HOME RULE REASONS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 36, 3 January 1874, Page 8

HOME RULE REASONS.

(The ' American Gael.') Ax instructive lesson can be gathered from a consideration of the present condition of Austria as compared with what it was twenty-five j ears ago. Hungary was in arms, and it required the powerful aid of Russia to suppress the insurrection that threatened the disintegration of the Empire. The Hungarians, like the Irish, were deaieil the right of self government ; a Viceroy ruled in Pesth, as a Lord-Lieutenant exercises authority in Dublin, and coercive laws were framed in Vienna to uphold " order" iv the kingdom with the same facility and enforced with the like seventy as the London parliament passed treason felony, disarming, curfew and suspension^of habeas corpus acts for the purpose of maintaining English mi-rulo in Ireland. After the year 1867, when iho battle oi fcsidvwa drove Austria )ut of Germany, Francis Jcsepl , the Emperor of Austria, detormined i tpon tke bold scheme of reorganising hie empire in accordauce with

the modern spirit of the age. He was assisted by able counsellors, and by the good sense and real moderation of his subjects. Hungary was at once reconciled by yielding all her just demands. Recent bitter feuds were replaced by warm devotion ; Andrassy, proscribed in 1849, was appointed Prime Minister, and Austro-Hungary adopted as the new name of the monarchy. The parliament sitting at Pesth was invested with almost absolute control ovor the affairs of the kingdom. Under the changed form of government the country has made uuprecedented progress, and Hungary, instead of being a source of weakness to the empire, is now its firmest and most reliable support. England has pursued a different course towards Ireland. The civilised world is a witness of the result. The free institutions said to exist in Ireland are a hideous mockery. In the cource of Austria towards Hungary we have convincing proof of how much a wise ministry can accomplish for the welfare of the people, and how necessary self-government is to their prosperity and contentment. Recent visitors to Pesth speak of the wonderful growth of its commerce, and the vast improvements effected in the city during the past ten ov fifteen years. Where there w?re despondency and signs of decay, there are now to be witnessed business energy and enterprise ; and where the people were sullen and dislojal they are now happy in the vastly improved condition of their country, and warmly attached to Francis Joseph. How different is it in Ireland ? There the police and the soldiery interfere with the people even in their most innocent recreations ; the habeas corpus is suspended ; the right to bear arms is denied ; the land is drained of its resources ; the population grows less each day ; commerce languishes, and all who cherish hopes for the elevation of ths country, half of which is at this moment under martial law. from its unhappy condition, are singled oat fot persecution and punishment.