HOME RULE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 75, 3 October 1874, Page 13

HOME RULE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

[From the Dublin Correspondence of the c Advocate.'] The first debate on the question of Home Rule for Ireland lias come I -off in the Houao of Commons. There was considerable difficulty in getting a day for it. Mr Butt had ballotted for a favourable occasion several times without success, and the Government would not come to his rescue. At last, however, he had the good fortune to secure the -30th of last month. But, Just then, the Government began to feel that the remainder of the session absolutely at their disposal would not suffice for the business they had in demand ; and they consequently brought forward a resolution by which all future Tuesdays, as well as Mondays ond Thursdays, should be given up to Government Bills — n resolution the passing of which would undo Mr Butt, as the 30th of •June fell on a Tussday. And this resolution was carried — but not •without ecch a protest from the Home Rulers as induced the Government to promise that the Tuesday secured to M> Butt would not be appropriated by them after all. And so the debate came off as had been settled. A great proof that Home Rule has nlready attained the dignity of -a great question, is supplied by the crowded state of the House itself, and of all the galleries in the House. Over 500 were in attendance, and all the leading men, with the exception of Mr Gladstone and one or two other members of the late Ministry, were amongst the earliest arrivals. The galleries were simply crammed — the strangers' gallery especially. Many hundreds who had obtained orders to this place went away without getting into it. In the speaker's gallery were many distinguished persons — amongst the rest, as the readers of the ' Advocate' will be delighted to hear, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, who had arrived from the Continent a few days before, and was, during the debate, the centre of a throng of Irish Home Kule members. I have no doubt that, as he pat in the place of honor, under the clock, he more than once longed for the opportunity to take part for old Ireland an the fray proceeding beneath. in presence of such an audience, Mr Butt rose to move the motion you will find in your exchanges. My space will not allow me to sinnxnarise his address. I have only to tell its general character, and the manner in which it was received. Mr Butt is, beyond all doubt, a ereat orator, and era take a comprehensive g^asp of his subject. But requires a sympathetic audience — a muss meeting of his own countrymen, for instance — to appear at his best. The House of Com:mona is not such an audience, I need not hardly say, and, accordingly, Mr Butt did not deliver as great a speech as he was capable of delivering. Nevertheless, he rose to a grand height. He was very moderate in tone ; he was extremely lucid always j he was eloquent and passionate, betimes The 'Times,' said, the day after, that his speech ■was the best of the Parliamentary kind ever delivered at Westminster ; and this eulogy was echoed by every other critic, English and Irish, who busied himself with the subject. Mr Butt spoke for an hour and a-half, and, having been listened to with unusual attention, made a great impression, I may say one word. His speech is not well reported in any paper, English or Irish, Mr George Bryan, senior member for the County Kilkenny, was appointed to second Mr Butt's proposition. He rose, accordingly, to speak when Mr Butt sat down. But he did not succeed in "catching the speaker's eye ; " and it is to be regretted he did not ; for he it a great favourite, I understand, with the English members, and, besides, he is an aristocrat of many acres and of great social influence. But, although, lie did not speak, the speech he intended to deliver was given the next day in one of the Dublin papers as having been actually delivered. Ihis thing occurred with another member, as will be seen presently ; and it leads me to remark that the Irish daily papers contained very bad reports of the debate, showed, and indeed, continue to show, no enterprise whatever in procuring an adequate account of what passes in Parliament regarding Ireland. The gentleman that aetuullj did epeak after Mr Butt was Dr BjII, the Attorney-General for Ireland, who delivered a vigorous, if not eloquent, address against the Irish national demand, and infused an ■acrimonious spirit into the debate, uttering threats now and then, and ■even holding insulting language towards the Home Kule members. This is the hon. gentleman's usual attribute ; he is an ablo bully. ££i»

