, from April, 1880, to July, 1885, with this great majority. What did he do in the way of social reform or material benefit for the labouring classes during that period .? Nothing worth counting. The w^orking classes were wholly neglected. The country was involved in many needless and dishonourable wars abroad, and in heavy and fruitless expenditure. The Radical party caused a war in Egypt, four bloody and useless campaigns in the Soudan, the waste of millions of money, and the betrayal of General Gordon. The Radical Party also caused the disastrous and disgraceful war and surrender in the Transvaal; the evacua- tion of Kandahar, and the panic expenditure of over £6,000,000 in consequence of the Russian advance towards India. Mr. Gladstone's special war expenditure amounted to nearly £20,000,000. Under the Radical Government, from 18S0 to '85, there was 14,000 outrages in Ireland, and terrorism and misery. These were the leading results of Mr. Gladstone's policy. Again, before the Election of 1885, Mr, Gladstone and his friends lavished promises upon the Electors. Every benefit, from three acres and cow upwards, was promised by them. F"or the second time many of the agricultural labourers trusted Mr. Gladstone, and he came into power in January, 1886, with a ma- jority of 84. What did he then do for the working men of England, Scotland and Wales ? Absolutely nothing! In order to please Mr. Parnell aiid eighty-five disloyal Irish Nationalists, the Gladstonians aban- doned the interests of the English working men, broke all their T 2/2 PROMISE V. PERFORMANCE. pledges, and went off on a wild goose chase after "Home Rule" and a separate Parliament for Ireland. The only result of this policy, if carried out, would have been to break up the United Kingdom, to disrupt the Empire, and to bring thousands of ruined and desperate Irishmen over to England to compete in our overstocked labour markets. Fortunately for the nation, the g'ood sense of the English people, in July, 1886, saved the country and the Empire from so terrible a calamity. By a majority of nearly three to one the English Electors in 1886 rejected Mr. Gladstone's wild proposals and placed Lord Salisbury, as leader of the Conservative and Unionist party, in office. What have the Conservative and Unionist Government done for the people, especially for the working men ? For the Agricultural labourer they have passed two Allotment Acts, so that every labourer may have an allotment on fair and easy terms. Since the Conservative Government came into power the number of allotments has increased by nearly 130,000. The Conservative Government have passed Acts for the better Housing of the Working Classes, to enable every labouring family to have a comfortable and healthy home. The Conservative Government have established a department of Agriculture, so that the greatest of British industries can be fostered and benefited. The Conservative Government have lowered the taxation on tea (£1,500,000), on tobacco (£600,000), on currants (£210,000), and on small houses (£540,000). The Conservative Government have provided £2,500,000 a year to establish Free Education, so that every child can now obtain knowledge without fee or cost. This means to a working man, who had formerly to pay, say 2d. each for six children, a saving of is. a week. The Conservative Government have also passed a great Mines Act, to promote the safety and comfort of the Miners; a Merchandise Marks Act, to keep out of our country falsely- marked Foreign Articles that used to undersell our home-made products; a Railway Rates Act to prevent the excessive charges of the Railway Companies and the favour formerly shown to Foreign products ; a Local Government Act, which gives every ratepayer a share in the Government of his country, and Technical Education Acts, which have provided means for industrial instruction for the working classes throughout the country. The Conservative Government have ensured the saving of nearly £3,000,000 a year to the taxpayers, or a practical reduction of the National Debt of £100,000,000, by reducing the IMPORTANT POINTS IN IRISH HISTORY. 273 interest on the National Debt. They have greatly strengthened, in spite of Gladstonian opposition, the Navy of England, which is essential to protect the liberties, our world-wide comn-ierce, and the food supplies of the people. The Conservative Government have preserved the peace of the world ; lowered the National Expenditure ; and opened up fresh countries and Markets for British trade and British Colonists in India, in Eastern and Southern Africa. Since Lord Salisbury took office in 1886, the trade of the United King-dom — and trade is the life-blood of our people — has increased by 126,000,000. They have restored security, peace iind prosperity to Ireland. The above is a record of some of the practical, solid, undeniable benefits conferred by the Conservative and Unionist Government upon their countrymen. For the third time within twelve years Mr. Gladstone and his friends are now trying to beguile the Electors with specious promises and pledges, which they never intend to perform. Let the Electors remember how they were tricked and sold by the Gladstonian party in 1880 and 1885. Let them compare the solid performance of the Conservative Government with the empty words and broken promises of the Radicals, and trust the party of deeds rather than the party of words. — [N.U., No. 3.] Appendix II. IMPORTANT POINTS IN IRISH HISTORY. The following' brief narrative of Irish history is taken from Mr. Patton's "Speaker's Handbook on the Irish Question" : — THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND. In 1 170, ill the reign of Henry II., certain English barons undertook to conquer Ireland. They found there five kingdoms, but no one Celtic State called Ireland, Hibernia, l^rin, or anything else. Ireland was not a kingdom till England made her one. // is often said that Jiiii^/aiid /ins oj^/^irsscd Irdaiid for 700 years, but from 1 1 70 until at least 1600 luigland did not own or interfere with three-fourths of Ireland. From 11 70 for many centuries Ireland was practically divided into t\\o parts — one inhabited by English colonists, and the other, which was much larger, by tribes who had no central or settled government. Henry VJII. constituted Ireland a Kingdom. IRELAND AND CIVILISATION. Ireland had been the seat 01 an ancient civilisation. Many men of considerable learning, culture, and jMety inhabited her monasteries in very early times. Long before a single Englishman ever planted foot in Ireland, that civilisation died T 2 274 IMPOR TANT POINTS IN IRISH HISTORY. utterly. It is as well to recollect that everything of law, politics, and freedom' Ireland possesses, has come to her from without — from England. THE EARLY POPULATION OF IRELAND. As has been already pointed out, there is reason to believe the majority of the people of Ireland to be of Anglo-Saxon descent. This, however, is of course only true now ; it could not he true of the days before the English entered Ireland. Sir John Davies, however, who was Attorney-General of Ireland in the time of Jamchr I., emphatically tells us it was so then ; and Mr. Gladstone, at i,iverpoo!, in June, 1886, quoted his words with approval. But it is ^ fatal and pp/ii/ar blunder to jmagitic thai nrit before the arrhal of the English there ivas a Celtie State in Ireland. The Danes had settled already on the east, and the Spaniards on the Mest, So little was Ireland the country of the Celtic Irish that hardly a single town of importance in Ireland had a Celtic origin. The Danes built Dublin, Drogheda, Wexford and Waterford ; the Normans built Cork and Limerick ; the Spaniards built Galway ] while Derry and Belfast are the creation of English and Scotch settlers. THE ENGLISH PALE. The part of Ireland inhabited by the first settlers was called the English Pale. In the days of John this "Pale" was far less ihan half the countrj-. In Ulster, Connaught, and the non-maritime parts of Munster and Lem-ter, the Irish were left unmolested. In the reign of Richard II. this "Pale " consisted of only four counties — Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Louth — or less than one-tenth of Ireland, the other nine-tenths being in the hands of the non-English population. HOME RULE NONSENSE ABOUT INVADERS. A great deal of nonsense is often talked about the English settlers in Ireland being invaders and interlopers. Of course they were, but that does not afford any reason v(-hatever for clearing their descendants out oi the country. The Celtic Irish themselves were once interlopers, who so treated their predecessors iir occupation tliat hardly any trace of them is to l;)e found. Besides, if this is to be the rule, why confine it to Ireland? On such a theory the English should not only retire from Ireland, but from England, which they once took from the ancient Britons, whose descendants are still living in Wales. The entire white people, both English and Irish who live in the United States ought, on that principle, to send all American negroes back to Africa, and come to Europe themselves, so as to leave America to the Red Indians, to whom it once un- doubtedly belonged. THE OLD IRISH PARLIAMENT. The old Irish Parliament Mas, in its origin, simply a Parliament of the English' settlers in Ireland. It had no connection whatever in early days with the non- English population. The Statute of Kilkenny will illustrate this conclusively ; il was passed by the so-called "Irish" Parliament in 1367, and imder it English subjects in Ireland were forljidden to intermarry with the native Irish under the penalties of High Treason. It is interesting to recollect that in 1376, Edward HI. summoned the Irish clergy and laity {i.e., the English clergy and laity in Ireland, whom we shall henceforth call the Anglo-Irish), to send deputies to- tire Parliament at Westminster, which they did. POYNINGS' LAW. To understand Pt)ynings' Law, which is almost always spoken of now as a piece of English oppression, it. must be remembered that early in the reign of Heniy VII. the impostor Lambert Simnel appeared. He was crowned king in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and he forthwith convened a Parliament which wreaked vengeance on all his opponents. It was a Parliament of certain Anglo-Irish and others who followed him, and it proceeded to punish those who remainetl loyal tc»' IMPORTANT POINTS IX IRISH HISTORY. 275 Henry. When Simnel was crushed, the Act called Poynings' Law, from the Deputy (or Lord-Lieutenant) of the day, was passed. It provided "that Parlia- ments should not be holden in Ireland until the King's Lieutenant and council had notified to the King, under the (Jreat Seal of that land, the causes and considera- lions. and all such Acts as to them seemeth should pass in the same Parliament ; Jior until such causes, and acts, and considerations had been affirmed by the King or his council to lie good and expedient, or license to summon Parliament had been Xjiyen under the Great Seal of England." It was passed, not to enslave the native Irish, tu'tth whom it had nothing to do, but at the request of the Anglo-Irish, to protect them from such a Lord-Deputy as had been the Earl of Kildare, who had connived at Simnel's coronation. The little English colonv begged for the Act, m order that no nws might m future be passed by a Viceroy without the knowledge -of the Sovereign. Hence the consent of the English Privy Council was for long regarded as necessary to measures passed by the Anglo-Irish. IRELAND UNDER ELIZABETH, Ireland would, perhaps, never have been reduced by English troops but for the Pope and Philip II. of Spain. In 1579 they despatched a force to Ireland to strike at Elizabeth. The Earl of Desmond joined them, carrying with him the native Irish. They were, however, utterly routed by Lord (Irey de Wilton, Desmond's estates were forfeited, and a Parliament sitting in Dublin, allotted them to English settlers. These settlers were called "Undertakers,"' because they imdertook to reside on the lands. In 1593 fresh troubles arose, this time in the North, when Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, demmded the expulsion of all English ■settlers and officials, and looked for aid to Spain. He roused the Native Irish, M'ith whom many of the earlier settlers joined, the rebellion became widespread, and Elizabeth's "Undertakers" had to fly. In 1601 the Spaniards anived, but Lord Mountjoy completely defeated them, and reduced the whole country. The year 1603, the sime that witnessed the Union of the Crowns of England and -Scotland, saw the first conquest of all Ireland. THE REFORMATION IX IRELAND. It IS possible — and, indeed, likely — that but for religion there would not now be -an Irish Question. Conquerors and conquered have existed at all times and in all countries, and, save where some powerful disintegrating element was at work, such as a religious diffei'ence, they have usually coalesced. The Reformation, however, brought a new quarrel into Ireland. The earlier English settlers remained Roman Catholic, and amalgamated easily with the native Irish, becoming, in the language of _the old proverb, " More Irish than the Irish themselves ; " but the later settlers, being Protestants, never so amalgamated. The old quarrel was superseded by another. THE PLANTATION OF ULSTER. This was the most memorable feature of the reign of James I. On the death of Elizabeth much opposition was shown to James, and especially in Ulster. Accordingly, to check rebellion, the lands of certain northern counties were taken by the Crown, and three-quarters of a million of acres were granted on favourable terms to settlers. The citizens of London received large grants in the county of Deny, and made Deny city — henceforth Londonderry — the leading town of the extreme north. Protestant colonists from Scotland and England were encouraged to settle in 161 1, and again on a large scale in 161 5. STRAFFORD IN IRELAND. With the English politics of the Earl of Strafford we have nothing to do, but he undoubtedly benefited Ireland. He increased the revenues, inqiroved trade, and administered justice ; most important of all, he mainly founded the Ulster linen trade, bringing over tlax seed from Holland, and encouraging I'lemish workmen. His action towards the woollen trade was not equally beneficent. Like all other Englishmen of the period, he thought he saw in it a rival to Ijiglish trade. 276 IMPORTANT POINTS IN IRISH IIISTORV. The woollen trade had, however, been entirely created by the Protestant settlers. It is they, and not the native Irish, who were injured by its suppression. THE GREAT REBELLION OF 1641. When the strong hand of Strafford was removed, rebellion appeared. To a large extent it was a war of religion, for religion had consolidated the native Irish. On all sides they rose against the settlers, whose extermination seemed certain, as Chai-lesl. , then in difficulties witli his Parliament, could give them no succour. Men, women, and children perished in terrible massacres, which were not paralleled in English history until the Indian Mutiny. OLIVER CROMWELL. Cromwell crushed this rebellion. The Irish had inflicted fearful cruelties on the settlers, and Cromwell now punished them with fearful cruelty. Yet in one respect it was a merciful policy, for his unsparing severity at Drogheda and Wexford at once caused all opposition to subside. But Cromwell's legislative arrangements were even more important than his campaign. He at once saw that a Legislative Union was a neccssily to tlic peace of Ireland, so he proz'ided that the Anglo-Irish should send tliirty representatives to J Vest minster. In Cromwell's view the entire Irish difficulty was religious, so he resolved to drive the Roman Catholics back to Connaught and to Clare. The broad stream of the Shannon was to be the border. Thousands of them went abroad, and we subsequently find their names in the record of foreign military service. Cromwell planted their confiscated lands with settlers drawn from every class and creed in Great Britain. Tipperary, for example, was peopled by his soldiers ; and the Joyce country in Galway takes its name from the family of one of Cromwell's troopers. When Cromwell died, more than half the population of Ireland must have been Anglo-Saxon by descent. It was, indeed, so in the reign of James I., according to Sir John: Davies, before a single Cromwellian could have settled in the country. IRELAND UNDER CHARLES IL Charles II. modified the Cromwellian policy by an Act of Settlement passed in 1661 by a Dublin Parliament. This body restored their lands to all former owners who had not taken part in the rebellion and massacres of 1641 ; yet more than two-thirds of the land remained in the hands of the Protestant minority, who were probably not more than one-fifth of the population. Worse still was the fact that the Roman Catholics were exiled from all share in the government of their native land. It is, indeed, aljsolutely true that the majority of the Irish people, whether of Celtic or Anglo-.Saxon race, had to submit to a tyranny from the minority, on whom the sole restraining influence was the Imperial Government. IRELAND UNDER JAMES II. James II. proceeded to reverse all this. His object, unfortunately, was not to preserve an equal balance between the two communities, but to make the Roman Catholics supreme in Ireland as in England. In 1687 he made the Earl of Tyrconnel Viceroy, and the work began. The Protestant militia was deprived of muskets. AH judges and sheriffs were selected from the Roman Catholics. Fear seized the settlers, who were threatened at once with loss of life, liberty, and land. At first they retreated before a great popular Roman Catholic outbreak, but at the walls of Derry they rallied and triumphed in the greatest siege of liistory. "The "aim of the popular movement was,'' writes Mr. J. R. Green, " the ruin of the "English settlers. The Act of Settlement, on which all property rested was at once "repealed." Three thousand Protestants of 7iame and fortune uiere massed together in the highest Bill of Attainder the 7c836 1891 ... 29,001,018 ... 4,003,103 ... 4,706,162 Now these figures show two things distinctly : — First, that the population of Ireland is decreasing-, while that of Great Britain is increasing-; secondly, that the Act of Union has g-ot nothing- whatever to say to this, imiwiiich as from 1 821 iill 1841, al all events ih«i population of Ireltnd increased Just as rapidly as that, of the rest of the United Kingdom. 286 WHY AND HOW THE ACT OF UNION WAS PASSED. But every thinking man knows the causes of the decline of the population of Ireland. Eng^land and Scotland have increased in population simply because of the growth of the great manu- facturing centres, which in turn owe their commerce to the coal and Iron fields of Great Britain. Ireland has neither coal nor iron worth the working, and no commercial centres save in one part of the country, which always goes to prove the Unionist contention as we shall presently see. It may be interesting to know, in corroboration of this, that in every purely agricultural part of Great Britain there is also a decrease in population. Counties which are Decreasing in Population. England & Wales. Scotland. Cambridge. Berwick. Cornwall. Caithness. Dorset. Kincardine. Hereford. Kinross. Hunts. Orkney. Rutland. Ross. Salop. Sutherland. Westmoreland. Wigton. Brecon. Cardigan. Montgomery. Pembroke. Radnor. Those towns in Ireland which are centres of industry as dis- tinguished from merely agricultural markets are increasing in size, as is the total town population of places with a population of over 10,000. In 1841, 17 towns had a population of more than 10,000, and an aggregate of 621,003 inhabitants. In 1881, 19 towns had this population, and an aggregate of 814,926. The following facts, however, demonstrate with still greater force that the Act of Union has nothing whatever to say to the decline in the population of Ireland : — Belfast Under the Act of Union. In 1800 the population of Belfast was 25,000. In 1850 ,, ,, ,, 70,000. In 1887 M j» M 220,000. In 1892 „ ,, ,, 273.055. Is this also a consequence of the Act of Union ? Belfast has thriven under exactly the same Union and Laws as those under which Cork or Limerick decline. At the time of the Act of Union these latter cities were far ahead of it, and it has had no privilege whatever since. We must look elsewhere — to the character of the people — for the cause. WHY AND HOW THE ACT OF UNION WAS PASSED. 287 2. COMMERCIAL PROGRESS IN IRELAND. Much that has been said under the previous head is alsa relevant here. But what are the facts .'' In 1852 the revenue of Ireland was 4^ millions. In 1888 it was over 7^ millions. An increase of 77 per cent. ! THE SHIPPING OF IRELAND. In 1852 the tonnage of shipping entering Irish ports was 5 millious. In 1885 it was 13 millions. An increase of 160 per cent. ! THE EXCISE DUTIES OF IRELAND. In 1852 the Excise Duties of Ireland were i^ millions. In 1885 they had grown to 4^ millions. In 1892 ,, „ /5,ii8,292. An increase of 200 per cent. ! THE SAVINGS BANKS OF IRELAND. In 1849 the amount in these was ^1,200,000. In 1892 it was ^{^6, 05 7, 882. An increase of 500 per cent. ! THE POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS. (Being the popular banks with poorer depositors.) In 1870 the amount was only ^^583, 165. In 1888 it had grown to ;/^3, 128,000. In June, 18S6, it was ^^2, 592,000. In June, 1S92, it was ^^4, 069,000. An increase of 660 per cent, in 22 years ! The same advance is evident in the material prosperity of tiie people. HOUSING OF THE PEOPLE. In 1841 there were 491,278 cabins of the poorest kind. In 1 88 1 there were but 40,665 of these. A decrease of 92 per cent. ! In 1841 there were 304,264 houses of the better class. In 1881 there were 488,968. An increase of 60 per cent. I EDUCATION. In 1841, 28 per cent, of the population (young children excluded) could read and write. In 1851, 33 per cent. In 1 861, 41 per cent. In 1 87 1, 49 per cent. In 1881, 59 per cent. NATIONAL SCHOOLS. Year. No. of Schools. No. of Pupils. Amount of Grant. 1837 ... 1,384 ... 169,548 ... ^"50,000 1885 ... 7.936 ... 1,075,604 ... 814,000 1891 ... 8,346 ... 1,022,361 ... 866,519 The above fig"ures show conclusively that the prosperity of Ireland has vastly increased since the Act of Union was passed. u 288 EVICTIONS. Appendix VI. EVICTIONS. ■ ''- The cry against 'Evictions ' has played so larg-e a part in the Separatist Compaign, and the misrepresentations regarding Irish Evictions are so constant and enormous that I quote in full the admirable passages in which the late^Mr. Arthur Patton dealt vwith the subject in his most useful " Speaker's Handbook." THE LAW OF EVICTION. The following are the most important points. 1. No tenant can be evicted in consequence ot a writ of ejectment for non-payment of rent unless he owes a year's rent 2. He may, however, be ejected ., the local money-lender. 3. If evicted for non-payment of rent, the process is as follows : — The landlord obtains his judgment, and then a period of six weeks must elapse before he can proceed further. During the six weeks the tenant can stay eviction by payment in full, or settlement. 4. Prior to the passing of the Land Act of 1887 the landlord next proceeded, in case of a failure to settle, to evict the tenant. The tenant then evicted had a period of six months, during which time he might redeem. He was no longer a tenant, but by paying what was due. or coming- to a settlement with his landlord, he could be reinstated, as he ivas in the vast inajorifv of cases. Of course, the land was for these six months absolutely useless to the landlord. 5. During the six months while the tenant was out of possession, the landlord was liable to him for the crops on the land, and for the profits he (the landlord 1 miiiht have made. 6. As a result of this last provision, it happened that after eviction the landlord (in how many cases, figures will tell) reinstated the tenant as a caretaker, though not with the rights of a tenant. At the end of the six months the period of redemption expired. The tenant Wcis on the land as caretaker. If he settled, he became EVICTIONS. 2S9 a tenant ; if not, and if he refused possession, a second physical removal might have to take place. Having lost his tenancy, he became a trespasser. 7. Of course, in addition to what is stated above, it must never be forg-otten that the tenant could secure the value of improvements made l)y him, by compensation or by the benefit of Free Sale. These matters have already been described at length under the Acts of 1870 and 18S1. -8. An important change was made in the law by the Act ot 1887. This Act placed the physical eviction at the end of the six months allowed for redemption, instead of at the beginning. It provided that in all cases where the rent was under £100 (that is, in over 94 per cent, of the holdings of Ireland) the landlord who was entitled to evict should not resort to physical eviction in the first instance. A written notice sent to the tenant, after Judgment had been obtained, and at the termination of a series of legal proceedings of which he must be fully cognisant, makes him a caretaker. He then has six months to redeem, and does redeem in the vast majority of instances, 9, These written notices are known as •■ eviction" notices, but they precede actual eviction by six months. In the overwhelming majority of cases actual eviction never succeeds. The most laughable mistakes have been made on this subject, as by Lord Ripon, who, speaking in October, 1888, spoke of many thousand evictions as likely to take place in Ireland because of the number of eviction notices ; while some thousand eviction notices in the preceding quarter had been followed by only eighty-six evictions ! Sir George Trevelyan, speaking at Hexham on the 28th of September, 18S9, without Lord Ripon's excuse of ig-norance, stated that "in 188S, 9,752 families lost their homes in Ireland," The statement, which certainly conveyed to his hearers the idea that these persons were left desolate and homeless by eviction, was in that sense ahsohitdy untrue. On this subject every method of exaggeration is employed. There are, however, seven distinct methods employed in this connection to trap the unwary. These are :— I. The use of extravagant language. :2. The confusion of persons with families, by the artful employment of which trick the Nationalists make evictions appear about seven times as numerous as ithey really are. V 2 290 EVICTIONS. 3. The assumption that of the total number of evictions all are by landlords. 4. The absolute ignoring" of the fact that 'many evicted tenants are at once reinstated as tenants. 5. The absolute ig-noring- of the fact that very many evicted tenants are readmitted as caretakers, and ultimately redeem their position as tenants. 6. The confusion of eviction notices with evictions, 7. The assumption that if the landlord anywhere evicts a tenant, the landlord alone is to blame. As to the first of these, the use of extravagant language, we shall give one specimen of Nationalist methods. Speaking" in the House of Commons in August, 1886, Air. Parnell said : " If it were not for 'moonlighting-,' Lord Kenmare would not leave a roof over the heads of any of his tenants." — while United Ireland described the same landlord as the "Evictor-General of Ireland." What are the facts .^ Lord Kenmare holds 91,000 acres, on which are 1,800 tenants. In the seven years, 1860-66. he evicted nine tenants, or \\ per annum. Such was the conduct of the ''Evictor-General,'" and such is the invariable method of the Parnellite press. A fa\orite Nationalist trick is to confuse persons with families. At election times a Nationalist placard is generally exhibited, stating that during the last fifty years 3,668,000 Irish persons have been evicted ! The authority given for this statement is a work called " Fiftv Years' National Progress,"' by INIichael G. Mulhall. The following is Mr. Mulhall's statement in his own words : — " Official returns give the number of families, and these averaging seven persons, we ascertain the actual number of persons evicted : — f Years. Families. Persons. I 1849-51 ... 263,000 ... 1,841,000 I 1852-60 ... 1 10.000 ... 770.000 FALSE. \ 1861-70 ... 47,000 ... 329,000 1871-86 ... i04,oco ... 728,000 Total ... 524,000 3,668,000 The foregoing is Mr. Mulhall's statement, given on pp 114 and 1 15 of his book. What are the facts ? EVICTIONS. 291 The official returns give, not what Mr. Mulhall alleges, but the following figures : — TRUE. Years. 1849-51 1852-60 1861-70 1871-86 Families. 49,000 22,000 9,700 20,000 Persons. 263,000 110,000 47,000 104,000 Total ... 100,700 ... 524,000 The following is a list of the actual evictions since 1886: — 1886 3,781 1887 ... 1888 ... 1S89 ... 1890 ... 1891 ... 3.869 1,609 1.356 1,421 799 79 per cent, decrease in evictions from 1886 to 1891. In other words, perso.ns in the official returns were transmuted into FAMILIES, then the figures were multiplied by 7 to make them persons, and so the current Nationalist numbers are based on a calculation which makes every Irish farmer the parent of about 35 children. As a matter of actual fact, about 100,000 families, and 524,000 persons, are given in the official returns as evicted between 1849 and 1886. That means 100,000 evictions in 38 years, which on an average is less than 3,000 evictions a year. Whether this number is large or small can only be determined after patient investigation. The following considerations help to determine it:— The official returns as quoted include every case where the eviction was follow by readmission, either as tenant or caretaker, and akso every case whether eviction was at the suit of the landlord or not; also every eviction in the towns of Ireland, Dublin alone excepted. In 1887 a vigorous attempt was made by the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union to investigate every case of eviction in Ireland which had taken place during the year 1886. In that year there were 3,781 evictions, representing 19,500 persons. The figures appeared very large to unthinking persons, but investigation soon reduced them to their proper proportions. Full particulars were obtained in 3,024 of these evictions, with the following results : — 434, or 14 per cent., were out of dwelling-houses in cities and lowns, and so quite unconnected with the land question. ^"j, or two per cent., were out of accommodation holdings held by persons living in a town. These holdings arc not 392 EVICTIONS. agricultural, and A\ere, therefore, rigidly excluded by Mr, Gladstone from the Act of 1881. 305, or over 10 per cent., were cases where no physical eviction could take place because no one resided on the holdings. The tenant had either lived on an adjacent farm or had left the place derelict. 198 cases, or over 6 per cent., were "on title." On investiga- tion it turned out that these were either cases of (i) trespassers unlawfully squatting on land to which they had not any right, (2) persons wrongfully in possession under disputed wills, or (3) cases where the local shopkeeper or money-lender bought up and sold the interest of the tenant to pay his debt. The cases already enumerated reduce the 3,024 cases of eviction to 2,020. In other words, 33 per cent., one third, disappear at once. The further reductions are, however, still more remarkable. In 518 cases, about 17 per cent of the total, the tenants were reinstated as tenants. In other words they were able to pay, and did pay ; or, if not, they were leniently treated. In 916 cases, however, the tenants were re-admitted as care- takers, pending redemption — that is in almost one third of the entire number. Now these 916 either came to a settlement with their landlord in the six months, or they did not. Whether they did or not, they were not by eviction deprived, as Englishmen" and Scotchmen often think, of their interest. They had six months in which they might sell their interest, as already explained, for a sum far exceeding the landlord's demand, and so- depart with the money in their pockets; and this was actually- done in a large number of cases. As a matter of fact, however, out of 3,024 evictions only 2,020' were from agricultural holdings with residences attached thereto, and for non-payment of rent. Out of these 2,020 only 586 were cases where the tenants were not immediately re- admitted in some form. Of these 586 ever\' evicted tenant was entitled to compensation for improvements; or to the right of Free Sale, and to any profit the landlord might make out of the farm while the tenant was out of possession during the ensuing six months. There was nothing exceptional about 1886, and there can be no doubt that if other years had been examined in the same way, it would apjtear that out of 100 recorded evictions, 33 per cent, are unconnected with agriculture, or non-residential, while in at least 45 per cent, tenants arc at once re-admitted. We have now seen how 3,024 investigated evictions in Ireland EVICTIONS. 293 give us really 586. The official number for 1886 was, however,. 3,781. Making a liberal allowance we can assume not more than 800 physical evictions as actually taking place in that year. It may be interesting to inquire what proportion these evictions bear to the total number of holdings in the country. The number of holdings was in that year 560,000, so 8oo- evictions means that out of every 700 tenants in Ireland one was evicted, and one only! These figures certainly fail to bear out the extravagant language of the Nationalists. It is, of course, currently assumed that all evictions arise out ot the fault of the landlord. How far this is true will be considered when we come to deal with the Plan of Campaign, under which most recent Irish evictions have taken place. (See p. 126.) EVICTIONS IN THE ABSTRACT. It may sometimes be necessary for a speaker distinctly tO' address an audience on evictions in the abstract, and to ask them distinctly, are all evictions wrong ? It must be carefully remembered that this is a current beliet of the Nationalists. They denounce all evictions alike, whether these spring from the rapacity of a landlord or the dishonesty of a tenant. Eviction is repeatedly called a crime, and no limitation whatever is introduced in the language of the speaker to show that he is referring to the particular circumstances of the case. If this be not so, it would be interesting to learn from a Nationalist of a single eviction which has ever taken place in Ireland of which he or his party have approved. There is not a single case on record where the Nationalists have said to a tenant, "Really, this- is reasonable ; you ought to pay." No such case has ever occurred, for the Nationalist policy is to denounce all evictions alike. Now, if all evictions are unjust, they ought to be put a stop to at once in Ireland, and in Scotland and England also. The working classes ought, however, to be asked, How would this- affect them ? In the first place, the building societies of the country would be bankrupt in three months. They would have lost their right of enforcing payment from a defaulting member. The price of houses would go up enormously. No one would sell a house he owned save for full cash down. No one would let a house save at a rent sufficiently largo to recompense him for the risk of meeting a dishonest tenant. As for neu- buildings, that would simply be out of the question. 294 EVICTIONS. In Other words, the aboHtion of eviction altogether would mean simple ruin to the working" classes of the country.*"* A clear statement of these facts will at once enable audiences to perceive that before one declaims agfainst eviction, it is necessary to examine the facts of each eviction, and to ascertain whether Irish evictions are just or unjust. ARE IRISH EVICTIONS UNJUST? It has already been pointed out at length that eviction does not make a tenant lose his improvements in his holding, or the right to sell his interest ; it simply prevents him retaining the landlord's property without paying for it. The following facts will probably prove of interest : — In 1886, an average year, the following was the averagfe amount of rent due by Irish tenants who were evicted from agricultural holdings on which they resided : — Number per cent, of Evicted Tenants. Amount of Rent due. 11-9 owed I year's rent. 171 >. I2 " 202 , 2 ,, 13"9 .. 2j I3'6 ,, 3 ., 6-8 ,, 3| 6-5 ,, 4 ,, I'O •■• *•• ,, !•• ••• 4^ J J 17 .. 5 >, I'l ,, 5^ 2-1 ,, 6 „ 3*3 ... owed more than ... 6 ,, THE GLENBEIGH EVICTIONS. These evictions were, for a long time, utilised for election purposes by the Nationalists, who drew eloquent pictures of the eviction of poor people, while carefully concealing the facts of the case. They are still constantly alluded to. Mr. Campbell Banner- man, M.P., is reported to have said at Greenock on November 2nd, 1888, that only for the conduct of his opponents there would have been no Glenbeigh in Ireland. This, he alleged, was caused by the failure of the Unionist Party to deal with the question of arrears. This is a species of reckless assertion which can only be met by the recital of facts. * This point is admirably explained in "Think It Out," a lecture by Thomas Hodgkin, D.C.L. EVICTIONS. 295 1 At Glenbeig-h 70 tenants owed ^^6, 177, a sum representing at least 3^ years' rent. The ag-ent was at first willing- to take one year's rent and costs, about /"i,8oo, the total rental being /"i, 731 per annum. At a later date the agent expressed his willingness to take ^"865 and costs, about ^"900 in all, and to wipe out j^5;3l2, including all arrears. The arrears question had therefore nothing in the world to do with the Glenbeigh evictions. At first all the tenants accepted this offer and promised to pay. As a fact, only 17 paid, but 53 refused to pay anything on gale-day. Their priest wrote of these 53 that they were '• poor slaves who would not keep their word." It will scarcely be credited that after the offer of the agent to accept /'865, and to forgive ;^5,3i2 out of ;^6, 177, and before evictions took place, a document was signed by the following members of Parliament — Messrs. Dillon, Mahony, E. Harrington, and Conybeare — denouncing the agent's conduct as '' barbarous and inhuman."' These are the facts of a stock-case of Nationalist horrors. The usual plan is to try and e.