diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/14518.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/14518.txt | 9524 |
1 files changed, 9524 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/14518.txt b/old/14518.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a104bbb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14518.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9524 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Handbook of Home Rule (1887), by W. E. Gladstone et al. + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Handbook of Home Rule (1887) + +Author: W. E. Gladstone et al. + +Release Date: December 29, 2004 [EBook #14518] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK OF HOME RULE (1887) *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Aaron Reed and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + + HANDBOOK + OF + HOME RULE + + BEING + _ARTICLES ON THE IRISH QUESTION_ + + BY + THE RIGHT HON. W.E. GLADSTONE, M.P. + THE RIGHT HON. JOHN MORLEY, M.P., LORD THRING + JAMES BRYCE, M.P., CANON MACCOLL + E.L. GODKIN, AND R. BARRY O'BRIEN + + _WITH PREFACE BY_ + THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER, K.G. + + EDITED BY + JAMES BRYCE, M.P. + + SECOND EDITION + + LONDON + KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., I, PATERNOSTER SQUARE + 1887 + + + + + + +EDITOR'S NOTE. + + +Of the articles contained in this volume, those by Mr. Gladstone, Mr. +E.L. Godkin on "A Lawyer's Objections to Home Rule," and Mr. Barry +O'Brien appear for the first time. The others are reprinted from the +_Contemporary Review_, the _Nineteenth Century_, and the _New Princeton +Review_, to the proprietors and editors of which periodicals +respectively the thanks of the several writers and of the editor are +tendered. In most of these reprints some passages of transitory interest +have been omitted, and some few additions have been made. + +The object of the writers has been to treat the difficult questions +connected with the Government of Ireland in a dispassionate spirit; and +the volume is offered to the public in the hope that it may, at a time +of warm controversy over passing events, help to lead thoughtful men +back to the consideration of the principles which underlie those +questions, and which it seeks to elucidate by calm discussion and by +references to history. + +_October_, 1887. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PREFACE. BY THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER, K.G. + +AMERICAN HOME RULE. +BY E.L. GODKIN + +HOW WE BECAME HOME RULERS. +BY JAMES BRYCE, M.P. + +HOME RULE AND IMPERIAL UNITY. +BY LORD THRING + +THE IRISH GOVERNMENT BILL AND THE IRISH LAND BILL. +BY LORD THRING + +THE "UNIONIST" POSITION. +BY CANON MACCOLL + +A LAWYER'S OBJECTIONS TO HOME RULE. +BY E.L. GODKIN + +THE "UNIONIST" CASE FOR HOME RULE. +BY R. BARRY O'BRIEN + +IRELAND'S ALTERNATIVES. +BY LORD THRING + +THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE IRISH QUESTION. +BY JAMES BRYCE, M.P. + +SOME ARGUMENTS CONSIDERED. +BY THE RIGHT HON. JOHN MORLEY, M.P. + +LESSONS OF IRISH HISTORY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. +BY THE RIGHT HON. W.E. GLADSTONE, M.P. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The present seems an excellent moment for bringing forward the arguments +in favour of a new policy for Ireland, which are to be found in the +articles contained in this volume. + +We are realizing the first results of the verdict given at the election +of 1886. And this I interpret as saying that the constituencies were not +then ready to depart from the lines of policy which, up to last year, +nearly all politicians of both parties in Parliament had laid down for +their guidance in Irish affairs. + +We have had the Session occupied almost wholly with Lord Salisbury's +proposals for strengthening the power of the central Government to +maintain law and order in Ireland, and for dealing with the most +pressing necessities of the Land question in that country. + +It is well, before the policy of the Government is practically tested, +that the views of thoughtful men holding different opinions should be +clearly set forth, not in the shape of polemical speeches, but in +measured articles which specially appeal to those who have not hitherto +joined the fighting ranks of either side, and who are sure to intervene +with great force at the next election, when the Irish question is again +submitted to the constituencies. + +I feel that I can add little or nothing to the weight of the arguments +contained in these papers, but I should like to give some reasons why I +earnestly hope that they will receive careful consideration. + +The writers have endeavoured to approach their work with impartiality, +and to free themselves from those prejudices which make it difficult for +Englishmen to discuss Irish questions in a fresh and independent train +of thought, and realize how widely Irish customs, laws, traditions, and +sentiments differ from our own. + +We are apt to think that what has worked well here will work well in +Ireland; that Irishmen who differ from us are unreasonable; and that +their proposals for change must be mistaken. We do not make allowance +for the soreness of feeling prevailing among men who have long objected +to the system by which Ireland has been governed, and who find that +their earnest appeals for reform have been, until recent times, +contemptuously disregarded by English politicians. Time after time +moderate counsels have been rejected until too late. Acts of an +exceptional character intended to secure law and order have been very +numerous, and every one of them has caused fresh irritation; while +remedial measures have been given in a manner which has not won the +sympathy of the people, because they have not been the work of the Irish +themselves, and have not been prepared in their own way. + +Parliament seems during the past Session to have fallen into the same +error. By the power of an English majority, measures have been passed +which are vehemently opposed by the political leaders and the majority +of the Irish nation, and which are only agreeable to a small minority in +Ireland. This action can only succeed if the Irish can be persuaded to +relinquish the national sentiments of Home Rule; and yet this was never +stronger or more vigorous than at the present time. It is supported by +millions of Irish settled in America and in Australia; and here I