declamation, however, would be much more effective and impressive if he were hot known to be a humbug and a mere advocate, for money ; for every one_ here knows that it was a long time before he could make up hit mind in which political camp lie would seek lfis fortuna,' and that if he were better paid by the Home Rulers than by the Tories, he would be a Home Ruler himself. However, his speech was effective in the Scuxe of Commons ; and I may here add that the only really clever nnd animated attacks on Home "Rule came from Irishmen — or, rather West Britons. I may here also indicate the general lin© adopted by Dr. Ball and all the speakers on that side. They violently declared thafc Home Rule mu9t never be granted ; aud when they condencendod to argue the question they confined themselves to wretched little objections to Mr Butt's plan, which would all disappear, you may be sure, like darkness from the sun, if it were once agreed that Ireland should have self-govern tn on t. In answer to the Irish arguments,, their reply w»s substantially — " Wo won't grant your demand." The other speakers on Dr. Ball's side wore the late Chief Secretary for Ireland (the Marquis of Hartington), a couple of insignificant Orangemen from the North of Ireland, Dr Smyth, the Presbyterian clergyman whc> sits in the Liberal interests for County Derry, who took the line that Home Rule would not further the independence or prosperity in Treland, and who bids fuir to become a Home Ruler ; and an English member, unknown to fame. Mr Butt's supporters during the evening were Mr Richard Power, the young member for Waterford City, who demonstrated, by a. powerful series of facts and figures, that Ireland is going headlong t» material ruin, and that there is no middle course for England between Home Rule and coercion ; Colonel White (*enior M.P. for Tipperary, son of a Peer, Lord-Lieutenant of Clare, and a Colonel in the Guards), who repelled, in terms of great and just indignation, the imputation that Home Rulers were disloyal and meant to dismember the Empire ; Mr Keyes O'Clery, M.P. for Wexford ; and Mr A. M. Sullivan, of the ' Nation.' The last-named delivered the most effective speech of the night. The ' Times ' has referred to it again and again as " clever," and " ingenious." The London ' Spectator,' speaking after the division, said it was " by far the best speech of the whole debate on the Home Rule side," and that it showed that true oratory had not died out in Ireland or in Parliament. The real truth is, Mr Sullivan is one of the few real debaters in the House ready to get up at a moment's notice, and reply fluently and pointedly to any man. On this occasion, he wound up the debate, following, at midnight, the Marquis of Haitington, and giving that slow-going individual such a dressing as ho will not soon forget, and he never got before. Dr Ball and the other anti-Irish speakers came, in their turn, under Mr Sullivan's lash ; and so effective was Mr Sullivan's address, though he was but half an hour speaking altogether, that the Government, having no man ready to renly just then, actually did not like to go to a division ,_ and assented to the adjournment of the debate. On Thursday night the discussion was resumed by Mr John George M'Carthy, the member for Mallow (Thomas Davis's native town), and the author of a most successful book on Federalism and Home Rule. On this occasion Mr M'Carthy went into all the detail* of the Federal plan, and showed how well suited that plan was to thecause of Ireland and England. Mr Mitchell Henry (County Galway), The O'Connor Don (Couuty Ro'common), Mr O'Connor Power (the youthful Nationalist member for Mayo), Sir Colman O'Loghlen (County Clare), Air M'Carthy Downing (County Cork), and others followed— on the whole, a by no means good selection. A far better selection might have been made from the ranks of the Home .Rule party. TheIrish speakers on the first night were, on the whole, much better, and consequently achieved a much greater success. But still, notwithstanding all this, nnd notwithstanding that the anti-Irish speakers on the* second night monopolised threo-fourrrw of the debate, the Irish case was triumphantly established, as awy impartial person would admit who heard the debate as I did. The anti-Irish speakers referred to were Sir Michael Beach (the Chief Secretary for Ireland), three Ulster Orangemen, the O'Douoghue (the apostate Chieftain of the Glens), Mr Lowe, and Mr Disraeli. Any answer at all to the Irish demand was considered sufficient by these gentlemen. Each of them felt coerced to say something in reply to Mr Sullivan, but in doiiijj so they ludicrously failed to touch Mr Sullivan's position. But the incident of the evening I have not yet noticed. The O'Donoughue — whose treuchery to aud abandonment of the IrUli national cause the readers of the ' Advocate ' are fmniliar with— since he got re-elected (by a majority of throo votes) for Tralee, hn» become in the House of Commons a more swaggering and anti-Irish. Irishman than ever. On this occasion ha sot himself out for a bitter and venomous assault on the Home Rule movement and on its leaders. The movement ho called a gross and mischievous delusion ; the men who support it he called (and he was the only speaker who