\cite sympathy by pictures of poor persons suffering from eviction, and by' the absolute su[)pression of all facts which would throw light on the justice or injustice of the case. THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. There can be no dispute as to what the Plan of Campaign is ; it was first announced in the supplement to United Ireland on Saturday, November 20th, 1886. Briefly summarised the Plan is as follows : — • The tenantry on a given estate meet, each tenant pledging him- self to abide by the decision of the majority, to hold no personal communication with the landlord or his agent, and to accept no terms not given to every one. The rents may be old rents, judicial rents, or fixed in any way. The landlord has probably offered an abatement, possibly an all-round abatement, but not as large as the tenantry want, or he has refused an all-round abatement, but offered separate abatements to each tenant according to cir- cumstances. This offer is refused. The tenants formulate their demand. On gale-day they go to the rent office in a body. If the agent will not see them all, they send their chairman, generally the priest, to demand the all-round abatement they require, the well-to-do farmer asking as much as the poor cottier. The land- lord is then offered his rent less by this abatement of 30, 40, or 50 per cent. If he takes it, there the matter ends. If he refuses, the money is lodged with trustees — to be used, if necessary, to fight the landlord. The illegality of the Plan has been distinctly declared by the 296 EVICTIONS. Courts of Law in the cases of Blunt v. Byrne, and of Flowen v. Dillon. Its illegfality has no connection whatever with the Crimes- Act. In England or in Ireland alike any meeting" called to advocate it may be dispersed by force, like any other meeting- called for any other illegal object. The chief apologies put forth for the Plan of Campaign are- (i ) necessity, (2) that the demands made under it are fair, since the Law Courts have conceded similar abatements, (3) that it never would have originated at all only for the rejection of Mr. Parnell's Bill of 1886. A short examination of the facts will completely demolish all these defences, and will distinctly prove that the Plan of Campaign has been put in force where these apologies cannot be maintained. It will be advisable to give as instances a brief statement of the leading facts on the chief estates where it has been tried. Such are the Massereene estate, the Ponsonby estate, the Kingston estate, the Lansdowne estate, the O'Grady estate, the Brooke estate, and the Vandeleur estate. THE MASSEREENE ESTATE. On this estate there are 327 holdings. In 90 the tenants had judicial rents, and had further abatements given them under the Act of 1887. Twenty tenants were leaseholders, and to them, as well as to all the others, the Courts were open. The rental was under the Government valuation. The "arrears" question did not affect this case, for though these were large the landlord offered at once to estimate them as if they had been reduced by the Land Commission. He asked for them on the basis of the latest judicial reductions. In other words, he asked for arrears of "fair" rent, to which he was obviuosly entitled in common honesty, and not for arrears of a rack-rent. T/ie Protestant tmants, 'i^d in number, stood out to a man against the plan of Campaign. They thought the landlord fair and reasonable, and the "Plan " dishonest. 64 Roman Catholic tefiants also declined to join the conspiracy. THE PONSONBY ESTATE. This estate is in Cork, and its area is 10,000 acres. The rental is j^7,8oo. The rents have never been raised within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and so fair are these that out of 300 tenants who might have gone into Court only 50 did so. In 1S80 the landlord voluntarily gave abatements of trom 15 to 20 per cent., and forgave some thousands of pounds of arrears. In 1886 E\'ICTIUN.S 297 the landlord voluntarily offered aliatements of 20 per cent, on: non-judicial, and 10 per cent, on judicial rents; he was also willing- to forg-ive all arrears on payment of one year's rent. In other words, he was willing to forego £6,0(X) of debt. The rents- were collected from the tenants by Mr. Lane, M.P., for the Plan; and the landlord got nothing. He was obliged to evict 9 tenants. Such was the condition of affairs at the close of 1888. Since when Mr. Smith-Barry. M.P.. and a syndicate formed by him, have purchased the estate from Mr, Ponsonby. Mr. Smith-Barry's- company then offered the tenants their farms on certain terms of purchase, or that they could remain as tenants under a fair rent fixed by the Land Court ; any decision of that Court to be reg-arded as retrospective, so as to cover arrears. THE KINGSTON ESTATE. This estate is close to Mitchelstown, County Cork, and belongs- to the Countess of Kingston. There are 700 agricultural tenants, 550 of whom were granted leases by the late earl, for which they publicly thanked him and gave him an illuminated address. Rent was always well paid without complaint, and in 1880 there- were practically no arrears. Then came the " No Rent " mani- festo, and the entire case altered. In 1881 the leaseholders were allowed and invited to go into Court and g^et '-fair rents" fixed, but only one of the 550 leaseholders would do so. In 1S86 the tenants demanded a uniform abatement of 20 per cent.; the landlord offered from 10 to 25 per cent., to vary according to individual circumstances. This offer was, on the average, the same as that of the Campaigners, but very different in fact. Under the Plan the well-to-do farmer was to get as much as the poor cottier; under the landlord's sliding scale large relief was offered to the poor, and little or nothing to those who were able to pay. Accordingly Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., Mr. John O'Connor, M.P., and Dr. Tanner, M.P., collected the rents for the Plan on- December 8th, 18S6. In December, 1887, the Land Act of that year came into force. Many tenants who had been leaseholders, 545 in all, went into Court. Judgment was speedily delivered in 120 cases, in which the rental of £2,668 was reduced by £511. This, being- an average reduction of 20 per cent., was claimed as an indication that the demand of the Plan of Campaign was^ just, but he actuall}' corroborated the landlord's sliding scale, g-iving- no reduction whatever in some cases, and a large reduction' in others. THE LUGGACURRAN ESTATE. This estate is in the Queen's County, and belongs to the Marquis of Lansdowne. Almost all the tenants are non-judicial 298 EVICTIONS. "tenants., very few being' leaseholders, and very few having asked ihe Courts to fix their rents. The rental is £7,000, out of which the landlord allows ^1,100 to be annually spent on the estate. In 1886 the tenants demanded 35 per cent, on non-judicial and 25 per cent, on judicial rents, threatening- to adopt the Plan of Campaign as an alternative. The landlord refused this demand, but offered to g^ive reductions varying from 15 percent, to 25 per cent, on non-judicial rents, There was no question as to the ability of: he tenants to pay, Mr. Denis Kilbride, M.P., stating- as follows: — "The Luggacurran evictions differed from most of the other evictions to this extent — that they were able to pay the rent; it was a fight of intelligence against intelligence ; it was diamond cut diamond.'' {Freeman s JourTial, March 30th, 1887.) The Marquis of Lansdowne was oblig-ed ultimately to enforce his rights, and several tenants were evicted, among them Mr. Kilbride, who occupied a large farm of over 700 acres, with a modern residence and large outhouses (all built by the landlord), at a rental of £760. Another evicted tenant was Mr. John Dunne, renting a large farm of 1,304 acres. This gentleman was able to enter a racehorse for the Currag-h after his eviction. All the Protestanls on this estate re/used to join the Plan, and all paid iheir rents. THE OGRADY ESTATE. The rental on this estate was never raised, nor was there ever an eviction on the O'Grady property till after the Plan of Campaign. The rental, which in 1881 amounted to £2,108, was reduced after a report by a valuator in 1882 to £1,616. There were forty-two tenants, and in 1883 thirty-eight of these took leases. In 1885 The O'Grady gave a further abatement from 15 to 25 per cent., subject to which the rent was cheerfully paid. In October, 1886, he gave orders to the agent to give a similar abatement; but Father Ryan, C.C., told the tenants to demand 30 per cent, on judicial and 40 on non-judicial rents. Ultimately the Plan was persisted in, and six tenants wereevicted. It was in connection with this estate that the case of Tom Moroney occurred. Moroney's rent was £85. For that he had a large public-house, five small houses, the tolls of the Herbertstown fairs, and thirty-seven acres of land. The tolls alone amounted in value to between £50 and £60 per annum. The landlord offered an abatement to Moroney of 25 per cent.— that is, he asked for £64, which Moroney was notoriously able to pay. When a writ was issued, Moroney sold his cattle under what is called a Plan of Campaign auction, whereupon the money was lodged with trustees. Moroney was accordingly declared a bankrupt, as he would have been in England or Scotland. For refusing- EVICTIONS. 299 to be sworn in court, lest he should have to tell what became of his g^oods, thus fraudulently hidden away, he wassubsequendy put in prison, as he. would have been in England or ^Scotland. He could have got out of prison any day by abandoning- the fraud and answering- the Court, as he also could in England or Scollatid. For months his friends represented that he was dying in gaol, both his mind and body being- injuriously affected. Suddenly he was released at the request of the landlord, whereupon his health was immediately alleged by the same parties to have been im- proved during- his stay in prison. THE BROOKE, OR COOLGREANY ESTATE. This estate is in the County of Wexford, near Coolgreany. The landlord has made all the improvements in the estate without ever raising- the rent. In 188 1 an abatement of 25 per cent, was made, and the tenantry were urged to get fair rents- fixed. Acting on the advice of the Land League, they refused to avail themselves of the Act of 1881, and demanded other abatements instead. This was refused, and forty writs were issued, whereupon they all paid full rents at once. There are- 114 tenants — 15 have judicial rents, 22 are leaseholders, and 77 are non-judicial tenants. In 1SS6 the Plan of Campaign was started. The following were the demands of the tenantry : — • (i) That an all-round reduction of 30 per cent, should be given; (2) that a Protestant named Webster should be evicted from a farm for which he had paid the rent; and (3) that a Roman Catholic named Lenehan, who had not paid and had been evicted, should be reinstated. Eighty tenants joined the Plan, and Sir Thomas Esmonde, M.P., and Mr. Mayne, M.P., took their money. All the Protestants on the estate paid their rents less the abatement offered, were quite satisfied, and declined^ to have anything to do ivith the Plan of Campaign. Ultimately evictions commenced, and 70 holdings were cleared. Cool- greany has since been " planted,"' Of course, the tenants who refused to join in "The Plan " have been boycotted, though they had a perfect right to refuse if they choose. THE VANDELEUR ESTATE. This estate is in the County Clare ; it consists of 20,000 acres, and there are 800 tenants. In 1873, after a succession of good seasons, rents were raised, but to a figure much below the average rental of the country or of the County Clare. If the rents so raised were fair, the tenants had no cause for complaint ; if they were unfair, they had no cause for complaint either, 30O EVICTIONS. inasmuch as they were allowed to pay, so that in 1881 they owed £30,000 of arrears. In the same year the Land Act passed, and in 1882 came the Arrears Act, which wiped out the entire arrears of nearly every tenant. By the end of 1 882 the arrears of £30,000 had disappeared. Out of the 800 tenants, 200 only asked for judicial rents, the remaining 600 being- satisfied with the land- lord's treatment. In September, 1886, the agent made an offer of 20 per cent, reduction on non-judicial rents. T2V0 hundred and fifty of the tenants received these terms gladly, and paid at once. Two months later Messrs. Cox, I\I.P., and Jordan, M.P., visited the estate, and the Plan of Campaign was started. The poorer tenantry were, however, forbidden to join, so only 120 of the wealthier farmers did so ; they were considered better able to ■fight. With the poorer tenants the landlord was quite willing to settle, and did settle. Ultimately the landlord offered to take two-thirds of a j-ear's rent in discharge of all rent due from each tenant ; but the Plan insisted on more, so the landlord was driven to exercise his legal rights. Twenty-four tenants were ■evicted. These held 1,026 statute acres at an annual rental of £626. They owed £2,406. The landlord's offer was to forgive £1,469 altogether. He asked for £459 at once, ^^459 before the end of the year, and £50 costs — in all, £939 — in discharge of a ■debt of £2,406. The landlord having received no rent at all from March 31st, 1885, up to May. 18S9, at last capitulated. What was called an "arbitration" was resorted to, to cover his retreat. THE OLPHERT ESTATE. On this estate were 460 tenants, of whom 220 had judicial rents. The estate was wiped clear of all arrears by the Act of 1882. Mr. Olphert has always resided with his tenants, never sleeping off his estate. He never had any trouble with them until the League was formed. In July, 18S4, he evicted '})2 tenants, who, however, paid up and were reinstated. For more than two years prior to the recent evictions no rent was paid. The Plan of Campaign was adopted and an all round reduction demanded. The landlord offered 25 per cent, to non-judicial tenants and 10 per cent, to those with fair rents, while he asked for no arrears. The •' fair rent " tenants had also abate- ments in addition under the Act of 1887. or a reduction of about 33 per cent. The landlord's offer was refused and no rent was paid. Fourteen tenants were evicted — all with fair rents — fixed, .bv J/r. Pierce J/ahony (now Parnellite M.P.). The poor law valuation of the holdings was £58 los. od., the old rent £69 i8s. 6d., and the judicial rent £56 12s. od. Every Protestant icnant settled ivith the la?idlord. The tenant-right on this estate EVICTIONS. 301 was particularly valuable. Patrick McElroy, rent £2 4s. per annum, sold his tenant-rig-ht to John McGinley for £60, while Father McFadden of Gweedore sold his tenant-right in a holding subject to a rent of £1 2s. 6d. per annum for £1 15 1 (See Free Salej. THE KENMARE ESTATE. This estate is the largest in Ireland, extending over 100,000 acres, and Killarney is its centre. Between 185 1 and 18S5 Lord Kenmare spent £129,314 out of his own pocket on improvements ,and also g"ot £34,500 from the Board of Works for the same purpose, never charging- a single tenant a penny interest, though the money was all spent in building, fencing-, draining, and the like. Wherever there is a good house, it has been built with Lord Kenmare's money, and the Land Com- missioners always reported that the rental was moderate. In August, 1888, everything was comparatively quiet, when the fol- lowing letter was written to start the Plan of Campaign : — •' Telephone No. 3,070. Telegraphic address, ' Hostelry,' London, " Confidential. " Westminster Palace Hotel, \'ictoria Street, London. S.W. , "August 25th, 1888. "My dear Sheehan, — It will be most necessary to show Balfour that his troubles in Ireland are only beginning. We are arranging a series of great demonstrations through Ireland for the latter end of September and beginning of October. You ought to arrange a series of meetings from parish to parish in your division to address your constituents, announcing them publicly. I will, if possible, address some one of them myself. Don't mention my name publicly as suggesting the meetings. You cannot announce too many of them, but one will do to begin, any .Sunday after next. •' Ever yours sincerely, '^J. D. Sheehan, Esq., M.P." " AYilliam O'Brien. The Plan was adopted, and a reduction of 40 per cent, demanded. Moonlighting accompanied it, having- previously altogether subsided from earlier days. The Plan gradually lingered, and the latest news is that it has altogether collapsed on a large part of the estate, where it was never a voluntary enter- prise on the part of the tenants, but was enforced by every species of terrorism. THE SMITH-BARRY ESTATE. The case of this estate is, perhaps, the latest, as it is certainly the most unique of all. Mr. Smith-Barry, ^I.P., had, as has been seen, intervened in the case of the Ponsonby tenants. It has never been alleged for a moment that the rents on his estate were not perfectly fair, or that the tenants were unable to pay them. In August, 1889, however, a meeting of the Smith-Barry tenants was held, and attended iwhy.') by Mr. William O'Brien, M.P. At 302 EVICTIONS. this meeting" resolutions were passed pledging" the tenants to assist the campaigners on the Ponsonby estate in Cork; and it "was further decided that each of the tenants on Mr. Smith-Barry's estate in Tipperary should pay an assessment amounting to loper cent, on the Government valuation of their holdings, to form a fund for the benefit of the Ponsonby tenants, A further resolution was then passed to the effect that, as the voluntary assessment would bear somewhat heavily on the Tipperary tenants, they should demand 25 per cent, off their rents from their landlord, and thu.s. make money by their noble generosity! This being" declined, payment was refused, whereupon the landlord went to law to recover his rents. He recovered judgment against 20 tenants, who. in almost every case, at once capitulated and paid their debts. As a result, their windows were smashed and they were boycotted. Having- first capitulated to the landlord, these tenants- have now been compelled to capitulate to the League, and further conflict is imminent. SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN ESTATES. The facts briefly given will indicate the working of the Plan of Campaign. Those, however, who desire further and fuller information will find it in the publications of the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union dealing with the subject; and, in the case of the Vandeleur estate, in the letters of Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P., written to the Times, and republished. What has been here given shows the utter untruth of the following statements: — ■ (a) That the Plan is a combination to help the poor. {h) That it is caused by necessity. [c) That it is caused by " arrears." id) That it is the offspring of the rejection of Mr, Parnell's Bill of 1886. A final word may be urged in connection with this last point. Mr. Gladstone, in a speech at Hampstead. has distinctly stated, "The Plan of Campaign sprang out of that rejection." How utterly untrue this is, will be seen at once, if it is remembered that Mr. Parnells Bill proposed to do nothing for the non-judicial tenants, who, nevertheless, have joined actively in the Plan of Campaign. If by the passing of Mr. Parnell's Bill, the Plan of Campaign would have been obviated, these non-judicial tenants^ are now acting with gross dishonesty; if this be not so, the Bill, could not have prevented the Plan. On the Luggacurran estate^ for instance, not more than two or three tenants could possibly have been effected by Mr. Parnell's Bill, but Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., worked the Plan there on behalf of all the tenants. On the UNION OF HEARTS. 303 • Coolgreany estate, ag'ain, 77 tenants would have been utterly unaffected by that Bill, yet 50 of these joined in the Plan, with the encouragement of the entire Nationalist Party. In view of these considerations it maybe well to notice that the Daily Nezvs, which was favourable to Mr. Parnell's Bill, spoke thus of the Plan of Campaig'n : '• We by no means appkovk of Mr. Dillon's policy. His 'Plan of Campaign' seems to us VITIATED WITH DISHONESTY." — {Daily News, December 6, 1886. Appendix VII. THE UNION OF HEARTS. The chief argument used by the Gladstonians in support of their policy of a separate Parliament, or "Home Rule" for Ireland, is that a vast majority of the Irish people ardently desire it. There are 4,700,000 people in Ireland. Out of these at least ij 750,000 are bitterly opposed to "Home Rule," ?>., more than one out of every three. They reg'ard it as injurious to Ireland and fatal to their own safety and well being-. The opponents of Irish " Home Rule " embrace nearly all the Protestants of Ireland and a larg-e number of the most intelligent Roman Catholics. It is notorious that the great industrial and progressive centres of Ulster, where the manufacture and wealth of Ireland lie (such as Belfast and Londonderry), and a considerable part of Dublin, are entirely opposed to the Gladstonian policy. Over 95 per cent, of all the Protestant bodies of Ireland — Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Baptists, Independents, as well as Episcopalians — protest that they will never submit to a separate Parliament, which would be under the control of the Fenians or the priests. Therefore, at the highest computation, in order to please some 3,000,000 of disaffected Irish Roman Catholics, Mr. Gladstone proposed, in 1886 and again in 1893, to break up the United Kingdom, numbering nearly 38,000.000 of people, and to dis- member the British Empire, which embraces over 340,000,000 souls. In 1886 it might have been said that 85 Irish Nationalist members, representing some 3,000,000 of disloyal Irish Roman v 304 THE UNION OF HEARTS. Catholics, were united under Mr. Parnell in demanding " Home Rule." But what is the case now ^ The Nationalist party is split up into two factions, who hate and revile each other even more fiercely than the Nationalist party used to hate and revile Mr. Arthur Balfour and the British administration. This split began in Committee Room No. 15, in November, 1890, and it has rag'ed ■with increasing violence ever since. The bye-elections at Kilkenny, at Cork, and at Waterford, between Parnellites and Anti-Parnellites, ' were attended with furious rioting and most vituperative abuse directed by Irish Nationalists against each other. The Cork election resembled a battlefield. Hundreds of persons were injured. But for the presence and active intervention of British soldiers and of the Royal Irish Constabulary there would have been terrible bloodshed and general anarchy. But for the active and constant protection of the Royal Irish Constabulary, "Balfour's Hellhounds," and of British soldiers and of Resident Magistrates, the much abused " Removables," Mr. Timothy Healy would have hanged to many a lamp post in Dublin, and Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. John Dillon, and Mr. Michael Davitt would have been stoned or bludgeoned to death in Cork and Waterford. Instead of a united Nationalist party of 85 members opposing the iS Loyalist members, there are now two furiously antago- nistic Nationalist parties, numbering respectively 9 and 71 members, denouncing and attacking each other more savagely than they attack the Loyalists and the British Government. On the one side are the Parnellites and Fenians ; on the other side the Priests and Anti-Parnellites. Dividing the 3,000,000 of Irish Separatists between these factions in the proportion of the voting for the Parliamentary contests it would give about 2,000,000 to the Anti-Parnellites and 1,000,000 to the Parnellites. It is more than doubtful whether even the Anti-Parnellites sincerely accept the Gladstonian "Home Rule" scheme, because they have repudiated Sir William Harcourt's condition that the Imperial Parliament should remain supreme over the separate Irish Parliament. But granting that the Anti-Parnellites would be willing to accept the Gladstonian "Home Rule," the striking fact remains that, in order to doubtfully satisfy some 2,000,000 of disloyal Roman Catholic Irishmen, who follow Messrs. McCarthy, W. O'Brien, THE UNION OF 1 HEARTS. 50s Dillon and Davitt, Mr. Gladstone is willing- to break up the United King-dom, with its nearly 3S,ooo,ooo of people, who now dwell in peace and prosperity under the Imperial Parliament, and to imperil the integrity of the whole British Empire. Was there ever a proposal more monstrous and more ■wicked ? But the tendency of the Irish Nationalists is (to use a favourite ■word of Mr. John Morley's) increasingly •■ fissiparuus." The Anti-Parnellite party has itself broken up into several factions, which indulge each other in the usual Nationalist style. The disgraceful scenes and furious vituperation which mark the quarrels of Messrs. Healy and Dillon ever the Fruma?ts Journal are but specimens of what would occur in every district of Ireland if the "Home Rulers" had supreme control. Last July (1S92), the opposing- factions of Nationalists, Parnellites, and Anti-Parnellites were only prevented from murdering each other in Cork, Tralee, and many other places by •.the intervention of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Some specimens •of the choice abuse, with which the Irish Factions so freely .bespattered each other, will be found below. In order to prove the bitter hatred felt and shown by the two Irish Nationalist factions towards each other, the following •extracts from their own utterances are given : — Anti-Parnellites on Parnellites. Mr. T. Healy, M.P., ox Mrs. Parnell. T. M. Healy, M.P. Mr. speaking at a Federation .meeting- in Longford, said : — '• I say no more shocking incident lias been heard of than this alliance between so-called Irish Patriots and a proved British prostitute." — Roscommon JTerald, 7th Novemlier, 1891. Mr. M. J. Kenny, M.P., on the Parnellites. Mr. M. J. Kenny, M.P., speaking at Tullamore Con- vention, said : — "The fate of these thirty factionists would not be more acceptable to them than the fate of the dadarean swine who rushed into the sen of Gennesnreth." — National J'nss, iSgi. 1 3th November, Parnellites on Anti-Parnellites. Mr. Parnell dx thk McCarthyitks. Mr. Parnell, speaking at the Kilkenny election, made use of the following- languag-e: — " If 1 had ever made my position in Irish politics and in Irish public life a personal question, the miserable gutter sparrows who were once my comrades would not be in a position to come here to-day. It was l)ecause I pushed forward tliese men o>it of their obscurity and gave them a belter chance than I gave myself, that these miserable wretches dr.re to blame the leader of the Irish people behind his back. But I will not waste my time and my Ijreath upon such scum ,'■ — J-reentairs Journal, I5lh December, 1890. V 2 3o6 THE UNION OF HEARTS. Aiiti-Parnellites on Parnellites. Parnellites on Anti Parnellites. Mr. W. O'Brien, M.P., ox REDMONniSM. Mr. Wm. O'Brien, M.P., speaking- at Galway Convention, said : — ■ '• It is a remarkable fact that you will find the area of Redmondism is pre- cisely cotenninous with the area of riot. Redmondism and rowdyism are prac- tically convertible terms. We know that wherever the Redmondites are in force there is no argument except the bludgeon and the paving-stone." — National Press, i8th December, 1891. Mr. M. J. Kenny, M.P., at the Tullamore convention, further said : — "He ventured to think that human baseness had touched the bottom at last, and that it had touched the bottom in the person of Mr. Timothy Harring- ton." — National Press. 13th Novem- ber, 1 891. Mr.Wm. O'Brien, M.P., in the same speech at Cork election, 2Sth October, 1891 :— ' ' No, what Mr. Redmond proposes and proposed were not settlements. They were abject and ignominious skedaddles, like his own skedaddles from Mr. Parnell, until he was driven back by newspaper paragraphs ; and all I can say is this, we don't want him and his any longer." — National Press, 28th October, 1881. Mr. McDonald, M.P., on Mr. McCarthy. Mr. W. A. Macdonald, M.P., speaking at an election meeting* in Kilkenny, said: — • "He had got a letter that day accusing him of being false to his^ pledges. Who was to be the new leader of the people ? Mr. Justin McCarthy, the writer of second-rate novels and of third-rate histories, a man of no political strength or fore^ sight." — Freeman's yotirnal, i8th December, 1890. Mr. P. Mahony, M.P., on the Anti-Parnellites. Mr. Pierce Mahony, M.P., at a National League meeting at Limerick, said : — "The Leaders asked them to shake hands over the grave of the dead chief ; well, he could say for himself he would rather be dead, he would rather be in his coffin. He would never have any- thing to do with that wretched cowardly crew again." — United Ireland, 14th November, 1S91. Mr. T. Harrington, M.P., ox Messrs. Dillon &. O'Brien. Mr. Timothy Harrington, M.P., speaking at the Central Branch of the Irish National League, said : — "Dillon and O'Brien had given to the public a description of the Boulogne n^otiations, which for unfair dealing, for gross misrepresentation of political opponents, was as shameful an impos- ture as was ever given to the Irish public. "When they reflected on the hypoc- risy of these men they must be forced to the conclusion that neither the future of the country nor the struggle for liberty in the country could be safe in their hands. "Now what he complained of as a shameful and foul act was that Mr. O'Brien should publish a garbled des- cription of this, and altogether suppress, the letter of Mr. Parnell." — Freonan's Journal, iSth November, 1 891. THE UNION OF HEARTS. 307 Anti-Parnellites on Paniellites. Mr. Kilbride, M.P., on Mr. J. E. Redmond, M.P. Mr. Kilbride, M.P., speakini,^ at the Slig"o Convention, said : — "The evicted tenants are indebted to Mr. John E. Redmond, M. 1'., and Mr. Ned Leamy for their present un- fortunate position. Mr. John Redmond was a strong supporter of the evicted tenants' cause; he was a strong supporter of the Plan of Campaign policy ; and Mr. John Redmond was the first man to betray these evicted tenants." — National Press, 6th November, 1 89 1 . Mr. M. Davitt, on Mr. T. Healy, M.P. The following- is an extract from a letter written by Michael Davitt to the Mdhourne Advocate, of 26th December, 1S91, in which Mr. Davitt gives his views of Mr. T. Healy's method of political controversy: — "I grant that there is much, very much, provocation in the language which Mr. Tim Healy has employed in his attacks upon Mr. Parnell, while, in the filthy and infamous terms in which he referred to the dead leader's widow in I>ongford, and subsequently at a meeting of the National Federation in Dublin, there was enough of calcu- lated insult to drive any of Mr. Parnell's followers to regretable lengths of retali- atory chastisement. No possible service can be rendered to the Home Rule cause by attacks upon a woman, no matter how much she may have tried to injure it. But when that woman is a widow bearing Mr. Parnell's name, it is nothing short of criminal folly for anyone desiring to see the split in the National movement healed up to apply the foulest word in the English language to one whose sex alone, apart from what should be the protecting sliield of her dead husband's name, should save her from insult at the hands of any public man with Irish blood in his veins. I venture to assert that one hundred men could not be found among the twenty millions of the Celtic race to-day who would repeat or endorse such unmanly words towards the un- fortunate, if culpable, woman whom Mr. Parnell made his wife." — Irish Daily Independent, 3rd February, 1 892. Paniellites on Anti-Parnellites. Mr. P. O'Brien-, M.P.. ox Mr. W. O'Brtkn, M.P. INIr. Patrick O'Brien, M.P., at a Nationalist demonstration in Kilkenny, said : — "Mr. Wm. O'P.rien, M.P., had used language very little better than that used by that foul-mouthed individual Mr. Tim Healy. (Groans.) "As to the rumours for peace, he repeated now what he said the other night that he would rather be linked with Carey and Corydon than linked in any move- ment with Tim Healy (applause), for he looked upon Healy as the greatest traitor that Ireland had seen for centuries. For his part he would make any sacri- fice for his country, but he begged leave to be allowed to choose his own com- pany, when it became a matter of asso- ciating with Tim I lealy. (Applause. )"' — Independe7it, 1st February, 1892. Mr. T. Harrington, M.P., on Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P. Mr. Harrington criticised T. P. O'Connor's speech in Glasgow, and said: — "Mr. (^'Connor's expression to him (Harrington) in Chicago was, ' My dear Harrington, don't you know if there are two bodies of men I hate most, it is the Irish priests and English Radicals.' "It was on the other side (McCarthyite), were to be found every faddist, every self-seeker, every man who tried to lead a faction of his own. In eventhing constituting a party, how- ever, they were a veritable house of cats. " — Freeman^ s yonrnal, 18th November, 1891. Mr. J. E. Redmond, M.P., on Mr. William O'Brien, M.P. • Mr. J. Redmond, speaking" at the same meeting, said : — "Mr. W. O'Brien pretended in a ]5ublic speech to approve of the sugges- tion about Boulogne, and then proceeded to publish a one-sided, inaccurate and incomplete account of what happened." ■ — Ft-eeman's Journal, 1 8th November, 1891. 3oS THE UNION OF HEARTS. PARNELLITES ON ANTl-PARNELLITES. LIARS. Mr. Parnell at Sligo, 28th March, 1891 :— "They are the very men who, when they expected anything from me, loaded me- with fulsome adulation. (Hear, hear.) And whether are you to believe them when they loved or reverenced me, with every knowledge of my public and- jirivate life— whether can you believe them then or whether should you believe them now? I say that they were liars always and always remain so. (Cheers.) l!iU they ^\ ere just as much unworthy of credit when in the years gone by they exaggerated my good ser^ices to Ireland as they are to-day, \Nheu they seek to defame and destroy me. (Cheers.)" — Frco/ian's Joitnial, 30th March, 1891. ROGUES WHO HAVE BEEN FOUND OUT. Mr. Parnell at Enfield Railway Station, 15th March, 1891 : — "Now, according to them (the ^IcCarthyites), I was everything that was bad' during all these years, and that they knew it according to them. If they knew it, what sort of men were they who supported me, and who said to the country that 1 was entitled to lead them "/ If they are not rogues to-day they must have been^ rogues then ; and if they were not rogues then they must be rogues to-day. (Laughter.) But in my opinion they were always rouges. (Loud cheers.) A good many of them, anyhow ; but their day has come, and they have been found Celt, and Ireland ^^ill not long pal up with them. (Loud clieers. )"" — Frcentaii's J'-<;tniii/, i6th March, 1S91. COULD NEVER BE TRUSTED. Mr. J. J. O'Kelly, M.P.. at Boyle, 24th February, 1891 :— "He would not remain a member of that party for one moment if the interests of Ireland were to be handed over to such men. (Cheers.) Some of these men inight be very good talkers, but they were utterly unfitted for the government of a Country — men ^^ho showed such a Mant of character, such a want of independence, and such a want of seli-respect, and could never be trusted again. (Loud cheers.)"'' — rrt-c»to)i' s Journal, 25th February, 1891. THEIR CHARACTERS WERE SO BAD. Mr. T. Harring-ton. M.P.. at Dublin, 28th July, 1891 :— "Men who flung the first stone at their chief had characters for which they would' not dare to challenge investigation ; and he had seen men speaking from jsublic platforms vho knew that their cliaracters were so bad that their only hope to hide their defects was to demonstrate their attachment to the priests. (Cheers.)'' — Frcannns Journal^ 29th July, 1891. ANTl-PARNELLITES ON PARNELLITES. THE THIRTY PHARISEES. Mr. T. M. Heal}', M.P., at Liverpool, ist May, 1892 :— "Among the thirty gentlemen — the ihirly Pharisees, with Sir Joe M'Kenna their fcead, down to Mr. josej^h Nolan — (hisses) — who kindly referred to us the other THE UNION QF HEARTS. 309 day ill London as vermin — among these thirty all the patriotism of all aLP. , and Alderman Horgan, Mayor of Cork, on the side of the Parnellites. A number of disorderly and violent scenes have been reported between Parnellites and Anti-Parnellites. On Sunday morning, while Mr. \V. OT^rien was at Mass in Brunswick-street Church, a crowd of Parnellites assembled outside the building and hissed the hon. gentleman as he came out. A number of Mr. (J'Brien's friends surrounded a car on which he drove to the liotel. As they passed through the streets a few desultory rows occurred in vhicli sticks were freely used. Outside the hotel further disturbance took place till the police interfered. Mr. William Redmond, while canvassing in Blarney-street, yesterday morning, also encountered a hostile reception from the iidiabitants of the locality, which at the last election appeared to be strongly Anti-Parnellite. In the afternoon the members of the Blackpool Anti-Parnellite Band were i)roceeding to a meeting addressed by Mr. William 0'P>rien when they were attacked h>y a large Parnellite crovrd, armed with sticks and stones. 'A free fight ensued. A number of men on both sides' were wounded, and ultimately the bandsmen were compelled to take 3IO IRELAND UNDER THE CONSERVATIVES. refuge in bye-streets. About 4 p.m. the Parnellites, mustering some 3,000 men, marched up Blarney-lane, accompanied by Mr. Redmond and the Mayor, the object of the demonstration being to assert the right of canvassing, if necessary by force. The crowd behaved in a disorderly fashion, breaking uindo^vs and frightening the inhabitants of the guarter, who sought shelter in their houses and locked the doors. In one case the inhabitants retaliated by throwing from the window articles of household furniture and various missiles on the crowd below, who in turn broke into the house and revenged themselves. A meeting was afterward held in Blarney-street, addressed by the Mayor and Mr. W. Redmond. The Parnellites then proceeded to Blackpool-street, -where they wrecked the rooms of the Blackpool Band and smashed windows. The few Anti-Parnellites who put in an appearance were chased, and they could only retaliate by throwing stones from behind houses into the crowd. The police who accompanied the demonstrators were not sufficiently powerful to cope with the disorder. During the evening a number of violent scenes occurred ■whenever the rival parties met in the streets. Fifteen persons 7vere treated at the North Infirmary for injuries to the head of a more or less serious character. A large number of more trivial injuries were sustained by members of the crowds. — Addressing a largely-attended meeting in the city this evening Mr. O'Brien said that if they were atiacked, or if their right to hold meetings in the City of Cork was violently queslioued, they should defend themselves. — Alorning Post, 27th June, 1892. Appendix VIII. IRELAND UNDER THE CONSERVATIVES. FACT V. FICTION. The history of Ireland during- the last thirteen years affords the most extraordinary proof, on the one hand, of the evil that can be done to the Irish people by a weak and cowardly Government, and on the other of the benefits which a firm, impartial and kindly Government can confer upon the same people. IRELAND UNDER LORD BEACONSFIELD. When Lord Beaconsfield was defeated in April, 18S0, and Mr. Gladstone came into office, Ireland was orderly and peaceful, as the following' record of agrarian crime will prove. During the whole of the year 1879 (Lord Beaconsfield's last year of office) there were only 863 agrarian crimes in Irelend. In September and in October, 1879, Mr. Michael Davitt and others beg-an their ag'itation and started the Land League, and crime immediately increased. He and his fellow conspirators were arrested by Lord Beaconsfield on November 19th, 1879, and from that moment ag-rarian crime begfan to fall ag"ain : — 1879. April • 57 September . 65 1880. January . 114 May 76 October . no February. 97 June 64 November . 167 March 83 July . 45 December . 135 April 67 August 45 IRELAND UNDER MR. GLADSTONE. 