would +say that it has often struck me that the strong feeling of +dissatisfaction, or, I might say, of disaffection, among the Irish is +fed and nurtured by the marked contrast existing between the social +condition of large numbers of the Irish in the South and West of Ireland +and the views and habits of their numerous relatives in the United +States. + +The social condition of many parts of Ireland is as backward, or perhaps +more backward, than the condition of the rural population of England at +the end of last or the beginning of this century. The Irish peasantry +still live in poor hovels, often in the same room with animals; they +have few modern comforts; and yet they are in close communication with +those who live at ease in the cities and farms of the United States. +They are also imbued with all the advanced political notions of the +American Republic, and are sufficiently educated to read the latest +political doctrines in the Press which circulates among them. Their +social condition at home is a hundred years behind their state of +political and mental culture. They naturally contrast the misery of many +Irish peasants with the position of their relatives in the New World. +This cannot but embitter their views against English rulers, and +strengthen their leaning to national sentiments. Their national +aspirations have never died out since 1782. They have taken various +forms; but if the movements arising from them have been put down, fresh +movements have constantly sprung up. The Press has grown into an immense +power, and its influences have all been used to strengthen the zeal for +Irish nationality, while, at the same time, the success of the national +movements in Italy, Hungary, Greece, and Germany have had the same +effect. Lastly, the sentiment of Home Rule has gained the sympathy of +large bodies of electors in the constituencies of Great Britain, and, +under the circumstances, it is difficult to suppose that, even if the +country remains quiet, constitutional agitation will vanish or the Irish +relinquish their most cherished ambition. + +We hear, from men who ought to know something of Ireland, that if the +Land question is once settled, and dual ownership practically abolished, +the tenants will be satisfied, and the movement for Home Rule will no +longer find active support in Ireland. Without going into the whole of +this argument, I should like to say two things: first, that I do not +know how a large scheme of Land Purchase can be carried through +Parliament with safety to Imperial interests without establishing, at +the same time, some strong Irish Government in Dublin to act between the +Imperial Government and the tenants of Ireland; and, second, that the +feeling for Home Rule has a vitality of its own which will survive the +Land question, even if independently settled. + +Home Rule is an expression of national feeling which cannot be +extinguished in Ireland, and the only safe method of dealing with it is +to turn its force and power to the support of an Irish Government +established for the management of local Irish affairs. There are those +who think that this must lead to separation. I cannot believe in this +fear, for I know of no English statesman who looks upon complete +separation of Ireland from Great Britain as possible. The geographical +position of Ireland, the social and commercial connection between the +two peoples, renders such a thing impossible. The Irish know this, and +they are not so foolish as to think that they could gain their +independence by force of arms; but I do not believe that they desire it. +They are satisfied to obtain the management of their own local affairs +under the _aegis_ of the flag of England. The papers in this volume show +how this can be done with due regard to Imperial interests and the +rights of minorities. + +I shall not enlarge on this part of the subject, but I wish to draw +attention to the working of the Irish Government, and the position which +it holds in the country, for it is through its administration that the +policy of the Cabinet will be carried out. At the outset I feel bound to +deprecate the exaggerated condemnation which the "Castle" receives from +its opponents. It has its defects. Notwithstanding efforts of various +ministers to enlarge the circle from which its officials are drawn, it +is still too narrow for the modern development of Irish society, and it +has from time to time been recruited from partisans without sufficient +regard to the efficiency and requirements of the public service. But, on +the whole, its members, taken as individuals, can well bear comparison +with those of other branches of the Civil Service. They are diligent; +they desire to do their duty with impartiality, and to hold an even +balance between many opposing interests in Ireland. Whatever party is in +office, they loyally carry out the policy of their chiefs. They are, +probably, more plastic to the leadership of the heads of departments +than members of some English offices, and they are more quickly moved by +the influences around them. Sometimes they may relapse into an attitude +of indifference and inertness if their chiefs are not active; but, on +the other hand, they will act with vigour and decision if they are led +by men who know their own minds and desire to be firm in the government +of the country. + +When speaking of the chiefs of the Irish Civil Service, who change +according to the political party in office, we must not overlook the +legal officers, who exercise a most powerful influence on Irish +administration. They consist of the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney and +Solicitor General, and, until 1883, there was also an officer called the +Law Adviser, who was the maid-of-all-work of Castle administration. In +England, those who hold similar legal offices take no part in the daily +administration of public affairs. The Lord Chancellor, as a member of +the Cabinet, takes his share in responsibility for the policy of the +Government. The law officers are consulted in special cases, and take +their part from time to time in debates in the House of Commons. In +Ireland, however, the Chancellor is constantly consulted by the +Lord-Lieutenant on any difficult matter of administration, and the +Attorney and Solicitor General are in constant communication with the +Lord-Lieutenant, if he carries out the daily work of administration, and +with the Chief and the Under Secretary. + +Governments