did so) traitors, cowards, and tricksters. He triad to raise a laugh, and hesucceeded iii raising a laugh at nil the chief men in the Home Kale ranks. And so he sat down in good high humor. But one of tv» men whom he had attacked followed him — Mr O'Connor Power ; and this gentleman gave the traitor such a knock-down blow that I doubt if he will ever again pltiy the same part. The man who could moat effectually have squalched him was Mr Sullivun ; but he avoided Mr Sullivan, as Macbetli did the ghost of Banquo, and took right good care to come after him in the debate. Mr O'Connor Power was supplied by Air A. M. Sullivan (who sat at his elbow) with a few extracts ironi the ex-patriot'd speeches of former days, which extracts Mr Power proceeded to read, amidst uproarious merriment, and to the terrible confusion of The O'Donoghue. The latter felt he was hit— irretrievably injured with the House, to whose anti-Irish prejudices he had so paudered — and he accordingly attempted to break the force of the blow by hook or by crook. He rose and asked the date of the speech from which Mr Power was reading. The date was promptly given, and The O'Donoghue sat down, discomfited. He next required tue.name of the paper in which it appeared, " as he more than doubted its accuracy." " The ' Nation,' " said Power, at \vjiich_thore was an unbelieving laugh on the part of O'Donoghue and his friends* Hut the laugh was turned entirely the other tray when Mr Power,

prompted by Mr Sulli-in, added, « and I am authorised to state that the proofs of this speech were corrected for that paper by the hon. member's own hand » The O'Donoghue remained silent henceforl Z\X ■ n \ h ° * , lU ??' S eak aßaina ß ain in the House of Commons. But there is more to icii. Mr McCarthy afterwards charged him with having traduced the memory of O'Connell, his great relative, in saying that the Liberator ,who died struggling for Xepeal, would not hare U^rTf d n^ flOn ] e:B ? easUatioll - When Mr Downing resumed hw seat, The ODonoghue leftover towards him, and said in perfectly aud.ble tones, " Downing, you are a liar ! " Mr DowningV first impulse was to strike him, but he checked himself, and replied, "Pshaw, you renegade; it w not worth while noticing anyt nine coming from your polluted lips." Here some persons interfered, and Tested a continuance of the strife. Next day, through Mr Justice ?nded' *" Omp ° P g7 **' tendored to Mp downing, and the affair And now for the result of the debate. The division was 63 (tellers included) for Mr But£ motion, and 458 against it. This decision was fully expected of course. No one expected any other result. But the two great, objects the Home Rulers had in view have, nevertheless, been achieved. They aimed to put on the records of Parliame/)t the fact that a decisive majority of JnV* representatives were in favor of the concession of self-government to Ireland, and that it w* 3 by foice alone that England's rule was maintained in the country and this object has been triumphantly achieved ; for, counting three Irish members who paired for the motion, md the two tellers, 59 Irish members voted for Home Eule, and 36 against it. Of the 50 Homo Bulers elected, only three failed to vote or pair; but these— Lord Robert Montagu, Major O'Reilly, and Mr Murphy, of Cork-are all thorough Home Rulers, and were simply laid up by illness. Secondly at was expected that the English people be educated in the matter of the Irish National demand Dy the debate ; and this, too, is already coming to pass. There is a mnrked change in the comments of the inghsh press on the Home Rule question since the debate In one respect the Homo Rulers were greatly deceived. At the general election, 29 members were elected in Grent Britain, distinctly pledged to support Home Rule. They would not have been elected ttir 11 7*7 * Fu™> A 10!A 10 ! p i ed ? e - Wdlj onl y lo of them i»~ kept their word. About 10 had the audacity to vote against Mr Butt's and about 9or 10 did not voto at all, nor pair. The Irish in ErXd are wild at this, and just now, the Home Rule societies in the English ♦owns represented by those perfidious members are organising indiW tion meetings. It is a cheering sign, that of the two English workingmen representatives, oae, Mr Burt (Morpeth) voted for mT Butt's s-°w DD W an ? ? ie ° ther ' Ml Macdoual WW paired for itfandrt at feir Wilfred Lawson member for Carlisle, and the author ot the $£ u;rtif q t:«on. for * witbout lmving gi ™ *&• The question now is— What will be the next move ? In answer I am able to say that the Home Rule agitation is to be renewed Sth ♦enfold earnestness and vigor. A commencement is to be madeon Saturday evening next when a great meeting will be held in the Rotunda, at which Mr Butt will move, that the result of the debate and division v the House of Commons calls upon all Irishmen to make increased exertions to obtain self-government, without which their country can never be contented, prosperous, or free. - J J C