The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JUNE 8,1886. EARL SPENCER ON HOME RULE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1516, 8 June 1886, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JUNE 8,1886. EARL SPENCER ON HOME RULE.

Thebe is not in Englishman living who knows, or ought to know, Ireland so well as Earl Spencer. He has been several times Lord Lieutenant of that unfortunate country ; he has seen her in times of peace—it it can be said that Ireland has known such a time ; ha has ruled her with a rod of iron daring the recent agitation ; no other Governor of Ireland administered snob stringent coercive measures ; no other employeJ greater determination to conquer, but, according to his own confession, the effect of all be did was to render Ireland more discontented, disloyal, and ungovernable. In a speech delivered by him at Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 21st of April last, be said, according to the report in the London Daily Telegraph. —“ If I look back and consider whether we have advanced English rule I am sorry to say I cannot give a favorable answer to it. There was not a Town Council, or a Corporation, or a Board of Guardians in Ireland which was not the centre of attack on the Government, and the National party were gaining strength every day. That was not a prospect on which I coaid congratulate myself. The feeling which I have indicated sprang fiom the abhorrence of the system of government which prevailed amongst the Irish people.” After discussing Ibis point at some length ho said, “ I think I have shown you the old methods are exhausted and powerless, and must be thrown aside. There can be no doubt but for a time the law will prevail if these measures are renewed, but then where will you be ? Will yon have gained a step in the battle 7 (Cries of No.) No is the right answer. You would find the Irish more irritated and more exasperated than at the present time. Yon would not find them believing tbattbelsw protects their liberties, their properties and their lives. That is not the road (coercion) we must follow. We must have confidence in the Irish people—that is the road our great leader, that heroic statesman, Mr Gladstone, (cheers) has taken.” Earl Spencer then began to discuss the objections raised against the Home Bale'scheme. The first one was “ That you are going to band over the government of Ireland to men who have encouraged—nay, some, I have heard say, even have directed—outrage and crime (laughter).

that is a very grave accusation. I have in my official position (Lord Lieutenant) seen, and know nearly all the evidence that has been given in Ireland in regard to the murders, and conspiracies to murder, which took place in 1881 and 1882, and I can say without doubt or hesitation that I bars neither heard nor seen any evidence of complicity with crime against any of the Irish representatives. This I must say, that I believe these men to have a true affection and real interest in the welfare of their country (cheers). Tbeir real ability has been shown and acknowledged in the House of Commons by all parties (cheers). I believe that with the full responsibility upon them, they will know that the only true way of attaining the happiness and contentment of Ireland is for her Government to maintain law and order, and to defend the rights and privileges of every class, and every man in the country.” Such language as this coming from the very man who, for months, kept in gaol many of the men of whom be is speaking, refutes most thoroughly the calumnious accusations so frequently made against Mr Parnell and his followers. In the House of Commons ;in the public Press ; on the platform and off it; in England and in the colonies, Mr Parnell and bis followers have been persistently accused of complicity in the crimes which then disgraced Ireland. They were accused of complicity in the Phoenix Park murder, and the dynamite explosions ; yet here is the man of all men, who knew the secret details connected with these .crimes most intimately, exonerating them completely and unreservedly from any connection whatsoever with crime. And what a confession for Earl Spencer to make. He imprisoned, and kept imprisoned, Mr Parnell, and the great majon l y of Lis followers, and now he admits that they were innocent men, and that they were incarcerated with the view of crushing out the nation’s desire, to secure selfgovernment. And he admits, after haring resorted to these means, after having exhausted all that the ingenuity of man could suggest, the spirit of was still unbroken, and she appeared as fresh, as vigorous, and as determined as ever to continue the struggle. Earl Spencer next glances at the Land Question, and urges that it would not be fair to throw the onus of settling it on the Irish Parliament, It had been the cause of great feuds in Ireland, and it would be better to remove this cause, than leave it as a disturbing element in Irish political life. He next passes on to another argument advanced against Mr Gladstone’s policy. It is that the Irish Nation will repudiate its liability to England—that she will not pay her debt. Earl Spencer says; “ I believe that the Irish will beep their pledges ns any other people who give a pledge to another country, and if we look to what has been done in Ireland we will hud that the poor Irish tenant has been singularly faithful in the payment of bis debts to the English Exchequer ; the small purchasers under the Church Act have singularly and faithfully fulfilled all their obligations to the State, and I believe, although the times have been very bad, there have been hardly any defaults in the payments of their annuities. To a still greater extent, the case was the same with regard to the seed rate which was advanced by .the State some years ago, and, further, I should say we hare ample security by having kept the Customs and excise as security fer the debt of Ireland.” He next handled the question of Separation, and asks, “ Why should Ireland separate 7 They would incur enormous expense if they had to maintain an army or a navy, for neither of these two is cheap. They would bare to keep up the credit of the country ; what would the credit of the country be if separated from this country 7 They would have the greatest possible interest in remaining united with this country. They are not all insane men in Ireland (laughter), as some people think. There are fanatics and rebels in Ireland, but they are a very small section. It will be the first doty of Mr Parnell, if ha becomes Minister, to put these down, and 1 believe he would do so with vigor. But there is a stronger argument against Separation. England would be able, as Mr Gladstone once said to me, to drag Ireland behind her as a mighty man-of-war drags through the sea an eight-oared boat. Ireland will be powerless before England, This they know well in Ireland.” There can be no doubt but such utterances coming from EaH Spencer mast carry weight. Of all the men living out of Ireland there is no other possessing the same thorough knowledge of the political condition of Ireland. He has been, on and off, connected with the country for nearly 20 years ; he has, he says, made the Irish question a deep study, and the only conclusion he bae come to is that there will be no real union between England and Ireland until the present galling tie is severed, and power given to Ireland to make her own laws.