LORD DUNRAVEN AND HOME RULE

New Zealand Tablet, 13 April 1911, Page 683

LORD DUNRAVEN AND HOME RULE

IRELAND HAS GONE DOWN SINCE THE UNION

The Earl of Dunraven presided on February 20 at the monthly meeting of the Delphian Coterie, in the Cannon street Hotel, London, where the subject of discussion was ‘ Ireland,’ introduced by Mr. John E. Yerbury, F.S.S., who argued the case for Home Hule, and moved a resolution in its favor. , Closing a debate, in the course of which both sides were vigorously dealt with, Lord Dunraven remarked that a great deal had been said about the fact that the desire for Horae Rule was largely sentimental. That was perfectly true to some extent, and that was hardly to be wondered at. Ireland had always been struggling to ‘attain the expression of Nationality with a Parliament, and during that protracted struggle she had suffered from what he might call arrested civilisation. When she did secure what was known by the name of Grattan’s Parliament, that was taken from her without her consent, and it was only natural that it was difficult to convince the average Irishman that the Act of Union had any legal binding, force upon him at all. For himself, he looked upon the necessity for what was commonly called Home Rule from the practical rather than the sentimental point of view. He thought it really would be impossible for the cleverest dialectician to make out that Ireland had prospered under the Act of Union. If they tested the matter by every conceivable —by emigration, depopulation, or vital statistics it must be admitted that Ireland Had Gone Down Since the Union, and therefore they must admit that there was at any rate a very strong prima facie case for those who said that the Union had been detrimental to Ireland. He did not think that the Act of Union had been particularly beneficial to Great Britain. One of the many prophecies made by the Opposition at the time of the Union was that one of the results would be the introduction to the British Parliament of an element which, acting altogether for a definite pur-

pose, would make Government almost impossible. Well, there could be no question at all about it that the Irish Party in Parliament had made the conduct of business in Parliament difficultdifficult to such an extent that it was almost no exaggeration to say that Parliament, as a working institution, had become a failure, and that the democracy of this country no longer ruled. As a matter of fact the independent member of Parliament might, for all he could do, go home to bed. Government was conducted by the Cabinet, which in effect was a committee of the parties which formed the majority. Parliament had really ceased to be a really efficacious instrument of a real governing democracy, and that fact was® undoubtedly very largely due to what was prophesied at the time of the Union the fact that there was in.. Parliament a strong Irish Party, determined to make themselves as disagreeable as possible, in order to gain one definite end. It was quite true that Ireland was gradually prospering. A healthier state of things existed, due, he thought, to two or three broad causes: first of all to a better temper on the part of the people, a disposition towards conciliation, and friendship among themselves, . and a much kindlier feeling towards Great Britain in the belief that there was a kindlier feeling, in Great Britain towards thema strong belief that they had got to work out their own salvation, and the educating influence of the Local Government Act that and : Land Purchase. ' -Perhaps,' in some respects, land purchase was the most important factor in the case. Something more than half of the. tenants m Ireland had now bought their own holdings. The magic of property had wrought an extraordinary change. But they would make a great mistake if they imagined that Ireland, as she became more prosperous, would become less ardently anxious to obtain Home Rule. His strong impression was that in proportion as Ireland prospered The Desire to Obtain Home Rule would not weaken, but would rather strengthen. They desired it because they instinctively knew that the sense of the responsibility and the management of their own affairs was necessary to recreate and revive self-confidence self-reliance, energy, and enterprise, which had been knocked out of the people by misgovernment and misrule r 10111 the Englishman’s point of view,’ the simple question'

it appeared to him, was would Home Rule endanger the safety or welfare of Great Britain. If that could be proved, it would be folly to grant Home Rule to Ireland but for the life of him he could not understand how any reasonable man could imagine that granting Home Rule to Ireland would be any possible menace to Great Britain or the Empire. Ireland had not the slightest desire for separation or for independence. Irishmen were certainly not fools; and they realised that separation would.leave them impotent as a nation; while the notion that Ireland could show practical hostility to England was too absurd to require refutation. By destroying England, the Irishman would at the same time destroy bis best market. He really did not know on what grounds anyone could suppose that an Irish Parliament would not be able to manage the affairs before it with decency and dignity, but even if they did misbehave themselves, why should anyone else be concerned about it? There would no doubt be difficulties experienced for a few years. The Irish -people could not be expected to get right in a day after all the effects that So Many Centuries of Persecution and bad government had produced upon tin* national character. He was, however, firmly convinced that those difficulties would not last for very long. He considered that there would be a very strong Conservative element in an Irish Parliament. He used the word ‘ Conservative 5 not in its Party* but in its higher sense. A large measure of self-government was necessary for Ireland, to

satisfy "the intense desire for a. distinct recognition of a distinct nationality. He thought it was necessary for the welfare of Great Britain and for the consolidation of the Empire that there should be a United Kingdom a union maintained almost by force, but by affection. We had tried for 700 years to assimilate the people in Ireland, to convert the Irish into Englishmen, and we had absolutely failed. It now seemed rather impracticable nob to try and experiment in other directions; for other measures had succeeded in the Isle of Man, in the Channel Islands, and in Canada. Why on earth they should not try the same process in Ireland he defied anybody to say. In the interests of Ireland, the interests of the United Kingdom, and the future interests of the Empire, he thought Ireland should be given as large a measure of selfgovernment as possible, subject of course to the final supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. His Lordship declared in conclusion that he certainly agreed with every word in the resolution.