differ as to the use they make of these officials. Some +Governments have endeavoured to confine their work to cases where a mere +legal opinion has to be obtained; but, when the country is in a +disturbed state, even these limited references become very frequent, and +questions of policy as well as of law are often discussed with the law +officers. It is needless to say that, with their knowledge of Ireland +and the traditions of Castle government (it is rare that all the law +officers are new to office, and, consequently, they carry on the +traditions from one Government to another), they often exercise a +paramount influence over the policy of the Irish Government, and +practically control it. + +They are connected with the closest and most influential order in Irish +society--the legal order, consisting of the judges and Bar of Ireland. +This adds to the general weight of their advice, but it has a special +bearing when cases of legal reform or administration are under +consideration; it then requires unwonted courage and independence for +the law officers of the Crown to support changes which the lay members +of the Government deem necessary. + +I have known conspicuous instances of the exercise of these high +qualities by law officers enabling reforms to be carried, but as a rule, +particularly when the initiative of legal reform is left to them, the +Irish law officers do not care to move against the feeling of the legal +world in Dublin. The lawyers, like other bodies, oppose the diminution +of offices and honours belonging to them, or of the funds which, in the +way of fees and salaries, are distributed among members of the bar; and +they become bitterly hostile to any permanent official who is known to +be a firm legal reformer. It would be impossible for me not to +acknowledge the great service often done to the Government by the able +men who have filled the law offices, yet I feel that under certain +circumstances, when their influence has been allowed too strongly to +prevail, it has tended to narrow the views of the Irish Government, and +to keep it within a circle too narrow for the altered circumstances of +modern life. + +The chief peculiarity of the Irish Administration is its extreme +centralization. In this two departments may be mentioned as typical of +the whole--the police and administration of local justice. + +The police in Dublin and throughout Ireland are under the control of the +Lord-Lieutenant, and both these forces are admirable of their kind. They +are almost wholly maintained by Imperial funds. The Dublin force costs +about L150,000 a year. The Royal Irish Constabulary costs over a million +in quiet, and a million and a half in disturbed times. Local authorities +have nothing to do with their action or management. Local justice is +administered by unpaid magistrates as in England, but they have been +assisted, and gradually are being supplanted, by magistrates appointed +by the Lord-Lieutenant and paid by the State. + +This state of things arose many years ago from the want of confidence +between resident landlords and the bulk of the people. When agrarian or +religious differences disturbed a locality the people distrusted the +local magistrates, and by degrees the system of stipendiary, or, as they +are called, resident magistrates, spread over the country. To maintain +the judicial independence and impartiality of these magistrates is of +the highest importance. At one time this was in some danger, for the +resident magistrates not only heard cases at petty sessions, but, as +executive peace officers, to a very great extent took the control of the +police in their district, not only at riots, but in following up and +discovering offenders. Their position as judicial and executive officers +was thus very unfortunately mixed up. Between 1882 and 1883 the Irish +Government did their utmost to separate and distinguish between these +two functions, and it is to be hoped that the same policy has been and +will be now continued, otherwise grave mischief in the administration of +justice will arise. The existence of this staff of stipendiary +magistrates could not fail to weaken the influence of the gentry in +local affairs, and, at the same time, other causes were at work to +undermine still further their power. The spread of education, the +ballot, the extension of the franchise, communication with America, all +tended to strengthen the political leaning of the tenants towards the +National party in Ireland, and to widen the political differences +between the richer and poorer classes in the country. The result of this +has been, that not only have even the best landlords gradually lost +their power in Parliamentary elections and on elective boards, but the +Government, which greatly relied on them for support, has become +isolated. + +The system of centralization is felt all over the country. It was the +cause of weakness in the disturbed years of 1880 and 1881, and, although +the Irish Executive strengthened themselves by placing officers over +several counties, on whom they devolved a great deal of responsibility, +they did not by these steps meet the real difficulty, which was that +everything that went wrong, whether as to police or magisterial +decisions, was attributed to the management of the Castle. + +In this country, local authorities and benches of magistrates, quite +independent of the Home Office, are held responsible for mistakes in +police action or irregularities in local justice. The consequence is +that there is a strong buffer to protect the character and power of the +Home Office. + +The absence of such protection in Ireland obviously has a very +prejudicial effect on the permanent influence and popularity of the +Irish Government. But as long as our system of government from England +exists, this centralization cannot be avoided, for it would not be +possible to transfer the responsibility of the police to local +representative bodies, as they are too much opposed to the landlords and +the Government to be trusted when strong party differences arise; nor, +for the same reason, would it be possible to fall back on local men to +administer justice. The fact is, that, out of the Protestant part of +Ulster, the Irish Government receives the cordial support of only the +landed proprietors, and a part of the upper middle classes in the towns. +The feeling of the mass of the people has been so long against them that +no change in the direction of trust