HOME RULE BILL

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10607, 13 April 1912, Page 5

HOME RULE BILL

INTRODUCED IN THE COMMONS ITS MAIN PROVISIONS. (ReceirodLast Night, 9.35 o'clock.) LONDON, April 11. The House of Commons was crowded when the Prime Minister (the Right Hon. H. H. Asquith) introduced the Horn Rid for Ireland Bill. Every seat in the Chamber had been secured hours before. The measure, amongst other things, provides for An Irish Senate of -10 members, all nominated. A House of Commons of 16-1 members, of which 59 shall represent Ulster. Forty-two Irish members to sit in the Imperial Parliament. OUTSIDE THE SCOPF; OF IRISH PARLIAMENT. Among matters which are to be excluded from the scope of the Irish Parliament, are the following : Crown and Imperial affairs. 'Tho Navy and Army. The Land Purchase (Ireland) Act. Old-age Pensions. National Insurance. , , Royal Irish' Constabulary. The Post Office Savings Bank. Collection of Imperial taxes. FINANCE. The Imperial Parliament will retain the power of vetoing or postponing legislation. A cardinal principal is that the Imperial Parliament shall not surrender its supreme authority. MR ASQUITH EXPLAINS. Mr Asquitli explained that the Irish Parliament wpidd not be able to endow aiiy religion- There would be no religious tests nor any interference with the validity of mixed marriages. The Irish revenue would bo collected by the Imperial Government and transferred to the Irish Parliament, with a grant-at the outset of £500,000 yearly. Customs and excise will be j transferred to Ireland, with limitations ' in regard to the matter of increasing Customs dues. (deceived Last Night, 10.35 o'clock.) LONDON, April 12. • Mr Asquith said that the improved conditions of social order removed one of the arguments formerly used against Home Rule. The other factors wera local Government, land purchase, a labourers' university, old age pensions, and a national insurance Act. They were, a v tardy, inadequate set-off against the.evils which Irishmen believed to bo duo to over-taxation and depopulation. He contended that the granting of the Imperial credit in the working of land purchase and old age pensions made separation more unI thinkable to Ireland. I AN IMPERIAL ASPECT.

Dealing with the question from tho standpoint of the United Kingdom asd the Empire, Mr Asquith emphasised tho imperative need of emancipating the Imperial Parliament from local burdens. They would never geferlpcal, concerns treated timorously or sympathetically until they had tho wisdom and courage, to transfer them to the representative,of_the people affected. Ho emphasised the congestion of business in the House of Commons. The existing system was centralised impotence. He asked how it was possible to discharge their duty to their Empire. , : COLONIAL AUTOMOM Y.-

Mr Asquith proceeded to refer t. 1 { the granting of autonomy to Australia , and South Africa.. The self-Govem-meiit" of the Tarnsvaal was strict.y analagous to Home Rule for Ireland. Ho would be a bold man who would assert that Ulster presented more difficulties than' Boer and' Britons living side by side in territory which was just recovering from an internecine Avar. In the case of Australia and South Africa, tQie object was to provide a central legislation and administrative authority to deal with matters of common interest to the separate and adjacent States, while maintaining the. utmost individual autonomy for local purposes. A COMMON GOAL. "We start," said v the Prime Minister, "with a congested central Government wluch, if it intended' to carry out efficiently the common interests of the whole, must' delegate local interests to local management." In conclusion', Mr Asquith said tin;; the great' Dominions, althougU Martin g from opposite poles, /'ere ad ani-'-11-aLed witli'ihu same spir'■'. (,f ,-itt;iining the same g0a1....He was Mire ihey wero all in hearty sympathy with the I spii it.ancl purpose of Home Rule. PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. The first clause of the Bill stipulates the -unchallenged supremacy of the Imperial l Parliament. The Irish Parliament will consist of r the King and two Houses, which, acr cording to the- Bill, are'only empowered to make laws exclusively relating to Ireland. The Bill excludes from the Irish Parliament the Crown, peace and war, control of the Navy and Army, treaties, dignities, treason, and a mun-

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ber of other matters. AN ANGRY SCENE. When Mr Asquith had concluded his speech thcro was an angry scene;. Mr Bonar Law, Leader of the. Opposition, repeated the statement made by'him at Belfast—that the Government had sold itself for votes.

The Prime Minister indignantly rebutted Mr Law's assertion.