311 Thus, during- April, 1880, the last month of Lord Beaconsfield's office, Irish crime was at almost its lowest ebb ; just as after the six years of Mr. Balfour's administration, Irish crime was again at a very low ebb. (Average, 455 crimes in 1S91.) Mr. Gladstone bore striking testimony to this, for, in a speech made by him on March 31st, 1880, at Edinburgh, he said — "There is an absence of crime and outrage, with a general sense of comfort an! satisfaction, such as is unknown in the previous history of the country." IRELAND UNDER Mr. GLADSTONE. WHAT THEN HAPPENED ? In order to bribe the Irish rebel party and to please the English ultra-Radicals, Mr. Gladstone abandoned the moderate Peace Preservation Act in June, 1880. His administration of Ireland became careless and feeble. The magistrates and police were not supported. The outrage-mongers and murderers at once took heart. Terrorism and crime of every kind were practiced, and practiced with impunity ; and in a very brief space Ireland became a regular pandemonium of outrage, mutilation and murder. The following- figures will prove this. In April, 1880, the agrarian crimes were only 67. After June, 1880, when the abandonment of the Peace Preservation Act gave the reins to crime, they rose with frightful rapidity : — ( July ... 84 October ... 269 1880 J August ... 103 November ... 561 ( September 168 December ... S66 Thus the crimes committed in December, 1880, alone amounted to more than those of the whole year of 1879. The totals are for Mr. Gladstone's Eight months of 1880 ... ... 2,229 Twelve ,, 1881 ... ... 4,439 1882 3,432 That is 10,100 crimes in two years and eight months. In March, 1881, Mr. Gladstone passed his first Coercion Act, which, though very severe, proved ineffectual. Under it 1,200 persons were arrested and imprisoned without trial. In July, 1882, after the horrible murder of Lord Frederick ■Cavendish and Mr. Burke, Mr. Gladstone passed his second 312 IRELAND UNDER MR. GLADSTONE. Coercion Act, which was the most drastic measure of coercion passed for many years in Ireland. It was infinitely more severe than the moderate Crimes Act of 1887, under which Mr. Balfour has administered Ireland with such amazing- success. Under Mr. Gladstone's Coercion Acts the Government were given the power of arresting and imprisoning suspected persons without any trial; the power of having capital cases tried by Special Commission without a jury ; the right of entering private houses and searching at all hours ; the right of arresting anyone on bare suspicion found on a highway one hour after sunset; also of arresting suspected strangers ; and the right of arbitrarily seizing and confiscating all the copies of any newspaper. It is true that Lord Spencer, by firmly administering Mr. Gladstone's second Coercion Act, caused crime to decrease, as the figures of agrarian crime show: 1883, 870; 1884, 762; 1885 (six months) 373. But Lord Spencer was as foully revilled then by the Irish Nationalists for doing his duty as Mr. Balfour has been since. Here are two examples : '• He (Lord Spencer) stopped at nothing ; not at secret torture ; not at subsidising red-handed murderers; not at knighting jury- packers ; not at sheltering black official villany with a coat ot darkness,' — {^United Ireland, leading article, June 13th, 1885.) " Ireland is ruled by the worst Englishman (Lord Spencerj and the most sneaking Scotchman (Mr, Trevelyan) that ever crossed the Channel." — (Mr. \V. O'Brien, at Carrick-on-Suir, September 7th, 1884.) Once again Mr, Gladstone, for party purposes, dallied with crime in Ireland ; and when, overwhelmed by his universal blundering and failures, he bolted from office in July, 1885, he let it be known that his party would not renew their Crimes Prevention Act, The Act was not renewed. The inevitable result followed. Agitators and outrage-mongers once again grew bold, and crime increased. The judges declared that the law was practically powerless. The year 1886 (^during nearly all the first seven months of which Mr, Gladstone was in office, and during the last five, Lord Salisbury) gave the following figures , — First half-year, 5 84. Last half-year, 472. Total, 1,056. There were also on June 30th, 1886, 866 persons wholls', and 4,035 persons partially boycotted. IRELAND UNDER .MR. RALFOUR. IRELAND UNDER Mr. BALFOUR. In 1887 Mr. Arthur Balfour became Irish Secretary, and' passed his only Crimes Act, a much milder and less arbitrary measure than either of Mr. Gladstone's two Acts. The result, combined with firm and just administration of the law, has been marvellous : — Agrarian Crimes Persons Boycotted. Eviction 1886 1,056 * . • ... 1887 883 ... 4.901 3,869 1888 660 702 • • • 1,609 1889 535 152 • • • 1,356 1 890 502 472 • • • 1,431 I89I 455 403 (May) 704 The increase in the number of boycotted persons in 1S90 was almost wholly due to the Tipperary strug-gle; and, whereas in 1887 there were 866 persons wholly boycotted, in 1891 there were none wholly boycotted, and only 403 partially boycotted. (N.B. — All the above statistics of crime include threatening- letters and notices.) The following- figures point to a prosperity : — ^-reat rise in general Deposits and Balances in Joint Stock Banks. Capital in Savings Banks. 18S6 ... £30.172.000 £2,703.000 1590 ... £33.325,000 £3,713,000 1591 ... Increase: £3.153,000 £1,010.000 Passengers on Railways. 1 8,640,000 20,293,000 1,653,000 Value of Good's Traffic. £1,270,000- £ 1, 369.000' £99,000- Average number of paupers in Irish workhouses. 188 r-6 - 5 1.558 1887-91 - 45,848 A decrease of 1 1 per cent, under the Unionist Government. Number of Irish Emigrants Agricultural progress — 1886. Horses ... 549,204 Cattle Sheep Pigs Poultry ... 1881-5 1886-90 A decrease of 16 per cent. 1890. 584,872 4,2.40,316 4.183,924 3,366,043 1.263,142 13,909,822 4,323.395 i,S70,36t> 15,408,428 398.658- 335-817 Increase, 35,668 56,392 957-352 307,224 1,498,606 314 IRELAND UNDER MR. BALFOUR. REMEDIAL LEGISLATION. 1 ^The only Act for the amelioration of the Irish people passed ty Mr. Gladstone from 1880 to 1885 was his Land Act of 1881. This did not apply to leaseholders, it arbitrarily confiscated the owners' property, and set up that impracticable and fatal dual ownership, which has done such injury to the agrarian prosperity of Ireland. Lord Salisbury's Government has passed the following" measures : — (i) The Ashbourne Acts, to enable the tenants to buy their holdings Under this 21,000 tenants have become owners. (2) The Light Railways Act, to bring the remote and neglected districts in connection with the markets, and to give work to the needy peasantry. (This was bitterly obstructed by Mr. Healy, Dr. Tanner, and the English Radicals). (3) Extensive relief works, to rescue the j)easantry fiom the distress caused by the failure of the potato crop. 4) Plans have been prepared for draining the basins of the Bann, the Barrow and the Shannon, and would have become law but for Separatist obstruction. (5) The inclusion of leaseholders (130,000) in the Land Act. (6) The great Land Purchase Act of 1891, under which every Irish cultivator is enabled to purchase his land on most fair and easy terms, and without burden or practical cost to the British taxpayer. Mr. Gladstone proposed, in 1886, a land purchase scheme, ■which proposed to give £50,000,000, and would ultimately have given £150,000,000 of British money to buy out the Irish land- owners, entirely at the option of the landlord, and without any adecjuate safeguards. Mr. Balfour got power to advance £33,000,000 (which may reach £99,000,000) to carry out his just and safe land purchase ■scheme of 1891, which requires the assent of both tenant and landowner. The whole sum of Mr, Balfour's loan is thoroughly secured upon, and guaranteed by, the property and taxes of the Irish people, for whose benefit the Act exists. There is no hirden or risk upon the British taxpayer. Mr. Balfour has also introduced a complete Local Government Bill for Ireland, which, alter being ridiculed and denounced, passed its second reading in June, 1892, by the handsome majority of 92. Since July, 1892, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. John Morley have formally withdrawn the Crimes Act, formally sanctioned the National League, released the Gweedore Murderers and two Dynamitards, issued an illegal circular refusing Police protection to Sheriff^s Officers and appointed the ridiculous and unjust Mathew Commission to aid the Plan of Campaign tenants "^who IRELAND UNDER MR. BAEFOUR. 315 can pay but who wont pay because Mr. Dillon tells them not to pay," and introduced a second Separation Bill for breaking- up the United Kingdom. The result is already seen in growing- crime and heroism throughout Ireland. Clare County is in a state of alarming- disorder, and the evil contagion is rapidly spreading to other districts. As Mr. Justice O'Brien said in his charge to the Grand Jury of Clare on Wednesday, Feb. 27th, 1893 : — " I must say that the picture thai the returns made by the constabulary of the state of crime in the county present to my mind shows a state of law/essiiess exct-ediiiq- ill armmnt^aj- exceeding in aiinnint — thativhich has come ji/ider your notice on mine in past time, and destined,! fear, unless checked by some vigorous hand, to increase. The facts are ail known to yourselves. You know t/tere is no security for life in this county. You know that property is not secure any more than life ; you know that a system of intimidation exists that is carried into all the relations of private and domestic life, carried into all the relations that arise out of trade and every kind of occupation, and unless some power intervenes of greater efficiency than mere statement or exposition, I cannot but foresee that the evil will go on increasing." At the conclusion of the criminal business at Ennis on Thursday evening, March 2nd, Mr. Justice O'Brien made the following remarkable statement as to the Jurors : — " I now consider it right to draw the attention of those who were chaiged with' the maintenance of law and order and the preservation of life and pioperty to- the result of these legal proceedings, which show that vo kind of security any longer exists for property or for life, so far as the same depends on the law, as it now exists in County Clare. Seven cases have been tried before me representing an infinitesimal part of the actual crime, but whh the uniform result that the law has entirely failed to bring the offenders to justice, in spite of everj' means that vigilance, care, and zeal on the part of the police in trying to obtain that object. Every kind of argument has been made use of to the Jurors to their sense of self-respect, to the common interests of the whole community, and to their sense of moral obligation, if such a thing remains, /'/// without the least results. '' Lord Spencer himself confessed in the House of Lords on Friday,. March ^ yd, 1893, that "Her Majesty's Government considers the condition of Clare most unsatisfactory, and the Irish Government will do their best to restore law and order to all Her Majesty's Government in that country,'' and so long as the reins are given to the outrage-mongers, crime in Ireland is certain to increase- as it did in 1880, and in 1885 and 1886. Let every honest man contrast the record of the two parties in Ireland. Let the electors of P^ngland note how peace, order, security, civil and religious liberty, better trade, higher wages, in a word, general prosperity, mark the Conservative and Unionist Administration. Let the electors of England remember that a Gladstonian Government has meant crime and ruin for Ireland, and that Separation would mean civil war, carnage, persecution and ruin, and would drive hundreds of thousands of starving- Irish into- England and Scotland.— [N.U., 1892; No. 58.] 3i6 ]RISH LAND PURCHASE. AlTENDIX IX. IRISH LAND PURCHASE. Mr. GLADSTONE'S AND Mr. BALFOUR'S PLANS CONTRASTED. All political parties have been pledged for many years to put an end. as far as possible, to the system of land tenure in Ireland, where both landlord and tenant have rights of ownership in the soil, which are constantly in conflict with each other and which have been made the excuse, in the hands of political agitators, for frequent disturbance, lawlessness, and outrage. The remedy, accepted by all, is to enable the occupying tenants lo purchase their holdings on easy terms by means of State aid. Mr. Gladstone has several times brought forward plans of Land Purchase. In 1870 he inserted provisions in the Land Act to enable occupying tenants to purchase there holdings. In 1881 these facilities were further increased, and in 1884 his Government proposed to advance twenty millions for another scheme with the same object. His latest attempt, in 1886, was a proposal for compulsorily buying out the Irish landlords by advancing fifty millions of English money for the purpose, with the prospect of spending nearly one hundred and fifty millions in all before the object was attained. This Bill was described by Mr. Gladstone .as aflFording to '• the Irish landlord refuge and defence from a possible mode of government in Ireland, which he regards as fatal to him." It was an "inseparable" part, as Mr. Gladstone called it, of his Home Rule programme, and was dependent for its success upon an Irish Parliament controlled by Mr. Parrnell, and composed of those whom the Special Commission described .as having entered into "a conspiracy, by a system of coercion " and intimidation to promote an agrarian agitation against the " payment of agricultural rents, for the purpose of impoverishing " and expelling from the country the Irish landlords, who were " styled the English garrison." The British people rejected this scheme, as they believed neither in the honesty of those who would have had to carry it out nor in the security which was offered, Mr. Balfour, on behalf of the Unionist Government, passed a Bill on an entirely different basis, by which the tenants are enabled to purchase their holdings voluntary, and the advances for the purpose are limited to an amount of ivhich the repayment is .ahsolutety secured oul of Irish funds, and do not impose any risk on the British taxpayers. IRISH LAND rU RCHASE. 3(7 Those who opposed Mr. Gladstone's Bill ha\i;, with perfect consistency, supported the measure of Lord Salisbury's Govern- m(3nt. The two plans are altogether different, both in method and execution, as the following' comparison will show : — I. —COMPULSION. Mr. Gladstone's Bill was compulsory in its nature. If a land- lord made up his mind to sell his land, the State was compelled to buy, and might re-let or re-sell the property as best it could. Mr. Balfour's Act only comes into force when the landlord is willing to sell and the tenant is willing to buy. No one can be compelled to sell or buy against his will. 2.— THE PRICE. Under Mr. Gladstone's Bill the price of the land to be sold was arbitrarily fixed at twenty limes the net rent as it stood in 1 885 {increased to twenty-two years in exceptional circumstances). Under Mr. Balfour's Act the price is fixed by mutual and voluntary agreement, but must not under ordinary circumstances exceed £3,000 for any one holding. It also contains provisions which will chiefly benefit the smaller tenants. 3._HOW THE PURCHASE MONEY IS RAISED. Mr. Gladstone proposed that, in the first instance, fifty millions in 3 per cent, permanent annuities should be issued, but made no provisionfor any further issue, though he admitted it might be necessary. Mr. Balfour's plan is to pay the landlords in guaranteed Stock, bearing interest at i\ per cent. Securities, as described below, are provided for the repayment of the interest on the purchase money, and the issue of the Stock, is limited to the value of these guarantee funds capitalised at 4 per cent. This is estimated at thirty-three millions. 4.— HOW REPAID. Mr. Gladstone proposed that the tenant should repay a sum equal to twenty times the gross rent, either at once or by forty- nine instalments, at the end of which time he would become the owner. Under Mr. Balfour's Act the tenant pays off the instalments of the purchase money in forty-nine years, at the rate of 4 per cent, on the amount advanced. At the end of that time he will be the owner of the land. Thus, if the rent is, say, £100, and he agrees to give 1 7 years' purchase (the average under the Ashbourne 3i8 IRISH LAND PURCHASE. J Acts), he will pay £68 pounds for forty-nine years, and own the land at the end of the term. If he buys at less than 17 years' purchase, he pays smaller instalments. (For the first five years he pays ^80, in order to establish an insurance fund against bad times, and he has the option of continuing this payment, and so acquiring the freehold in less than 49 years.) 5.— THE SECURITIES. Under Mr." Gladstone's Bill an Irish Parliament was to collect all the Irish taxes and duties, as well as the instalments from the tenants of purchased estates, and was to pay them over to a Receiver-General, appointed by the British Government, who would take out what was necessary to pay the interest on the advances, and hand over the balance (if any) to the Irish Govern- ment. This proposal was described by Mr. Parnell (April 1 6th, 1886), as "unnecessary, strange, and absurd," besides being offensive to the Irish people. In the face of such a declaration, the prospect of an Irish Parliament collecting- his rents for the Receiver-General may be easily estimated. Beyond this there was no security for the repayment of the purchase money. Mr. Balfour's plan, on the other hand, provides numerous solid securities for the repayment, by which any risk of loss to the British taxpayer is absolutely guarded against. There is, in fact, no possibility of the British exchequer suffering, since every penny advanced is secured on sums paid by Eng'land to Ireland, and which need not be paid if the purchasers do not keep faith. On the other hand, the Irish people will not suffer by the establishment of these guarantees, since they will not be resorted to except in the event of organised repudiation, of which experi- ence shows that there is little probability. The securities to safeguard the British taxpayer are as follows: — I. — In the first place, one-fifth of the purchase money is kept in hand until the tenants have repaid substantial instalments. This provision has proved quite successful under the Ashbourne Acts. 2. — Next, the Exchequer contributions of £40,000 a year are to be kept in hand for five years, producing- £200,000 nett out of which any default in the payment of interest may be made good. 3. — Power is also taken, in case of such default, to withhold the Irish portion of the probate duty subvention, and other local grants, and to raise a special tax. (All these together amount to ^^330,000 a year.) There would be no hardship in withholding the probate duty, since it is a new grant, not heretofore enjoyed in Ireland, but given by Lord Salisbury's Government as part of their Local Government scheme in 1889. DEEDS, NOT WORDS. 319 4. — If the above should be insufficient, the GovorniTient has power to withhold other Imperial g-rants for local i)urposes, to the amount of over a million per annum. 5. — Finally, the tenant-rig^ht can be sold, and the land itself in the last resort. Experience under the Ashbourne Acts has shown that the instalments of purchase money have been paid by the now owners with remarkable punctuality, and that out of nearly £10,000,000 advanced, only a few hundred pounds of the repayments are in arrear. 6— THE CONGESTED DISTRICTS. The cong-ested Districts are those where the holdings are s.o small and the land is so poor that the tenants are always on the verge of starvation. They have always been the great diriicuUy of Irish government. Mr. Gladstone's Bill would have done little to relieve them. Beyond enabling the State to buy up the properties and consolidate-, them, he h^id no plan of relief to propose. Mr. Balfour's Act sets up a special board for dealing with these districts. It gives them power, with an income of £40,000- a year, derived from the Irish Church surplus, to amalgamate holdings which are too small to support a tenant in comfort; to assist poor tenants to migrate to more fertile parts, or to emigrate; to sell seed potatoes at cost price; to improve the fisheries; teach fish-curing and stock raising; and carry cut other plans for the benefit of the poorest inhabitants. The Board will also be a trustworthy and responsible medium for the administration of private charity, which has already done much to improve the condition of the inhabitants. It will thus be seen that the plan of Land Purchase devised by the Unionist Government was at once practical and self-supporting, and being combined with proposals for the benefit of the poort.st' tenants, was a measure of remedial legislation deserving fhe support of all parties. — [C.C.O. No. 25]. Appexdia X. DEEDS, NOT WORDS. What the Conservative and Unionist Government have clone for t!ie People. The following are some of the Measures carried by the' Government of L-jrd Salisbury hince they came into office in 1886:— w 320 DEEDS, NOT WORDS. I.-MEASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING THE WORKING CLASSES. Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1S87, restricting employment of children and providing increased safety for the miners by enforcing the best methods of ventilation, and the use of the least dangeious explosives known to science. This Act has already had the effect of greatly reducing the loss of life in mines. Friendly Societies Act, 1SS7, to effect improvements in the administra- tioH of society funds. Superannuation Act, 1887, to give gratuhies to workmen and others when discharged from the public service, and to safeguard the savings of the working classes. Labourers' Allotments Acts, 1887 & 1890, to enable the agricultural labourers to obtain land for allotments on fair and easy terms, and giving comj>ulsory powers to County Councils to enforce the granting of allotments, where required. .Since i885 the number of allotments has increased by over 100,000. Merchandise M.\rks Acts, 1S89 & 1891, which prevents foreign-made goods from being marked and sold as English made, and which thereby greatly benefits English labour. Mj-rchant Shipping Acts, 18S8 & 1889, to enforce the use of the best life- saving apparatus on sea-going ships, and confer other benefits on sailors. Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, to amend the Act of 1883 by simplifying procedure, and protecting inventors against fraud. Ska Fisheries Act, 188S, establishing local tribunals for settling disputes, •fixing close times, and generally regulating the fishery industiy. Regulation of Railways Act, 1889, to promote public safety by ■compelling the adoption of the block system, efficient brakes, &c. Weights and Measures Act, 1889, to protect the poor against fraud in (he purchase of their daily necessaries. Tixjhnical Instruction Acts, 1SS7 & 1889, to enable the local authorities to .establish and support schools for manual and technical instruction in England and Ireland. Large sums of money have been provided out of the Public Exchequer for this purpose. Infectious Diseases Act 1890^ to protect the public against danger by enforcing the notification of any outbreak of disease. Local Government Acts, 1S88 cS: 1889, establishing an elective and popular sy.'item of County Government in England and Wales and .Scotland. Board of Agriculture Act, 1889, to establish a Department for all agiicultural business, with powers to conduct experiments, assist technical schools, and generally to promote the interests of the greatest of British industries. Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, consolidating and simplify- ing all previous Acts. It extended these powers for the first time to rural authoiities, and greatly strengthened the powers of County Councils and other local authorities to render habitable or to pull down (at owner's expense) ■dM'ellings unfit for habitation, &c, &c. liouCATiON Code Act, 1890, which provides a more liberal fixed grant, abolishes "payment by results," gives new aid to voluntary schools, and develops instruction in practical subjects ( such as cookery), and provides for the moral and physical aspects of education. Police Acts, 1890, securing liberal pensions for policemen in Great Britain. DEEDS, NOT WORDS. 321 Factories and Workshops Act, 1891, restricting the empluyment of women after child-birth, raising the entrance age of half-timers to eleven years, providing additional precautions against fire, improving the healthiness of work- shops, checking the sweating ^ystem, and enlarging the powers of inspectors. Companies Acts, 1890, to strengthen the law against fraudulent promoters. London Pl'blic Health Act, 1891, consolidating the law, providing for the suppression of nuisances, for increasing sanitary precautions and safeguards, r.nd for the enforcement of the law by public authorities. Free Education, 1891. It gives an extra grant of los. per head to all schools which claim it, which enables every child to obtain education without a charge, thus conferring a great boon on the poorer classes, and practically abolish- ing school fee?. 2.-1RELAND. Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1S87, to repress crime and to release the Irish tenantry from the tyranny of the National League. As the result of this Act the number of boycotted persons has fallen from 4,901 in June, 1887, 10403 in May, 1891; and agrarian outrages have fallen from 1,056 in ibS6 to 502 in 1890. Irish Land Act, 1887, admitting 1 30,000 leaseholders to the benefit of the Land Court. Light Railways (Ireland) Acts, 1889 and 1890, for making cheap and easy communications with poor and remote parts of Ireland. Land Purchase and Congested Districts Bill, 1S91, a great scheme for enabling the tenants in Ireland to purchase their holdings on very easy terms, and without burden to the British taxpayer. It also established a non -political board, to relieve and develop the congested districts, and endowed it with ;/^40,ooo per annum for these objects. An Irish Local Government Bill was introduced in 1S92, and pajsed the second reading. 3.— THE NAVY. The Naval Defence Act, 1889, providing for the addition of 70 ships to the strength of the Navy, so as to secure that the British Na\y shall be equal to those of any two other powers. P'ourteen new ships of war in 1887-88 were completed for sea, 29 in 1888-89, 32 in 1889-90, and 16 in 1890-91, besides providing for the construction of 57 vessels during the next two years. Imperial Defence Act, 18S8, assuring the defence ol ports and coaling stations, and providing a powerful squadron of war ships for the defence of Australia. 4.— THE ARMY. National Defence Act, 1888, to facilitate the mobilisation of the forces in the event of threatened danger. A complete scheme has been adopted for the defence of Loudon, and the necessary positions have been acquired. Re-arrangement of the defences of our ports at home and re-armament. Establishment of proper financial control over manufacturing departments. Additional grants have been made to volunteer forces, volunteer brigades have been created, and 12 new batteries of artillery have been armed. Fortification and armament of coaling stations and militar\- forts. Complete inspection of all arms in the hands of troops. W 2 322 MR. GLADSTONE'S BROKEN PROMISES. Healthy homes secured for soldiers by Act authorising the building of new- barracks at an estimated cost of four millions. 5.-FINANCE. The National Debt decreased ... ... ... .i^33. 5iS,ooo The Income Tax reduced by an annual amount of ... ... ... 4,000,000 Tobacco Duty reduced by an annual amount of ... ... ... 500,000 Duties on Tea and Curran's reduced by an annual amount of ... 1,200,000 Inhabited House Duty reduced by an annual amount of ... ... 1570,000 Local Rates reduced by an annual additional contribution estimated at 3,873,000 INCREASE OF TRADE. Exports and Imports have increased in 1890 as compared with 1886 by 130,000,000 Shipping Returns for 1890 show an increase over 1SS6 on the cargo traffic of 9,046,000 tons Capital in Post Office .Savings Banks has increased in four years nearly ... ... ... -.. ... ... ... ... ^17,000,000 N.B. — A complete Irish Ixjcal Government Bill and a valuable Small Holdings Bill have been inlrod-iced by the Conservative ( iovernment into Parliament during the present Session (1892). Judge for yourselves whether a Government that can show such a record ot useful work is not worthy the confidence of their fellow countrymen. [N.U., No. 77-] Appendix XL pyiR. GLADSTONE'S BROKEN PROMISES AND LORD SALISBURY'S PERFORMANCES. Mr. Gladstone's profrramme. as expounded before he came into ®ffice in 1880, and in the Queen's Speeches between 1880 and 1885, included 37 subjects of leg-islation, many of \\hich were described as of urgent importance. Every one of these remained unaccomplished when he left office in 1886. The list is as follows : — *i. Local Government for England and Wales. 2. County Government for Ireland. *3. Reduction of National Expenditure. *4. Extension of Irish Land Purchase. *5. Conversion of the National Debt. *6. Local Government for London. *7. Relief of Local Taxation. 8. Intoxicating Liquors Licensing Laws. FREE EDUCATION. 323 *g. Scottish Private Bill Leg-islation. *io. Improvement of the Education Acts. 1 1 . Repeal of the Opium Tax in India. *I2. Law of Local Loans. 13. Reform of the City Companies, *I4. Abolition of the Silver Plate Duty. 15. Rivers Conservancy and Floods Prevention, *i6. Settlement of the Suez Canal Question. I 7. Reform of the London Corporation. 18. Law of Settlement and Entail. 19. Establishment of a Criminal Code. *20. Welsh Intermediate Education. *2i. Police Pensions (England). *22. Police Org-anisation and Pensions (Scotland). *2 3. Scottish University Reform. *24. Indian Financial Reform. *25. Irish University Question. 26. Law of the Medical Profession. *2y. Re-org-anisation of Revenue Departments, *28. Home Government of India, Reform of. 29. Law of Banking-. *30. Improvement of the Currency. 31. Valuation of Property. •^32. Establishment of Sixpenny Telegrams. 33. Establishment of Court of Criminal Appeal. 34. Public Payment of Election Expenses. 35. Commercial Treaty with France. *36. Law of Charities and Mortmain. *37. Vaccination Law. * All these questions marked thus * were dealt with thoroughly and success- fully under Lord Salisbury's Governmenl. [C.C.O., No. 43.] Appendix XII. FREE EDUCATION. Among the many boons that the Conservative and Unionist Government have conferred upon the working classes, there is none greater or more practical than that of Free Education. Lord Salisbury and his colleagues have, by their Allotment Acts, Mines Acts, Factory and Workshop Acts, Merchandise Marks Ac% Local Government Act, Railway Rates Act, as well as by their Irish Land and Relief Acts, benefited every kind of labour. By the Free Education Act of 1891, no less than ;i^2,5oo,ooo a year of public money is devoted to the great object of relieving the Working Classes from the payment of School Fees for their children. It is just that the State, which compels parents to send their children to school, should provide that education for them without charge. It is for the good of the country that its children should be educated. 324 THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ACTS, 1887 & 1891. Notwithstanding innumerable promises and the many boasts of the Gladstonian and Radical Party, they never tried to establish Free Lducation. Notwithstanding the fact that the C^ladstonians have been in office for the greater part of the last 60 years, it was not till the Conservatives came into power that the working men obtained Free Education. What does this boon mean to working men ? It means to a parent who has six children at a school charging a 3d. fee, a saving of is. 6d. a week. It means to a parent who has six children at a school chart^ing a 2d. fee, a saving of Is. a weeK. It means to a parent who has six children at a school charging a id. fee, a saving of 6J. a week. In every case it is a valuable boon to labouring families, especially to the agricultural labourers, whose wages are often scanty and inadequate. Let not working men be misled by the attacks of the Radical Party upon Voluntaiy Schools. In Voluntary Schools religion and morality are taught. In Board .Schools religious teaching may be forbidden, and no Church or Noncon- lormist Catechisms can be used. Board .Schools have to be maintained mainly at the expense of the ratepayers, and are often a very heavy burden upon them. In Voluntary Schools, 2,260,559 children are annually educated at a cost of £\ i6s. 4Jd. each. In Board .Schools, 1,457,358 chiliiren are annually educated at a cost of ^2 4s. 6|d. each. So that Board .Schools cost 8s 2d. for each child more than Voluntary Schools. A great part of the cost of Board Schools falls on the ratepayers, ^^i, 320,487 every year ; whereas Voluntary Schools cost the ratepayers nothing, as the voluntary subscriptions to them amount to nearly ;^i, 000,000 a year. Moreover, if Voluntary Schools were replaced by Board Schools, it would cost the ratepayers and taxp.^vers at least ^{^40, 000, 000 to build and provide the same accommodation as the Voluntary Schools now provide for 3,624,103 children. This would be a wanton, injurious, and unnecessary extravagance. It would also cost the ratepayers over ^2.000,000 a year to educate in Board Schools the children that are now educated in Voluntary Schools without any cost to the ratepayers. Can then the working men of Britain hesitate to support the Ministry that has given them Free Education and Technical Instruction, and that save the country Irom the ruinous expense of Board Schools, viz. : —Over ^40,000,000 in capital expenditure, and over ;i^2,coo,ooo in yearly rates. Appendix XIll. THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ACTS, 1887 & 1891. FRAUDULENT FOREIGN IMPORTATIONS STOPPED. These are among- the most important measures passed for the benefit of the people, manufacturers, artisans, and consumers alike. Before 1SS7 unscrupulous traders used to palm off upon an unsuspecting- public inferior wares of foreig-n manufacture, labelled or impressed with names of British makers, or of places in the United Kingdom, or with well-known British trade marks. THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ACTS, 1887 & 1891, 325 These practices injured three classes, viz. : — (i) The general consumer, who was not g-etting what he wanted to buy, and (2) The British merchants or manufacturers who were owners of the trade marks so misappropriated. (3) The workmen in the various British factories and workshops in which these goods were falsely repre- sented as having been made. The Merchandise Marks Atts have put a stop to these practices. No man can any longer -with impimiiy place upon goods false trade marks or false names and descriptiofis. Moreover, by section 16 of the Merchandise Marks Act of 1887, all foreign goods coming into this country, and bearing upon them any names or marks indicating British origin ivill be stopped by the Customs and not allowed to be landed, unless there is also placed upon such goods a definite indication of the country where they were produced. This provision is specially valuable to the wage-earning classes of the country. On the one hand, and regarding them as con- sumers, they will be able for the future to buy goods, and to know that the marks are genuine. For if goods are not marked at all, there will be great suspicion that they are of foreign origin, while if they have actually been imported into this country from abroad, bearing any British names or marks, there will be also a plain and definite indication that they are foreign upon the face of them. The working man engaged in manufacturing pursuits is still more greatly benefited. Before the passing of these Acts he had to submit to having his employment stolen from him, the bringing of foreign goods into this country under the guise of British goods, and the selling of them in the country as British. Now, however, the working man will be permitted to reap the fruits of his industry, relieved from this unfair practice, for foreign goods will either have to come into this country not marked at all, when, as has been pointed out, they will be immediately under suspicion ; or they will have to bear a definite indication of the foreign country from whence they came. Ample protection is given to a workman w^ho applies a mark forbiddan by these Acts by the authority and under the instruc- tions of his master, the master alone being subject to the penalties in such a case. Prosecutions may, under the Act of 1S91, be conducted by the Board of Trade at the public expense, in cases affecting the general interests of the country, or of a section of the community, or of 326 EGYPT UNDER GLADSTONE AND SALISBURY. a trade. Two important prosecutions have since been success- fully carried throug-h by the Board of Trade officers, one at Bristol in a case where American lard was labelled as British, and the other at .Sheffield where machine-cut files had been stamjjed as hand-cut. The Acts arc conceived in the interests of the producing classes of the country, and \\\\\ be recognised by them as being- of the greatest possible value. NOTE. — On July ^otli, iSgo, a Sehrt Conimittec of tlie House of Coiiinioits re- ported iJial " Your Commit tee ftave examined many witnesses represeniing various trades, tJie shipping industry, membeis of cJiambers of commerce, officials from tin Customs department, and otiiers. As a result, tlicre seems to be a consensus of opinion, that tJie McrcJiandise Maries Act. iSSj, has generally been most Vjeneficial to tbeinani/Jacturitrg interest of the country, and that the importation of fraudu- le'iilly 'marked goods, or of goods bearing a false indication of origin, has materially diminished since the Act came into operatio)iP Ei'idence was giiy the Khedive, In 1 894 the shares owned by the British naticm will become entitled to their proj;ortion of the full dividend earned by the Suez Canal Company. This was, in 1891, 20 per cent. So that ere many years are past the cost of the Canal shares will have been paid off out of their own profits; and the English nation will then have acquired for absolutely nothing a propert}' which will be worth at least £18,000,000 in 1894, together with all the future financial profit and political influence connected with them. Mr. Gcschen's scheme of financial control in 1877 completed the salvation of Egyptian credit ; and when Mr. Gladstone took oflfice in 1880, Egypt was orderly and prosperous. The value of Egyptian stock, which in 1882 and 1884 fell to 48 and 56 respectively, in consequence of Mr. Gladstone's blundering, is now 98; and this notwithstanding the reduction of interest from 5 to 4 per cent. ! MR. GLADSTONE IN EGYPT. The beginning of the military revolt, ari.sing out of the soldiers' grievances and of Arabi's conspiracy, were, as usual, quite neglected by Mr. Gladstone's Government. On January- 8th, 1882, Mr. Gladstone and Sir Charles Dilke, acting under the adroit instig-ation of M. Gambetta. sent the notorious Anglo- French Joii.t Note to the Khedive. This was in defiance of the Sultan's suzerainty, and of the so-called European Concert. It set every other interest — Turkey, Egypt, Germany, Austria and Italy, against us. Trusting in their new F>ench allies, Mr. Gladstone's Government at last sent the British Fleet to Alexandria in May, 1882. The French promptly deserted Mr. Gladstone, and thtrir fleet sailed away, leaving him in the lurch. Then came weeks of vacillation and inaptitude, during which riots took place, and British subjects were plundered and murdered. Owing- to want of military precautions, the bombardment of Alexandria was followed by the burning and plunder of that 328 KGYPT UNDER GLADSTONE AND SALISBURY. great commercial port. This cost Egypt ^4,000,000. British troops were then sent to Egypt. Tel-el-Keljir was foug-ht; Arabi was overthrown, and Cairo occupied. This expedition cost £3,900,000. Mr. Gladstone then disbanded the Egyptian army and left the Egyptian garrisons and residents in the Soudan, consisting ot some 24,000 scattered troops and 40.000 natives, helpless before the Mahdi's fanatics. In November, 1SS3, Hicks Pasha, in spite of the urgent prayers for some good guns and a few British Officers, that he addressed to the British Government, then occupy- ing Egypt, was allowed by them to go on his desperate march from Khartoum to Kordofan. That gallant officer and his whole army of 1 1,000 men were massacred. The garrisons of Tokar and Singat wc re allowed slowly to starve to death within gun-sound of the British Fleet, Baker Pasha was permitted by Mr. Gladstone's Government to attempt the relief of Singat with a wholly inadequate f^rce of raw Egyptian conscripts who had been driven in chains from their homes to certain death. The result was the butchery of Baker's army of 3,500 men, in February, 1884. and shortly after, the massacre of the brave Tewfik Bey and the garrison of Singat, within 26 miles of the British men of war. GORDON'S ABANDONMENT. About the same time, Mr. (iladstone, at length partially aroused, sent General Gordon to Khartoum, without men or money or definite instructions. Every request made by that gallant gentleman was refused by the British Government. In vain did Gordon ask for 200 Indian troops at Wadi Haifa, for a few squadrons of Turkish Cavalry, for Zebehr, or for half-a-dozen British Officers to stiff'en his native soldiers. From Khartoum Gordon wrote on April i6th, 1884: "I " shall hold on here as long as 1 can , . . and leave to you "the indelible disgrace of abandoning the garrisons of Senaar, " Kassala, Berber and Dongola." When at length an attempt to relieve Khartoum was forced upon Mr. Glad.stone by public opinion, the expedition was delayed by him till too late. Gordon neglected, abandoned, betrayed, was killed on January 26th, 1885, and the streets of Khartoum ran red with the blood of 12,000 men, women and children, whom he had sacrificed his life to protect, but in vain. Five thousand more wretched victims had been previously massacred at Berber, and many at El Obeid, Bara, Kassala, and other places. The cost of General Graham's first expedition to Suakin, in the spring of 1884, was £381,000; besides over 400 British EGYPT UNDER GLADSTONE AND SALISBURY. 