in any centralized government of +anti-national character can be expected. + +It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find any Municipal +Council, Boards of Guardians, or Local Boards, in Leinster, Munster, or +Connaught, whose members do not consist of a majority of Nationalists. +At nearly all such assemblies, whenever any important political movement +takes place in the country, or when the Irish Government take any action +which is displeasing to the Nationalists, resolutions are discussed and +carried in a spirit of sharp hostility to the Government. + +In Parliamentary elections we also find clear evidence of the strength +of the Nationalists, and the extreme weakness of their opponents. This +is a test which those who accept popular representative government +cannot disregard, particularly at an election when for the first time +the new constituencies were called upon to exercise the privileges +entrusted to them by Parliament. Such was the election of 1885, followed +in 1886 by another General Election. In 1885 contests took place in most +of the Irish constituencies. They were between Liberals allied with +Conservatives, and Parnellites. In 1886 the contests were between those +who called themselves Unionists and Parnellites, and the Irish policy of +Mr. Gladstone was specially referred to the electors. + +In regard to the number of members returned on the two sides, the result +of each election was almost identical, but in 1886 there were fewer +contests. We may, then, assume that the relative forces of Parnellites +and Unionists were accurately represented at the election of 1885. If we +take the votes at the election of 1885 for candidates standing as +Nationalists, we shall find, roughly speaking, that they obtained in +round numbers about 300,000 votes, and candidates who stood either as +Liberals or Conservatives about 143,000. But the case is really stronger +than these figures represent it, because in some constituencies the +contests were between Liberals and Conservatives, and there can be no +doubt that in those constituencies a number of Nationalist votes were +given for one or both of such candidates--votes which, therefore, would +have to be deducted from the 143,000, leaving a still heavier majority +on the Nationalist side.[1] + +If we look at individual constituencies, we find that in South Kerry +only 133 persons voted for the "Unionist" candidate, while 2742 voted +for the Nationalist. In six out of seven constituencies in Cork where +contests took place 27,692 votes were given for the Nationalists, and +only 1703 for their opponents. In Dublin, in the division which may be +considered the West End constituency of the Irish metropolis, the most +successful man of commerce in Ireland, a leader of society, whose +liberality towards those in his employment is only equalled by his +munificence in all public works, was defeated by over 1900 votes. He did +not stand in 1886, but his successor was defeated by a still larger +majority. These elections show the numbers in Ireland on which the +Government and those who oppose Mr. Parnell's policy can count for +support. + +It is absurd to say that these results are caused by terrorism exercised +over the minds of the electors by the agitators in Ireland; the same +results occurred in every part of three provinces, and in part of +Ulster, and the universality of the feeling proves the dominant feeling +of the Irish electors. They show the extreme difficulty, the +impossibility, of gaining that support and confidence which a Government +needs in a free country. As it is, the Irish Government stands isolated +in Ireland, and relies for support solely on England. Is a policy +opposed to national feeling, which has been often, and by different +Ministers, tried in Ireland, likely to succeed in the hands of a +Government such as I have described, and isolated, as I think few will +deny it to be? It is impossible in the long run to maintain it. The +roots of strength are wanting. + +If we turn from Dublin to London, we do not find greater prospects of +success. Twice within fourteen months Lord Salisbury has formed a +Government. In 1885 his Cabinet, on taking office, deliberately decided +to rule Ireland without exceptional laws; after a few months, they +announced that they must ask Parliament for fresh powers. They resigned +before they had defined their measures. But within six months Lord +Salisbury was once more Prime Minister, and again commenced his +administration by governing Ireland under the ordinary law. This attempt +did not continue longer than the first, for when Parliament met in 1887, +preparations were at once made to carry the Criminal Law Amendment Act, +which occupied so large a portion of the late Session. + +This is not the action of men who have strong faith in their principles. +Nor can it be shown that the continuous support so necessary for success +will be given to this policy. No doubt it may be urged that the +operation of the Act is not limited in duration; but, notwithstanding +that, few politicians believe that the constituencies of Great Britain +will long support the application of exceptional criminal laws to any +part of the United Kingdom. + +This would be wholly inconsistent with past experience In relation to +these measures, which points entirely the other way; and the publication +in English newspapers and constant discussion on English platforms of +the painful incidents which seem, unfortunately, inseparable from a +rigid administration of the law in Ireland, together with the prolonged +debates, such incidents give rise to, in Parliament, aggravate the +difficulties of administration, and lead the Irish people to believe +that exceptional legislation will be as short-lived in the future as it +has been in the past. + +It was this evidence of want of continuity of policy in 1885, and the +startling disclosure of the weakness of the anti-national party in +Ireland at the election in the autumn of that year, which finally +convinced me that the time had come when we could no longer turn to a +mixed policy of remedial and exceptional criminal legislation as the +means of winning the constituencies of that country in support of our +old system of governing Ireland. That system has failed for eighty-six +years, and obviously cannot succeed when worked with representative +institutions. As the people of Great Britain will not for a moment +tolerate the withdrawal of representative government from Ireland, we +must adopt some new plan. What I have here written deals with but a +fragment of the arguments for Home Rule, some of which are admirably set +forth by the able men who have written the articles to which this is the +preface. I earnestly wish that they may arrest the attention of many +excellent Irishmen who still cling to the old traditions of English +rule, and cause them to realize that the only way of relieving their +country from the intolerable uncertainty which hangs over her +commercial, social, and political interests and paralyzes all efforts +for the improvement of her people, will be to form a Constitution +supported by all classes of the community. I trust that they will join +in this work before it is too late, for they may yet exercise a powerful +and salutary influence in the settlement of this great question. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: There was one case--North Louth--in which two Nationalists +opposed one another, and I have left that case out of the calculation.] + + + + +AMERICAN HOME RULE + +BY E.L. GODKIN + + +American experience has been frequently cited, in the course of the +controversy now raging in England over the Irish question, both by way +of warning and of example. For instance, I have found in the _Times_ as +well as in other journals--the _Spectator_, I think, among the +number--very contemptuous dismissals of the plan of offering Ireland a +government like that of an American State, on the ground that the +Americans are loyal to the central authority, while in Ireland there is +a strong feeling of hostility to it, which would probably increase under +Home Rule. The Queen's writ, it has been remarked, cannot be said to run +in large parts of Ireland, while in every part of the United States the +Federal writ is implicitly obeyed, and the ministers of Federal +authority find ready aid and sympathy from the people. If I remember +rightly, the Duke of Argyll has been very emphatic in pointing out the +difference between giving local self-government to a community in which +the tendencies of popular feeling are "centrifugal," and giving it to +one in which these tendencies are "centripetal." The inference to be +drawn was, of course, that as long as Ireland disliked the Imperial +government the concession of Home Rule would be unsafe, and would only +become safe when the Irish people showed somewhat the same sort of +affection for the English connection which the people of the State of +New York now feel for the Constitution of the United States. + +Among the multitude of those who have taken part in the controversy on +one side or the other, no one has, so far as I have observed, pointed +out that the state of feeling in America toward the central government +with which the state of feeling in Ireland towards the British +Government is now compared, did not exist when the American Constitution +was set up; that the political tendencies in America at that time were +centrifugal, not centripetal, and that the extraordinary love and +admiration with which Americans now regard the Federal government are +the result of eighty years' experience of its working. The first +Confederation was as much as the people could bear in the way of +surrendering local powers when the War of Independence came to an end. +It was its hopeless failure to provide peace and security which led to +the framing of the present Constitution. But even with this experience +still fresh, the adoption of the Constitution was no easy matter. I +shall not burden this article with historical citations showing the very +great difficulty which the framers of the Constitution had in inducing +the various States to adopt it, or the magnitude and variety of the +fears and suspicions with which, many of the most influential men in all +parts of the country regarded it. Any one who wishes to know how +numerous and diversified these fears and suspicions were, cannot do +better than read the series of papers known as "The Federalist," written +mainly by Hamilton and Madison, to commend the new plan to the various +States. It was adopted almost as a matter of necessity, that is, as the +only way out of the Slough of Despond in which the Confederation had +plunged the union of the States; but the objections to it which were +felt at the beginning were only removed by actual trial. Hamilton's two +colleagues, as delegates from New York, Yates and Lansing, withdrew in +disgust from the Convention, as soon as the Constitution was outlined, +and did not return. The notion that the Constitution was produced by the +craving of the American people for something of that sort to love and +revere, and that it was not bestowed on them until they had given ample +assurance that they would lavish affection on it, has no foundation +whatever in fact. The devotion of Americans to the Union is, indeed, as +clear a case of cause and effect as is to be found in political history. +They have learned to like the Constitution because the country has +prospered under it, and because it has given them all the benefits of +national life without interference with local liberties. If they had not +set up a central government until the centrifugal sentiment had +disappeared from the States, and the feeling of loyalty for a central +authority had fully shown itself, they would assuredly never have set it +up at all. + +Moreover, it has to be borne in mind that the adoption of the +Constitution did not involve the surrender of any local franchises, by +which the people of the various States set great store. The States +preserved fully four-fifths of their autonomy, or in fact nearly all of +it which closely concerned the daily lives of individuals. Set aside the +post-office, and a citizen of the State of New York, not engaged in +foreign trade, might, down to the outbreak of the Civil War, have passed +a long and busy life without once coming in contact with a United States +official, and without being made aware in any of his doings, by any +restriction or regulation, that he was living under any government but +that of his own State. If he went abroad he had to apply for a United +States passport. If he quarrelled with a foreigner, or with the citizen +of another State, he might be sued in the Federal Court. If he imported +foreign goods he had to pay duties to the collector of a Federal +Custom-house. If he invented something, or wrote a book, he had to +apply to the Department of the Interior