IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2467, 21 February 1893, Page 1

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

London, Feb. 1G

Mr S. Buxton, Under-Secretary for the Colonies, replying to the member for Banbury, said that no change had been made in the practice of appointing colonial Governors.

On the motion of Mr Sexton the editor of the Times was ordered to be summoned to the Bar of the House for stating that the Paj meat of Members Bill was to be introduced in order to relieve the financiers of the Liberal party from the necessity of supporting the clerical contingent, whereby corruption was implied. The House also unanimously agreed that the Times’ article, describing the Irish members of the House of Commons as paid mercenaries, was a breach of privilege. There was a scene in the House of Commons to-day, Mr Sexton accusing Viscount Wolmer, member for West Edinburgh, or falsely alleging that the Irish members were paid by the Gladstouians. Viscount Wolmer apologised. Feb. 17. Common ting on the action of the House of Conn i ions the Times says that as Viscount Wolmer has apologised so do we, who used his words, but we repeat “ the Irish are paid by the enemies of England.” The report of the Parnell Cmnmission is quoted to that effect, and the Times concludes by staying that Mr Gladstone and his Irish allies have been compelled to resurrect parliamentary privilege to quell a hostile newspaper. The Times strongly protests against the threatened freedom of the press. Lord Churchill said that the Home Rule Bill was a constitutional revolution. There was no adequate cause for it, and the whole measure was grotesque. It would be impossible to conduct Imperial Government with two separate majorities in the House of Commons. The scheme would allow Irish members the almost irrrestiblo power of extracting concessions. He felt confident that the constituencies if appealed to would reject the Bill. The Hon. A. J. Mundella, President of the Board of Trade, replying to a deputation consisting of two hundred members of the House of Commons, said that if the railway companies did not agree to a reduction in rates before Easter, legislation would be introduced to compel them to do so. He admitted that the farmers were the worst sufferers. The Dublin Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by the Hon. J. Morley, Chief Secretary for Ireland, against the decision respecting his refusal to allow the police to protect sheriffs. Feb. 18. The Home Rule Bill has been circulated. The chief points have already been Cabled. Twenty-seven Ulster mem- | hers will be retained at Westminster, and j fifteen in the Legislative Council in 1 Dublin. In the debate on the Homo Rule Bill Mr Joseph Chamberlain dwelt upon the danger of the Irish taking advantage of England’s emergency in the event of war to extort complete autonomy for Ireland. H e ridiculed the proposal to retain Irish members at Westminster as a proposal which would prove unworkable. Mr Chamberlain said that the preamble reverently buried the corpse of supremacy, and he would prefer to see federation of the United Kingdom. Lord Churchill condemned the in the Home Rule Bill of ivuv p rov i s ion for the safety of Ulster, 'which lie considered a direct iasul* ’to a loyal people, who would receive more than sympathy in resisting " a Parliament which would be ur> .t.ule to compel Ulster to transfer its allegiance. Mr Labouchere considered the Bill a thoroughly good one, thought it would ho better to exclude Irish members from the Imperial Parliament. The Hon. R. Blake, member for Longford, formerly Liberal leader in Canada, said that the Bill should be accepted by Irishmen all over the world as a settlement of the difficulty. Mr J. Morley, Chief Secretary for Ireland, closed the debate, and protested against everlasting distrust of the Irish. The Bill was read a first time without a division, and the second reading is fixed for March loth. The debate in the House of Commons has not up to the present detached any of Mr Gladstone’s supporters. The real issue, will, however, be fought out in Committee, chiefly on the retention of Irish members at Westminster, finance, and the protection of minorities. In course of an interview to-day, Sir Charles Gavail Duffy said that the great omission in the Home Rule Bill was the absence of any provision for the proper representation of minorities, and it was imperative to afford the Unionists a fair number of seats in the Assembly. Unionist meetings have been arranged at the, principal towns in England and Scotland. The Marquis of Salisbury will speak at Belfast ou April sth, and iu Derbyshire ou April 7th. ]S o decision has yet been arrived at as to the summoning of the editor of the Times before the bar of the House. It is rumoured in Dublin that the Paruellites and followers of Mr Justin McCarthy are reconciled. It is stated that the. Independent and Freeman’s Journal will amalgamate. The Standard assorts that Mr Gladstone intends to propose that members of the House of Commons not possessing incomes of £IOO a yesr shall bo entitled on official application to a salary of £3OO. 'she Radicals oppose the partial scheme, and there is but little prospect of anything being done in the matter this session.

Mr Gladstone states that he is willing to facilitate enquiries as to the applicability of labelling to frozen mutton. The deputation to the .PostmasterGeneral, relative to Imperial penny postage, has been postponed for the present.