329 (killed and wounded) and 6,000 Arab lives. General Graham fought the bloody battles of El Teb and Tamai, and was then recalled by Mr. Gladstone just when he mig-ht have saved Khartoum and Gordon by sending a force on to Berber. The cost of Lord Wolseley's tedious and difficult expedition up the Nile, in the autumn of 1884, to relieve Khartoum, which was sent too late, was about £1,600,000 altogether, besides involving the loss of some 300 British and the death of 6,000 Arabs. Lord Wolseley's army was recalled when just within reach of Khartoum. The cost of General Graham's second expedition to Suakin, in March, 1885, which only advanced some 12 miles from the sea and was then brought back in hot haste, after fighting several bloody engagements, was about £[,000,000; besides a loss of about 200 British (killed and wounded) and of some 3,000 Arabs. The Suakin and Berber railway was partly laid at great cost, and then abandoned. The appalling consequences oi Mr. Gladstone's feebleness, delay and criminal blunders in Egypt were as follows : — • LIFE. Egyptian and Soudanese. British Soldiers and Officers. At least 80,000 persons Over 1,800 killed and cruelly slain. wounded ; exclusive of Several thousands in- valided home from fever and sickness, many of whom have since died. Treasure. Egyptian £10,000,000 About £7,000,000. EGYPT UNDER LORD SALISBURY. Year by year and month by month the condition of Egypt improved, after 1886, till it became most prosperous. The Egyptian finances show a considerable surplus (that for 1891 was £1,100,000) instead of a heavy deficit. Egyptian stocks, which in 1884, under Mr. Gladstone, stood as low as 56, now stand at over 98. The Egyptian peasantry have been relieved from the burden of the corvee, or forced labour ; and from the kourbash, or flogging, for arrears of their taxes. Their taxation has been generally reduced, and this year the salt tax has been lowered. The irrigation works have been completed, to the great advantage of Egyptian agriculture. The peasantry, who were formerly obliged to wait for their water till the richer landowners had been satisfied, now have equal rights. The administration of justice, which used to be most uncertain, and to favour the rich 330 EGYPT UNDIiR GLADSTONE AND SALISBURY. and oppress the poor, has been made fair and impartial. The frontiers have been protected from the IMahdi and his barbarous fanatics. The Egyptian army has been so re-organized and improved that the native soldiers were able, at Suakin, in 1889, to thoroughly defeat the Mahdists without the aid of British troops. There have been no 5anguinary and costly campaigns, begun too late and ended too soon; no destruction of cities and cruel massacres of many thousands ; no rioting and tumulis. The Egyptian people, under the prudent policy of Lord Salisbury, and under the steadying and beneficent influence of British adminis- trators and British troops, are enjoying — especially the fellaheen, or labouring classes — an amount of prosperity, freedom, justice and happiness without parallel in their history. But Mr. Gladstone, speaking- at Newcastle on Oct. 2nd. 1891, denounced the British occupation of Egypt, which has conferred all these benefits upon Egypt and her people, and advocated a policy of evacuation, which would undoubtedly hand Egypt over to the Mahdi and anarchy, or to our Erench rivals. Will Englishmen consent to abandon the splendid results achieved by their gallant soldiers and skilful administrators, and once again expose Egypt to all the horrors of carnage and ruin, which she suffered under Gladstonian mismanagement? — [N.U., No. 64. J This much was published in July, 1892. It is a remarkable but not unexpected occurrence that Mr. Gladstone should not have been in power for six months before troubles of the gravest kind arose in Egypt. On this occasion it was not Mr. Gladstone's ministerial acts, but his pre-ministerial declarations which caused the difficulty. Speaking in Midlothian last July, Mr. Gladstone distinctly foreshadowed the early evacua- tion of Egypt as part of the Radical programme, and Mr. John Morley took the same line even more forcibly. Mr. Gladstone then spoke of "that burdensome and embarrassing occupation of Egypt, which, so long as it lasts, must be a cause of weakness and a source of embarrassment." These declarations were of course noted and made the most of abroad. France and Russia have active and eager representatives in Cairo, ready to make the most of every opening, and to lose no ojjportunity of weaken- ing and, if possible, of destroying British influence. Our enemies in Egypt artfully worked upon the nmour propre and the ambition of the vouthtul Khedive, who. no doubt, frets at the controlling hand which British influence, British agents, and British administrators hold over his youthful masterfulness and youthful extravagance. They persuaded the young Khecive yVbbaj, only eighteen years of age, that he had little to hope for EGYPT UNDER GLADSTONE AND SALISBURY. 30' from Enofland, as the Eng-lish troops were soon to be \vithple and especially of Irish Protestants, would be insecure. The struggle between Catholics and Protestants would be intensified, and the eventual result would be the all but certainty of civil war of a most sanguinar)' character. Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Scheme we hold to be at once degrading to us as citizens, and dangerous to the interests of the Empire.'' (Cheers.) Now, if you please, examine these witnesses whom I have summoned as to character. I do not sustain every word that they have said ; but is there any- body who is likely to know Ireland better than they are? (Hear, hear.) Are they biased by any partisan feeling? On the contrary, they belong to the section of the community to which your present Government was by no means welcome. Thev have no grounds to love us. They are driven by a strong sense of the truth of the cause and of the dangers which lie before them ; and, setting aside all their feelings, all traditions, and all prepossessions, they have appealed to their co-religionists in this island to save them from the terrible secular calamity which they, with a thorough knowledge of the people and of the country, clearly see is in^•o!ved in the measures which are proposed. (Cheers.) Do not tell me that they are animated by any principle of ascendency. They never had it, they never could ha\e it. They speak from their knowledge, they speak from the bare facts of the ca?e, and we in this country shall be mad if we do not pay attention to witnesses so competent to advise us. (Cheers.) It has been said that I have urged Ulster to rebellioji. I do not in the least ad/nit it ; but in place of a criticism of my own words, I should like to read to you the words of a great Prime Minister of the past, a man who never by his bitterest enemies was accused of reckless conduct or incautious language, I refer to the great Sir Robert Peel. (Cheers.) These were the words he used — "Repeal the Union, and you would then see the spirit of the Protestant North that has been lying, not asleep, but in watchful repose, confiding in the justice and pro- tection of England, you would then see it arise in conscious strength to defend itself with its own native and sufficient energies from that vile, debasing denomination which would be begotten from the foul union of religious hatred and perverse ambition." (Cheers.) These are not my words, but they are much stronger than any words I have used. And now with that warning from the grave of the illustrious past to guide you, I entreat you, I entreat the electors of Great Britain, to pause before they commit themselves to this mad experiment. I do not doubt that the dangers which we indicate are real. I know the spirit of the men with whom we are dealing ; I 334 THE CONSERVATIVE PROGRAMME. know, if you will, their prejudices, traditions, perhaps their exaggerated appre- hensions ; but I know the strong fibre of the people whom you are about to subject to the hoof of their hereditary foes. (Cheers. ) I need only point out to you certain things which, no doubt, you have read to-day, and in the newspapers, in order to show you that you have not to deal with the ordinary divisions of religion or of class. You have to deal with Dr. Walsh and his political friends, the same Dr. Walsh who appears in the papers as the principal proprietor — the dominating proprietor — of a violent secular partisan journal. Now, remember that on your action at this next election may possibly depend the position which Great Britain will be called upon to adopt. The ancestors of these men in the north of Ireland won freedom for Ireland by the sacrifice of their blood and treasure. (Cheers. ) If you put yourselves in that position, that you can be called upon to act against them, you wUl feel your arm paralyzed by the sense of all that they have done for freedom, and by the knowledge that every man to whom freedom and progress are dear in this country will sympathise with what they do. (Cheers.) Is not that a fearful position in which to put the majesty and the strength of the English law ? (Cheers. ) I will not prophecy what the immediate result would be, but I will say that in taking such a course you would be planting a root of bitterness under which the giowth and strength of the Union, and the harmony and the strength of this ICmpire would wither away, and the most valuable and sacred institutions that you cherish would be shaken even to their base. (Loud Cheers.) AlTENDIX XVI. THE CONSERVATIVE PROGRAMME. In his speech at St. James" Hall, on June 15th, 1S92, Mr. Biilfour, speaking" of the future Programme of the Conservative and Unionist party said : That prog-ramme included Irish Local Government; Scotch Crofters' and Private Bill Legislation; Reform of Registration ; Employers' Liability; District Councils and Poor Law Reform, including Old Age Pensions and Workhouse Classification. Mr. Balfour pointed out that the second reading of the Irish Local Government Bill was carried in June, 1892, by a majority of 92. He expressed himself in favour of registration reform, but insisted that if it was undertaken it should be complete, and that the gross inequalities of representation, especially those ^hich favoured Ireland at the expense of England, should be remedied. His remarks upon the subject of poor law relief, small holdings, old age pension.s, and workhouse management are well worthy of quotation. POOR LAW RELIEF. And if that be touched upon, there is no man who now listens to me but will admit that problems requiring the highest statesmanship and most cautious handling for a proper treatment will come belore us for decision and resolution. (Hear, hear.) I do not know whether many 01 you are acquainted with the histoiy of the Poor Law in England ; but those who are — -those who have made even the most cursory study of this great question — will, I am sure, agree that the old system of Poor Law relief which existed more THE CONSKRVATIVJ'; rROGRAMVir:. 335 than 60 years ago was fraught wiih evils of the most serious kind to the very people whom it was intended to relieve, and that the means l)y which outdoor reliel was given lowered wages, destroyed thrift, and burdened industry with a weight in the shape of rates which practically alnioit brought the v.hole agricultural community to ruin in the districts where ihe r;ystcni prevailed. No man conscious of his responsil^ilities would move one linger cr one step in a direction which would bring upon us again any fraction of the evils which ihtn prevailed in many parts of the country. It is unsatisfactory, and it is more than unsatisfactory, that any appreciable proportion of cur labouring poinilnticn should be compelled to look to the workhouse or to public relief as the ordy resource of their old age. (Cheers.) It is also unsalisfactoiy, and moie than unsatisfactor)', that the ivorkiiig nien who ha''c throir^h a loiiif life Oi:,'it indiisiyious, honest and sober, should be treated when they aie obliged to seek relief in the workhouse more or less in the same category as the ordinary tramp cr ns the thriftless or the drunkard. (Cheers.) Let me coni^ider each of these proposals very briefly in turn. First, the proposition that we ought mt to sit ([uietly down under the system by which so large a proportion of therural poor, at least in the south and we^t of England, are driven in their old ago to the rates cr to the workhouse. I am in favour of extending, as far as possible, ownership in land ; but I recognise that where there is a system of universal ownership in land, where the labourer and the owrer are practically synonyniou'--, a crisis like that which we have gone through falls, not upon the largo landlord, for there is none, not upon the capitalist farmer, for there is none, i)ut ;t falls directly and with unmitigated violence upon the labourer himseli. (Cheers.) Therefore there are advantages to be found in our English system vvhicii could not be found in any other system, though we all desire to supplement tliat system. /^y an extension oj the small ycotnan oi^ners iliroui^hoiit iht country. But that is not the point upon which I was engaged. OLD AGE PENSIONS. I want to say that undoubtedly the enormous efforts made by the great friendly societies (hear, hear), have produced, are producing, and will produce in future a most gigantic change with regard to the happiness of the agricultiual labourer in periods of sicknes-s, calamity, and old age; and, therefore, undcjubtedly this evil which exists to a degree which in parts of England. I am ahaid, if we thi roughly realize, would shock us beyond measure — the evil of poor relief being the inevitable end of a long and laborious life is, I think, in the process of natural mitigation. It is our business to consider whether, either through private enler|)ri'-e or through the friendly societies, cr in co-operation wdth the friendly societies, it ihey desire co-operation, or in some other way, we cannot anticipate the consunnnation which I believe to be inevitable, and so put an end to a state of things which is imdoubtedly discreditable to our civilization. (Cheers.) WORKHOUSE MANAGEMENT. Tlie second point that I would touch upon deals with the existing system of workhouse management. Here I think it will be possible, and, if poss bJe, it is certainly desirable, that something should be done greatly to extend and improve the principle already recognized by our law of classifieatiou in the liorkhouse. (Hear, hear.) It is an undoubted shock, I will not say to our comciences, biU to our best insiincts, when Ave see two men living in cottages next to each ether, engaged in the same pursuit, one of them, perhaps, thriftless, and a drunken fellow, the other a sober, well-conducted, in lus rious lai)ouier, possibly even a labourer who has been aide to save through his life, and who has inves-ted in some village friendly society a portion of his hard-earned gains — it is a shock to see thei^e two people, through the bankruptcy of this village association, an accident which is of but too frequent occurrence, reduced towards the end of their life to precisely the X 336 MR. BALFOUR ON LONDON QUESTIONS. same condition, sent to the same workhouse, and treated in the same way. (Hear, hear.) How far it would be well to draw a distinction between the two in practice I do not say ; but that it would be possible I believe. But it will be only possible if you greatly extend your area of Poor Law administration, and enable a county to do what London can now do — namely, to devote special buildings to special classes. I am jierfectly certain that in this way much can be done to alleviate the lot of the deserving poor. (Hear, hear. ) There is another problem which calls for our most serious consideration. Take the case of a man who, after a long life, has fallen ill with a cluonic illness, absolutely disabling him from work. Suppose such a man to requue assistance which he cannot obtain at home, having no family. Suppose such a man .sent to the workhouse on account of that necessarj' assistance. Under our exLs'ing .system that man may have saved enough for a weekly pension of 3s. or 4s., and that pension is taken away by the Poor Law authorities before he can obtain workhouse assistance. I do not say that that system has not a certain logical justification, but I say it is inconsistent with thrift ; it is a direct incentive to spending ; and, if that is to be the end of a man who saves, a.s it is the end of a man who do -s not save, you remove from our working classes one of the greatest incentives to thrift that now exists. (Cheers.) I am aware that this is a problem of the utmost difficulty, but I think it is a problem which presses for solution ; and, difficult though it is, I do not for one moment believe that it is beyond the capacity of Parliament, or of this Government (cheers), to deal with it adequately. Appendix XVII. JVIr. BALFOUR ON LONDON QUESTIONS. In 1S79 the Conservative Government of Lord Beaconsfield •made favourable arrangements with the whole of the Water Companies of London to purchase their interests for a sum of about Thirty Millions. They introduced a Bill under which the Water Supply would have been placed under the control of a body of Trustees representing the ratepayers of London. Mr. Gladstone and his party opposed this Bill on the ground that the cost was excessive. They came into power in the following year, and though 5 years in office took no steps whatever to obtain the control of the Water for the people of London, It is certain that the Water Companies could not now be bought out, under anything like fair terms, for less than Forty Millions; therefore London will be the loser through the opposition, delay and neglect of the Gladstonian party by Ten Million Pounds. In 1S84 the Liberals, who had an enormous majority in the House of Commons, introduced a Bill for the Government of London, which did not touch the Poor Law or the administration of the police. This— the only attempt made by the Liberals when in office to deal with the cjuestion of London Reform— was dropped after a MR. HALFOUR OX LONDON QUESTIONS. 337 little discussion. In the same year the Liberals passed a Franchise Bill by which London received far less than its fair share of members. The London County Council was created by the Conservatives in 1888. Mr. Gladstone, speaking- at the Memorial Hall on May 31, 1892, said that, if he were returned to power, London Reforms must be postponed till Home Rule is settled. These are his words : — " I cannot leave this subject without mentioning Ireland. I mention it not with the length and multitude of details which so vast a question involves, but because I feel more than ever that which I have long endeavoured to impress upon my countrymen — that the Irish question U every man's question— not only because it disturbs the country, but because none of you can hope to see a rational progress in dealing with your oan demands until that treni'jndous iinpediment and obstacle is cleared out of the way." Replying' to Mr. Gladstone in his speech at St. James' Hall, on June 15th, 1892, Mr. Arthur Balfour dealt fully with the London jjrogramme. Mr. Balfour also dealt with the Reg^istration Question. He defended the City of London and the London Companies, and opposed the placing- of the London Police under the County Council. With regard to Ground Rents and the Rating Question g-enerally, he was in favour of " making- the incidence of taxa- tion perfectly clear, and of bringing- into the net of taxation every species of property which benefits by taxation."' Mr. Balfour added : — "ABOUT THE CITV OF LONDON AND THE CITY COxMPANIES I do not propose to say much. To destroy an ancient institution, to plunder ancient and wealthy corporations, are occupations so congenial to the special spirit of the Separatist party, that I should be sony to deprive them of the pleasure of at all events attempting ihat task — (laughter) — but to contend for one moment that a single ratepayer in London or a single working-man in this gigantic metropolis would b^ one penny the better is to talk abject nonsense. (Cheers.) With regaid to GROUND RENTS AND THE RATING QUESTION GENERALLY, I have no objection to the division of rates. On the contrary, though I believe that it will be found by those who take the experiment in hand that it is verj' much more difficult to carry out than ihey suppose, I am perfectly prepared — so long as no existing contract is interfered with — (hear, hear) — to see in this respect an alttralion in the ajiparent incidence of taxation. So far as what are known as ground-rents especially are concerned, my view always has been, and is still, that these and all other forms of income should be brought into account in dealing with the subjec's which have 10 be paid for at present out of the rates, and that, that is more justifiable thm to do what you now do, namely, to throw education and all those other burdens, the list of which is too long to specify, not upon the people who benefit by them, but only upon a section of the people who benefit by them, and not upon people according as they do benefit by them, but according as they live in a dwelling rated at a greater or less amount. Therefore, I myself, though I see great practical difficulties in the way, would rejoice to see any alteration in the law which would make the incidence of taxation perfectly X 2 338 ONE MAN ONE VOTE. dear, and which would bring into the net of taxation every species of property which benefits by taxation."' (Hear, hear.) Mr. Balfour was also in favour of g-iving- the control of g-as and water to the municipality of London, and stated that, in his opinion, the municipal life of London should be as full and as free as that of any other municipality in the kingdom. He added these words : — "I am a member of the party who attempted 12 yeais ago to give a water supply to lojndon — (cheers) — and were foiled by the machinations of Sir W. Harcourt. (Hear, hear.) I am a member of the party who desire to see London have her fair share of Parliamentary institutions, while Mr. Gladstone has systematically advocated the doctrine that London should be under-represented, because, forsooth, it is near Westminster, and I belong to the party which has done that which Mr. Gladstone has never succeeded in doing, to the party which has given London municipal institutions. (Cheers.) I will never be a consenting party to the doctrine of Mr. Gladstone that London is justified in taking only a London view of public affaii-s. London is not so justified. IF LONDON IS ANYTHING IT IS AN IMPERIAL CITY — (cheers) — and it is bound to take an Imperial view and not merely a London view of Imperial affairs. More than any other part of this great Empire, it has its interests bound up with the prosperity and health of the Empire as a whole ; more than any other jjart of the Empire if is concerned in the sanctity of contracts, in the security of trade, in the greatness of the Empire, and in the success of your foreign policy. (Loud cheers.) If Londoners desire to pursue their own interests, which are those of the Empire at large, let them turn away from purely municipal affairs, which, in Mr. Gladstone's view, at all events, absorb so much of their attention. Let them recognise that, important as these municipal affairs may be, there are yet affairs in which they are more closely concerned, and those affairs are the prospeiity, the security, and the greatness of the Empire of which London is the head. (N. U.) Appendix XVIIL ONE MAN ONE VOTE. STRAINING AT A GNAT AND SWALLOWING A CAMEL. By "One Man One Vote" the Radical leaders do not mean "A Vote for Every Man" or "Manhood Suffrage," They mean that no man is to have more than one vote; that is, that no elector is to vote in more than one constituency, although he may possess the legal qualification in more than one constituency. The old and sound theory of "No Taxation without Representa- tion " was the basis for the plural franchise possessed by those who have property and who pay rates and taxes in more than one Parliamentary constituency. The modern Radicals object to this right, which the old Radicals claimed as simple justice. There are many local as well as Imperial interests affected by Parliamentary representa- tion ; and it is often most important that those who have large ONE MAN ONE VOTE. 339 material interests in a constituency should have a share in the election of its member. But the question involved in the cry, '-One Man One Vote,"as raised by our nevv-fang-led Radicals, is not nearly so serious as they pretend. Indeed, they shirk, its chief bearing". It is estimated that the abolition of plural voting- would only affect some 73,000 votes out of over six millions, and these are by no means all cast on the same side. " ONE VOTE ONE VALUE." But if the Radicals are really in earnest about electoral reform, and wish the House of Commons fairly to represent the voice of the people, why do they talk so much about this comparatively small alteration, and say nothing at all about the much greater injustice worked by the present unequal and unfair distribution of seats ? If it is right that one man should only have only one vote, it is equally just that every vote should have, as far as is practicable, the same value. It is easy to show how very far this is from being" the case. The present distribution of the 670 seats in the House of Commons between t'le different portions cf the Uni-.ed Kingdom is as follows : — England has... Wales has Scotland has Ireland has ... ... ... ... 103 Total ... ... ... 670 465 members 30 )) 72 1 » Now, see what the representation ought to be if population were taken as the basis of calculation. The average population for each member, dividing the total inhabitants, 37,740,283. by 670, should be 56,329 : — Populatiou 1 891. Sea's. England 27,499,984. should have 490, or 25 m.ore. Wales 1,501,034, ., ,, 27. or 3 less. Scotland 4,033.103, ,, ,. 72, the same. Ireland 4,705,162, ,, ., Si, or 22 less. Total ... ... ... 670 340 ONE MAN ONE VOTE. Or, taking the number of Electors as the basis of calculation : — Electors. Seats. England 4.508,246, should have 493, or 28 more. Wales 261.842, ,, „ 29, or I less. Scotland 744,816, ,, ,, 67, or 5 less. Ireland 606,403, „ „ 81, or 22 less. Total ... 6,121,307 670 Percentage £ of Total. 70.043,784 78-43 9,482.422 10-62 7-53^.355 8-44 2,241,776 2-51 £89,304.337 100 The unfairness of the over-representation of Ireland becomes yet more patent if we take into consideration the relative taxation of the different parts of the United Kingdom. The Revenue of 1889-90 (as represented by the Exchequer receipts) contributed by each part of the United Kingdom was as follows : — England and Wales Scotland Ireland Imperial Sources Total ., In other words, Ireland, with about one-eighth of the population of the United Kingdom, contributes, in the gross, only one- twelfth of the Imperial revenue. It will thus be seen that a vote in Ireland is worth a good deal more than a vote in England, though the Irish contribute a great deal less proportionately to Imperial taxation, and their number of illiterate voters is. proportionately, twelve times as large. And yet Mr. Gladstone, in the House of Commons (March 3, 1891), while not disputing the figures, ventured to assert: — "The representation of England is fairly adjusted. I am not ashamed to say that I think, upon the whole, England is not entitled to complain ! 1 ! " EXAMPLES OF INEQUALITY. The contrast becomes still more glaring if Ireland and London be put side by side. The population of London is nearly the same as that of the whole of Ireland, yet Ireland is represented by 103 members, while London, which is certainly not inferior to it in intelligence and enterprise, is represented by 62 members only. ONE MAN ONE \'OTE. 341 In other words, under the present system, an Irishman's vote is worth nearly double that of a Londoner. Why do not the Radicals attempt to remedy this crying- injustice? Is it because, while the majority of Irish members support Mr. Gladstone, the majority of London members are ag-ainst him.' A few details will make the unfairness of the present distribu- tion still more apparent. Mr. Justin McCarthy is member for Newry, which has a population of 13,605 and 1,875 electors. Sir Joseph Crossland is member for Huddersfield, whioh has 15,466 electors, and Mr. Balfour is member for the East Division of Manchester, which has a population of 85,407 and 11,038 electors. In other words, each vote in Neivry counterbalances six votes in East Manchester, an 1 eight votes in Huddersfield. Again, Kilkenny Borough has 13,323 inhabitants, and 1,639 electors, yet it returns a member to Parliament just as much as South-West Ham, with a population 8| times as great (( 12,598), and more than 8^ times as many voters. It must also be remembered that, as the population of England is rapidly growing, and that of Ireland decreasing, the unfairness of the present distribution is becoming greater every year. Between various English constituencies, too, the inec|uality is very great. Why, for instance, should Northampton, with 10,895 electors, return two members, while Hammersmith, with 1 1,208 electors, and Huddersfield, with 15,466 electors, return only one each ? Or why should the votes of 2,298 electors of Durham City carry as much weight as those of 11,581 electors in the Northern Division of Leeds ? If the Radicals are sincere, why do they not advocate a thorough reform .? If they really wish for justice, why do they raise no protest against these gigantic anomalies .' If they want the true expression of the people's wishes, and not merely to catch votes, why do they confine themselves to one comparatively small alteration in our electoral system and completely overlook a much greater evil.' Why, if they are in earnest, do they stop' short in their zeal for reform, precisely at the point where they think the change will cease to operate in their own favour ? Jf a Radical talks about " One Ulan one Vote,'" ask him '' How about ' One Vote one Value i"' "—{^.\J.) 342 MR. DILLON'S RECORD, Appendix XIX. MR. DILLON'S RECORD. Mr. John Dillon, M.P., is one of the most eminent leaders of the majority of the Irish Nationalist party. The following- extracts from his speeches give a pretty clear idea of his character and objects : — ON CATTLE MAIMING. At Kildare, on 15th Aug-ust, iSSo, Mr. Dillon drew attention to dumb animals as follows : — "In (he County of Mayo, where ihe organisation is pretty strong, we have many a fp.rm lying idle, from wliich no rent can be drawn, and there they shall lie, and if the landlord sliould put cattle on them, the cattle won't prosper very much." — O^icial Rcpflii, Qiiuii v. Parnell, c^V. , p. 287. ON THE "PLAN OF CAMPAIGN." Mr. Dillon was the real author of the criminal conspiracy known as the " Plan of Campaig-n."' It was clearly described by himself in the following- speech, reported in United Inland^ 23rd October, 1886: — "When wc meet with an estate where the people are courageous and determined, we advise them to meet together, each estate by itself, and decide what is a reasonable and fair reduction to ask. In some cases fifty or sixty per cent, would be reasonable ; in some cases les?, and in some more. Let the tenants meet together p.nd decide what is fair to ask, and ask that together, and if they are refused there is Init one course open to them, if they mean to fight according to the j7alicy of brave men — that is, to pay a portion of the rent which they have offered 4o the landlord into the hands of two or three men in whom they place trust. That 11! list be done pi'hiatcly, a:id yoii tiiiisi not in/or in the pvblie -where the niciiey is placed. Then every man who is evicted can get an allowance from them as long as he is out, and, l)elieve me, if the landlord sees that, he won't go very far ; for what ruined the agitation m Ireland in some places was this — the people went in for a half battle ; they stood out, as they call it, that is, they refused to pay until there was a writ served. Then the landlord was encouraged to wait on. But if you mean to fight really you must put the money aside for two reasons ; first of ^all, because you want means to support the men who are hit first ; and secondly, because yon want to prohibit traitors going behind your back. There is no way to •deal with a traitor except to get his money under lock and key — and if you find thr^l he pays his rent, and Ijetrays the organisation, what will you do with him ? I •will tell )ou what to do with him. Close upon his money and use it for the ■organisation." Thus, under the "Plan," tenants were invited to decide for themselves how much rent they would pay their landlord, and, if he refused to bow to their decision, their money was paid over to the National League. The injustice of the scheme may be learnt from another speech by Mr. Dillon, in County Kerry, on Sunday, 23rd January, 1887, in which he boasted that he could .show "men who can pay and won't pay, because I tell them not to pay;" "who avow that they can pay, and refuse to pay "because they are in the Plan of Campaig-n." — [Freettian's Journal, 24th January, 1887.) MR. DILLON'S RECORD. 343 THREATS TO TENANTS. Referring- to the campaigriers at Eyrecourt, on Sunday, 28th November, 1886, Mr, Dillon, said: — "One thing you miy be perfectly certain of, that the committees which we have elected upon this estate will make it their business — and you need not take any trouble about it — they will make it their business to ascertain who betrays the combination. Well, the i/iaii tvho betrays the combination, will im'cr sec a shilling of his money back again. — Freeman's Journal, 29th November, 1886. MORE INTIMIDATION. Mr. Dillon, at Castlerea, county Roscommon, on December 5th, 1886, is reported as follows : — "The time is at hand, and very close at hand too, ivhen the police ivill be ottr set^jants, when the police will be taking their pay from Mr. Paruell, when he will be Prime Minister of Ireland. And 1 warn the men to-day, who take their ttand by the side of landlordism, and signalise themselves as the enemies of the people, that in the time of our power we will remember them. And I warn you that in the struggle you are going into this winter, yotcr enemies have a day of reckoning at hand. I will go further. »nd say that officers of the law who make themselves prominent against the people by their harshness atui cruelt}', if they want promotion when the Irish Government is in power, will have to go elsewlure than to us to look for it." — Free/nan's Joiirnal, 6th December, 1886. At Dublin, on 23rd August, 18S7, Mr. Dillon said: — " I want to say plainly that so f;;r as I go I intend to practise the same form o intimidation, in spite of all proclamations or persecutions they can enforce. 1/ the operations 0/ the League in the past can be correctly described by ' Intimidation, ' then I sav I intend to practise thcra and preach them.^'' — Freeman's Journal, 24th August, 1887. "I am alluding now to the combination amongst the tenants known as the Plan of Campaign. Now let me say this that if there be a man in Ireland, and I do not believe there is ; if there is a man in Ireland base enough to back down, to turn his back on the fight now that coercion has passed, I pledge my=elf in the face of this meeting that I -dnll denounce him from public platforms by name, and I pledge myself to the Government that, lei that man be whom he may, his life will not be a happy one, either in Ireland or across the seas, and I say this with the intention of carrying out what I say."- -Freeman's Journal, 24th August, 1887. AN OUT-SPOKEN SEPARATIST.