for a patent or a copyright. But +how few there were in the first seventy years of American history who +had any of these experiences! No one supposes, or has ever supposed, +that had the Federalists demanded any very large sacrifice of local +franchises, or attempted to set up even a close approach to a +centralized Government, the adoption of the Constitution would have been +possible. If, for instance, such a transfer of both administration and +legislation to the central authority as took place in Ireland after the +Union had been proposed, it would have been rejected with derision. You +will get no American to argue with you on this point. If you ask him +whether he thinks it likely that a highly centralized government could +have been created in 1879--such a one, for example, as Ireland has been +under since 1800--or whether if created it would by this time have won +the affection of the people, or filled them with centripetal tendencies, +he will answer you with a smile. + +The truth is that nowhere, any more than in Ireland, do people love +their Government from a sense of duty or because they crave an object of +political affection, or even because it exalts them in the eyes of +foreigners. They love it because they are happy or prosperous under it; +because it supplies security in the form best suited to their tastes and +habits, or in some manner ministers to their self-love. Loyalty to the +king as the Lord's anointed, without any sense either of favours +received or expected, has played a great part in European politics, I +admit; but, for reasons which I will not here take up space in stating, +a political arrangement, whether it be an elected monarch or a +constitution, cannot be made, in our day, to reign in men's hearts +except as the result of benefits so palpable that common people, as well +as political philosophers, can see them and count them. + +Many of the opponents of Home Rule, too, point to the vigour with which +the United States Government put down the attempt made by the South to +break up the Union as an example of the American love of "imperial +unity," and of the spirit in which England should now meet the Irish +demands for local autonomy. This again is rather surprising, because you +will find no one in America who will maintain for one moment that troops +could have been raised in 1860 to undertake the conquest of the South +for the purpose of setting up a centralized administration, or, in other +words, for the purpose of wiping out State lines, or diminishing State +authority. No man or party proposed anything of this kind at the +outbreak of the war, or would have dared to propose it. The object for +which the North rose in arms, and which Lincoln had in view when he +called for troops, was the restoration of the Union just as it was when +South Carolina seceded, barring the extension of slavery into the +territories. During the first year of the war, certainly, the revolted +States might at any time have had peace on the _status quo_ basis, that +is, without the smallest diminution of their rights and immunities under +the Constitution. It was only when it became evident that the war would +have to be fought out to a finish, as the pugilists say--that is, that +it would have to end in a complete conquest of the Southern +territory--that the question, what would become of the States as a +political organization after the struggle was over, began to be debated +at all. What did become of them? How did Americans deal with Home Rule, +after it had been used to set on foot against the central authority what +the newspapers used to delight in calling "the greatest rebellion the +world ever saw"? The answer to these questions is, it seems to me, a +contribution of some value to the discussion of the Irish problem in its +present stage, if American precedents can throw any light whatever on +it. + +There was a Joint Committee of both Houses of Congress appointed in +1866 to consider the condition of the South with reference to the safety +or expediency of admitting the States lately in rebellion to their old +relations to the Union, including representation in Congress. It +contained, besides such fanatical enemies of the South as Thaddeus +Stevens, such very conservative men as Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Grimes, Mr. +Morrill, and Mr. Conkling. Here is the account they gave of the +condition of Southern feeling one year after Lee's surrender:-- + +"Examining the evidence taken by your committee still further, in +connection with facts too notorious to be disputed, it appears that the +Southern press, with few exceptions, and those mostly of newspapers +recently established by Northern men, abounds with weekly and daily +abuse of the institutions and people of the loyal States; defends the +men who led, and the principles which incited, the rebellion; denounces +and reviles Southern men who adhered to the Union; and strives +constantly and unscrupulously, by every means in its power, to keep +alive the fire of hate and discord between the sections; calling upon +the President to violate his oath of office, overturn the Government by +force of arms, and drive the representatives of the people from their +seats in Congress. The national banner is openly insulted, and the +national airs scoffed at, not only by an ignorant populace, but at +public meetings, and once, among other notable instances, at a dinner +given in honour of a notorious rebel who had violated his oath and +abandoned his flag. The same individual is elected to an important +office in the leading city of his State, although an unpardoned rebel, +and so offensive that the President refuses to allow him to enter upon +his official duties. In another State the leading general of the rebel +armies is openly nominated for Governor by the Speaker of the House of +Delegates, and the nomination is hailed by the people with shouts of +satisfaction, and openly endorsed by the press.... + +"The evidence of an intense hostility to the Federal Union, and an +equally intense love of the late Confederacy, nurtured by the war is +decisive. While it appears that nearly all are willing to submit, at +least for the time being, to the Federal authority, it is equally clear +that the ruling motive is a desire to obtain the advantages which will +be derived from a representation in Congress. Officers of the Union army +on duty, and Northern men who go south to engage in business, are +generally detested