MR. BALFOUR ON HOME RULE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1890, 27 October 1913, Page 8

MR. BALFOUR ON HOME RULE.

"ON THE EDGE OP GREAT ; EVENTS," 1 ARCUMENTS FOR AN EARLY ELEC- ; TION. Mr. A. J, Balfour, M.P., presided, 011 September G, over a meeting of the 1 Lothian Unionist Association, at ; which Mr. 11. P. MacJlillan, K.C., a [ leading member of the Scottish Bar, was , adopted as tho Unionist candidate ior 1 tho constituency at the next election. 1 Air. Balfour said: —Though I am not too prono to think unduly ill of my ■ neighbours, st is impossible to doubt that tho Government when tlioy put us under this interim Constitution, when thoy abolished tho House of Lords as it lias, and refused to bring into being that new Second Chamber which was . to carry out tho functions which they, at all ovents, thought tho Houso or Lords were not strong enough or not ■ in other ways competent to carry out— I say ivhen they took that lino tlioy really wore endeavouring to suspend tho ! Constitution for the very purpose ' of passing these over the heads and against tho will and tho considered ; judgment of tho people. (Cheors.) It 1 was not a stop in the great movoment or constitutional progress; it was a | larJiament-ary device for carrying through Homo Rule and other measures, in order to keep themselves in power, . and 111 order to do, against tho will of tho people, what tfiey wall know the , people would reject again. (Cheors.) 1 Aow theso ingenious political expedients are all very well until you arc j brought faco to face with somo of those ■ elemental political forces which the • kmeniment hare now come in conflict with jn Ulster. I do not believe that > when tlioy thought of this plan tliev . in tho least realised what the loyal feeling m tlse North-east- of Ireland was. ; J. hoy supposed—and I am afraid that 1 many of the constituencies in England and Scotland supposed, may be some of them suppose even still—that no doubt Ulster was Unionist, but that Ulster 1 Unionism was not of that typo which regarded connection with this country and freedom from the domination from the rest of Ireland not as a speoulativo interest or speculative preference, but as a matter of life and death to thorn, (Uicers.) Ihe Government, at all events are now beginning to realiso that that is so. Tlioy know—l am confident tlioy know; they havo information from Ireland; they are not blind— they know, as I know, that tho deep immovable settled conviction of the men i» Hi r " tlm 'g which brushes aside all these fine-spun Parliamentary contrivauces which looked so clever two or throe years ago. What the Covernmsnt May Do. Well, if that be the situation—and I do not behove that anyone who knows the facts doubts that it is tho situation what aro tho Government going h. 1 r ! ? lay dissolve before they attempt to adviso the Sovereign to pass tho Homo Rule Bill, or they may olierlsh the idea that they can defer the dissolution till after tho Home Rule Bill has been placed upon tho Statute Book, •t 11 , ,fc comcs into operation. And it all tho rumours, that reach me bo true they have hitherto inclined to tile second of those two policies. But is it; a possible or practical policy ? Is it not wildly imprudent? Is it not grossly : immoral f J If they, dissolve before the Homo Rule .Hill conies into law I do not for a moment say that they will reconcile Ulster, but at all events they will have re- ] moved this grievance from Ulster—that , thoy will have, made it impossible to say that Ulster is tho victim of a revolution on which the people of this coun- ! try were never consulted, lhat eriev- , aiico, at all events, will bo taken away. Can thoy afford to t-ako the steps which c thoy will have to take if Ulster is to ] bd coerced unless they have behind them at least the backing which the opinion ot the constituencies of this country • can givo them ? I do not believe it is 1 possible to undertake such a response ' unity. I do not seo how thay can do ! it, how they can faco, I won't siiy the J verdict of history, about which, I daresay, thoy ' aro tolerably indifferent- ] (laughter),—but the immediate verdict , ot their fellow-countrymon, on whoso 1 favour ultimately their political for- ' tunes must inevitably depend if they ' put off asking tho country until after 1 tho Homo Rule Bill has become law. 1 What do they gain by it if tho coun- ' try is really in their favour? If the ( country has Homo Rule at heart tho ! country would say so if we had an elee- 1 turn next month. And, if tho country c is against Homo Rulo," can you conceive 1 any policy so atrocious a's that of refus- 1 mg tho opportunity to tho country to say so until every kind of inconvenience c and possibly every kind of disorder has 1 resulted from tho illegitimate delay ! which the Govornmout themselves havo ? interposed between tho legislation and the question put to the constituencies ? J Evidently if thoy put off tho election, 1 as is prophesied by some of their sup- ? porters, it means that supposing tho t country is anti-Home Rule, as I for my part believe it is, every conceivable diffi- 0 oulty will be placed in tho way of carry- ? ing out the policy which the country 11 will have deliberately endorsed. How J 1 are thoy going to justify that P It is ~ evidently impossible to justify it. J The Government and an Eleotlon. J If tho country is to be consulted nt h nil irpoii Homo Rulo, let it be eon- r suited bsforo Homo Rule becomes, law. g In that way, and in that way alone, will tlie Government avoid the gravest re- d sponsibiity wliicli I think any Govern- Jj ment in this country has ever liad " the courage, to take upon itself. I do c not seo what tho Government gain hy a tho delay. _ It is a few months more of j s office, possibly,) but I cannot otherwise seo tile advantage of their position. If j tins country is really with tliem, if the e< country really desires Home Rule, their y position would bo strengthened ten thousand-fold, and their period of office c < indefinitely prolonged by asking the jjcountry's opinion and getting a favournblo verdict. If, 011 the other hand, r j my prophecy is correct, if the country tl hate this Home Rule Bill at least as b< much as tlioy liated the two Homo Rule f 0 Bills that preceded it, then can we ima- r o pine a more shameless proceeding than j]j that of deferring to put the question to t c tho country till all tho passions aro w . aroused in Ireland, both in tho South and tho north, till oil the administra- or tivo inconvcniences_ which must inevit- bj ably ensue if a Bill is repealed after it is passed or brought upon us, and ]n after the whole temper of tho country is raised to fever heat and_ all possible y, methods of finding a solution for this tli great problem are rendered tenfold more ] K difficult tlian tlioy aro now. al I do not admire tho present Govern- p E ment. I do not think they have shown C!! either caution or statesmanship. J think fo tliev have lieon wildly reckless in their policy, and as regards tlio constitutional 0 , question grossly unscrupulous, and I w : I;avc never hesitated to make that ar o)rinion known ; but, after all, thoy aro l )V men brought up in tho traditions of w | British liberty, they have had the train- c j inn of British statesman, and I will so never believe they are going to try and rr govern us in connection with this Ulster Home Rule question as if we were jn a South American or a Central Ameri- mi can Republic. To my mind, such' a policy when it comes to bo faced is almost, unthinkable, and until the Prime Minister and his colleagues show them- 60; selves capable of wliat I regard as an Lc net of gross political immorality. I tie shall not believe that they aro prepared soi to face tho issue. of Well, then, what is the only conclu- Dr sion that, I can draw? It is that as "[ the time gets closer and closer, when they have got to face this question of "7. Ulster, of Britain, and of Homo Rule. I of