— At Limerick Junction, on lOth August, 1891, Mr. Dillon, as reported in the National Press, spoke as follows : — "Men of Tipperary, it is fifteen years since I first made the acquaintance of the men of Tipperary and the barony of Clanwilliam. When, on this very platform, I anived, to be greeted by, I suppose, the most significant demonstration of public enthusiasm, because I was seated beside that veteran warrior of Irish nationality, John Mitchcl. That was my first step in Irish politics, when, side by side with the men of Clanwilliam and Tipperary, we returned that felon John Mitchel to repre- sent this county in the Imperial Parliament ; and I confess it amazes me to-day when I see men who were never heard of in Irish politics until yesterday lecturing me and lecturing my friend, William O'Brien on Irish nationality, and telling me, forsooth, and telling William O'Brien that we do not know how to maintain the independence of Ireland. My record in Irish politics is before you from the date of the Mitchel election to the present hour, and I defy any man to say that I have ever 344 TRADE STATISTICS. Imoered the tone of Irish nationality, pulled or held down the flag of Ireland befora any Minister or any minion in power. No, whenever the hour comes that I am false to the cause of Irish independence, believe me I'll get a very different reception at the Limerick Junction." MR. GLADSTONE AND SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT ON MR. DILLON. Speaking- in the House of Commons {Hansard, 24th May, 1882), within three weeks of the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish, Mr. Gladstone said of Mr. Dillon : — "The hon. gentleman comes here as the apostle of a creed which is a creed of force, which is a creed of oppression, which is a creed of the destruction of all liberty, and of the erection of a despotism against it, and on its ruins, different from every other despotism only in this, that it is more absolutely detached from all law, from all tradition and from all restraint." Speaking- in the House of Commons on 3rd March, 1881, Sir William Harcourt said: — " We have heard the doctrine of the Land League expounded by the man who is an authority to explain it (Mr. Di Ion). The doctrine so expounded is the doctrine of treason and assassination." — [N.U., No. 93]. Appendix XX. TRADE STATISTICS. VOLUME OF TRADE UNDER LORD SALISBURY. The rise in the value of Exports and Imports since 1886 is shown in the following- table*: — 1886 ... ... ^618,000,000 1887 ... ... ... ... 642,000,000 1888 ... ... 685,000,000 1889 ... ... ... ... 742,000,000 1890 ... ... ... ' ... 748,000,000 1891 ... ... ... ... 744,O00,0CO 1892 The increase from 1886 to 1891 (126 millions) is equal to more than ^3 per head of the population. The trade with the Colonies alone accounts for one-fifth of the increase. The export and im- port trade of India also shows an advance of 33 millions. SHIPPING TRADE. The British and foreign vessels entered and cleared, with carg-oes only (home and foreig-n trade), in 1886 had a tonnage of t ••• ••• ••• 105,420,000 In 1891 the tonnage of the same was f ••• ■•• 1 19,248,000 Or an increase over 1886 of ... Tons 13,828,000 Statistical Abstract, p. 47, and Board of Trade Returns for 1891. f Statistical Abstract, p. 142, and Return, May, 1892. IMPERIAL EXPENDITURE. 345 The British vessels registered under the Merchant Shipping- Acts have increased in the same period by 916,000 tons. The number of persons employed thereon is larger by 29,000 while the wages of seamen at all the ports has increased by an average of £1 a month.*[ RAILWAYS. The Gross Receipts of the Railways in the Kingdom in 1886 were I ... ... ... ... £69,555,000 In 1890 they had risen to ... ... ... ... 79,948,000 An increase in four years of £10,393,000 COAL AND IRON. These tables contain the lastest statistics of production : — Tons. The Coal raised in the United Kingdom in 1886 was § 157,578,000 In 1891 the amount raised was ^ ... ... ... 185,479,000 Increase in five years ... ... 27,901,000 The Pig Iron produced in 1886 amounted to § ... 7,009,000 The same in 1891 was§ ... ... ... ... 7,406,000 Increase in five years... ... 397,000 Appendix XXI. IMPERIAL EXPENDITURE. FROM "SIX YEARS' WORK." The Gross Expenditure in 1885-6, under Mr. Gladstone, was ... *j^92,223,ooo The same under Lord Salisbury, in 1891-2, was +^^90,264,000 Or a Decrease of ... ;^i)959,ooo Moreover, the expenditure for 1891-2 included;^!, 500,000 for Free Education ; ^■2,000,000 for the Post Office; ;^2,000,000 for the Army and Navy; and ;^i, 500,000 for Gold Coinage, Barracks, and Irish Railways : in all ;i^ 7, 000,000 over and above what Mr. Gladstone provided for the same services. It is true that the figures for i886 include Mr. Gladstone's Vote of Credit of /■9, 500,000 for panic preparations for war with Russia; but on the other hand, they e.Kclude about Six Millions of National Debt payments, which were suspended by him, and which, if taken into account, would have raised Mr. Gladstone's expenditure in that year to ninety-eight millions. X Statistical Abstract, p. 176. § Id., p. 182 ; Pari. Ppr. C. 6,657, and Return^ May, 1892. H Pari. Ppr. 227 o 1892, pp. 37 and 42. * Statistical Abstract, p 7. f Pari. Paper, 162 of 1892. 346 IMPERIAL EXPENDITURE. EXPENDITURE PER HEAD. iS8i 1882 1883 1884 1885 1 886 Mr. C'lladstone. - £'^ 5 9 276 294 285 295 2 10 10 Average ... £z 8 6 Lord Salisbury. 1887 £^ 9 4 1888 2 7 6 1889 2 7 3 1 890 2 6 I89I 2 6 S 1892 2 6 II Average ... £^ 7 2 Compiled from Statistical Ahstraci, pp. 7 and 21; SURPLUSES OF REVENUE. 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 Total Surpluses ^776,000 2,378,000 2.789,000 3,221,000* 1,756,000 1,067,000 ;/;iI, 987,000 Note. — The surpluses above alluded to have been described by Gladstonian speakers as " bogus surpluses" because they do not take into account moneys bor- rowed for capital expenditure. The answer to this is simple. Money has been borrowed in order to defray the cost of Naval defence, fortifications, barracks, &'c. Such expenditure has jiever been treated as char<^eable against Revenue. Mr. Gladstone himself in iS'j2 borraivcd rjioney for fortifications, d-V. , and luhich is stilt being paid off, and wliich was not treated as part of the expenditure of the jear. A realised surplus is the amount at credit after the expenditure which Pailiameut has directed to be made out of revenue has been so met. UNDER LORD SALISBURY. Lord Salisbury's Ciovernment in six years has REDUCED TAXATION by ;C24>965.ooo Or deducting various taxes imposed or increased, in the same period, to the amount of ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ;{^6.234,ooo There remains a net Reduction' in the taxation of the country of;,^i8,73i,ooo N. B. — These results are arrived at by comparing the figures given in the Statistical Abstract, pp. 20 to 25, taking into account the number of years each remission or increase of taxation remained in force under each Government. It is claimed for this comparison that it is as accurate as circumstances permit. 'Including £2,009,000 applied out of Revenue under the Nation! Debt Conversion Act. Local taxation. PRESSURE OF TAXATION, 347 UNDER Mr. GLADSTONE. In the years 1881 to 1886 Mr. Gladstone levied INCREASED TAXATION tu the amount of ;^7i, 925,000 But he reduced other Taxes to the extent of ... ... 54, 154,000 Leaving a net addition to the burdens of the Country' of £i'j,']']i,ooo N. B. — -Mr. Gladstone found the Income Tax at yi. and left it at Sd. lie remitted no Tax on any single article of consumption. According to the Financial Reform Almanack for 1S92, a puWication issued by an .\ssociation of which Sir Charles Dilke, Mr. John Morley, Mr. Labouchere, and other Gladstonian members are vice-presidents :— " Even the most enthusiastic Radical must, as far as finance is concer)ied, look upon the years 1880-5 "'■^il^' regret. Mr. Gladstone 7uas in poiuer. Mr. Gladstone had a splendid majority, but we seek in vain for any sign of that i?iaJority — that is to say, that power for accomplishing reform which the nation had given him — being used to procure justice i>i taxation. " Note. — Mr. Gladstone during his term of office increased the grants in aid of local rates by only ^860,000, and then only in consequence of Conservative pressure and under the apprehension of defeat in Parliament. Lord ^Salisbury's Government, of its own motion, gave nearly Sixteen Millions in aid of local rates, over and above what was given by Mr. Gladstone in the same time, and the annual relief was nearly Five Millions a year in excess of the sum contributed in 1S86 ; a difference in England and Wales, which is equivalent to 5d. in the £ on the rateable value of the country. Appendix XXII. LOCAL TAXATION. It had been for many years the practice of succeeding Ministries to assist the Local Rates by " grants in aid " from Imperial Revenue. After 1889, however, Lord .Salisbury's Government made over to local authorities the proceeds of certain licenses and duties, withdrawing at the same time part of the Grants in Aid. A comparison of the respective assistance afforded to local taxation by Mr. Gladstone's and Lord .Salisbury's Government is shown in the following table. Gladstone Government. 1 Salisbury Government. 1880-1 — Grants in Aid* ^4,914,000 ^ 1886-7— Grants in Aid* ^5,854,000 I88I-2 1882-3 1883-4 1884-5 1885-6 5,096,000 5,763,000 5,640,000 5,593,000 5,775,000 Total relief of Local Taxation ... ;^32, 781,000 1887-8 „ ,, * 1888-9 ,. ., * ,, Probate Duty f 1889-90-Grants in Aid* ,, Licenses and Probate Duty t 1890-1 — Grants in Aid * ,, Licenses, Beer and .Spirit Duties and Probate Duty f 1S91-2— Grants in Aid J ,, Licenses, Beer and Spirit Duties and Probate Duty § Total relief of Local Taxation ... 6,203.000 5,661,000 1 , 400, ooo 58.000 J jj^ 5,185,000 3,162,000 6,974,000 3,000,000 7,630,000 ^■48,407, 000 * Statiitical Abstract, pp. 14 and 15. t Id. p. 2b. I Kstimate on basis 01 ib'jo-yi. § Mr. Goschen's Budget Speich, nth .\pril, 1892. 348 NATIONAL DEBT.— fJUDGET SUMMARY. Appendix XXIII. REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. Mr. Gladstone left the National Debt at * ^^713,454,000 In five years (1887-91) Lord Salisbury's Government had reduced it to* 680,681,000 Showing a net reduction of ... ;^32, 773,000 Or, taking into account the Exchequer balances, -which had been increased since 1886 by * ... ... ... ... ... 745,000 And the reduction of Debt effected in 1 89 1 -2 ... 5,330,000 The NET LIABILITIES of the State are less by ... ;,{^3 8, 848,000 In a similar period Mr. Gladstone was only able to show a reduction, between 1880 and 1886, of ;,^28,4CO,ooo. * Moreover, he twice failed (1853 and 1884) to carry a Coin'crsion scheme, which Lord Salisbury's Goversmeut successfully carried into effect. None. — " For the reduction which Mr. Goschen effected in the interest of the National Debt he deserves our warm acknowledgments.' — Mr. Gladstone at Hastings, March 16th, 1 89 1. The Gladstonian Party attempt to minimise the effect of these reductions by a charge which Lord Roseberr)' has formulated thus : "The Government have tam- " peredwith the .Sinking Fund, set on foot by a Tory Government, and which they " were bound to respect by every tradition of honour and honesty." — Epsom, June 9th, 1892. This assertion is contrary to fact. The amount set apart for the service of the Debt was established by Sir S. Northcote at 28 millions in 1877. with the distinct reservation that "if the circumstances of the country should materially alter, it " would only be right that we should take steps to take off what we now propose to "put on." [Hansard.) Mr. Goschen found that, owing to the action of Mr. Gladstone's Government, the circumstances had materially altered. The Income Tax stood at a war rate, 8d. in the ^ ; and other taxes had increased by 2s. 6d. per head since Sir S. Northcote's time. Instead of maintaining taxat'on at this high rate, Mr. Goschen has reduced the pajTnents for debt by ^^i, 300, 000 ; he has also saved ;^i,400,ooo a year in interest through the Conversion scheme, and ;^300,000 is replaced by an alteration in the local loans system. The result is that the people pay j millions a-year less as a fixed charge for the intei-est and reduction of Debt ; but the pace at which the Debt itself has been reduced is not slack- ened, as the continuous surpluses (see Table above), all of which are applied directly to the extinction of Debt, have more than compensated for ihe loss. The charge of "tampering " with the Sinking Fund comes with a bad grace from the Gladstonian Party, who icholly suspended it in 1886. Appendix XXIV. BUDGET SUMMARY OF THE CONSERVA- TIVE GOVERNMENT UP TO END OF 1891. {^CoTuptled from ihe ^'Siathiical Absliaci," and Mr. Goschefi's Speeches.) The Revenue has exceeded expectations by £9,815,000 Expenditure has decreased, as compared with 1886, by £1,959,000 * statistical Abstract , p 29. t Mr. Go3.hen's Budget Speech, .^pril il, 1892. POST OFFICE IMPROVEMENTS. 349 The National Debt has been decreased by £38,848,000 Surpluses have accrued to the extent of £1 1,987,000 The Income Tax has been reduced by an annual ... £4,000.000 The Tobacco Duty was reduced annually by ... £500,000 The duty on Tea and Currants was reduced annually by £1,700,000 The hihabited House Duty was reduced annually by £550,000 Imperial Taxation was reduced in all by ... ... £18,731,000 Free Education was provided for at an annual cost of £2,500,000 Naval Defence was provided for by an annual addition of... ... ... ... ... ... £2,000,000 Local Rates w'ere relieved by an extra annual contribution of ... ... ... ... ... £4,720,000 Local Taxation was relieved in all by ,.. ... £15,626.000 The Conversion of Consols effected an immediate annual saving- (in interest) of ... ... ... £1,400,000 The Conversion will ultimately save, annually ... £2,800,000 Equal to an ultimate capital Reduction of the National Debt by £100,000,000 Appendix XXV. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POST OFFICE UNDER LORD SALISBURY. POSTAL FACILITIES. A new series of postiige stamps was introduced, affording greater security and convenience to the public. Friendly Societies' circulars, containing statements of account, and polling cards, were allowed to pass at the half-penny rate of postage. Free re-direction ol letters was given. An "Express Delivery" fur letters and parcels was established, and an arrangement made with all railway companies for the special conveyance of urgent letters. The price of post cards uas considerably reduced, and a new contract made, saving ^'26,000 a year. Letter-cards were introduced. Ivxtensions of the posts in rural districts were granted under a more liberal .-.cheme. 400 nav post offices were opened in the last twelve months. SAMPLE POST. The inland sample post \\as re-established, and offers greater facilities to tradesmen and their customers. PARCEL POST. The parcel post was enormously developed, and many foreign countries and colonies were brought within its scope. Parcel coaches were established on certain routes, effecting both speed and economy in delivery. 35° POST (3FFICE IMPROVEMENTS. FOREIGN AND COLONIAL MAILS. New contracts were made for India, China, and the West Indies, securing increased speed and a saving of ;^i 12 ooo a year. Two services a week to New York were arranged by Cunard and White Star lines. The Canadian Pacific route was secured for mails, troops, and stores to China and Japan, l)y British s-hips and on British territory. A weekly "all sea" service to Australia was arranged at a cheap postage rate ; and post cards to Australia reduced to 2d. A uniform postal rate of a^d. for all countries in the Postal Union, as a whole, was established. INLAND MONEY ORDERS. The rates of commission were revised and reduced. Telegraphic money orders were introduced, and their sale extended to all head and branch post offices. About 1,800 new money order offices have been opened since 1886. TELEGRAPHS. The telegraphs account, which hitherto showed a deficiency, produced in 1S91 a surplus of over ^100,000. The submarine cables to France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland were purchased, and the charge for telegrams reduced to 2d. per word. Direct communication was established with Berlin, Rome and \'ieuna. New cables were laid to France and Germany. Arrangements are being made with the telephone comjianies for the extension and improvement of their systems. Telephonic communication was opened between London and Paris. About 1,400 new telegraph offices were opened since 1 886, and the terms of guarantees for such offices were much reduced. POST OFFICE STAFF. Since 1886 the pay and conditions of service of practically the entire staff of the post office, have been revised and improved. In 1890 increases of pay, and improve- ments as to sick pay, overtime and Sunday work were granted to the sorter-, sorting clerks and telegraphists throughout the Kingdom. In 1 891, the zoages of the postmen throughout the proz'inces 7ocrc raised, and a similar increase was given to the postmen in London. These improvements extended to about 35,000 persons. The increase in expendiinre involved is estimated ac about ;i^400,ooo a year. About 20,000 situations were opened to army reserve men, and army and navy pensioners. SAVINGS BANKS. Greater facilities are given fur investing in Government Stock, and the minimum for purchase or sale was reduced to is. The capital in Post Office Savings Banks has increased since 1 886 by neai'ly ^21,000,000. Two Acts of Parliament were passed to facilitate the use of the Savings Banks. Facilities were given to School Managers and others for receiving small deposits from children since the passing of the Free Education Act. Many thousands of accounts were thus opened. COST. The Conservative Government very largely increased the expenditure on ihe postal and telegraphic system. Abandoning the theory that the Post Office was to be merely a source of revenue to the Exchequer, they expended large sums in extending its usefulness, providing vastly increased facilities for the public, increasing the wages of its servants (especially in the lower grades), and popularising every branch of its operations. The cost of the improved services of the P..st Office NATIONAL DEFKNCI'.S. 351 under Lord Salisbury's Government as compared with the period under Mr. Glad- stone, is shown in the following table*: — Mr. Gladstone. Lord Salisbury. 1881 ... ^5,368,461 1887 ... i:8,c92,842 1882 ... 5.678,031 188S ... 8,036,982 1883 ... 6,054,297 1889 ... 8,265,856 1884 ... 6,931,587 1890 ... 8,249,660 1885 ... 7,121,729 1891 ... 8,656,963 1886 ... 7,265,693 1892 ... 9,316,000 ^38,419,798 i: 5o,668 283 As one result of this expenditure, the Post Office revenue increased from ;^io, 280,000 in 1887 to ^^12,630,000 in 1892, so that every penny of increased cost has brought in nearly twopence in revenue. * Statistical Abstract, pp. 12 and 13. Appendix XXVI. WAR EXPENDITURE. Gladstone Government.* .Salisbury Government. Transvaal War, 1880-3 ;^2,439,500 Egyptian Expedition, 1882-4... ••• 4,276,750 First Vote of Credit, 1 8S4-5 300,000 Nile Expedition, 1884-5 (Gordon) ... 1,324,000 .Soudan War, 1884-5 964,000 15echuaualand Expedition, 1884-5 ••• 725,000 \^ote of Credit, 1885-6 (Russian Panic) 9,451,000 Total ... ^19,480,250 NIL. MISCELLANEOUS. CURRENCY. A new series of coins was issued to the public, and the currency was improved by calling in all foreign bronze money. All light gold was re-callcd, and the loss removed from innocent holders, and borne by the State. CIVIL SERVICE. Consequent on the report of a Royal Commission (.Sir M. White Ridley, Chairman), extensive reforms were carried out in the Civil Service, by which the public interests were promoted without injustice lo civil servants. Numerous sinecure or unnecessary offices were abolished without the necessity of legislation ; anfl when legislation was required it was promptly appealed to. COJiMERCLVL PROGRESS. The rise in value after 18S6 of all the leading securitie?, in which th.e wealtl' and savings of the country are invested, was proof of the prosperity which accom- panied Lord Salisbury's Administration. In almost every branch of business- Railways, Banks, City Loans, Shipping, &c.,— the first-cLiss securities all showed largely enhanced values after 1886. The mcts may be attested by a comparison of the figures in Burdclfs Official Intelligence}- for the year 1S87, and the Investor's Monthly Record for June, 1892. * Pari. Paper 338 of 1890 (Mr. Childer's return). 352 THE NATIONAL DEFENCES. Appendix XXVII. THE NATIONAL DEFENCES UNDER LORD SALISBURY. In this categ-ory are comprised all measures for the defence of the Empire, the better protection of ports and coaling- stations, and for promoting the health, comfort, and efficiency of the Army and the Navy. LEGISLATION. *I!VIPERIAL DEFENCE ACT, 1888 (Mr. W. H Smith). OBJECT. To carry out an agreement for the naval defence of the Australian Colonies, and to provide for the defence of ports and coaling stations abroad. MEAN.S. The Act ratifies an agreement made between the Government and the Australian Colonies, by which a squadron is maintained in Australasian waters ; its first cost being paid by England, and the Colonies paying the interest thereon and maintenance charges. It further provides for the ariuamciit of certain pots and coaling s/ations at a cost (i/";^2, 600,000 ivliich is to be repaid out of the profits of the Suez Canal Shares bought l)y Lord Beaconsfield, and wliich will become available in 1894, and will be worth at that time, in all probability, no less than ^19,000,000, or nearly five times their original cost. RESULTS. Four years ?go. according to an impartial .authority, the Gladstonian Lord Erassky, " no modern guns were effectively mounted in any one of our fortresses "or coaling stations, except the four big guns at Malta and Gibraltar. Now a " powerful armament has in all cases largely added to their security. Among the " places so strengthened are Portsmouth, the Thames, I'lymouth, Malta, and "Gibraltar." — Na--al Annual, 1891. Armaments have also gone out to Singapore, Hong Kong, Table Bay, Colombo, Jamaica, and Sierra Leone, as well as to Aden, Mauritius, and other places. * NAVAL DEFENCE ACT, 1889 (Lord Gkorgk Hamilton). OBJECT. To increase the defences of the country by the eonslrnction of sn'cnty vessels, so that the Na\7 may be made equal in strength to that of any two foreign powers. MEAN.S. The Act provided for the construction of 8 first-class battle-ships, each of 14,000 tons, 2 second-class of 9,000 tons, 9 first-class cruisei-s of 7,300 tons, 29 smaller cruisers of 3,400 tons, 4 cruisers of 2,600 tons, and 18 torpedo t)0ats. The cost of these vessels was stated at /'21, 500,000, of which ;/^ 11,500, 000 was provided by loans spread over the five years ending in 1894, and ^10,000,000 out of taxation spread over seven years. RESULTS. Out of thirty-two ships to be built by contract, nearly all have l)een delivered by the contr.actors, and the remainder are in course of construction, and will mostly be delivered before 1894. ARMY ADMINISTRATIOX. 353 Thirty-eight ships were allotted to be constructed in dockyards; all have been completed. All the first-class battle-ships have been launched, and no difficulty is anticipated in completing the whole programme by the time stated in the Act — viz., 1S94.* Note.— The Bill was bitterly opposed by a large section of the Gladstonian Party. * NATIONAL DEFENCE ACT, 1888 (Mk. E. Stanhoim:). OBJECT. To render the denfen-ive forces of the country readily available in case ol attack. MEANS. Under this Act the Government is empowered in any national emergency to take precedence for naval and military traffic on railways ; and to requisition, by hire or purchase, carriages, horses and vessels. OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT, 1889 (Sir R. Webster). OBJECT, To remedy a defect in the law by which the betrayal of confidential information relating to the defences had been left unpunished. BARRACKS ACT, 1890 (Mr. E. Stanuoi-e). OBJECT. The ye-housiiii:; of the Regular Army, rendered necessary by the obsolete and zinkea/thy condition of viaiiy of the present barracks. MEANS. The Act provides for the expenditure of ^4,100,000 in building and enlarging barracks and camps in the United Kingdom and the Colonies The chief expen- diture is in re-building and additions at Aldershot, which absorb ;^I, 475,000 ; the Curragh ;^42o,ooo ; Dublin ^286.000 ; Shorncliffe ;^i65,ooo ; with minor expen- diture at Colchester, Woolwich, Belfast, Portsmouth, Plymouth, &c. There is also provision for new barracks at Cape Town, Malta, Gibraltar and Bermuda. Appexdi.n: XXVIII. ARMY ADMINISTRATION. ROYAL COMMISSIONS. ^ A highly imiiortant Commission, under the chairman-hip of the Duke uf Devon- shire (dien Lord Partington), investigated the relations between the two great spending departments, and many of its recommendations were carried out l)y Lord George Hamilton and Mr. Stanhope. A second (_ ommission, under the presidency of Sir Fitzjames Stephen, examined the system of providing and manufacturing warlike stores ; and some of the reforms described below are due to suggestions made by it. WAR OFFICE, Consequent^pflt the report of the Royal Commission (appointed at the instance of the presei;it iGj^yet-^jjnent), the internal organisation of the department was completely overhaiiieil, and definite financial control was extended over all its hranclies, . . ■ V \T.a»Vi;k\Q '-■^-'-"'(.^■pft^. Paper C. 6602 of 1892. Y Z 354 ARMY ADMINISTRATION. EXPENDITURE. Almost every itL-ni cj ordinaj-y fxfciidifure s/icnued a dtcrcasc after i8S6, except such as were due to the increased strength of the Army, the additional grants to Volunteers, and additional weapons and stores. ARMY ORGANIZATION. Complete arrangements were made for nij>id/y viobiUs'ui;:; a Field Army 0/ three army corps for home defence, every unit being assigned its position ; and a mobile force for foreign service was organised in ever}' detail. A complete flan 7C'as adopted for the defence of London, and tlie necessary positions for assembling and concentrating troops were acquired. The dejences of the Home Ports ivas completed, in many cases involving: re-armament. Under Mr. Gladstone's Government, "no Ijreech-loading gun, with the exception of two, had been effectively mounted in any of our ports at home or abroad." (Parliamentary Debates, 1892, II., 231.) The re-organisation of the Garrison Artillery was carried out, by which a special and highly-trained force is allotted to each garrison. The Commissariat and Transport Department was thoroughly re-organiseJ on a military basis, with complete responsibility throughout. The Medical and Veterinary Departments were revised, and the status of officers improved by the grant of substantive rank. An Army Medical Reserve was also founded. The Pay system was localised, thereby effecting a considerable saving, and a local audit was pro^■ided for. The Retirement rules were altered with the effect of eventually making large reductions in the Pension List. The establishment of Generals was reduced, and the numbers fixed in' accordance with the modern requirements of the service. The supply of Horses i)i time of ]Var was ensured by a system of registration,, and the creation of a Horse Reserve, by which the use in emergency of 14,000 horses is secured. The Food of the private soldiers loas greatly itnpro%-ed, increased Sanitary provisions made for their barracks, and greater provision made for their comfort in many wa}-s. WEAPONS AND STORES. A neic and po'coerful magazine rifle was introduced and 300,000 were" completed. The Ordnance factories were placed under one control, leading both tO' efhciency and economy, and to the avoidance of confusion. The manufacture and inspection of weapons was entirely separated,, leading to improved qualily and economy. Every -weapoJi in the hands of our troops was thoroughly tested, so that the scandal of broken swords and twisted bayonets, as at Suakim, in 1884, will be no longer possible. jyie purchase of szoords and bayonets of Germmi manufacture 'i'as absolutely stopped. The Cavalry were supplied with machine guns. The Stores formerly collected in a confused mass at Woolwich were decentralised, and placed in depots, whence they can rapidly be issued when required. Storehouses 10 ihe number of 177 have been arranged. Guns of large calibre, to the fiumber oj 1 74, were supplied to the service, besides an enormous number of smaller guns ; and 53 batteries of Artillery -were furnished 7io:^0 as against £,624,000 in iSSd-y. VETERANS. A nio.-.t important step v\as taken towards tliroioing open a nniiiber of posts in the Civil Sen'ice to men. of good conduct who have passed through the army, and .iirrangements were made with the Post < U'fice and other departments, and »vith the great railway companies to employ them. SU.MMARV : The numerical strength of the army in 1886 and on Jauuaiy 1st, 1S92, is shown in the table below : — 1S86. 1892. Regular Army 200,785 211,590 ^Vi-my Reserve ... ... 4S;7i2 ... ... 68,933 Militia... ... 106,293 ••■ ••• 102,03^ Yeomanry ... .. ... ii,499 10,768 Enrolled Volunteers... ... 226,752 ... .. 222,046 Total ... 594,041 615,369 LORD WOI.SEl.EVS lE-STLMi^NV. " Of this there can be no doubt, that, since the Peninsula War, we have never had so strong or so efficient an Army, l^ooking at it as a military machine, it h.is never before Ijeen so fit for quick conversion into a lighting army in ilie field, iuul never before has the country been in a better position to resist invasion.'" — Ji/nes, June nth, 1892. 356 NAVAL ADMINISTRATION. Appendix XXIX. CONSERVATIVE NAVAL ADMINISTRATION. SHIPS. A standard was fixed by which the naval establishments were to be maintained on an equality with those of any two great Powers combined. Ey the Naval Defence Act special powers were granted to secure the uninterrupted prosecution of the shipbuilding programme, so as rapidly to reach the standard strength. The financial co-operation of Ihc Australian Colonics was obtained in the building and equipping of a special squadron for service in Australasian waters. During the six years, iS86 — 189^, 1 1 2 ii.'ar s/ii/s 7C'crc coniplctcd for sea, and provi« sion was made for the completion of 20 in 1S92-93, and 35 subsequently under the Naval Defence Act. The following ships of large size Mere completed, and designed for completion, during the three quinquennial periods from 1880 to 1895. Mr. Gladstone. 1880-85. Armoured Ships ... 7 P.elted Cruisers ... — Lord Salisbury. 1885-90. 15 7 •■• 1890-95. ... 12 Cruisers 7 ••• 3' '•• ••• ... 51 14 53 63 A programme of shipbuilding was started to gradually take the place of the ships building and completing in 1892, which would give in addition, during the five years, 1893-8, 7 battleships, 12 cruisers, 12 gun boats, and 70 torpedo boat destroyers. Provision was likewise made for the re-construction of ironclads, which would otherwise have become non-effective, viz. : — Re-armed ... ... ... ... ... 10 Re-engined ... ... ... ... ... 5 Re-boilered ... ... ... ... ... 9 Five more ironclads were to be taken in hand in the course of the financial year, 1892-93. Close attention Mas given to the construction and performance of boilers and engines in the Navy, and a permanent committee of experts was ajjpointed to assist in the preparation of designs. Improved methods of steam trials for ships of war were adopted. A subsidised Iiesei-7'e of Meirkant Cruisers uhis formed, consisting of 13 of the fastest mail steamers afloat, specially fitted for use as armed cruisers in time of war; and the right to lake for naval service 1 5 other fast steamers of the same class, without subsidy, was secured. DOCKYARD.S. Extensive reforms ivere carried out in Dockyard Administration, including more speedy and economical methods of shipbuilding. Under Mr. Gladstone's Government, frst class ironclads were, on the average, seven years in bitilding and comfletiiig for sea ; under the Conservative Government NAVAL ADMINISTRATION. 357 the same class of vessel, but larger in size was completed in less than four years, and one, the " Royal Sir^ereign " (14,000 tons), was actually completed and commissioned in 2 years and 8 months. The total Wa^^es Vote to be expended in the Dockyards at Home was £1 , 563,000, as against ;,Ci,476,0OO in 18S6 ; and the average earnings of the men employed were increased from £62 in 1886 to ;i^70 in 1892. 7'ke Icnvest -.oeekly pay of ordinary labourer was raised from /jJ. (0 iSs. per The established pay of skilled labourers was raised from igs. 6d. to 2js. per week, and of ordinary labourers from i6s. 6d. to 17s. 6d. per week. The maximum established pay of hired shipwrights was raised from. ^os. to 2JS. per -week, and of joiners from 27s. to 30s. per week. A new class of charge men was formed with from 6d. to is. a day extra pay, and it was thrown open to good workmen without examination. All leading men were advanced 6d. a day. A fixed number of workmen on the old establishment are annually advanced from the lower to higher grades of pay, irrespective of vacancies. Gratuities on discharge through reduction of work are now granted after seven years' service, instead of after twenty years' service. ARMAMENTS. The cost, custody and administration of Naval Ordnance were transferred to naval votes, so as to give the Admiralty financial responsibility and prevent delay in supply. Reserves of ordnance and auiuiunilion zvcre largely increased, and armament or 50 merchant cruisers has been provided. The number of breech-loading guns was more than quadrupled after 1 886. Large quick-firing guns and smokeless powder were introduced. British gim factories for the manufacture of heavy ordnance were developed and encouraged PERSONNEL. The personnel of the Navy was largely augmented to meet the increase in the number of ships in commission and building, and was to be ultimately raised to about 76,000 oAcers and men. The number of men available to man the fleet was under Mr. Gladstone decreased by 700 between 1881 and 1886, while under the Conservative Govern- ment the tiumber was increased by 13,000. Mercantile marine officers were encouraged to join the Royal Naval Reserve, the number of the second-class reserve of seamen were raised, and steps were taken to encomage the formation of a reserve of firemen. A scheme for the better technical education of naval officers was settled Another training ship for boys for the Navy was stationed in the I'irth of Forth. ORGANIZATION. A A'az'al Intelligence Department was organized. A plan for mobilising the Naval Reserves was adopted, and new arrange- ments were made for keeping the ships in reserve in a condition of effective preparedness. Naval Mameuvres were instituted, for which a large number of additional vessels were annually mobilised. J3<: NAVAL A DMINISTRATION. The Channel Squadron. ' (1888), to conduct a careful enquiry (Sir W. Marriott, Chairman), into the extent of Foreign Immigration into England; the laws of foreign countries restricting admission of destitute aliens; and the desirability of introducing similar restrictions into our legis- lation. The Conservative Government were under pledges tO' deal with this question as early as possible, and in the meantime, the Board of Trade took steps to watch carefully the immigra- tion of pauper aliens from foreign countries, and to obtain accurate statistics thereof. The number of such immigrants in the five months ending May, 1S92, was 13,873, including only such as are "not stated to be en route to America." — iPad Paper, 6-IV. of 1 892.) Mr. Matthews, as Home Secretary, placed restrictions on the wholesale naturalisation of Foreigners by raising the certificate fee to £5. Mr. Gladstone, however, opposed Mr. James Lowther's amendment to the address condemning unrestricted alien immigration on Feb. nth, and defeated it. The present Gladstonian Government have done nothing practical as yet. except to refer the matter, as usual, to a small Commission. SWEATING SYSTEM. Lord Dunraven procured, in 1S87, the appointment of a Committee on the Sweating System at the East End, which bore partial fruit in the Factories Act of 1891. {q.v.) Fapers issued by the Treasury {Pari. Paper, 189) detail the step taken by the Conservative Government to carry out the resolution of the House of Commons of February 13th, 1891, as follows : — "That, in the opinion of this House, it is the duty of the Government in all Government contracts to make provision against 364 -SWEATING SYSTEM. the evils recently disclosed before the Sweating Committee, to insert such conditions as may prevent the abuse arising from sub-letting, and to make every effort to secure the payment of such wages as aie generally accepted as current in each trade for competent workmen." The Admiralty notified their contractors that "they expect those who are entrusted with contracts for the Admiralty to adhere to its conditions. My Eords will be compelled to consider the question of removing the names of all who fail to comply with the resolution from the list of those allowed to undertake the work for this department. The Board of Trade imposed a penalty for contravention, thus: — " The contractor undertakes .... that no work shall be done at the home of the workpeople. Any infringement of this contravention, if proved to the satisfaction of the President of the Board of Trade, shall render the contractor liable to a penalty not exceeding ;^ioo for each offence No portion of this contract shall be transferred without the written permission of the President of the Board of Trade. Subletting, other than that which may be customarj- in the trades concerned, is prohibited." Similar regulations were made by the Board of Customs, the Home Office, tb.e Post Office, the Stationery Office, the War Office, and the Office of Works. The Office of Works, in addition, required contractors to specify the minimum and maximum rates of wages paid by them to each class of workmen. FACTORY INSPECTION. The Regulations for the appointment of Factory Inspectors were revised, so as to give advantages to Working Men Candidates, especially by extending the limit of age in their favour. A general scheme for recasting the districts is under consideration, including the question of the appointment of Female Inspectors was included in the inquiry to which he referred. MINES. Provisions were passed into law, whereby working Miners were made eligible for appointment as under-managers in coal mines, receiving a certificate as such for the first time. Mining Royalties. — A Royal Commission, under the Chairman- ship of Lord Northbrook, made extensive enquiries into the existing system of Royalties on Mines, and their bearing on the mining industry. Coal Dust Explosions. — A Second Commission, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Chamberlain, prosecuted an enquiry into the best scientific methods of preventing these disastrous occurrences. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. A Committee (Sir H. Maxwell, Chairman) investigated the position of Collecting Societies under the Act of 1875 ; and as a result, a Government Bill was brought in (1S91). providing for the compulsory registration of such bodies, and also providing salutary restrictions on the insurance of infant life. AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION. 365 ELECTRIC LIGHTING. Numerous provisional orders were sanctioned to provide for electric lig-hting- in many large towns, and an enormous stimulus was given to the enterprise. During- the year 1 891, such orders were granted to the number of 59. Appendix XXXII. AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE ACT, 1889 (Mr. W. II. Smith). OBJECT. To establish an Agricultural Department, with a Cabinet Minister at its head, charged specially with the care of agricul- tural interests. MEANS. The Board of Agriculture was established, with a Privy Councillor (Mr. Henry Chaplin), as President. Under its care was placed all business relating to Cattle Disease, the enclosure of Commons, Land Drainage and improvements, the Ordnance Survey, the Rabies Acts, and the Destructive Insects Acts. The collection of agricultural statistics, the inspection of agricultural schools, and the direction of experiments were also assigned to the Board. * LABOURERS' ALLOTMENTS ACTS, 1887-90. OBJECT. To facilitate the provision of Allotments for the Labouring Classes. MEANS. The Act of 1887 empowers any six Parliamentary electors to petition the Local Sanitary Authority to take action to olitain land for Allotments. An enquiiy is then held, and if it is considered that a bona fide demand exists, which cannot be met by voluntary arrangements, the Local Authority is required to buy or hire suitable land, and let it in Allotments to resident labourers. The purchase-money is to be fixed by voluntary agreement ; but if land cannot be obtained at a fair rate it may be acquired compulsorily. The Sanitary Authority may make roads, drains, fences, &c. , and regulations for the management of the Allotments. They nuist fix the rents at such a rate as will not cause loss to the district, and no Allotment is to exceed one acre. Allotment managers may be chosen by the local electors if they so desire. The Act of 1S90 gives an appeal to the County Councils against refus.al by the 13oards of Guardians to put the Act in operation, and enables the Councils to take over the duties of these authorities when necessary, and carry out the Act them- selves. RESULTS. The number of allotments in England and Wales in 1886 was 357, 795. In 1881 the number had risen to 478,ocx). Of the results of these Acts tl\e Rural 366 AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION— ALLOTMENTS. JVor/d, of May, 6th, 1892, says : " We cannot state all the authorities which have put the Act into force, but within our own knowledge local authorities have in from 150 to 200 cases directly put the Allotments Act into operation. This does not mean 150 to 200 ' labourers,' but places. It will be seen, therefore, that if our limited knowledge extends to this large number of cases, it is most probable a much greater number of authorities have directly put the Act into opeiation. " Model regulations for the management of Allotments have been drawn up and circulated by the Local Government Board. ALLOTMENTS COMPENSATION ACT, 1887 (Sir E. BiRKiiECK). The tenant is entitled under the Act to be paid by the owner money conpensa- tion for giowing crops, for labour expended, and manure applied since the last crop, and for drainage or structural improvements executed with the landlord's consent. In case of dispute, arbitration is provided for. ALLOTMENTS RATING ACT, 1891 (Mr. H. Clst). This Act provides that allotments are to be rated in regard to sanitary rates at 07ic-fp7irth their annual value, putting them thereby in the same favourable position as arable land, woodlands, market gardens, &c. * GLEBE LANDS ACT, 1888 (Mr. E. Stanhope). To facilitate the sale of glebe lands for the public advantage. The incumbent is authorised'with the assent of the Land Commission, to sell his glebe, and to invest the proceeds of the sale in Government or other approved securities. Special provisions are made for enabling the land to be sold in small parcels to labourers and cottagers, or to local authorities under the Allotments Acts. * SMALL HOLDINGS ACT, 1892 (Mr. CHAnix). OliJECT. To encourage thrift and industry, and to promote comfort among the labouring classes in the country districts, by assisting them to buy small holdings of land on easy terms, the bulk of the purchase-money being advanced by the Government. MEANS. , A "small holding" is defined as a quantity of land of more than one acre and not more than 50 acres ; cr a piece of land over 50 acres, but less than ^^50 a year in value. The County Councils are empowered to provide moneys for the purchase of holdings up to the limit of one penny in the pound on the county rate. This sum is calculated to be about Ten Million Pounds. If necessary, the Government will lend to the County Councils the money, with which to acquire suitable land and adapt it for small holdings, draining, dividing, fencing, making roads, &c. The County Council will then offer it for sale to the villagers. One-fifth of the value must be paid down in cash by the purchaser; one quarter may be turned into a perpetual rent charge redeemable at will ; and the remainder will be payable by instalments spread over a term not exceeding fifty years. A man who purchases land in this way w ill not usually be allowed to sub-let or sub-divide it during the first ten years, nor afterwards until he has paid off the purchase-money, and he must also cultivate it himself. One dwelling house will l)e allowed on each holding. AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION— SMALL HOLDINGS. 367 li ajjaris/iioncr does not want to purchase, but 7c llie skippers of fishing boats the same advantages and pro- teciioTi in their dealings with owners as are enjoyed by ordinary seamen. It also requires that a certificated second in command shall go with every trawler above 25 tons, and give the Board of Trade power to hold enquiries into accidents to fishing boats whicu involve loss of life. , Appendix XXXVIII. CONSTRUCTIVE CONSERVATIVE REFORMS. The Government put forward, through Mr.Balfour, in June, 1892, a solid programme of future legislation. Let Unionists remember that these are no empty promises made by Gladstonians who bring with them no character from their last place, and who are terribly hampered because their leader insists on attempting the impossible in Ireland, before touching any social reforms of practical utility. Mr. Balfour's speech at St. James' Hall on June 15, 1892, and his election address contained a list of measures which the Conservative party are prepared to bring forward if they are again trusted with power. These measures are: — I.— Reform of registration laws. 2. — As to ground-rents and rales, such an amendment in the law as, without breach of existing contracts, "would bring into the net of taxation, every species of properly which benefits by taxation." 3. — As to labour, "I think that every public body — be it a Town Council, a County Conned, or the State itself— should act towards the labour it employs in. i/ic spirit of the most liberal and the most culightcucd employer 0/ labour, and I rejoxe to ihink that it is under the present Government that that principle has been extended to the administration of our spending department'' 4. — A>i Irish Loeal Go-'enimeiil 7>/7/v\hich shall give to Ireland privileges equal to those possessed by other parts of the United Kingdom, with reasonable safe- guards against an unjust and oppressive use of such privileges. 5. — A continuation and de7\lopiin'nt 0/ that generous and usejul poliey of pubhe 'works (by grants, guarantees, or loans in aid of light railways and other local PARXKIJ. COMMISSIOX. 377 etiterpiises) which has already conferred so much benefit on poor districts in the West of Ireland, a policy which will do more for the permanent prosperity of Ireland than a thousand Tarliaments established in Dublin. 6. — A similar policy in favour of the poor crofters and fshcr/iien living under similar conditions on the west coast of Scotland. 7. — 'is to rarlianu'iitary Kcfonit, if this question be raised, it will be dealt with as a whole, redressing the present inequalities of representation as far as practicable, and redistributing the number of representatives on a more equitable basis among the different constituencies. 8. — As to employers'' liability for injuries to their workmen, a measure founded upon the forthcoming report of the Labour Commission appointed by the present Government, abolishing the anomalies of the existing law and placing the relations of employer and employed upon an equitable footing. 9. — A system of District Councils, as a complement to the County Councils established by the present Government, and extending to smaller areas the principle of local self-government. 10. — Extension, as far as possible, of the oivnership of land, in the hands of small yeomen, in addition to the successful legislation In- the present Government which has already so greatly increased the allotments of land to agiicultural labourers. II. — Sympathetic efforts to save the industrious and sober poor, especially among the iiiral classes, from the rates or the Workhouse, Mhether through the Friendly .Societies, or by co-operation with the Friendly Societies, or by a great extension of private energy and charity, but " by no means excluding State assistance," if it can be given without discouraging thrift or drying up the sources of private benevolence. 12. — An impi-oz'cd system of classification and nianagement in Workhouses, \!y largely extending the area of Workhouse administration, with a view to the better treatment of the industrious, sober, and thrifty but unfortunate poor. 13. — As in the past, so in the future — a continued regard for the maintenance of the law and of individual liberty. 14. — A prudent and courageous conduct of foreign affairs. 15- — Ca7-eful provision for the defences of the Empire. 16. — The State finances ?nanaged again loitir statesmanlike fortheught by the most skilful and successful of living English financers. Here is a sketch of work which, as Mr. Balfour put it, "touches *' every citizen, and especially the labouring- classes, in their " nearest and dearest interests." Appendix XXXIX. PARNELL COMMISSION, FEBRUARY, 1890. The charges brought by the Times newspaper against Mr. Parnell and certain other Irish members of Parliament have been declared by three judges appointed by Parliament under the Special Commission Act, i8SS, to have been proved in the following cases : — • 378 PARNELI. CC^MMISSIOX. PLOTTING SEPARATION. The P.eport states (p. 32) : — That some of the Paniellite Members of Parliament, "together with Mr. Davitt, established and joined in the Land League organisation with the intention by its means to bring about the absolute independence of Ireland as a separate nation, AVe think that this has been established against the following among the respon- eague itself, but for the promotion of the agitation which led up to it. We have also shown that Mr. Davitt returned the money out of his own resources. With regard to the further allegation that he was in close and intimate association with the paity of violence in America, and mainly instrumental in bringing about the alliance between that party and the Parnellite and Home Rule Party in America, we find that he was in such close and intimate association for the purpose of Ijringing about, and that he was mainly instrumental in bringing about the alliance referred to. All which we humuly retort to Your Majesty. JAMES HANNEN. JOHN C. DAY ARCHIBALD L. SMITH. Henry Hardinge Cunvxghame, Ro)al Courts of Justice, I3lh l">bruary, i8gc. [Report, pp. 119— 121, AN APPEAL TO NONCONFORMISTS. 381 Appendix XL. AN APPEAL TO NONCONFORMISTS. The following letter appeared in ''The Times" of July \sf, 1892. Sir, — Having learned that reports are circulated to the effect that I have "recanted my views as to the Union," I beg your permission to say that I should regard such a recantation as a real fall from a testimony faithfully borne. Some of my reasons are as follows : — - The Union is the form of Goz^ernnicnl that dii'ides ns least. This is proved, bctli as to Scotland and Ireland. As between Scot and Scot, also as between Scot and Southern, civil wars never ceased till 40 years after ihe Union. Now for a century and a half war has not been known. As between Irishman and Irishman, also as between Ireland and England, civil wars never ceased till the Union. Then they ceased at once ; and 90 years have passed over without one. Never before of Ireland could that be said ; nor can it be said since the date of the union of France, of Spain or Portugal, of Germany, or even of S\\ itzerland. When compared with the sanguinary battles which, since our Union, the autonomist aspirations of the Parisians have occasioned in that one city, all the broils in Ireland, sometimes called rebellions, have been affairs of local police. This is largely due to the fact that — The Union saves us from two rival Parliaments and two rival Executives. Undo the settlement which secures to us this great deliverance, and conflict not of words only, but of blows, will follow. The Union sai'es 71s front a 7in V 1891. c "S. 'in 1) Assistant. J Built or Rebuilt, g" Restor'd or g- Enlarged. S Bangor ... 226,040 49.727 143 H 140 80 12 24 Llandaff... 603,020 109,871 247 20 247 206 61 55 S. Asaph . . . 268,901 56,865 207 16 107 97 8 26 S. David's 482,24s 99,113 414 31 369 117 28 76 No. ofCle rg-y, 1 89 1 «. J 1458 Income average £180. No. of Cle rg:y, 183 1 • • 700 Income average £221. CHURCH BUILDING AND RESTORATION 1840-1891. FROM Lord Duke of Hampton's Westminster's Return, Return. 1840 — 1S74. 1S74 — 1891. Total. Voluntary Offerings, 1891. Bangor £161,312 + £143,527 = £344.839 £5.767 Llandaflf ... £145,111 + £335-350 = £480,461 £40,727 S. Asaph ... £408,371 + £233,209 = £641,580 £7.044 S. David's ... £374.453 + £415.390 = £789,843 £2,216,723 £31,976 THE CHURCH IN WALES. 387 Confirmations. 1882— 1891. IS9I. 1 . en tn (A tA 1^ Remarks. CU a; 1-1 ■*-» a U -a a u a u Bang-or.. 203 9,070 45 1,466 Llandaff. 439 34,873 59 4,456 S. Asaph f 1880. 4,854 1878-80 426 296 20,394 15 857 r Triennial Confirm- ations. 1876. 4,352 1882. 7,361 S.David's . 1888. ^ 4,655 I89I. 1 5,017 1 890-92 754 460 27,451 62 2,827 ^ 189I. 8,901 Commu- nicants. 1S77. 26,589 1S92. . 39,326 THE WELSH VOTE. At the last General Election in July, 1892, 78,046 persons in "NVelsh counties and boroug-hs voted against Home Rule and disestablishment, and 129,724 voted in favour of those revolu- tionary measures. The former body are only represented in Parliament by three members, and the latter by 31 members. Mr. Asquith, in introducing- the Welsh Suspensory Bill, sneered at the small majorities by which the three Unionist m.embers secured their seats, whereas in fact they represent the views of considerably more than one-third of the total voters of the Prin- cipality. In the face of the above facts, it is very surprising- that the Welsh Radicals should persist in stating that four-fifths of the people of Wales are in favour of disestablishment. It is an assumption which is unsupported by any facts. The results of 388 PAYMENT OF MEMBERS. the last election go very far to prove that the Nonconformists in Wales are very much less than two to one of the population. Counties Boroughs No. of electors voted for Welsh constituencies. Conservatives. Separatis 136,543 71,227 50,997 27,049 85,546 44,178 207,770 78,046 129,724 Thirty-four members for ^\'ales and Monmouth returned — viz., 31 Liberals, 3 Conservatives; ought to be 12 Conserva- tives, 22 Liberals; nine extra Conservatives, equal to 18 on a division, reducing- Gladstonian majority to 24 from 42. Appendix XLIII. PAYMENT OF MEMBERS. l.-COST. The House of Commons contains 670 memibers. If some of these were paid and some were not, an invidious distinction would be at once created. All or none of them would therefore have to be paid. Now in the Republican United States of America each delegate to Congiess is paid £1.000 (5,000 dollars) per annum, besides travelling expenses. In France each deputy is paid about £360 (9,000 francs) per annum, and a free pass to and from his consutuency. If the members of the British House of Commons are to be paid the same sum as American Congressmen, £500 a year, in that case no less than £335,000 yearly will have to be raised by taxation to meet the expense. 2.— IS IT WORTH THE COST? It is said that every other Legislative Assembly in the world has paid members. But that is no argument whatever for adopting the system in England ; for it is the proud boast of Englishnien that their Parliament, in which members serve, not for a livelihood, but from motives of patriotism and honourable ambition, is the best and purest in the world. Why, then, degrade it from this proud pre-eminence ? In the United States politics have become a profession, and so notoriously venal and corrupt that respectable men hold aloof. PAYMENT OF MEMBERS. 389 The Panama Scandals have thrown a lurid light on the i,tale of things I'l the French Chamber. There a large number of Deputies and several Ministers have been convicted of using their political influence in order to obtain bribes from .a Commercial Company, No less than three French ex-Premiers are gravely involved in the Panama Scandal. The corruption in the French Assembly and among French officials is deep and widespread. It is due to the fact that French Deputies are mostly professional politii.ians, that is, most greedy adventureis. The average English member is a man to whom money is of little consideration, and who is not exposed to the temptation to accept a bribe. Do we want a class of professional politicians in England.? Read the opinion of that strong Radical, Mr. J. S. Mill, in his book on '-Representative Government": — 3.— MR. J. S. MILL'S OPINION. "No remuneration which any one would think of attachirg to the post would attract it to those who were seriously en-aged in other lucrative professions with a prospect of succeeding in them. 'J he bitsiiiess of a meviber of Parliament ivoiild tliercjore become an occupation in itself carried on lilce other professions, with a vieio chiefly to its pecuniary returns and under the demoralising influences oj an occupation essentially precarious. It would become an object of desire to adventurers of a low class, and 658 persons in pos-ession, with 10 or 20 times as many in expectancy, would be incessantly bidding to attract or retain the sufirages of the electors, by promising all things, honest or dishonest, possible or impossible, and rivalling each other in pandering to the meanest feelings and most ignorant prejudices of the vulgarest part of the crowd. " 4.— MR. GLADSTONE'S OPINION. On April 5th, 1870, the late Mr. P. A. Taylor asked for leave to introduce a Bill to carry out the principle of paid members. Mr. Gladstone said : — "Is there anywhere, among all the legislative assemblies of all the countries of the world, which, as my hoo. friend has reminded us, are in almost all instances in his favour, though I think we might have found some more in our Colonics against him; bnt admitting that the rule is with him, is it true that those legislative chambers are more distinguished either by laborious service or by conscientious service than this British House of Commons, which is admitted in all countries to stand at the head of the representative assemblies of the world ? IVhat assembly is there that attempts and transacts such an amount of business ? What assembly is there in which not only the official members — who, as my hon. friend says, are paid, and I will go one step further and say, are amply and liberally paid— but also all the other members, without distinction of class, undergo so much personal effort and personal inconvenienee, so much sacrifice of comfort and risk to health, really and truly arising out of the discharge of duty, as is done by the members of this House ? "' On the question of cost, Mr, Gladstone said : — "I am afraid my honourable friend himself threatens a considerably greater aug mentation of the public charge than he allows. 390 PAYMENT OF MEMBERS. " Be that as it may, I contend that the public en;oys the fortunate advantage of having plenty of persons -who are ready to serine it for nothing, and that the public is entitled to the benefit. When there are numbers of well-qualified men ready to give their labour without being paid, why should we go out our of way and insist upon adding to the taxation of the coflntry for the purpose of giving them a payment ? " The motion was lost by 213 votes to 24. In the majority against payment of members were 143 Liberals, including — Brand, Hon. H. (Lord Hampden). Brassey, .Sir T. (Lord Brassey). Bruce, H. A. (Lord Aberdare). Childers, H. C. E. Dillwyn, L. L. Duff, R. W. Gladstone, W. E. Kay-Shuttleworth, Sir U. Lefevre, G. Shaw. McArthur, W. McLagan, Peter. Pease, Sir J. W. Rathbone, "W. Richard, H. Stansfield, James. Stevenson, J. C. Trevelyan, Sir G. O. 5.-ONE OF SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT'S OPINIONS. " One of the strongest of all reasons which had induced the -worhingmen through- out the country not to elect men of their own class was that stronfr common sense and practical knowledge which distinguished them, and which taught them that men in their own class were not the best fitted to carry out the business of representing them in that House. They knew that a man who had to live by weekly wages could not sit morning and evening in that House, and at the same time earn his bread. He could come in only on one condition, and that was as a paid delegate. Once pay a member for his votes collectively and he will very soon make a market for his individual votes." — July 31st, 1871. 6.— A LESSON FROM AUSTRALIA. "Sir Samuel Griffiths (Premier of Queensland) holds that there is reason to believe that there has sprung tip in viatiy parts of Australia a chtss of persons to 7vhom j[2i^O a year is a much greater at7iouni than they could otherwise expect to earn by the exercise of any calling" for which they were naturally fitted, but itho. ivith a fjcultv for talking gliUy. have seized the opportunity of getting" into Parliament and making" a much larger income." — St. James's Gazette, November 2Sth, 1892. 7.-WILL WORKING-MEN MEMBERS BE THEREBY INCREASED? Experience teaches the contrary. When there is a working" man of striking political ability and force of character he generally can make his way into the Hou^e of Commons without the taxpayers' money. But payment of members does not seem to increase his chance. Here is what Mr. Bryce, M.P. (a member of Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet, and the author of the standard work on America) says of the system of salaried legislators in the United States : — "// contributes to keep up a class of professional politicians ; for the salary, though LOCAL VETO BILL. 391 small compared with the incomes earned by successful merchants or lawyers, is a prize to men of the class whence professional politicians usually come. On the other hand, the benefit which the English advocates of paid legislature dilate on, viz. : the iiitrodiictio/i oj a large number oj representative working men, has hitherto been little desired and noioise secured. Few such persons appear as candidates in America, and until recently the working class has not deemed itself, nor acted, as a special body with special interests." — The American Commonwealth, I., 259. And again : — "In Victoria (Australia) members of the popular House receive a salary of ^300 a year. I understand that this has had, so far, no considerable effect in enabling working men to enter the assembly." — Id., p. 261. The only effect of paying- members of Parliament would be to increase the class of needy, self-advertising-, loquacious members, who would take up politics as a profession, in order to make money out of politics. Such a class may benefit themselves, but they are fatal to their country. Appendix XLIV. THE LOCAL VETO BILL. Of all the monstrous measures which the Government have introduced, that for establishing- Local Option and the Direct Veto is the most absurd. Tne Bill is tyrannical and unjust. It enables two-thirds of the voters in any local area to decide that every public-house within that area shall be closed after three years, without any compensation. DOWNRIGHT CONFISCAIION. The present owners of public-houses and the holders of licenses have given, in many cases, thousands of pounds for their property in the trade, which has been carried on for many years by the direct sanction of Parliament and under Acts of Parliament. Local Veto without compensation simply means wholesale confiscation. The three years' g-race is practicallv" worthless. It only e.xtends to three years from the passing- of the Act. In any district in which the veto is passed two years or more after the passing- of the Act, only one year's grace will be allowed. Let us take the case of a public-house which has cost £5,000. If the Veto be passed in a parish where that public-house is situated, can any sane man suppose that the owner of the house, or the holder of a license would get £500 for his property, even in consideration of the three years' delay .' NO PRECEDENT. The Irish Land Act of 18S1, which, in the end, reduced the incomes of Irish landowners by an average of some 20 per cent., though it was very unjust, still had a theory of principle at its 392 LOCAL VETO BILL. bark. The reduction of the rents of the Irish landowners without compensation was nominally based on the fact that the value of as^ricultural produce had greatly fallen since the rents were fixed The present attack upon the licensed trades is a great step, and a very pernicious one beyond that, in the downward road of wholesale confiscation. It is not too much to say that, wherever local option is put into practice and the direct veto is carried out. at least 75 per cent of the capital value of the public-houses and their licenses will be utterly wiped out and destroyed, This is confiscation pure and simple. Nothing like it has ever before been proposed by any British Ministry. If the direct veto were universally carried out throughout the country without compensation, property to the amount of over £100,000,000 would be destroyed ; and some 2,000,000 persons,- who at present obtain their living through the licensed trades, would be thrown upon the rates. LOSS OF REVENUE. Besides this, the excise levied upon beer and spirits contributes over £25,000,000 to the national revenue. If the licensed trade be destroyed, the greater part of this revenue would be lost. From what interest or what class is this lost revenue to be raised? ONE LAW FOR THE RICH, ANOTHER FOR THE POOR. This measure is most unjust to ihe working man. It would deprive him of the ])ower to get his beer fresh and good when he wants it. The wealthier classes can keep their cellars well stocked with wine and beer at all times ready for use. The poor man and his family and lodgers are absolutely dependent for their refresh- ment upon the public-house. The more devoted to drink a locality may be, the less likely would it be to secure the majority necessary for the local veto under this Bill. Therefore the more sober localities, which need the Bill the least, would suffer under its provisions. One effect of the measure would be that in a wealthy neighbourhood where the rich inhabitants would be supplied with refreshment out of their own cellars and clubs, they could vote to close all public- houses in their district. The result would be that workmen, cabmen and others employed in the district would be deprived of their necessary refreshment. METHODS UNWORKABLE. Moreover, the area chosen for the exercise of the vote upon Local Option is ridiculously small, and must lead to the utmost inequalities and complications. In the counties that area is to be LOCAL VETO BILL. 393 the parish ; in small boroug-hs, the boroug-h ; and in larger boroug-hs, the wards. In London it is to be the area of the sanitary authority or parish. How utterly absurd will be the results produced ! In the counties, one parish, numbering- say 1,000 inhabitants, would perhaps have 200 voters under Sir William Harcourt's Bill. One-tenth, that is, twenty voters, will be able to demand a poll. Perhaps 150 electors will record their votes. Let us assume that loi vote for the direct veto, and 49 ag-ainst it. The veto would then be carried by a majority of two- thirds ; for two-thirds of those who vote, and not two-thirds of the total electorate, are all that are required to carry the local veto. The result will be that 10 1 electors will be able, out of a population of 1,000 people, to shut up every public house in the parish, and impose their will upon the 899 other inhabitants: GROSS INEQUALITIES. But that is not all. Some, at least, of the neig-hbouring- parishes, are certain to reject the veto. Their public-houses will, in consequence, remain open. All the inhabitants of those parishes where the direct veto has been carried into effect will simply walk across the boundary into the parishes where the veto has been negatived, and drink as as much as they please. Publicans and brewers in the parishes where the veto has been adopted will be ruined Those in the parishes where the veto has been refused will drive a double trade, and make their fortunes with g-reat rapidity. Or, take the case of London. Let us suppose that Marylebone and Kensington adopt the direct veto, and that Paddington and Chelsea reject it. Can anything- exceed the preposterous absurdity of the results that will follow ? Every inhabitant of Marylebone and Kensing-ton who wishes to obtain drink will simply walk into Paddington or Chelsea and g-et as much as he wants. Publicans in Marylebone and Kensing-ton will be ruined ; those in Paddington and Chelsea will have an increased and splendid trade. Sunday closing- may be set up by much the same process within the same local areas, with the exception that a bare majority of those voting; is sufficient to carry it, and that it will come into operation immediately. ENDLESS DISCORD. A measure of this kind is bound to lead to wholesale inequality and corruption. The injustice, the inconsistency, and the utter absurdity of such a system as this cannot be exaggerated. Is it to be supposed that the licensing trades will submit without a strug-gle to have their property ruined .'' A fresh poll can be taken every three years, and it is certain. 394 LOCAL VETO BILL. that the greatest possible efforts will be made by the licensed trades to reverse the veto, which means absolute ruin to them. The law may be as stringent as possible, but when a man's whole fortune depends upon the popular vote, it is quite certain that no regulations will deter that man from trying to save his property even at great personal risk. The battle would be fought out with tremendous tenacity in every parish, and in every borough and ward in England. It would divide the population into two hostile camps throughout the land. Parish would be set against parish, and the teetotalers and anti-teetotalers within every parish would be at deadly feud. A more mischievous, unjust, and disturbing- measure has never been introduced into Parliament. "CADGING" FOR VOTES. The Local Veto Bill has been introduced to satisfy the fanatical temperance supporters of the Government. It is part of the general system of "cadging" for votes amongst all the crotcheteers and fanatics of the electorate, which is the only policy of Mr. Gladstone's present Government. The unity of the kingdom and the integrity of the empire are to be sacrificed to the votes of the Irish rebels. The Church in Wales is to be destroyed, and a grave blow aimed at the Church in England, in order to get the votes of the Welsh disestablishers. The same bribe is being offered to those opposed to the Church Establishment in Scotland. The independence of Members of Parliament, and the superior character of British legislators are to be undermined in order to satisfy Gladstonian carpet-bag- adventurers who desire to be paid Members of Parliament. The influence of the more educated classes, the more industrious and the more stable of our working men, is to be overthrown, in order that the " shifters " and the idle may, by a ridiculously short term of residence, obtain the franchise and swamp their superior fellow- workmen. All these schemes have one aim, and one only — to sweep into the Gladstonian net every possible class of voter, and to create fresh masses of electors in order that Mr. Gladstone's Govern- ment may by their inexperience and prejudices be kept in office. era! sted On 00 rar- nellite Vote. Pi 1 1 1 ON ON CJN ON VO VO ES POLLED, 1874-1892. contested constituencies at the last five Gen eutralised by the large number of unconte .2 tiiii , ■ 12! M 1 1 VO ro VO On On cT rO Tj- i 10 VO VO ' ON VO 1 ■« . Ts " £ ■" , 2'^> U5 1— 1 ^4 ir> IT) 't t *^ 1 ro d\ oo" 1 \0 Tl- ' VO 1-1 N M On p ro Tj- VO rh 1 t^ VO M ro M ro ON VO 1-1 1 t^ ro ro 1-^ rT vo~ VO WD VO t~~ N 00 00 i-i .2 ■s; ii 1 • 1-1 ^ 1 1 ro -1- vo r^ CO I^ VO (f- On Cn • Ov ro VO T}- 00 N 00 ii ro r^ ro 1 ON VO 00 1 ON 1-1 VO i-i R OF VOT 'otes polled in e very much n - a ij s N Ov r^ CO VO Cv I^ CO N CO CO ON I-T ro vo" tF VO rO N N CO N 11 ro § 1 u > d « VO f 01 ON VO t^ W C ■# -if ro " CO M VO r- 00 •) On N t^ Appendix.— XLV. ELECTORAL STATISTiCS.-NUMBE The following- return gives approximately the number of \ Elections. Its value for purposes of comparison is of cours Elections, especially in 1886. 00 00 2 'S ii , ^ M 1 VO 00 CN r^ vd cf; ON On a ^ 1 >A VO T- OV T ro T- t^ C On -^ 00 VC vcT VO ro C ro CO c< 1- 1 N ^ VO Cn VO ■i VO pf • 00 CO On vC 1-1 ON CO - l~-. M VO VC On t-^ vd" 1- On vO VO - VO _ ». > 1-1 M VO ro o> o" CO 00 1-1 14 ^ 1 • cs r^ CO c/: CO ro N C N 00 1- rO « t^ VC 00 HI VO 00 ' d Tj- vO vC r) ro ro l~ ■ VO VO VO -> >-r -1 CO CO 00 1^ VO -^ vO •- p) tJ- VO V( 'S- vO « r^ 00" 'f vc VO CO 00 vc 10 -> 00 ro VO VO u > ' d vO VO M C vO t^ P- On Tj- 00 r vd" r^ cT v< VO M VO vy VO =. o~ VO a a W a. C c C r 1— 396 ELECTORAL STATISTICS. STATE OF PARTIES. 1st AUGUST, 1892. t England — Counties . Boroughs Wales — Counties . Boroughs Scotland — Counties . Burghs . , Ireland — Counties ., Conserva- tives. 114 117 Boroughs Universities . Liberal Unionists. 17 14 Glad- stonian Liberals & Labour. 7 2 13 4 8 Total. 5 6 2 2 I 267 47 102 93 19 9 26 23 National- ists. 272 Pamellite National- ists. 63 6 5 4 70 t Five Vacancies — N.E. Cork, Walsall E. Aberdeenshire, Hexham Div. of Northumberland, and S. Meath. PARTY GAINS AND LOSSES.-1886-1892. State of Parties Cons. Lib. Union- ist. Gl. Lib. and Labour. Nationalist After General Election of 1886... Before do. do. 1892... After 1 2th August, 1892 March 22nd, 1893 316 304 267 78 66 47 4 47 191 214 272 85 86 9 Parnellites 70 Anti-Parnellites 31 267 275 V 351 (5 vacancies) 9 Parnellites 72 Anti-Parnellites 314 356 ELECTORAL STATISTICS. IRISH COUNTIES. 397 • Poll. Name of Constituency, d "3 > . c 6 V i S S < b "3 'c? <5 '•J 1 Antrim, North 5i>o56 9.035 4,666 2,027 . 2,539 ,, South 5o,«75 10479 Unopp. — — — Mid 50.197 8,081 ., — — — ,, East 51.772 8,724 >> — — — • Armagh, North 48,455 10,153 ,. — — — ,, Mid 45.873 7.470 " — — — ,, South 43,143 7.523 2,242 3.439 59 1,197 Carlow 40,899 6,874 813 3.738 — 2,925 Cavan, East... 53.920 9,606 1,360 6,024 — 4,664 ,, West 57,750 10,856 1,967 6,475 — 4,508 Clare, West 62,518 11,077 — 2,871 3,878 1,001 ,, East 61,341 11,198 — '■ 2,868 3,314 446 Cork County, North 48,917 9,008 — Unopp. — — ,, North-East... 49,837 8,781 — .. — — Mid ... 4'J,594 9,9''5 — .. — — East... 49,284 6,993 — '■ )) — — West 50,186 5,854 329 3,155 2,826 ,, South 46,269 8,738 — • Unopp. — ,, South-East... 45.663 10,602 692 4,109 — 3,418 Donegal, East 45.459 7.051 2,783 3.546 — 763 ,, North 46,379 6,965 — 3.819 1,108 2,711 ,, South 46,442 6,710 1,400 3.930 — 2,530 „ West 46,931 5.279 — Unopp. — Down, East 52,270 8,757 Unopp. — — — ,, North 54,114 9,306 ,. — — — ,, South 51.771 9,342 3.636 4,207 42 571 „ West 50.731 10,568 Unopp. — Dublin County, North 75.097 11,400 1,648 '2,727 4.037 2,389 ,, South 75,118 10.388 4,371 1.452 2,261 2,110 ,, (University) — 4.352 2,188 — — 1,291 >) j» ••• ■ ■ 1,609 897 — 712 Fermanagh, North 37,756 5.937 2,879 2,562 — 317 ,, South ... 36,281 5,788 2,320 2,941 — 621 Galway, Connemara 50,362 6,815 — • 2,637 598 2,039 East 48,939 8,034 — - 4,456 974 3.482 ,, North 51,902 8,328 — • 1,651 2,040 399 ,, South 46, 1 1 1 6,708 — - 2,623 1,411 1,212 Kerry, East ... 44,048 5.885 253 2,600 2,347 ,, North 43.559 5,855 2;828 776 1,052 ,, South 45.498 3.686 86 2,096 225 1.871 „ West 45,814 6,336 42 2,461 1. 135 1,326 Kildare, North South ". - - 32,191 "7 T/xn 5,901 5.973 '2,153 2,642 1,707 1,446 J, .JULIIII • .V ... 37.797 9^75 398 ELECTORAL STATISTICS. , .2 (2 5 Poll. Name of Constituency. > fcS.2 6 11 c § U rt cl PL, Kilkenny, North 35.804 5,879 314 2,898 _ 584 ,, South 38,027 6,385 253 3.346 3,093 King's County, Birr 33,846 5,253 670 3.329 2,659 ,, Tullamore... 31,562 5-295 — Unopp. Leitrim, North 40,585 6,692 645 4,510 3.865 ,, South 37,794 6,253 516 4,271 3.755 Limerick County, East 56,763 7,118 — 3.257 858 2,399 West ... 55.891 8,144 — 2,903 1. 1 74 1,729 Londonderry County, North 59,788 11,443 5.490 2,300 3.190 South 58,985 9.30S 4,554 4,053 — 501 Longford, North 26,902 4.589 203 2,741 — ■ 2.538 ,, South 25,651 4,614 347 2,544 — 2,197 Louth, North 35,536 5.534 — 2,268 *i,569 699 ,, South 33,316 5,418 — 2,451 1,126 1,335 Mayo, East 52,639 6,387 — 2,621 257 2,364 „ North 52,830 6,860 — 2,3" 1,472 839 ,, South 56,398 9.723 — Unopp. „ West 56,539 10,644 — 3.456 *6o9 2,847 Meath, North 39,394 5.990 — 2,549 2,146 403 ,, South 37,222 6,538 — 2,212 2,129 93 Monaghan, North ... 43,479 7,047 2,230 3.697 — 1,467 ,, South 42,610 7,120 1,007 4,243 — 3.136 Queen's County, Ossory ... 32,503 7,007 523 3,666 — 3.143 Leix 32,136 6,288 513 3.261 — 2,748 Roscommon, North 56,394 9,730 — 3.250 3.198 52 ,, South 57,800 9.417 — 2,244 3.815 1. 571 Sligo, North 48,458 8,992 958 4,216 — 3.256 ,, South 49,880 8,055 548 5.490 — 4,842 Tipperary, East 44,751 6,180 — - 2,998 891 2,107 ,, Mid 45,208 7,596 346 3,284 887 2,397 ,, North 43,009 7,029 462 4,064 — 3,602 ,, South 39,914 5.964 — 2,571 773 1,798 Tyrone, East 44,730 7,188 3.222 3,430 — 108 ,, Mid 43,221 7,678 2,698 3.667 123 979 ,, North 42,412 6,481 3.045 2,996 — 49 ., South Waterford County, East ... 40,915 7,070 3.468 3.096 — 372 33,072 6,411 — 2.552 1,042 1,510 West ... 37,435 6,667 — Unopp. — — Westmeath, Isorth 33.715 5,347 2,878 379 2,499 ,, South 31.313 5.304 — 2,523 1,076 1,447 Wexford, North 55.465 9,890 859 5.732 — 4,873 ,, South 56,071 9,872 354 5,104 — 4.750 Wicklow, West 30,710 4,853 784 2,582 546 1.798 ,, East 31,224 4.583 1,225 1.433 1,115 20S * Independent. REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. IRISH BOROUGHS. 399 c .2 "3 o B , — „ West 61,548 8,334 4,316 3.427 ■ — - 839 ,, North 67,494 8,610 Unopp. — ■ Cork, City 96,891 10,276 — 5,273 4,759 3,186 3,077 2,087 1,682 Dublin City, College Green 70,972 6,781 1,441 1,116 2,568 1,127 ,, „ Harbour 69,723 11,370 — 1,376 4,482 3,106 ,, St.Stephen'sGn. 73,167 8,284 2,893 615 2,878 1,997 ,, St. Patrick's ... 65,034 7,261 1,096 3,693 15 Galway 16,942 1,909 — 644 593 51 Kilkenny 13,323 1,803 — 744 604 140 Limerick, City 45,909 5,084 — 1,878 1,490 388 Londonderry ... 32,893 3,161 1,986 1,960 — 26 Newry 13,605 1,847 744 907 54 853 Waterford ... 