IRELAND UNDER HOME RULE

New Zealand Tablet, 28 December 1911, Page 2636

IRELAND UNDER HOME RULE

THE SEPARATION BOQEY

Under the auspices of the Manchester Reform Club, Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P., opened a debate in Manchester on November 3, on The Condition of Ireland under Home Rule.' He said that, having regard to his previous attitude on the subject, it might be thought singular that he was now taking up his present position." Well, the truth was that he was not unreachable. That a man should change his mind upon any question ought to depend on the facts of the question and the man who would not ' change his mind when the facts were different was not a wise man. He was not there to sketch the Home Rule Bill or to guess and prophesy what was to be in that Bill. Anybody could play that game who liked. Why, he asked, was Home Rule urgent and imperative at the present time? Apart from the needs of Ireland, it was urgent and imperative in order that the Imperial Parliament might be set free to do the work of the country. The demand for Home Rule was historically, sound, and the time for dealing with the question was opportune. They talked in these days about destroying the Constitution, but the Irish Constitution was bribed out of existence with peerages and gold, ' cash down' in the most shameful manner.

His Definition of Home Rule

was that it would not be merely the passing of a Home Rule Bill, but the passing of a measure to restore the sovereign rights of Ireland." He was told that that practically amounted to separation. •He asked Great Britain to dismiss all the wild whirling words used by the Nationalists in years gone by. Those words were uttered in times of great hardship and suffering, when the country was really in such a state that men's hearts were broken looking on at the misery. If he might use the words of Carlyle, separation ' is not in the ground plan' of Creation.' All the great trunk questions, if might use the expression, already been settled. They had settled the land laws in principle, had disestablished the squirearchy, and settled the question of higher education, and there was now nothing left which an Irish Parliament could not deal with more satisfactorily- than the Imperial Parliament. They would remain citizens of the United Kingdom, although they, had an Irish Parliament. Home Rulers looked upon separation as midsummer madness, and were as loyal = to the Empire as those who said most about it. He was opposed to Home Rule being wanted at a time when the country was in a state of turmoil and disorder, - Then they were. a nation of agrarian insurgents; now a nation of agricultural freeholders—perhaps the most conservative race of people on God's earth—instead of a country steeped in crime. Now three-fourths of their jails had been closed; prosperity was increasing. Their Tory friends said: Why not let well alone?' But then they would not give selfgovernment when the country was in disorder. Having remarked ■ that many Protestants in good commercial positions in Dublin, Belfast, and elsewhere were willing now to acquiesce in a measure of Home Rule, which they were satisfied would treat them fairly, Mr. Russell remarked that of course they could not do anything with the Orangeman. 'After all,' said Mr. Russell,

' The Orangeman'is a Pure Idealist.

He has got no axe to grind. He has the Pope before him every moment when he awakes, the last thing he sees when he goes to bed, and he is afraid of him; but there are a great many people in Ireland who are not Orangemen. I set no store by Sir Edward Carson and his provisional government. The idea of Sir Edward taking off his wig and gown and getting into a khaki suit and spiked helmet is really too much for me. But they are just going as near the precipice as they can. We once had a provisional government, and Robert Emmet was hanged for it. When I reminded Sir Edward Carson of that, he stated that I had entirely mistaken his meaning. Of course a man who had

the Lord Chancellorship in view—after all, it does not do for him to be forming a provisional government. Sir Edward said all he meant was a committee of safety. Well, who is going to attack them, to fight them, and what do they want protection from ? ' I don't believe in all this nonsense. They won't pay taxes, they say,- to an Irish Government. Won't they? Will they stop drinking whiskey and smoking tobacco, and will the old Orange ladies stop drinking tea? They will do nothing of the kind. I only wish they would stop drinking whiskey. That would be of great value to me. This talk of resisting taxation and fighting is all nonsense. Agricultural freeholders don't fight. I pin my faith upon the agricultural freeholders. Discussing

The Future of Ireland Under Home Eule,

the right honorable gentleman said there were only two great, controlling forces in Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church and the land. In every other country in the world they were Conservative forces, and they would have been that in Ireland also but for the circumstances. Ten years hence— said it with no satisfaction saw Great Britain convulsed with great labor struggles, Socialism waxing more and more, and getting stronger and stronger; he saw his own country happy in the possession of a modest Government, laboring for the benefit of the country, he saw the Conservative forces to which he had alluded asserting themselves. Great Britain would see a calm-and peaceful Ireland, in fact, the only peaceful part of the country —a prosperous Ireland, and probably the only place where a decent respectable man could lead a decent and honest life. That was his outlook for Ireland Under her own Government.