and proscribed. Southern men who adhered to the Union +are bitterly hated and relentlessly persecuted. In some localities +prosecutions have been instituted in State courts against Union officers +for acts done in the line of official duty, and similar prosecutions are +threatened elsewhere as soon as the United States troops are removed. +All such demonstrations show a state of feeling against which it is +unmistakably necessary to guard. + +"The testimony is conclusive that after the collapse of the Confederacy +the feeling of the people of the rebellious States was that of abject +submission. Having appealed to the tribunal of arms, they had no hope +except that by the magnanimity of their conquerors, their lives, and +possibly their property, might be preserved. Unfortunately the general +issue of pardons to persons who had been prominent in the rebellion, and +the feeling of kindliness and conciliation manifested by the Executive, +and very generally indicated through the Northern press, had the effect +to render whole communities forgetful of the crime they had committed, +defiant towards the Federal Government, and regardless of their duties +as citizens. The conciliatory measures of the Government do not seem to +have been met even half-way. The bitterness and defiance exhibited +towards the United States under such circumstances is without a parallel +in the history of the world. In return for our leniency we receive only +an insulting denial of our authority. In return for our kind desire for +the resumption of fraternal relations we receive only an insolent +assumption of rights and privileges long since forfeited. The crime we +have punished is paraded as a virtue, and the principles of republican +government which we have vindicated at so terrible a cost are denounced +as unjust and oppressive. + +"If we add to this evidence the fact that, although peace has been +declared by the President, he has not, to this day, deemed it safe to +restore the writ of _habeas corpus_, to relieve the insurrectionary +States of martial law, nor to withdraw the troops from many localities, +and that the commanding general deems an increase of the army +indispensable to the preservation of order and the protection of loyal +and well-disposed people in the South, the proof of a condition of +feeling hostile to the Union and dangerous to the Government throughout +the insurrectionary States would seem to be overwhelming." + +This Committee recommended a series of coercive measures, the first of +which was the adoption of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, +which disqualified for all office, either under the United States or +under any State, any person who having in any capacity taken an oath of +allegiance to the United States afterwards engaged in rebellion or gave +aid and comfort to the rebels. This denied the _jus honorum_ to all the +leading men at the South who had survived the war. In addition to it, an +Act was passed in March, 1867, which put all the rebel States under +military rule until a constitution should have been framed by a +Convention elected by all males over twenty-one, except such as would be +excluded from office by the above-named constitutional amendment if it +were adopted, which at that time it had not been. Another Act was passed +three weeks later, prescribing, for voters in the States lately in +rebellion, what was known as the "ironclad oath," which excluded from +the franchise not only all who had borne arms against the United States, +but all who, having ever held any office for which the taking an oath of +allegiance to the United States was a qualification, had afterwards ever +given "aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." This practically +disfranchised all the white men of the South over twenty-five years old. + +On this legislation there grew up, as all the world now knows, what was +called the "carpet-bag" _regime_. Swarms of Northern adventurers went +down to the Southern States, organized the ignorant negro voters, +constructed State constitutions to suit themselves, got themselves +elected to all the chief offices, plundered the State treasuries, +contracted huge State debts, and stole the proceeds in connivance with +legislatures composed mainly of negroes, of whom the most intelligent +and instructed had been barbers and hotel-waiters. In some of the +States, such as South Carolina and Mississippi, in which the negro +population were in the majority, the government became a mere +caricature. I was in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, in 1872, +during the session of the legislature, when you could obtain the passage +of almost any measure you pleased by a small payment--at that time seven +hundred dollars--to an old negro preacher who controlled the coloured +majority. Under the pretence of fitting up committee-rooms, the private +lodging-rooms at the boarding-houses of the negro members, in many +instances, were extravagantly furnished with Wilton and Brussels +carpets, mirrors, and sofas. A thousand dollars were expended for two +hundred elegant imported china spittoons. There were only one hundred +and twenty-three members in the House of Representatives, but the +residue were, perhaps, transferred to the private chambers of the +legislators. + +Now, how did the Southern whites deal with this state of things? Well, I +am sorry to say they manifested their discontent very much in the way +in which the Irish have for the last hundred years been manifesting +theirs. If, as the English opponents of Home Rule seem to think, +readiness to commit outrages, and refusal to sympathize with the victims +of outrages, indicate political incapacity, the whites of the South +showed, in the period between 1866 and 1876, that they were utterly +unfit to be entrusted with the work of self-government. They could not +rise openly in revolt because the United States troops were everywhere +at the service of the carpet-baggers, for the suppression of armed +resistance. They did not send petitions to Congress, or write letters to +the Northern newspapers, or hold indignation meetings. They simply +formed a huge secret society on the model of the "Molly Maguires" or +"Moonlighters," whose special function was to intimidate, flog, +mutilate, or murder political opponents in the night time. This society +was called the "Ku-Klux Klan." Let me give some account of its +operation, and I shall make it as brief as possible. It had become