THE IRISH QUESTION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 258, 1 May 1912, Page 5

THE IRISH QUESTION

HELP FROM AUSTRALIA. By Gable—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, April 30'. Mr. Hazelton, M.P., announced that the amount collected in Australia and New Zealand 1 for the Home Rule fund was £26,000. CRITICISING THE DOMINIONS. A NEW ZEALANDER'S SUGGESTION. i. Received 80, 9.35 p.m. London, April 30. Lord Selbourno, in a speech at Aberdeen, referring to the argument that the weight of opinion of the self-governing Dominions favored Home Rule, said that the Dominions did not appreciate the immense difference between the application of the principle to a colony 6000 miles from Great Britain and an island sixty miles distant. They also did not understand the complication of the problem by Ulster's antagonism. The Dominions' opinions were more pronounced on tariff reform than upon Home Rule. Roughly speaking, there was no such tiling as free trade in the Dominions. Great Britain could not consistently base her Home Rule policy on the opinion of the Dominions, meanwhile barring the door in the face of their tariff reform views. The Times states that the Home Rule Bill will inevitably, after a period of increasing friction, breed ill-feeling. To grant full colonial independence to Ireland would betas' impossible as to transform the Union into a federation by stages. If the Bill attempts this middle 'course it will mean the shipwreck of the party or the nation accepting it. The Bill is certain to entail the erection of a Customs barrier, which hitherto it has been the aim of all confederations to abolish. Speaking at the National Liberal Club, Dr. Chappie, member for Sterlingshire and an ex-New Zealander, suggested that after Home Rule had been granted all round, Ulster should be given the option by a referendum of belonging to the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament.