HOME RULE SCENES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1687, 1 March 1913, Page 12

HOME RULE SCENES.

[THIED! HEADING DIVISION. MR. BALFOTTR'S MOTION' FOE ■ E-EJECTION. GRAVE WARNING. Amid scenes of fervid joy on. the part of the Nationalists—shared in, though with less enthusiasm, by the Liberals— the third' Horn© Eule Bill passed through its final stage in tho Houso of Commons on January 16 by a majority of 110, and went immediately to the House of Lords. It was the climax of fifty-two days' debate upon it in the Lower House (says tho "Daily Mail"), and for the eventful occasion every : possible vote of ■ every party had been whipped np. The House was full to overflowing during the last hour,, .when Mr. Bonar Law, Leader of the Opposition, and Mr. Birrell, Chief Secretary for Ireland, engaged in tlio final encounter across the historic table.

For three-quarters of an hour the Opposition Leader,, endorsed by resounding and repeated cheers from tho benches behind him, drove home the Unionist •party's . indictment of the Government. Ho confessed that he was repeating himself; there was so little that was new left to bo said; but his vehement « sentences burst like shells over tho Government benches. The gravamen of his last Indictment was that .Ulster would fight rather than submit, and that the Government knew it. He challenged them to deny it.

Mr. Birrell's Appeal. Mr. Birrell, Uiscursive for twenty minutes, reached the challenge at last. He could not deny it; he oven admitted that il tho Unionist contentions ol the oppression that Ulster would unuergo proved accurate .Ulster would. bo ngnc in lighting; and his last appeal, niauo with outstretched hands, was lor the Opposition to come to the assistance' ot tnu taovernment in settling "mis tremendous problem." On condition that the Unionists came to the Government in the spirit of aiding them and not wrecking them, the Government would oonskler "any proposals you choose to make."

Alter., this the issue came to the vote swiftly.. When Mr. Baliour's amendment was submitted a division was immediately challenged, and the members surged into the lobbies, and hurried back to their seats lor tlio final scene.

There had been frequent. demands for Mr. Winston Churchill in the course of the evening. While the House waited expectant for the tellers, Mr. Churchill sauntered coolly up the iloor of the House. A low murmur of. ironic cheering rose from the Unionist benches, Mr. Churchill paused momentarily, and faced them. "It—r—rat," snapped one Unionist member.

Air. Illingworth, Chief "Government Whip, read out the figures. The Irish Nationalists sprang to their feet, every man of them waved handkerchiefs and or(ler papers, and cheered themselves hoarse. The Liberals joined in. Tho Unionists sat in studied silence. "Cheers for Asquith," shouted a Liberal. "Redmdnd you mean," retorted a Ulsterman; and sarcastic cheers swept the Unionist benches.

The Divisions, Only-', the amendment had been defeated, however. There wus yet another divi-sion-7-on the third reading of the Bill itself. Mr. Asquith was cheered as lie returned to his place alter the second division. Then Mr. Redmond was spied. "Cheer your real leader; there ho is," shouted a Unionist, and again there was ironical Opposition laughter.

The announcement of the figures of tho second division, giving the same majority of 110, was' greeted with another outburst of frenzied joj. .

The Bill was formally read a first time in tlio House of Lords, wliich. adjourned until Tuesday. K ;'' ,y i'■ ' l Wednesday's Speeches. • ' On January 15 there was a full attendance of Ministers. Mr. Balfour, who was to move the rejection of the Bill, came in towards the end of questions, his arrival being greeted with a clieer from the Liberals.

Mr. Halfour spoko for a few minutes over the hour in moving the rejection of the Bill. "Speaking broadly, the Government have been supported by large and substantial majorities," he confessed, but the discussion liad been carried on in circumstances which mads the value of that support worthless. The process of obtaining that support.reminded him of "thoso old comedies of intrigue in which the chief schemer goes to each of the subordinate, characters in turn, and, giving a different version of his object, .induces them by separate methods to carry oai his policy, and in the end leaves them all duped."'

'I'll© Irish broke into ironical cheers. Mr. John Itedmond looked puzzled until Mt. Patrick O'Brien whispered in his ear. The cheers, still ironical in note, spread to the Liberal benches. Mr. Balfour looked to right and- left in bewilderment until an Irishman blurted out: "Who 6aid Food Taxes?" Tho Unionist party laughed, arid bothi Mr. Bonar Law and Mr. Austen Chamberlain showed' signs of amusement.