Sir Edward Carson, ex-Attorney General and one of tho leaders of the anti-Home Rule movement in Ulster, said that the Bill was ridiculous and would prove unworkable. SCENE IN THE COMMONS. CHEERS AND COUNTER CHEERS. (Received Last Night, 10.35 o'clock.) LONDON, April 12. When tho Right Hon. H. H. \squ : th rose to speak, the House of Common's. was crowded. Loud shouts welcomed Mr Asquith on his entry into the Chamber, while Mr Redmond, a few minutes later, was greeted with triumphant Nationalist cheers. Mr Bonar Law and Mr Balfour were cheered, but a special ovation was reserved for Sir Edward Carson. THE PREMIER'S SPEECH. As the Premier rose, there was' tense silence. Mr, Asquith paid a tribute to the late Mr Gladstone's speech of 1893, which, he said.was a perfect exposition of the historic case between Britain and Ireland. He would take up the case where Mr Gladstone had finished. He asked ho»v far .the case for and against Home Rule was affected by subsequent events. Eight general elections had occurred since 1894. Party fortunes had ebbed and flowed. Governments, had come and gone. Yet. through the shiftingjssues. and changing policies the constant inj. sistence and persistence of. /thV Irish* demands remained. •,He glanced at Ireland's preponderant vote for Home Rule. LOOK AT ULSTER! "Look at Ulster," ho said (Unionist cheers). Here these were seventeen Unionists and sixteen Home Rulers (Ministerial cheers). He had spoken disrespectfully of the hostility to Home Rule by tho majority in the north. eastern countries. It wasja factor not ignored in the present Bill; but they were enabled to adrp.it the •inority'a right to veto the verdict of tho majority of their countrymen. LAND PURCHASE ACr.

In the _course of his ispoecli, Mr Isquith said that among the important matters reserved for the Imperjal Parliament- was the Land Purchase Act, because the security of the system, re.-.ting on tho'"lmperial'credit, must in nowise be affected. OTHER MATTERS. There would he an automatic transfer of the constabulary in a sexennium, and a transfer of the Post Office Savings Bank in <& decade, if the Irish Parliament so wished. Similarly with'the. old age pensions and insurance. Tho Irish Parliament would not bo allowed to repeal or alter any pro r visions of the Homo Rule Act, nor iiu terfero -with the right of appeal to the Privy Council. RIGHT OF VETO. Concerning the- validity of the law passed' by trie Irish Parliament, after mentioning the religious safeguards, Mr Asquith explained that Bills passed by Ireland would be subject to tb;> Lord Lieutenant's veto. THE SENATE.

Regarding tho Senate, he xv.d _ it was desirable to have representativesof the Ministry, who would possibly, not be represented if the Senate wafe elected. The Imperial Executive woufcF .nominato for eight years Senators who. would retire in rotation. Their places would be filled by the Irish Executive." j (Unionist laughter). 'j THE COMMONS. Regarding the Commons, each constituency would 'contain a quota of. j 27,000, giving Ulster fifty-nine members, Leinster forty-nine, Munster forty-seven, Connaught twenty-five, and the Universities two. OTHER PROVISIONS. In tho event .-of disagreement between the two Houses,., they would-sit, together. The Executive would he the same as provided"for in tlie 1893 Bill. FINANCE. Regarding tlie financial relations,the Government had not adopted the PrimrosdCbmmissidn scheme, bttt had benefited by its suggestions. Its reports will he presented to Parliament. The estimates for the coming year show the true Irish revenue to be (about £10,840,000, and the expenditure on Irish services about £1,235,000. The Irish Parliament would pny tho cost of all except reserved services. An annual grant of half a million would 'bo gradually reduced to £200,000. TAXATION.. The Imperial Parliament would continue to tax tlie whole of the Kingdom, and the Irish Parliament would be empowered to reduce or discontinue for Ireland any Imperial tax, provided tlie sum Imperially transferred to Ireland was correspondingly reduced. The Irish Parliament would he empowered to impose taxes on their own account, -but would not be empowered to impose customs duties except on articles dutiable in the United Kingdom It would not he empowered to augment the Imperial duty or customs or the Imperial income tax but was free in connection with stamp duties, although some of these would rcir.ain uniform throughout the Kingdom . A joint Exchequer Board, of two on each side, with a chairman nominated by the Crown-, would adjust the financial relations.