27,623 3,974 "■ 1,248 1,638 390 The Ulster Counties are Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone, with a total population of 1,617,877. The total poll at the General Election of 1S93 was 237,993, of which 126,884 ^'^s Unionist, and 1 11, 109 Nationalist. Appendix XLVI. REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS, The Loyalists of Ireland are acting' in a way which must convince the most blind partisan of " Home Rule " that ihey are intensely earnest and determined in their resolve not to submit to a separate Irish Parliament. The Irish Loyalists number over a million and a half of the Irish people. They are satisfied with the Union. They trust in the impartiality and justice of the Imperial Parliament. They ask for no chang-e. They feel that the liberty they enjoy, both civil and religious, and the security they possess for person and property under the Union Jack, would be hopelessly lost under a Parliament controlled by men like Mr. T. Healy, Mr. William O'Brien, Mr. Sexton, and Mr. John Dillon, and under the supreme dictation of an ambitious and unscrupulous Prelate like Archbishop Walsh. B B 400 REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. Every section and every creed of Loyalists have already pronounced the most emphatic and unequivocal protests against' Mr. Gladstone's' Bill. Episcopalians and Wesleyans. Presby- terians and Congregationalists, are all unanimous and united in their denunciation of a separate Parliament and of its con- sequences. The Roman Catholic Loyalists have spoken with as much fervour against the Bill. The gravest news comes from Ulster. The whole Protestant population is arming and ready to take the field with rifles in h'and, rather than submit to a separate Parliament at Dublin. Mr-. Gladstone refuses to listen to, or even to read, the accounts of the indignant resistance of Irish loyalists. The crisis is the gravest that has faced the country for many years. ALL ULSTER ENROLLED.. The most striking and practical evidence of the fixed resolution of the Loyalists of Ulster never to accept "Home Rule" is shown in the organisation which is now being formed by the Ulster Defence Union. A Manifesto was issued on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, to the Loyal People of Ulster, and signed by the Duke of Abenorn, the Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Erne, Lord Arthur Hill, Colonel Saunderson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Derry, Messrs. T. Andrews, A. Duffin, and T. Sinclair, and dated from Belfast. It says : — "Fellow-countrymen, — A crisis has arisen, the gravity of which cannot be over-estimated. Our liberties, our fortunes, and the tuture of our country are in danger. We must be prepared for every eventuality An organisation is called for, invested by your direct authority, not to continue merely the struggle for the Legislative Union, but to be i-tady in your name to meet any eoniingency that may arise. The knowledge that your interests are being watched over, and your policy directed by an organisation composed of men, chosen by yourselves, on whose loyality and sagacity you can rely, will serve to allay undue excitement and to check any disorderly outbreak of popular feeling. . . . The first and most important step towards forming a representative organisation is that all Unionists should enrol as members of the 'Ulster Defence Union.' The only qualification required is that they be full grown men, and ihe only pledge one of fidelity to the Legislative Union as it exists. Each polling district tvill select delegates from enrolled Unionists to represent it on a Central Assembly. This assembly shall consist of 600 delegates, who, in their turn, will select a Council of 40, exclusive of the Ulster Unionist representatives in both Houses of Parliament, who will be ex-officio members. This Council will have power to regulate its own procedure and from time to time to summon the Central Assembly as occasion may require. Steps will be taken at an early date to establish the necessary electoral system. Meanwhile be patient, enrol, combine." The remainder of the manifesto is addressed " To our fellow Loyalists in the other provinces of Ireland," and describes the plan of organisation of the Ulster Defence Union as above. By this organisation every able-bodied Loyalist in Ulster will be enrolled and organised, ready to demonstrate, and, if need be, to fight. REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 401 Ulster will have a completely representative Parliament of its own, ready to defend the Union to the death. ULSTER ARMING. The temper of the Ulster Loyalists is well described by the special correspondent of the Daily Tclti^raph, on March 13th. He g-ave a picture of the situation in Ireland which must be most disquieting- to Mr. Gladstone and his friends. With regard to the attitude of Ulster, on which the Radicals have been heaping" ridicule, the correspondent says: — "It need not be a matter for astonishment in England if, before the end of the year, Ulster alone is able to place 100,000 armed men in tlie field. Of course, she could not maintain them more than six weeks; but that would be long enough to do almost irreparable mischief to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Believe me in this matter I am no alarmist, neither am I a novice in such issues. The indica- tions are all too serious to be ignored or shuffled into the background. I am sure mere words will not persuade these Irish Protestants to lay down their arms, and the fat would indeed be in the fire were the task left to an Irish Parliamentary force. 'There are the constabulary and the soldiers.' Yes, but my duty is to warn the public that to-day the constabulary are discontented and Mr. Morley will never be able to exact from them again that splendid discipline which they formerly displayed at Belfast. The news I have to impart is that nearly half that magnificent body are 'out of humour ' at the turn of events. 'But there are the troops to fall back on ; the rank-and-file of the six battalions here, many of whom I have conversed with, will not, of course, adopt French tactics and fraternise with the people. Still, 'what can we do,' they have said to me, 'if we are sent to fire on people singing "Ciod Save the Queen" ?' Englishmen must reckon up these contingencies as soon as they can. I am sure that if the measure is carried they must be faced. ' It is as certain as to-morrow's sun will rise that if ever Gladstone's Home Rule Bill were to pass into law, the tocsin would sound in Ulster, Munster, and Leinster to stand to arms.' These are the actual words a distinguished public man and an old acquaintance made use of to-day in replying to my question as to whether the Irish Unionists would not quietly accept the inevitable, should the measure for the future Government of Ireland be carried in Parliament. The same opinion of the situation has been conveyed to me, though differently worded, by working men, employers of labour, professional men, and eminent officials. "Every day the Unionist press has columns of notices of meetings, all breathing the same spirit, throughout the length and breadth of the four provinces. In such apparently lost districts to ' Unionism ' as Cork and IVaier/'ord, tJie cry of ^united people, united Parliament'' lias gathered siicli force thai large assemblages have met and recorded their protest against the Bill. On Tuesday in Waterford there was an enthusiastic meeting, when the measure was condemned and money liberally voted to perfect organised opposition. Since the opening of subscriptions in Dublin, now a little over two weeks ago, a sum of ;^i 2,000 has, I learn, been subscribed in the Irish capital. There is no reason to doubt the prognostications of the local opponents of Home Rule when they declare \.\va\.tTG\ongthey will haz'c a chest, to be used for the dissemination of information, of not less than £jO,ooo. Compared with what Ireland has subscribed towards the Home Rule agitation, the amount and spontaneity of the fund sent in to defeat the Gladstonian measure are startling and significant. "I attended a 'No Home Rule' meeting in Newry on Monday night, and had excellent opportunities afforded me of judging of the tone and temper of that part oi Ulster. I stayed long enough in the town to learn that the majority of the men are B B2 402 REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. .organised into chths or lodges, and that they have already possessed themselves o no inconsiderable number of Snider rijles. Not only in Newry is this the case, but in the surrounding district. One small place not loo miles otf has, I was assured, a store of over 200 rifles." THE ROMAN CATHOLIC LOYALISTS. A very large gathering of Roman Catholics was held in Dublin on March loth, to protest against the Bill. In the south and west of Ireland, especially in Cork, Limerick andWaterford, many Roman Catholics have joined with the Protestants in con- demning the measure. The following address has been issued by a large number of leading Irish Catholics "To our fellow Roman Catholics in Ireland".— "As a false impression has been created that the contest upon the Home Rule Bill is, in reality, a contest between only a Roman Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, we have thought it right, in order to make our position clear, that Irish Roman Catholic Unionists should have an opportunity of joining in a separate and distinct petition to Parliament against the Bill. While deprecating certain anti-Catholic utterances to which the excitement of the occasion may have given rise, we are, so far as our objections to Home Rule rest upon purely secular considerations, heartily in accord with our fellow-Unionists. More than this, we believe that Home Rule, if imposed upon Ireland would, under the peculiar conditions of the countiy, foster a revolutionary spirit disastrous to the true interests of our religion. We therefore invite our fellow Roman Catholics in Ireland to join us in signing the petition, a copy of which is appended to this letter." The signatures to the foregoing are about filty in number, and include those of Lords Fingall, Kenmare, Louth, Emly, De Freyne, and Westmeath, Count de la Poer, Sir H. Grattan Bellew, Captain Ross of Bladensburg. Mr. Daniel O'Connell (a nephew of "the Liberator"), Dr. Cruise, Sir Stephen de Vera, Colonel Dease (ex-Governor of the Bank of Ireland), Sir Percy Grace, Mr. Kenny, QC, M.P., Sir Richard Martin (chairman of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce), Sir Maurice O'Connell. and Mr. Piers F. White, Q.C. Over 12,000 persons of all classes and creeds have signed petitions against the Bill in the City of Cork. THE CHURCH OF IRELAND. The Church of Ireland, numbering 630,000 members, has sent a protest signed by the Archbishop of Armagh (Primate), by the Archbishop of Dublin, seven Bishops, and some 15,000 select vestrymen, the popularly elected representatives of the whole body of lay members of the Irish Church. There were only about 30 dissentients in the whole Church of Ireland. The venerable and eloquent Bishop Alexander also made a REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 4=3 remarkable speech against the Bill, of which the following is an extract : — " It is not the voices of the Episcopalians or the Orangemen, or the squires, or of Ulster ; it is not the voices of Protestantism alone ; it is the exceeding great and bitter cry of civilized humanity. (Cheers.) It is the voice of the English settlers, it is the voice of the Scotch settlers who were deluded into coming over to Ireland. It is the voice of earnest Roman Catholics. It is not a ' No Popery ' cry. (Hear, hear.) If it were a 'No Popery' cry I for one would not stand upon this platform. (Cheers.) There are many earnest and noble-minded Roman Catholics to whom I could trust anything (cheers) ; there are many of them whom I love. (Hear, hear. ) They have prayed for me and I have prayed for them, and one word disrespectul of them I never will utter. (Cheers.) But I tell you what it is. It is the voice of 630,000 Churchmen, with some 20 or 30 exceptions ; it is the voice of aVwut 550,000 Presbyterians and other forms of Protestantism (cheers), and amongst them are multitudes of men who, I know, were Mr. Gladstone's warmest adherants up to the last general election. (Hear, hear.) It is the voice of trade, it is the voice of commerce, it is the voice of capiital, it is the voice of their great seat of learning — it is the voice of all that think and work. (Cheers.) People in England talk about the fanatics of Belfast ; but are the men of Ulster fanatics? ('No, no.') I have spoken to these men, and I will tell the reason why they hate the Bill. They know the value of trade, they know the character of the men who employ so many looms, and who have launched u]3on the sea vessels like the iL'rtyVj//(- and the Tiutonic. ^Cheers.) They know what the meaning of capital is — that it does not only mean the storage of money, but that it means intellect (hear, hear), and they know that, as surely as the glass falls before the storm, so surely capital will leave Ulster, and misery will come to them and theirs — that they will not have employment, and will be forced to go elsewhere to seek for it. (Hear, hear.) They know that the shrinkage of capital is the star- vation of labour. (Cheers. ) I am astonished lately jjy one discovery. I know that there are in the Liberal party many political land-grabbers who would care a sick country by bloodletting and superabundant doses of hot water ; but I did not know that there are humanitarians who would not shed one drop of blood for the honour of the Empire, but who are willing to flood all Ulster with blood : and if they goad on the spirits of young and fiery youths, and drive them to excesses, and the troops of the Queen are compelled to fire on them, any drop of blood that is shed will be upon the head of England (hear, hear), and all the water of all the seas upon which her navies ride will never wash away the stain. (Cheers.) As for those who sneer at the anger of Ulster they are very witty indeed in laughing at her piety, but a common danger makes men pray in common. ' (Hear, hear.) I should have thought that this descendant of the Puritan was the last man who would have laughed at psalm singing. Our fathers once in England showed what these psalm-singing men could do. I believe that such Nonconformist as Dr. Clifford, who are against us, are led astray by applying the analogies of English political parties to polilitical parties in this countiy. (Hear, hear.) Amongst Celtic politicians there is no disposition to give and take, and to secure a decent Conservative minority would, under any circumstances, be a hard thing ; but the Bill intensifies the difficulty and swells it out into i.npossibility. (Hear, hear.) It amounts to gerrymandering. It drew mendacious maps. The political victim is strapped down tightly by both his arms and both his legs, and then put on the table, and a pitch plas'.er clapped over his mouth. "I would say to my Nonconformist friends, if I could address them, ' Mr Gladstone comes before you with the biggest bribe in his right hand that ever was offered to the sons of men.' But then they may say, ' Ireland blocks the way, and until we have settled matters we cannot expect the disendowment. ' It is a terrible price to pay — the agony of your kith and kin and ruin to the Empire. If the Bill comes into force every man in his senses acquainted with Ireland knows that the voluntary churches in that country will be wiped out. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Gladstone 404 ■ REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOVAIJSTS. would cut down the Upas tree of an old ascendancy, and now plant a new ascendancy. (Hear, hear.) Can inconsistency go beyond this? (Cheers.) I would say to all thinking men in the United Kingdom, and especially to the Nonconformists, ' Help us, help us, as the friends of liberty in the past, and as the friends of purity of election.' I would put it on another footing. I have none of the aiiy asceticism of the late convert to temperance, .Sir William Harcourt. (Laughter.) But as .friends of temperance I call on them to help us in the work. (Hear, hear.) The Bill staggers under whisky in its financial proposals. (Hear, hear.) It stinks of whisky, and the snake bite of the national bankruptcy has to be doctored by doses of national drunkenness. (Cheers.) Terrible and dark will be the shadow of their shame if the great betrayal should be accomplished. The great betrayal would be followed by a great fall, the fall of an FJmpire, and the isles would shake with the sound of it. (Cheers.) The Archbishop of Armag-h, Primate of the Irish Church, said in his speech on March r4th : — "It would be far better to call it a Bill to suppress the Protestant Faith (hear, hear) ; a Bill to subjugate this country to Papal dictation ; and he ventured to say that no one in that vast assembly would be able to fathom the dangers which it contained. In the first place, // would check a// progress in Ireland — social, moral and commercial — for very many years ; secondly, it would suppress the right of civil and religious lil)erly, rendering it intolerable for their poor Protestant-scattered congregations in the South and West to exist there ; thirdly, it would violate the rights of property, whether private or public, or even corporate ; and he thought the storm would break first over the head of their honoured University. (Hear, hear.) It would set up in three provinces of Ireland Roman Catholic ascendancy, and he ventured to think that enlightened Roman Catholics would object to that quite as much as Protestants would. (Hear, hear.) Besides all this, the Bill itself was bristling with dangers to the Empire at large, of Ireland in particular, and to their own dear Church. .Surely, then, it was the duty of that great assembly, representing the voice of the Church of Ireland, to enter their solemn protest against it. (Hear, hear.) It was the duty of every loyal man to use every legiti- mate means to prevent it passing into law." THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The Irish Presbyterians, who number 550,000, have protested with not less unanimity. A meeting' of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church took place in Belfast on March 15th. "to consider the dangers by which our civil and religious liberties are menaced by pro- posed legislation, and to deterniine what action should be taken thereon."' The attendance was exceedingly large, clerical and ay members being present from the most remote parts of the country. The Moderator, the Rev. R. M. Edgar, presided. The Rev. Dr. Petticrew proposed the following resolutions, which were carried : — " (i) That we declare anew our devoted loyalty to the person and Throne of Her gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. " (2) That we re-affirm our strong attachment to the Constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and express our determination to resist ever}' attempt to destroy the legislative union at present existing, and our firm resolve to maintain unimpaired for ourselves and our children the heritage of citizenship which we now enjoy. We protest against any proposal to thrust us REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS 405 out from the protection of the Imperial Legislature in violation of repeated assurances that the liberties and interests of the Protestant minority were safe in the hands of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. " (3) That, having carefullye xaminedthe measure at present before Parliament, entitled, "A Bill to amend the Provisions for the lietter Government of Ireland," we are amazed at its revolutionary character, and streuously oppose its enactment by the Legislature for the following among other reasons : — (a) Because the measure seriously imperils our civil and religious liberties, inasmuch as it would deprive us of the protection of the Imperial Parliament and Government under which our persons and property are safe, and our religious freedom is secure, and '•jould force ii*iott lis instiad an Irish Legislature and Executive controlLd by men declared to be 'marching Cit rough rapine to the dismemberment oj the Empire,'' whom a Special Commission found to be 'guilty of a criminal conspiracy,' and who have supported, and still attempt to justify, the iniquitous and criminal organization of the Land League, the Plan of Campaign, and the system of boycotting, (b) Because the provisions which the Bill contains for the protection of minorities against mis- government and sectarian domination are illusoiy in themselves, and would be incapable of application in the face of a hostile majority. In the opinion of the Assembly no securities can be devised which would safeguard the rights and privileges of minorities under an Irish Legislature as they are safeguarded under the Imperial Parliament, (f) Because the Bill proposes momentous changes in the Constitution of the United Kingdom, to which changes the Protestants of all the Churches, and many Roman Catholics, comprising over a third of the popula- tion of Ireland and rej^resenting the intelligence, education, wealth, and industry of the counliy, are determinedly hostile. " (4) That the Assembly is strongly of opinion that the land question has long laid at the root of Irish discontent, and that the time has come for the abolition of dual ownership, which only the Imperial Parliament can with justice effect. " (5) That the General Assembly earnestly exhorts the members of the Presby- terian Church to continue to cultivate forbearance, peace, and goodwill toward their fellow-countrymen, of evei-y class and creed, and to exhibit calmness and patient reliance upon the Most High in the present eventful crisis. " (6) That the Assembly recommends that in all churches Sabbatli, the 26th day of March, be observed as a day of humiliation and prayer, when we shall confess- our sins and entreat the Most High to avert the dangers ivith which the Church and the country are at present threatened, and to extend His kingdom throughout the land. " (7) That copies of these resolutions, signed in the name of the Assembly by the Moderator and the clerk, be transmitted to Her Majesty the Queen, the Lord I^ieutenant of Ireland, the Piime Minister, the Chief Secretary, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Duke of Devonshire, Mr. A. J. lialfcur, M. P., and Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P. " (8) That a petition embodying the resolutions, and similarly signed, be presented to both Houses of Parliament, and that the committee on the state of the country be empowered to send deputations to wait upon the Prime Minister and on other members of the legislature, and to send speakers to address public meetings ia Great Britain." The resolutions were put and carried unanimously. A scene of the g-reatest excitement follovxed the declaration of the Mode- rator to this effect. The members began running- up and down the aisles of the church shouting against Home Rule, and then the whole of the assembly sang the National Anthem with much fervour, an incident very unusual in a Presbyterian church. 4o6 REVOLT OF THE IRISH I>OYALISTS. THE METHODIST CHURCH. The Irish Methodists have shewn themselves not less deter- mined against a separate Parliament. " The Committee of Privileges of the Methodist Church in Ireland, representing the conference in the interval of its sessions, recently met in the Centenary Church, St. Stephen's Green, and passed a series of resolutions condemning the Home Rule Bill, and setting forth, among other things, that the Bill, if it became law, would be a fruitful occasion of distressing discord and strife ; that the relitpous equality ncnv happily subsisting zvoiild speedily be destroyed, and religious freedom be seriously imperilled ; that class would be arrayed against class, and party against party, with a virulence now rare or unknown ; and that the inevitable result would be, not the amending of the provision for the government of Ireland, but the overturning oj all order and good governinetit. The committee urged that the Bill should be opposed at ez'ery stage of its progress, and recommended the ministers, office-bearers, and members of the Methodist Church in Ireland to give expression to that opposition either by petition from individual congregations, or by signing local .petitions, or taking part, where it might be deemed expedient, in local meetings to protest against the Bill. They further requested the vice-president of the conference to recommend that in every congregation special prayer should be offered." THE QUAKERS' PROTEST. The following- manifesto has been issued by the members of the Society of Friends, a body of very considerable wealth and influence in the North of Ireland: — " At the present crisis it is of real importance that the sentiments and feelings of the Irish population should be accurately understood, and this can only result from the views of moderate men having consideration as well as those men holding extreme opinions. As members of the Society of Friends, we are not prepared to withstand by armed resistance a change of government, however obnoxious, and therefore we cannot join any movement which may result in force. " Looking at the present situation with an intimate knowledge of the public sentiments, we desire to place the following considerations before our fellow- members in England. Our population is divided practically into three parties. The largest consists of Roman Catholics, embracing, it may be said, the whole of the priesthood. Next in number are the Protestants of all denoiuinations with very few exceptions ; and, lastly, the independent Roman Catholics, who dis- approve of the domination of their clergy in politics. Two separate conventions have recently been held in Dublin of delegates from all parts representing the first and third named parties. These conventions accepted the Government of Ireland Bill, but only as a step towards the realization of their separate aims. This was plainly stated at these conventions. The second party intensely dislikes the Bill, and a large proportion are prepared to join in resistance. This from every indication we unhesitatingly believe, however lamentable the fact may be. We would, therefore, put it to our friends whether it is wise to force on legislation, which, as a final or satifactory measure, is not accepted by any party in Ireland." THE WOMEN REJECT IT. Even the women are everywhere joining- in the general protest. A remarkable demonstration against the Home Rule Bill took REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 467 place in Londonderry on March 8th, when, in response to a public notice issued by Mrs. Beresford and Mrs. Tillie, nearly 3,000 women, of all classes and from all parts of the north-ivest, assembled in the Guildhall, under the presidency of the Mayoress of Londonderry, Mrs. M'Cullagh. The orig-inal intention had been to hold the meeting- in the Council Chamber, but not even the larg-e new Assembly Hall served to accommodate more than three-fourths of those seeking- to g-ain admission ; while so great was the enthusiasm that hundreds of factory and laundry workers, who had intended to stay only for the dinner hour, remained to the close, and lost their half-day's wages. The speeches were delivered entirely by ladies, and were marked by great freshness and originality of arg-ument. The first resolution pledg^ed the meeting- to determined hostility to the Bill. Other meeting-s of a similar character have been held. RUINOUS TO TRADE. The voice of commerce and of trade is unanimous ag-ainst this monstrous measure. On March loth, a most influential deputation of So g-entlemen, representing- the wealth and industry of Dublin and Southern Ireland, had an interview, at 20, Arlington Street, w'ith Lord Salisbury, Mr. A. Balfour, Lord Randolph Churchill, and Mr. Goschen. Mr. Gladstone had previously refused to see them. Lord Iveag-h introduced the members of the deputation, which was composed of bankers, railway directors, leading- merchants, and heads of industrial enterprises. Mr. J. R. Wighain, hon. secretary of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, said he had been asked to read the address which they had brought with them for presentation. The deputation was composed solely of commercial men from the three southern provinces of Ireland, and comprised men of almost all grades. There were Catholics and Protestants, Liberals and Conservatives, and tliere were also hauliers, merchants, and traders in every business. The address described the whole scope of the Bill as radically unjust and certain to promote neither peace nor progress in Ireland, and adds: — ^"The Bill throws amongst us a new apple of discord, and plunges Ireland again into a state of political and party ferment, which cannot but arrest business enterprise in every direction. We tind in the Bill no prospect of anything but the perpetuation and intensification of the unsettlement, which has so long been a source of shame and sorrow to all true friends of Ireland; and we earnestly trust, not only for the sake of Ireland, but for the sake also of the United Kingdom, of which Ireland still forms an integral part, and of the Empire, in which Irishmen, attached subjects of our gracious Queen, and loyal adherents of the Constitution, have been proud to have their birtliright, that it may never be allowed to pass into law." Lord Salisbury made a most sympathic reply, in the course of which he severely condemned Mr. Gladstone's refusal to receive the deputation. He said : — "I am indeed very much surprised that the Prime Minister should have declined to listen to this deputation. 1 am surprised that he did not earnestly welcome you, as being 4o8 REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. able to offer him facts by which he might have been guided in the most perilous and difficult task that any Minister in any age of this country has ever undertaken. (Hear, hear.) I cannot help putting his action in that respect by the side of his evident desire to push the Bill through its second reading in the House of Commons •with unseemly and precipitate haste; and that his action in both respects is to be found in what was said by one of you gentlemen — that this Bill was only slowly becoming thoroughly understood by the English people. (Hear, hear.) The Bill deals with matters net familiar — it is complicated and abstruse, and it is only gradually and with great effort, and by the lapse of a sufficient time, that the real character of its provisions, the real nature of the tremendous steps they are invited to lake, will be brought home to their intelligence; therefore, those who desire to push this Bill desire that it should have the least possible notice, the least publicity, and that tlie task shall he fulfilled within the briefest space of time that shall give the smallest opportunity for explanation and discussion. Death without talking is the sentence he desires to pass upon the material interests of Ireland. I would venture to point out to you, to learn in the acts of our adversaries what is the course it is imperatively necessary to follow. The more he dislikes explanation and publicity, the more we must cultivate and press it; the more he withdraws the Bill from the English people, the more you must be heard, and make them understand it; and you must take every opportunity, not merely in general statement, but in detail, to appreciate the terrible injury which this Bill will inevitably inflict upon the reviving industry and prosperity of your native country." INJURY TO ENGLISH TRADE. The following- are but a few out of hundreds of evidences that have come to lii^ht of the paralysing- and disastrous effect that the Separatist Policy of Mr. (Gladstone has already exercised upon Iri-h and English trade. The first circular has been sent by a firm ot Belfast hardware merchants to all English manufacturers with whom they have business relations : — "RE HOME RULE BILL. "Dear Sir, — The feeling of alarm in reference to above Bill amongst business men here is so intense that, until this ill -conceived measure is abandoned or destroyed, we must expect very bad trade throughout Ireland. " In consequence of this unprecedented state of things, we feel ourselves com- pelled for the present to reduce our stock, and have instructed the buyers in our various departments to order only such goods as we have received orders for. "We beg you will in the meantime cancel any orders for stock goods which you may have in hand. "We much regret being obliged to adopt this course of action towards our English and Scotch friends, with whom we have had such steady and pleasant business transictions for the past thirty years, and sincerely trust the dark cloud at present overshadowing our country may soon pass away, and that our usual business relations may be resumed." The following- letter has been rec'eived by a wholesale firm in- London from a general draper trading- in a town in the county of Roscommon, Ireland : — "Gentlemen, — In November last I was persuaded to give your representative, Mr. , a small order for prints and French goods, which was to come in March 20th. Owing to a combination of circumstances over which I have had no control, I find it wiser not to have any goods from you at present. This Home REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 409 Rule Bill which Mr. Gladstone is forcing on us has palalysed trade. The people who have a little money won't spend it until the question is decided. I am, there- fore, obliged to ask you to cancel this order, and you will much oblige, yours faithfully, " • "P.S. — If this measure becomes law in Ireland, Manchester and London manufacturers and merchants will have very little stake in this country." THE TRADE OF BELFAST. The protest of the Chamber of Commerce of Belfast, which appeared in the Twies of Saturday, March iSth, is one of the most remarkable of all those that have yet been published. It gives facts connected with the g-eneral condition of Ireland, and the relative prosperity of Ulster which cannot be ignored. On March 1 7th, the voice of commercial Ulster was heard with regard to the proposals of the Home Rule Bill. The Belfast Chamber of Commerce met in its full strength to consider the provisions of the measure, Mr. John Greenhill, the president, occupying the chair. The council of the Chamber, v\hich had been instructed "to consider the relations of the Irish Govern- ment Bill to the financial, manufacturing, and commercial interests of Ulster," submitted a report which contained the following : — IRELAND V. ENGLAND. " The resources of Ireland are unequal to supporting a national government. A few figures will make clear what we mean. The total valuation of the country is a trifle over ;,^i4,ooo,ooo sterling ; while the valuation of Great Britain exceeds ;,{^200,ooo,ooo. The income-tax of Ireland is _;{^556,C)00 ; in Great Britain it amounts to ;i{Ji3,296,ooo. Compare, again, the main evidences of commercial and trading wealth. The coal raised in Great Britain in 1891 was valued at ;^ 74, ( 99,816, that raised in Ireland the same year is given at £\df,S\'^- On the railways in CJreat Britain 306,000,000 tons were carried in 1891 ; in Ireland 4,410,731, and of this amount the railways terminating in Belfast carried 41 per cent. " The total railway receipts of Ireland (of which 30 per cent, is taken by the above-mentioned lines) amount to about 4 per cent, of the railway receipts of Great Britain. The cajiital of all the railways of Ireland is under ^40,000,000 — about ;^lo,ooo,ooo less than that of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway alone. The registered tonnage of the ports of Great Britain is 7,990,261 ; that of all the ports of Ireland is 256,439, and of this Belfast holds 55 per cent. It is no exaggeration to say that more than one English couniy is at least as well fitted, economically and socially, for self-government as the kingdom of Ireland. Again, the commercial and manufacturing districts (which we claim to represent) form but a fraction of the whole. " The greater part of the rest of Ireland has neither the resources, the capital, nor the unity of race or interest to render it capable of standing alone without the support of Imperial credit. It is manifestly unfitted for a tremendous experiment, and nothing seems to promise that such an experiment would succeed." PROSPERITY DEPENDS UPON THE UNION. " The first condition for successful trade is security. In Belfast, under the shelter of the Union, protected by British commercial laws, with the advantage of British fiscal legislation in which we share, there has grown up the first really great 4IO REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. ez'elopment of trade and industry ei'er known in the history of Ireland. From Belfast, as a centre, business has spread and is spreading. Londonderry, Coleraine, Ballymena, Lisburn, Lurgan, Banbridge, Gilford, Portadown, Cooks- town, Strabane, Dungannon, and many other towns are closely connected with Belfast by commercial ties, and there are now millions of money employed in it, and tens of thousands of persons dependent on it, and thriving by it. 7he dti'clopiitent of that trade is entirely dependent on the maintenanee of the sense of security ; and it is useless to shut our eyes to the fact that the mere introduction of the Bill which we have been deputed to examine has seriously shaken credit. " We take two instances of the practical effect of this Bill, financially— one general and one local. For years this Chamber (in connexion with other Chambers of Commerce) has been earnestly advocating extensions of public facilities, both in the direction of postal reforms and of telegraphic advantages. We have addressed ourselves hitherto to a great Imperial Department, with a surplus of three millions at command ; while under this Bill we ivould have to deal with a proz'incial department, worked at an estimated annual loss of f,^o,ooo. W'e have examined the Excise clauses and find that, if the coitsuviption of spirits he reduced by i, 000,000 gallons, the entire surplus revenue is. gone ; and it cannot be recovered by raising the rate of duty, for under the Bill any additional amount gained by the increase of that rate is payable to the English Exchequer. " It is impossible to disregard the vindictive folly which has already threatened the linen trade of Ulster, and which led to the New Tipperary fiasco, with all the misery and waste consequent on it ; or to forget the imbecile termination of the Irish Land Purchase and Settlement Company ; the misapplication of funds supplied to relieve distress ; and the repeated attempts made, through the agency of the Poor Law and Labourers' Tenements Acts, to inflict injury on political opponents. We have asked in vain for any definite statement of social or material improvement to Ireland likely to result from this Bill. 7'he only methods towards such ends suggested by the Nationalists point to protection and bounties : and we note that, while the Bill would Stem to exclude protective duties, there is nothing to exclude bounties. It is therefore manifest that the majority are to be at liberty to apply taxes raised in Belfast and Ulster to create and foster opposition trades in other places. No one can read the Bill, even cursorily, without seeing that in several ways taxation can l^e applied to crush political opponents." PROGRESS OF BELFAST. ",-/// our progress has been made under the Union. We were a small, insignificant town at the end of the last century, deeply disaffected and hostile to the British Empire: since the Union, and under equal laws, we have been welded to the Empire, and have made a progress second to none. In 1783 we find the population of Belfast was 13,105 ; in 1S91 it was 255,950. In 1S61 the valuation of the city was ;,^27o,93o ; in 1S93, ^741,000. In 1837 the funds at command of the three banks having head offices in Belfast was ;^i, 488, 134 ; in 1892 the amount was ^14, 797,285 — that is to say, the total funds at disposal of these banks exceed in amount now, by four millions sterling, the total at the disposal of the four largest joint stock banks in London in 1844, at the passing of the Bank Charter Act. In 1837 the tonnage of vessels clearing from Belfast was 288, 143 ; in 1892 it was 2,053,637 tons, and the harbour receipts are 39 percent, of the total harbour receipts of all Ireland. The foreign imports are ^^9, 106,000, 36 per ccut. of the sum total imported into Ireland. The Customs duties paid in Belfast are 1^ per cent, of the \\'hole collected n the island. The Customs amount to ^^2,376,511; inland revenue between ;i£"900,ooo and ^1,000, oco more, making together over ;^3, 250,000, being a contri- bution to the Imperial revenue surpassed by no porisin the United Kingdom except London and Liverpool ; it is nearly a million more than the Prime Minister's estimate of Ireland's share of the Imperial expenditure. This progress has been made under precisely the same laws as those which govern the other cities and REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 411 provinces of Ireland. The circumstances of Ireland — the peculiarities of its popula- tion, its poverty and absence of natural resources — render the experiment of autonomy exceptionally dangerous, and we anticipate from such an experiment absolute disaster ; that the Bill as drawn is radically and incurably unjust ; and that, should it become law, the result would be a blow as deadly to Irish commercial interests as were the measures framed centuries ago intentionally to ruin Irish trade. " The president moved the adoption of the report, and Mr. D. B. Lytle, ex-jiresi- dent, seconded the motion. Mr. Thomas Sinclair, in supporting it, said the meeting represented at least ;^8o, 000,000 of capital in their protest against Home Rule. The report of the council was adopted with one dissentient, and a deputa- tion was appointed to present the views of the Chamber to the Prime Minister, or, if he declined to receive them, to the other (government leaders, and to Lord Salisbury and to other members of the Opposition. At a recent meeting ot the Belfast Corporation. It was stated that by the Home Rule Bill the loss in connection with municipal matters would be £76,000, independently of /^ 15,000 in connection with the Poor Law. To meet this an increased taxation of 2s. 6d. in the pound would, be necessary. PROTEST OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE. One of the most sig'nificant protests which have yet been made ag"ainst the Home Rule Bill is a petition to Parliament from the members of the Dublin Stock. Exchange. No more competent or trustworthy witnesses could be found to give testimony on such a subject. The petition sets forth that the Bill would, if passed into law, be "disastrous to the trade and commerce of this country; credit will be destroyed, and all enterprise paralyzed." It con- tinues : — " The pursuance of their ordinary avocation places your petitioners in a position to form a just and reasonable opinion as to the effect of the measure upon the very large amount of capital — almost entirely Irish capital — embarked in the various commercial, industrial, and financial undertakings in Ireland. Your petitioners can testify that immediately previous to the introduction of this measure these undertakings generally had reached a degree of credit and prosperity never before suspected ; but the publication of the conditions and full text of the aforesaid Bill created an intense feeling of alarm amongst holders of all classes of securities in Ireland, resulting in a depreciation in their market value to the extent of several millions sterling. This unrest has since, to some extent, been temporarily allayed by the opinion gaining ground that the measure may not become law. Your petitioners include men ot various religious and political opinions, who could not possibly have joined so universally in this petition had not their experience so seriously impressed them with the dangers to be apprehended from the passing of a Bill so framed as that now under consideration. The petitioners therefore pray your honourable House not to pass the said Bill, which, they believe, while causing disaster to the merchant, the manufacturer, and the capitalist, will bring distre^s on all classes of society through the length and breadth of this island. " The Dublin Stock Exchange is composed of 66 members, of whom 63 have signed, one is absent, and two refused to sign. Ten of the signatories are Roman Catholics. 