thoy will feel that they must havo the country behind them or tlioy must resign. Thoy will be forced to dissolve. Ladies and .gentlemen, we aro 011 tlio edge of groat events. I am not s.uro that everybody realises how near wo aro to difficulties that may prove insoluble fir almost insolublo to British statesmanship. All that we, the minority, can do is to protest, is to warn, is to explain to our countrymen where tho dangers lie, to try and make them realise what aro tho feelings of their fellow-loyalists in tho North of Ireland, and I think if wo carry out that duty effectively, if we Stir tho somewhat) sluggish imagination, of our fellowcountrymen, and if wo make them se« things as they aro not in the immediate circlo of our own experience, but as thoy are only a few hundred miles away, from this place, I believe such o storm of passionate indignation would be aroused that no Government, however anxious to uso to tho utmost the powers which they havo snatched under tho interim Constitution, would dare to carry out their original policy to its extreme and bitter end. (Cheers.) If' I am right wo shall soon bo in tho thick of tho conflict. Let us then make every preparation for tho great event. Let) us not content ourselves with resolutions or with speeches, Let us set- cursives strenuously-to work. Then when the timo comcs we shall not be unprepared. All our preparations, all our arrangements will have been brought to tho highest pitch of perfection, and we may tliett look forward with full con-' fnleiico and satisfaction to the results (Cheors.)