"If Blood be Split." The religious question in Ulster was reviewed in the light of history, and Mr. Balfour declared: "It is folly to tell me that there is nothing to be feared if you place the minority under the control of the majority. It is contrary to the whole lesson of history. No ono has suffered more from it than the Roman Catholics where they are in a minority. "If you put Yorkshire in the place of Ulster, Yorkshire would in a fortnight feel as Ulster does now," asserted Mr. Balfour. "And would not they better what Ulster has done? They would spend their days in drilling and their nights in importing arms." (Loud' Opposition cheers.)

"I say with confidence," he ended, speaking gravely, "that if blood be spilt in this controversy—God forbid_ that it should be so—the real assassins will bo thoso who have never had tho courage to face the situation." (Loud cheers.)

Mr. Asqulth's Reply. A whoop of Irish cheers greeted Mr. Asquith as he rose to reply. He asserted that tho legislation applied to Ireland had been a failure because it ignored her special difficulties, and this was why tho Nationalist movement "has passed from tho stage of sentiment, aspiration, , and abortive effort to what it is now, an organised, practical, inevitable reality." _ It was a movement thnt could not be ignored. "If you were to reject this Bill you would find it still standing in your path. It is the organised, articulate,' and permanent expression of tho political demand of the vast majority of tho Irish people. That 13 what you havo got to face." Looking across at the Opposition ho 6ternly demanded: "In face of that demand, persisted in for tho lifetimo of a whole generation, what are you going to d°?" , . "If wo could meet Ulster s case, so far as it is founded upon justice-^or r even apprehension—without doing injustice to Ireland as a whole, wo should be glad and delighted to do so." But !fc would be "absolutely fatal to democratic government" to concedo her claim to special treatment bccnusn she was a minority. Ulster possessed two real safeguards which were, none the less strong because they could not lie defined in any Act of Parliament, tho safeguards of self-interest and common sense. Peroration In a Hush.

"Wo believe this Bill to be calculated to bring to an end the secular quarrel," ha proceeded, entering upon an eloquent peroration, "Almost from the first, ns.it seems, an unkindly fate brooded over these two islands to frustrate their com* mon life and sever their natural union. Time after time when they wero coming together, when tho web seempil to bo woven-of reciprocal interests and affections. it litis been, unravelled and torn asunder as though under tlip. spell or somo malignant curse. It must be our jiart to exerciss onco and for all these baleful influences and join two peoples, niennt to be onp, but whom tho chances of history, tho seeming caprico of fortune, . the follies and passions of men kept apart, into a fruitful and enduring union." Tho concluding words'of. Mr. Asouith's speech wore spoken to a Houiia huwed to

an almost eerio stillness. When ho eat back on the Treasury bench loud chcers broke out from the Liberal and Irish members.

Lobby Scenes,

Tlio declaration of the figures of tho division was greeted by scenes of popular demonstration both inside and outside the House of Commons. A. large number of friends of members were in the Houso. Tho general publio surged into tho outer lobby and became demonstrative even, before the division wan taken, greeting Ministers who passed by cliance__with cheers or "boos." Immediately, after the first division one or two of the Nationalists rushed to the outer lobby shouting as loudly as they could the result. Thero followed a sceno which is rare withiil the walls of the decorous Houso.

Hats were thrown in the air, umbrellas were waved, and cheers mingled with a few "boos" roso to the roof. Particularly noticeable were tho shrill voices of a large number of ladies who were present, many of them wearing some object of green in token, of their Irish sympathies. The shouting continued for several minutes, and was renewed later, when tho division on the third reading was taken up in the hall leading to the central lobby, where a number of other people were gathered. Outside the House. Outside the House, in spite of the rigours of a cold night and drizzling rain, thousands of people waited to hear tho result. They began to assemble about nine o'clock, many carrying Union Jacks or flags of green or red. On© party marched up with two banners, but no bands were allowed. A large force of police, including a few mounted men, was in readiness for any conflict. But the crowd was a good-humoured one, and cheering was their most serious diversion until half-past ten, when they suddenly became quiet.

Ten minutes later the division figures were announced from the balcony of a honse in Bridge Street, and were greeted with a shrill wild outburst. Hats, sticks, and umbrellas were thrown in the air, and several of the crowd clambered on to passing motor omnibuses, the better to express their feelings. There was an anti-Home Rule demonstration in Belfast late on Thursday night. A great procession of Orangemen and members of the Unionist Cluhs was held, and a copy of the Home Rule Bill was publicly burned amid deafening" cheers.