412 REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. DUBLIN UNIVERSITY WILL NOT HAVE IT. ' A meeting" of graduates of Dublin University, to protest ag'ainst the Home Rule Bill, was held on March loth, in the Examination Hall, Trinity College. Professor Dowden occupied the chair. The Rev. Dr Shaw moved : — " That the graduates of the University of Dublin desire to express their emphatic protest against the injustice of the clauses in the Government of Ireland Bill, 1893, by which the University of Dublin is left open to spoliation, and, at the same time, deprived of its representation in Parliament." Professor Mahaffy seconded the resolution, and it was passed unanimously. It was further resolved, on the motion of the Rev. Canon Carmichael, seconded by Professor Cunningham : — " That the graduates of the University of Dublin desire to place on record their strong condemnation of the Government of Ireland bill, 1893, as being certain, if passed into law, to prove disastrous to Ireland, injurious to Great Britain, and most dangerous to the interests of the Empire." THE IRISH PHYSICIANS CONDEMN IT. The following re>olution has been passed by the College of Physicians at a full meeting specially convened and presided over by Dr. Finney : — " That the college protest in the strongest manner against the Bill introduced into the House of Commons, entitled : ' A Bill for the Better Government of Ireland," believing that, were it to become law, the dismemberment of this country would be effected, the safeguards of civil and religious liberty would be imperilled, the means of livelihood of the members and licentiates of this college would be seriously curtailed, and the privileges which this college has enjoyed, similar to those of the Royal Colleges of London and Edinburgh, under Her Gracious Majesty and her Royal predecessors, would be greatly impaired." The resolution was strongly supported by Dr. James Little, Dr. Cruise, and Dr. Quinlan, the Catholic Fellows of the college. On a division it was adopted with only four dissentients. ALARM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. The Home Rule Bill has caused a great panic amongst the Civil servants, who find that practically no security is provided for them either as to the retention of their offices or the giving of compensation, or retiring pension, while, as the Irish Execu- tive will have to provide the money, it is expected there will be a strong motion for reducing the allowance to the smallest possible sum. THE ORANGElv,EN UNANIMOUS AGAINST IT. The Orangemen at home and abroad are moving' as one man against the Bill, and with tremendous earnestness. A crowded meeting, convened by the Orange lodges of the city and county of Dublin, and of Trinity College, Dublin, was .REVOLT OF THE IRISH LOYALISTS. 413 held on March i ith in the Leinster Hall. The hall, which holds 4,000 persons, was filled half an hour before the proceedings begfan, and the utmost enthusiasm was shown throughout. The Earl of Krne, Grand Master of the Orangem>^n of Ireland, was voted to the chair. The secretary stated that a number of letters expressing- sympathy with the objects of the meeting" had been received, including one, which he read, from the Rev. Dr. Kane, Grand Master of the Orangemen of Belfast. The chairman then addressed the meeting. He denounced the conduct of Mr. Gl^dstone and his Government in keeping the country in absolute darknt-ss about the Bill, and then in three weeks after its introduction attempting to rush it through the House of Commons. It had been represented to the British electorate that, if the Bill passed, Parliament would be rid of Irish affairs and could devote its attention to other needful legis- lation, and that work would be found for Irishmen at home, who would no longer flood the labour market of England. He main- tained, however, that the result would be diametrically the opposite. They would have a majority in power one week by its British supporters, and the next week turned out of office by the Irish members, who could render legislation almost impos- sible. As to the effect upon the labour market, so far frotn Irish labour being employed ae home, if the Bill of 1S86 had passed, niany large firms had made arrangtmenis to transfer their capital and plant across the ivater at an enormous sacrifice, thus throwing out of employment hundreds and thousands of people in Ireland, v.'ho would be obliged to leave the country. The classes throivn out of employment ivoiild go to England, overstock the labour market, and pull dozvn ivages already too low. Resolutions were then passed unanimously condemning the Bill, expressing the opinion that it would be disastrous in its effects to Ireland, and pledging the meeting to frustrate the measure by every legitimate means. SOLEMN PROTEST AT BELFAST. "A great mass meeting of Belfast Orangemen, to protest against the Home Rule Bill, was held on March 2nd, in the Ulster Hall, under the presidency of the Grand Master, the Rev. Dr. Kane. It was m several respects a remarkable gathering, and one incident was very impressive, and may prove to possess a certain historic interest. "The demonstration was organised by the Grand Lodge of Belfast, which represents nine separate districts, each containing about twenty lodges. Led by bands and banners, the 'brethren,' who assembled in the various Orange halls throughout the city, marched to the Ulster Hall, but this building only held about 414 CANADIAN HISTORY AND HOMi: RULE. seven thousand, and the rest, twice that number, were unable to g'ain admittance, '^ Afr. William Johmton, M.P , produced a sensation towards the close of his speech, by producing a Bible, placing his left hand upon it, raiding his right hand to Heaven, and calling upon the auditnce to rise and repeat : — 'We take this solemn oath on the Bible, and we pledg-e ourselves before Hig-h Heaven, that, come weal or come woe, we will stand by the Legislative Union, should we have to f'g"ht over ag^ain the Battle of the Boyne.' The audience, during the repetition of the ivords, rose to their feet and held up their hands, the sight being most impressive ; and, remaining" standing-, the great meeting sang 'Rule Britannia ' and ' God save the Queen.' "The resolutions were adopted amid a scene of great enthu- siasm, the entire audience rising again and singing the National Anthem and 'Rule Britannia.' "The Chairman then said : 'In the name of the manhood of Ulster, in the name of freedom, of mankind, by the memory of the heroism of our ancestors, and under the sense of the obliga- tions of prsterity, in your name, / tear up thi^ infamous Home Rule Bill.' This announcement was followed by prolonged cheers and Kentish fire, during which the chairman tore up a copy of the Bill." — Daily Press, March 3rd. CANADIAN ORANGEMEN. The Boston Journal of February 28th publishes the following telegram from Montreal : — Twenty thousand Canadian Orange- men are actively engaged in secret preparations for rendering assistance to the population of Ulster in tiie event of the passing of the Home Rule Bill. Money is being freely subscribed. Appendix XLVII. CANADIAN HISTORY AND HOME RULE. The following most important letter, showing how false is the Home Rule argument from the analogy of our Colonies, ap- peared in the 7'imes of August 19th, 1892, from Professor Goldwin Smith (Toronto) : — " Sir, — Once more an attempt is being made to lure Great Britain over the precipice of dismemberment by false lights cast from Canadian history. This time it is the Canadian, Mr. Edward Blake, who, it seems, has been assuring the British public that the effect of Home Rule conferred on Canada was the imme- diate transformation of a malcontent and rebellious into a contented and loyal colony. His inference is that the same happy change will be wrought by Home Rule in Ireland. CANADIAN IIlVrORV AND HOME RULK. 415 " Mr. IJlake fails, as all who have dealt wkh the subject on his side have failed, to distinguish between Home Rule and independence. If they observed that distinction they might see that the lesson of Canadian history is the opposite of that which they assume. In 1 791 Pitt gave each of the two Canadas a measure of Home Rule similar in its fundamental character to that which it is now proposed to give to Ireland. He gave each of them a Parliament of its own, but reserved to the Imperial Government and the Governor of the colony, as its representative, a supreme power of control. The consequence in both cases, instead of being contentment and loyalty, was the commencement of a desperate and protracted struggle to get rid of the Imperial power of control and turn Home Rule into practical independence. This struggle, after lasting for half a century, culminated in a double rebellion, which was followed by a surrender under decorous forms and ])hrases on the part of the Imperial Government. " That which was conferred upon the colonies after the rebellion, in 1841, was not Home Rule, but independence, legislative, administrative and fiscal, though under the forms and titles of a dependency. Of course, when the Imperial power of control had been resigned, the resistance to it was at an end and tran- quility ensued. " The independence conferred in 1841 was legislative, administrative and fiscal, the Imperial veto in those departments being reduced in all ordinary cases to a name. It was not diplomatic, judicial or military, as the Foreign Office retained its control and the Privy Council its supreme jurisdiction, while a British general c;)iitinued to command the Canadian militia. But twenty years ago Mr. Edward. Blake put himself at the head of a young Liberal party, the ultimate aim of which was nnderstood to be independence pure and simple, in opposition to the Liberals of the old school, who clung to British connection. Mr. Blake proclaimed that under existing limitations five millions of Britons were not free. By the institution of a Canadian Supreme Court he made a great advance towards judicial indepen- dence, and his whole policy as a Minister pointed in the same direction. " Diplomatic independence Canada has practically asserted in the commercial sphere. Her fiscal independence she has used to th;i extent of laving heavy pro- tective duties on the goods of the mother country. There have been symptoms- in some quarters of a disposition to get rid even of the British commander of the militia. " The course of events in the other North American colonies was the same that it was in the two Canadas. Home Rule — that is, a Colonial Parliament under Imperial control — was granted to each of them, and the grant was the signal for a struggle on the part of the colony in each case to get rid of the Imperial control and improve Home Rule into independence. " The real moral of Canadian historv', then, and of the history of the" North American colonies generally, is that, by conceding Home Rule, instead o'l satis- fying, you stimulate aspirations and set on foot a struggle for independence which, if I he dependency can find an ally in British faction, is sure to end in a complete surrender on the part of the Imperial country. " In the strange history of this Irish question nothing will hereafter seem more s' range than the historical analogies which have been adduced and apparently :\jcepted in favour of Home Rule for Ireland. It will seem scarcely credible that eminent men and leading publicists should have cited the legislative emancipation of Iceland — a thinly-peopled island a thousand miles oil" — by Denmark as a proof tliat the United Kingdom might safely and with advantage allow an independent and hostile nation to be carved out of its side. For hostile from the very circum- stances of it> formation an independent Ireland would be." CC 4i6 THE NATIOx\ALlSTS IN 1885. THE NATIONALISTS IN 1885. Appendix— XL VIII. It is amusing- to read the ferocious terms of the Nationalist Manifesto, issued to the electors of Great Britain in November, 1885, in the light of the exag-g-erated compliments that have since passed, and of the warm friendship that now exists, between the Nationalist party and Mr. Gladstone. The Nationalist views have not changed, though Sir William Harcourt and his friends have gone through an astonishing conversion. Mr. Parnelis manifesto of November 23rd, 1885, was sufficiently outspoken : — "The Liberal party bound ilself l.y most solemn pledges, and these it most flagrantly violated. It denounced coercion, and // practised a system of coercion more bruta! than that of any previous Administration, Liberal or Tory. Under this system juries were packed with a shamelessness unprecedented even in Liberal Administrations, and innocent men were hung or sent to the living death of penal servitud: ; 1, 200 men 'awre imprisoned ivithont trial, ladies -were con- victed under an obsolete Act directed against the degraded of their sex, and, for a period, every utterance of the popular Press and of the popular authority was as completely suppressed as if Ireland was Poland, and the Administration of Lngland a Russian autocracy. The last declaration of Mr. Gladstone was that he intended to renew the very worst clauses of the Coercion Act of 1882 ; and if our long-delayed triumph had not turned the Liberal Government from office Lord Spencer would at this hour be in Dublin Castle, coercion would be triumphant in Ireland, and the landlords, instead of making the reasonable abate- ments demanded by the depression of agriculture, and conceded by every land'ord JQ England and Scotland, would be evicting wholesale, with the encouragement of Lord Spencer, and the backing of police, soldiery, coercion magistrate, and filled gaols. " Under such circumstances, we feel bound to advise our countrymen to place no confidence in the Liberal or Radical party, and so far as in them lies to prevent the (Jovernment of the Empire falling into the hands of a party so perfidious, treacherous, and incompetent. We earnestly advise our countrymen to 7ote against the men icho coerced Ireland, deluged Ligypt 'oith blood, menaced religious liberty in the school, freedom of speech in I^arliainent, and promise to the country generally a repetition of the crimes and follies of the last Liberal Administration." In October, i88l Mr. Parnell. speaking of Mr. Gladstone's speech at Leeds, described the Prime Minister as •• the greatest coercionist. the most unrivalled slanderer of the Irish nation that ever undertook the task." Mr. Parnell went on to say of Mr, Gladstone that — "No misrepresentation is too low or loo mean for him to stoop to, and it is a good sign that this masquerading knight errant, this pretended champion of the liberties of every nation, except those of the Irish nation, is obliged to throw off the mask." THi: NATIONALISTS IN 1885. 417 A REMARKABLE CHANGE. During the Genereil Election, 1885. the Radical speakers ■rlcnounced the Irish Parnellite party, and the latter retaliated with quite equal acerbity. Mr. T. P. O'Connor, who now •cannot be too fulsome in his overstrained adulation of Mr, ■Gladstone, spoke thus at Manchester, in November, 1885 : — "If I were addiessing a Radical audience, I would ask them if they were going to vote for the party that swore they would ne\-er give Ireland coercion, and then xocrced Ireland as Tory party never did ; I would ask them if they were going to jnit in the party wliich raised the taxation of the country, after preaching economy, lo the highest point to w hich it hatl ever yet been. I would say in God s name put out the traitors to Radical principles, and see if they cannot do better with the Tory ■democracy. (Loud cheers.) 1 would aiik them if they were going to vote for the party which had the blood of Gordon on its head, and which had been guilty of the tomfoolery of putting down three yards of railway and then pulling it up again ; for the men who said one day of the week they would go to Khartoum, and the next day of the week changed their minds, as if they were talking about an excursion to I^elle Vue. (Laughter and cheers.) During last week I have been busy, replying to a number of appeals from Radical candidates to be spared from the manifesto- — Cloud laughter) - but my reply in every case was ' No Radical need apply. ' ( Loud .cheers). " Since then the Parnellites and Nationalists have become Mr. Gladstone's most intimate friends and supporters, and the whole •Gladstonian policy has been based upon the Nationalist demands. The Nationalist Party have used very different language since that; they have hoped to e.xtort from Mr. Gladstone's weakness the basis for separation. It is worth while for the followers of Mr Gladstone to consider how far they can trust the moderation ■or the promises of men whose opinions so rapidly shift and can be so fundamentally reversed. The forces of disorder which had been temporarily held in -check by the Nationalist leaders, pending the fate of ^Ir. Glad- stone's Home Rule Bill, were let loose on the rejection of that measure in 1886, and the consecjuent return of a Conservative Government to power. Mr. Balfour's firm administration, how- ever, gradually reduced them to powerlessness. At the present moment those same forces of disorder are being held in check for political eflFect and with much difficulty. They are ready to .burst forth in outrage and murder the instant the Nationalist leaders again give the signal. Under a separate Irish Parlia- ment controlled by the leaders of the National League, the village ruffian and outrage-monger, the boycotter and moonlighter would be supreme throughout the South and West of Ireland. The lives and the property of Loyalists would be iibsolutely unprotected. Their position would be full of peril and intolerable. cc 2 INDEX. ■ :o: — A Record of UMiROKES Faili re A Remarkable Change AiiRicui.TURAi. Administration (Appendix XXXI Agricultural Legislation (Appendix XXXIT) American View of the Irish Question Analysis of Mr. (Iladstone's 1893 Schkmk . Appeal to Nonconformists (Appendix XL) . Appeal by Irish Nonconformists (Appendix Army Administration (Appendix XXVIII) .. 132—156. . 417 ;xiiij 368' ... 365 . 157 . 15—63. . 381 XLl, 383- -^ r "^ l{v:i Precedents to be Shunnii) Austria and Hungary Croatia Turkey Sweden and ?Norv\ay Self-Governing Colonies Former Irish Assemblies Balfour's, Mr., Crimes' Act of 1887 Plan of Campaign launched 1886 Mr. John Redmond, M. P Necessity for the Crimes' Act of 1887 Failure of the Ordinary Law Mr. Campbell P>annerman's TestiQiony Criminal Law and Precedure Acts, 18S7 Mr. Gladstone intended the same Plan ... The Crimes' Act of 1882 Proclamation of the National League Small Amount of Coercion Appeals 1,000 Persons Imprisoned without Trial by Mr. Cladstone Diminution of number of Agrarian Outia'es 126- 76—83; 76- ... 78 ... 79 ... 79- ... Si ... 82 -I36' 126- I26' 127 127^ 128 129' 130- 130 131 132^ 132 132 133. INDEX. Decrease of Boycottinfj Reduction of Police Force Mr. Justice O'Brien at Cork, 1892— Collapse of the Conspiracy liAM'ouR, Mr., ON l>ONUON QUESTIONS (Appendix XVII) ... Betrayal of Loyal Irishmen Breach in the Nationalist Party Blackmail to Law-breakers British Statesmen on Home Rule Mr. Gladstone Sir William Ilarcourl Mr. John Bright Earl Spencer Sir George Trevelyan Mr. James Bryce Lord Rosebery •'■ Mr. Canning Sir Robert Peel Earl Grey Lord Brougham .Sir James Graham Duke of Wellington I,ord Palmerston Lord Macaulay Earl Russell Duke of Devon.-^hire Mr. Disraeli Professor Goldwln .Smith Mr. Fcrs'er Mr. Lecky ... Mr. J. S. Mill Mr. Matthew Arnold i-Ji'DGKT Summary (Appendix XXIV) 134 jj ... 107 ... 6S ... 319 1S9— 201 ... 1S9 ... 192 ... 192 - '93 ... 193 ... 195 ... 196 ... 197 ... 197 ... 197 ... 19S ... 19S ... 198 ... 198 ... 198 ... 198 ... 199 ... 199 ... 199 ... 200 ... 200 ... 201 ... 201 ... 34S Canals and Railways (.\ppendix XXXVI.) , Canadian History and Home Rule (Appendix XLVII. ) Causes of Mr. (dadstone's Defeat (1886) Church in Wales, Defence oe (.\ppendix XLII.) ■CoMrLic.vnoNs with the United States Concession and Surrender (Mr. Gladstone's) Constitution of thj 1 886 Parliament 374 399 155 102 '53 iii INDEX. Conservative Agriculturvf. Ad.nhni.stratiun (Appendix XXXIII.) 36s- Conservative Naval Administration (Appendix XXIX.) 356 Conservative Mines Legislation (Appendix XXXIV.) 370' Conservative Protection of Sailors (Appendix XXXVII.) ... 375 Constructive Conservative Reforms (Appendix XXXVIII.) ... 376- Conservative Programme (Appendix XVI) 334 Constitution of Irish Majoritv ani> Minority (Appendix IV) ... 280' Contempt for Economic Laws 140- Crippling the Imperial Parliament 23 Decline of Ireland Under a Separation I'ari.iament, 1782 to 1800 170 — 172 The Piiltriest Irish Movement 17a Ireland under the National League 171 Mr. Arnold Forster 172 Dedication 2 Deeds not Words (Appendix X) 319 Defence of the Church in Wales (Appendix XLll) 384 Development of Ireland inder the Unionist Government i8r — 189 Savings I'.anks 182 Railway Receipts 184 Decrease of Population 184 Decrease in the rate of Emigration from 1886 to 1890 184 Housing of the People 185 Pauperism decreasing i86 Increaseofl-ive Stock , 187 Textile Industries ^ 188 Post Office Department 189 Spirits and P)eer 189 Danger from Irish Autonomy 21 Dillon's, Mr., Record (Appendix XIX) 342 E Egvpt under Gladstone and Salisbury (Appendix Xl\) 326 Electoral Statistics (Appendix XLV) 395 England and English Vote 5 — 10 *'Equitable REPARtIT^a^" of Finance" 25 Evictions — All about thkm (Appendix M) ,., • 288 INDKX. iv F Factories and Workshops (Appendix XXXV) 371 Five Principal Objections to Separate Parliamem for Ireland 84—123 I. —Repeal OF the Union 88 2. — No Finality 89 Separation or Civil War 90 The danger from an Independent Ireland 91 No practical check on Irish Legislature 9J The Link of the Crown * ... 95 Real Objects of the Nationalist Party 96 3. — -Injustice to the British Taxpayer 97 Collection of Taxes 97 Ireland's Quota 99 4. —Complications with the United States 102 The Irish in America ••• 103 The Danger in Ireland ... ., lo6 General International Complications 106 5 — Betrayal of Loyal Irishmen ... ^ 107 Despair of Loyal Irishmen 11 r The Misrepresentation of Ireland 113 General Loss to Ireland 115 The Whole more important than a Part 118 Mr. Gladstone's Epithet " Foreign " 119 Appeal from Ulster 121 The Work of the Leagues 122 Foreion Affairs under Lord Salisbury (Appendix XXX) 359 Free Education frVppendix XII) ••- ... 323 Mr. Gladstone on the English Mk. Gladstone's 1893 Scheme Analysed L'nion is strength Principal Features of the Bill Mr. Gladstone's Five Principles No Cause for the Bill I. Imperial Unity Destroyed Danger from Irish Autonomv Test of Imperial Unity Strategical \'alue of Irelanil Crippling the Imperial Parliament ... 10- -14 15- -62 .. *5 .. t6 .. 18 .. iS .. 20 .. 21 " 22 .. 23 INDEX. Repeal of the Union The Union was necessary n. EouALiry BFnwr.F.N tiii; Kim;d().\is ... III. " Er)UITAi;LE ReI'ARTI I ION OF Fl N \\(, K 24 24 03 56 Total Imperial Charges 28 The Two BuDctTS 29 Probable Irish Bankruptcy -..x IV. The Protectiox of Mi.NoKirns ^2 No Security for Persons Ia-ipos.sibility of Redress V. A Real and Continuous Sktilkmk.nt Obstruction in I'nrliament ••• -^8 The Veto ^(^ No English Veto .j^q Anti-Parnellites on the Imperial Veto 42 (iladstouian Eeaders on Imperial Control 4j So Irish Members in the Imperial Parliament 45 Irish Vote 40 Two Majorities 47 "ToVoteorXot to N'utc " 49 A Grave Constitutional Change 51 The Rcyal Irish Cicnstabulary t2 The Irish Judges ^_> Three Sets of Constituencies 54 lri',h Land Trade Bounties Religious Establishment 36 Bill fatal to Local .Self Government 58 Injustice to Post Office and Savings Bank Investors 59 Appeal to the Judicial Committee 60 Trinity College 60 .Scheme Utterly Impracticable 61 Mr. Gladstone's Bkok:en Promises, and Lord Saitshurv's Per- formances (Appendix XI.) 322 Mr. Gladstone's Conversion 62 — 68 Mr. Gladstone's Record of Uni;roken Failure 132—156 Mr. Gladstone's Hopes from the Land Bills of I S70 and 18S1 143 Mr. tiladstone's New Theory 147 Mr. Gladstone's History 148 Mr. Gladstone's Course in 1886 152 Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bills of 1893 and 1886 Comtared 232 — 270 Legislative Authority 232 54 55 iNDi:x. VJ Exceptions from IViwcr of Iiisli Legislaluie Restrictions on Powers of Irish Legislature Kxecutive Authority Constitution of Legislature Ketentiv:;n of Irish Members I'inance Irish Church Fund Exchequer Division and Revenue Actions Lost Office, Postal Telegraphs and Saviags Banl Decision of Constitutional()uestions Lord Lieutenants and Crown Lauds Judges and Civil Servants Police Miscellaneous Audit Privileges and Immunities The Power to Borrow Money Transitory Provisions Regulations for Carrying the Act into effect Continuance of Existing Laws, Courts, ( )tficers, Definitions Schedules oi' 1893 I. — Legislative Council 2. — Irish Members in House of Commons 3. — Finance 4. — Provisions as to Post Oftice 5. — Gratuities and Pensions 6.— Police 7. — The Legislative Bodies The Schi;duli:s of 1886 •Good Precedents to Foij.ow "Greatness of Victory (1886) &c. ^35 235 235 237 239-247 244 <-^ 245 247 249 250 -33 256 256 257 257 258 260 261 -270 263- 203 264 265 266 266 267 268 270 154 Home Rule Bills or 1893 and 1886 Compared 232-270 Home Rule and Canadian History (Appendix XIATI.) 414 Honour to whom Honour is due 156 Imperial Expenditcre (Appendix XXI.) Imperl\l Unity Destrovi ii Important Points :n Irish History 345 20 273 Vll INDEX. Imi'rovkmk.nts in Post Office under Lork Salisbury (Appendix XXV.) 349 Injustice to British Taxpayers 97 Ireland has no real Grievances 17 Ireland under Conservatives (Appendix VIII.) 310- Irish Coercion Acts 136- Irish Horrors of 1641 and 1798 160 — 170- What the Loyalists have to dread iGo- Irish Rebellion of 1798 "" 163. The Rising at Prosperous and Kildare 163 Insurrection in Wexford ■ 165 The Camp at Vinegar Hill i66' The Battle at Wexford 167 Defeat of the Rebels at Vinegar Hill ... "• i68- Irish Land Purchase (Appendix IX.) 316- Irish Nonconformists' Appeal (Appendix XLI.) 383 Labour (Appendix XXI.) Land Purchase Bill of 1886 Leoislative Authority Liberal Statesmen on the Irish Nationalists Mr. Gladstone on Mr. Pamell Mr. Gladstone on the Nationalist Press of Ireland Mr. Gladstone on the objects of Irish Agitators Mr. Gladstone quotes Mr. Parnell Mr. Bright and Mr. Chamberlain Sir William Harcourl Local Taxation (Appendix XXII.) Local Veto Bill (Appendix XLIV. ) ■" 363- ... 150 ... 232; 201 — 206- ... 201 ... 203 ... 203 ... 203. ... 204 ... 205. •" 347 ... 391. Meath Election Petitions (Politics and Priests) Mlkchandise Marks Act (Appendix XIII.) ... 220 — 23 J ... 324 N National Defences (Appendix XXVII.) Nationalists in 1885 (Appendix XLVIII.) No CAUSE for the Bii.i No Finality 416 iS 9S pNDEX. vur O "One Man Onk Vote" (Appencli.v XVIII.) 33 Pa'rnell Commission, Feb. 1890— Slmmakv of Findincs 377 Payment ok Members (Appendix XIJII.) 5^^ Politics and Priests (Meath Election Petition:^) 220 — 232 Post Office, Improvements in, inder Ld. Salisbury (Appendix XXV) 349- Practical Outcome of Home Rule 7' Pref.\ce J- Probable Irish Hankruptcy 3^^" Progress of Ireland under hie Union 173— 181 Promise -'. Performance (Appendix I.) 271 Promises falsified '42^ a Question of Ulster (Appendix HI) 279- B Railways and Canals (Appendix XXXVI) 374 Record of Unbroken Failire (Mr. Gladstone's) 132— 156- Reduction OF THE National Debt (Appendix XXIII 348- Repeal of the Union 23 & 88 Revolt of Irish Loyalists (Appendix XLVI) 399- S L(->RD Salisbury's Performances, Ike. (Appendix XL) 322 Lord Salisbury in Ulster (Appendix XV) 332 Lord Salisbury, Foreign Affairs UNDER (Appendix XXX) 359- Strategical Value of Ireland 23 Summary of Results in 1SS6 '5^ Tampering with Revolution ••• 125. Test of Imperial Unity •*" 22 The True Remedy •" ... 73. The Truth about Coercion 12 The Two Budgets (1893 & 1S86.) 29- Trvdk Statistics (Appendix XX.) 344 Truth akoit Coercion 123, ix IXDEX^ TJ Ulster, The Question of (Appendix III.) 279 Ulster, Lord Salisbury on (Appendix XV.) 332 Mr. Parnell, M.P 206 Union is Strength 15 & 75 •*' Union of Hearts" (Appendix \T1.) 303 Union was necessary 24 Univensal Failure (Mr. Ciladstone's) 140 V Views of the Irish Leaders 206 — 219 Mr. Bijgar, M.P 210 Mr. Healys Record •• 210 Mr. W. O'Brien, M.P. ... - 212 Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P 214 Mr. Sexton, M.P 215 Mr. Lalor, M.P. 215 Mr. John O'Connor, M. P 216 Mr. John Deasy, M.P. 216 Mr. J. Huntley McCarthy, M. P 216 Mr. E. Leamy, M.P 216 Mr. O'Hanlon, M.P 216 Mr. Mayne, M.P 216 Mr. J. Boyton 216 Mr. J. J. O'Kelly, M.P 217 Mr. W. Redmond, M.P 217 Mr. J. E. Redmond, M.P 218 P. W. Xally ••• 218 P. J. Sheridan 2i8 Michael Daviu "' 219 Mr. O'Ryan ... — 219 W War Expenditure (Appendix XXVI.) "* ••• 35' \Viiv AND How the Act of Union was Passed (Appendix V.) ... 282 Whv a Si'ecial Alternative Scheme 146 WoKKSHors AND Factories (Appendix XXXV. ) 37* DETAILED INDEX BILLS OF 1893. OF THE HOME 1893 AND 1886. 1886. RULE LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITV, page 232. T>age ] r'at,"^ Es'abli-,hment of Irish LegislaUiie 232 Establisliment of Irish Legislature 232- Powers of Irish Legislatu's 232 Powers of Irish Legislature 232 EXCEPTIONS FRO'-l POWER.S OF IRISH LEGISLATURE, page 232. KESTRICTIONS ;X PCAVERS OF IRISH LEGISLATURE, page 233. Prerogatives of Her Majesty as to Irish Legislative Body 234, Duration of Irish Legislative Body 234. EXECUTIVI'. ALTHORITV, page 235. EKCCutive Power in Ireland 235 Constitution of Executive Authority 235 Use of Crown Lands by Irish Government 235 CONSTITUTION f)V LEGISLATURE, page 235. Constitution of Irish Legis- COMrOSITIONOrlRISH Lf.cjisla- TivE Council 235 Composition OF Irish Leoisia- iiVE Assembly 236 Disa^eement between two Houses — How settled 236 Retention of Irish Mem- bers — Representation in Parliament of Irish Counties and P.r roughs 237 FINAN A-i to Separate Con>olidated Fund and Taxes.. 239 Hereditary Revenue and Inc;)nie Tax '240 Financial Arrangements as be- tween United Kingdom and Ireland 241 Treasury Account (Ireland) 242 Charges on Consolidated I'und... 243 Irish Church Fund 245 Local Loans 245 Adaptation of Acts' as to Local Taxation Accounts and Pro- bates, iKic. Duties 246 Money Bills and Vote- 247 LATivE Body First Order Legislative Body Cesser of power of Ireland to return Members of I'arliament 23> 236 236 237 Second Order 239 ci:. Taxes and Separate Co:~:iolidaled l'"und Annua] C'ontribn'.ions from Ireland tu Consolidated I'und cf United Kingdt)m Collection and Ajjplication of Customs and Excise Duties in Ireland Changes on Iri-Ii Consolidated Fund Irish Church Fund Public Loans Additional aid in ca^e ;)f War ... Monev Bills and Voles 239 240' 243 ^43 -45 246- 246- xi DETAILED INDEX ( )F THE H(3ME RULE BILLS -i 893-1 SS6. 1893. 1886. EXCHEQUER "DIVLSION AND REVENUE ACTIONS, page 247. Exchequer Judges for Revenue Exchequer Division and Revenue Actions, Election Petitions, &c. 247 Actions 247 POST OFFICE, POSTAL TELEGRAPHS AND SAVINGS BANKS, page 249. Transfer of Post Office nnd Postal Post Office and Savings Banks ... 249 Telegraphs 249 Transfer of Savings Banks 250 THE DECISION OF CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. Irish Appeals 250 Constitutional Questions to be .Special Provisions for Decision of submitted to Judicial Com- Ccnstitutional Questions 251 j mittee I Powers of Her Majesty LORl> LIEUTENANTS AND CRoWN LANDS, page 252. Office of Lord Lieutenant 252 Office of Lord Lieutenant 252 Use of Crown Lands by Irish Government 252 JUDGES AND CIVIL SERVANTS, page 252. 250 2nI Tenure of Future Judges 252 As to existing Judges and other persons having Salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund As to persons holding Civil Ser- vice Appointments As to Existing Pensions and Superannuation Allowances ... 253 -jj 254 judges to be removable only In' Address . 252 I'rovislon as to Judges and other persons having Salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund 253 As to persons holding Civil Ser- vice Appointments 253 Provision for Existing Pensions and Superannuation Allowances 254 POLICE, page 255. MISCELLANEOUS AUDIT, page 256. PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES, page 256. Application of Parliameulaiy Law 256 Law applicable to Iwth Houses of Irish Legislature 256 Supplemental Provisions as to Powers of Irish Legislature ... 256 THE POWER TO BORROW MONEY. Limitation of Borrowing by Local Authorities 257 DETAir.ED INDEX OF THE HoME RUEE DIELS— 1893-1886. xii 1893. 1886. TRANSITORY PROVISIONS, page 257 Temporary Restriction on Powers of I Irish Legislature and Executive 257 j REGULATIONS FOR CARRYING THE ACT INTO EFFECT, page 258. Transitory Provisions 258 Saving Powers of House of Lords 259 Saving of Rights of Parliament ... 259 <()X lINU.\NCEOF EXISTING LAWS, COURTS, OFFICER.S,.\;c.,p;ige 261. Mode of Alteration of Act 261 Definitions 261 THE SCHEDULES OF 1893. JSt — LEGlSL.VnVE Cot.XClL — CONSTITUENCIKS, AND NlMBER OK Councillors 263 2nd — Irish Members in the House oe Com.mons 264 jrd — l-'iNAN( K — Imperial Liabilities, Expenditure, and Miscellaneous Ive venue 265 4th —Provisions as to Post Office 266 3th — Regulations as to Gratuities and Pensions for Civil Servants (nut detailed) 266 (6:h— Regulations as to Establishment of Police Forces, and as to the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police ceasing to exist 267 7th— The Legislative Bodies — Regulations as to Houses of the LEGISL.VrURE and THE NUMHERS THEREOF 268 I -egislative Council 268 Legislative Assembly 269 P>oth Houses , 269 Transitorj' 269 THE SCHEDULES OF 1886 (Headings only) 270 APPENDICES. I.— 2. • *% . o- 4- 5- 6. S. 9 10.- II.- 12. 13 1+ 15 i6.- 17- iS. 19.- 20.- 21.- 22.- 23- 24-- 25-- 2G.- Promise z: Perform.\nce Import.\nt Points in Irish History The Questjox of Ulster ... Constitution of the Irish Majority and Minokiiv Why and How the Act of Union was Passed Evictions^Ali, aboft the.m .. '•Union of Hearts" ... Ireland under Conservatives Irish Land Purchase ... Deeds, not \Vord> -Mr. Gladstone's Broken Pro.mises, .\.nd Performances -Free Education -Merchandise Marks Act -Egypt under Gladstone and Salishurv -Lord .Saljskury on Ulster . -Conservative Programme -Mr. Balfour on London Questions -One Man One \'ote -Mr. Dillon's Record -Trade .Statistio -Imperial Expenditure... -Local Ta.xation -Reduciion of the National Deut -Budget .Summary -Lmi'rovements in iHE Pos 1' Office under Lcikd Salisuury -War Exi'ENDiiURE -The National Defences Lord Salisbury PAoe. 273 279 280 282' 288. 303 .1 lO- 316. 319 322: 325 32+ 326 332 JJ+ 33S. 342 344- 345 347 34S 34S 349 351 352 XIV. APPENDICES. 2.S. 29. ;i.— 34- 36. 37- 38. 39- 40. 4'- 4^- 43- 44- 43- 46. 47- 48. Army Administration CONSKRVAlTVi: NaVAI AI)MIN'ISTRATI"N Foreign Akfaiks under Lord Sai.isbukv... Labour ■Agricultural Legislation Conservative Agricultural Administration -Conservative Mines Legislation Factories and Workshops Railways and Canals Conservative Protection of Sailors Constructive Conservative Reforms Parnell Commission, February, 1890— Summary An Appeal to Nonconformists Irish Nonconformists' Appeal Defence of the Church in Wales Payment of Members The Local Veto Bill Electoral Statistics Revolt of the Irish Loyalist.^ Canadian History and Home Rule The Nationalists in 1885 )|- !• N DINGS I'AGE 35''> 359 3''^5 368 370 371 374 375 376 377 381 3»3 384 391 395 399 414 416 Dl> UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles THE BEST NATIONAL AND UNIONIST WEEKLY PAPER. I'tMisliiiiij < >ffices :~2^\ , Stkand, London, W.C. All who wish to succeed in Business should ADVERTISE! ADVERTISE!! ADVERTISE!!! " Advertising is to Business what Steam is to Machinery— the great propelling power."— J/a.milo». "ENGLAND"' is the best medium for Advertisements. 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