so +powerful in 1871 that President Grant in that year, in his message to +Congress, declared that "a condition of things existed in some of the +States of the Union rendering life and property insecure, and the +carrying of the mails and the collecting of the revenue dangerous." A +Joint Select Committee of Congress was accordingly appointed, early in +1872, to "inquire into the condition of affairs in the late +insurrectionary States, so far as regards the execution of the laws and +the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of the United +States." Its report now lies before me, and it reads uncommonly like the +speech of an Irish Secretary in the House of Commons bringing in a +"Suppression of Crime Bill." The Committee say-- + +"There is a remarkable concurrence of testimony to the effect that, in +those of the late rebellious States into whose condition we have +examined, the courts and juries administer justice between man and man +in all ordinary cases, civil and criminal; and while there is this +concurrence on this point, the evidence is equally decisive that redress +cannot be obtained against those who commit crimes in disguise and at +night. The reasons assigned are that identification is difficult, almost +impossible; that, when this is attempted, the combinations and oaths of +the order come in and release the culprit by perjury, either upon the +witness-stand or in the jury-box; and that the terror inspired by their +acts, as well as the public sentiment in their favour in many +localities, paralyzes the arm of civil power. + + * * * * * + +"The murders and outrages which have been perpetrated in many counties +of Middle and West Tennessee, during the past few months, have been so +numerous, and of such an aggravated character, as almost baffles +investigation. In these counties a reign of terror exists which is so +absolute in its nature that the best of citizens are unable or unwilling +to give free expression to their opinions. The terror inspired by the +secret organization known as the Ku-Klux Klan is so great, that the +officers of the law are powerless to execute its provisions, to +discharge their duties, or to bring the guilty perpetrators of these +outrages to the punishment they deserve. Their stealthy movements are +generally made under cover of night, and under masks and disguises, +which render their identification difficult, if not impossible. To add +to the secrecy which envelops their operations, is the fact that no +information of their murderous acts can be obtained without the greatest +difficulty and danger in the localities where they are committed. No one +dares to inform upon them, or take any measures to bring them to +punishment, because no one can tell but that he may be the next victim +of their hostility or animosity. The members of this organization, with +their friends, aiders, and abettors, take especial pains to conceal all +their operations. + + * * * * * + +"Your committee believe that during the past six months, the murders--to +say nothing of other outrages--would average one a day, or one for every +twenty-four hours; that in the great majority of these cases they have +been perpetrated by the Ku-Klux above referred to, and few, if any, have +been brought to punishment. A number of the counties of this State +(Tennessee) are entirely at the mercy of this organization, and roving +bands of nightly marauders bid defiance to the civil authorities, and +threaten to drive out every man, white or black, who does not submit to +their arbitrary dictation. To add to the general lawlessness of these +communities, bad men of every description take advantage of the +circumstances surrounding them, and perpetrate acts of violence, from +personal or pecuniary motives, under the plea of political necessity." + +Here is some of the evidence on which the report was based. + +A complaint of outrages committed in Georgia was referred by the general +of the army, in June, 1869, to the general of the Department of the +South for thorough investigation and report. General Terry, in his +report, made August 14, 1869, says[2]-- + +"In many parts of the State there is practically no government. The +worst of crimes are committed, and no attempt is made to punish those +who commit them. Murders have been and are frequent; the abuse, in +various ways, of the blacks is too common to excite notice. There can be +no doubt of the existence of numerous insurrectionary organizations +known as 'Ku-Klux Klans,' who, shielded by their disguise, by the +secrecy of their movements, and by the terror which they inspire, +perpetrate crime with impunity. There is great reason to believe that in +some cases local magistrates are in sympathy with the members of these +organizations. In many places they are overawed by them and dare not +attempt to punish them. To punish such offenders by civil proceedings +would be a difficult task, even were magistrates in all cases disposed +and had they the courage to do their duty, for the same influences which +govern them equally affect juries and witnesses." + +Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Merrill, who assumed command (in Louisiana) on +the 26th of March, and commenced investigation into the state of +affairs, says (p. 1465)-- + +"From the best information I can get, I estimate the number of cases of +whipping, beating, and personal violence of various grades, in this +county, since the first of last November, at between three and four +hundred, excluding numerous minor cases of threats, intimidation, abuse, +and small personal violence, as knocking down with a pistol or gun, etc. +The more serious outrages, exclusive of murders and whippings, noted +hereafter, have been the following:--" + +He then proceeds with the details of sixty-eight cases, giving the names +of the parties injured, white and black, and including the tearing up of +the railway, on the night before a raid was made by the Ku-Klux on the +county treasury building. The rails were taken up, to prevent the +arrival of the United States troops, who, it was known, were to come on +Sunday morning. The raid was made on that Sunday night while the troops +were lying at Chester, twenty-two miles distant, unable to reach +Yorkville, because of the rails being torn up. + +Another witness said: "To give the details of the whipping of men to +compel them to change their mode of voting, the tearing of them away +from their families at night, accompanied with insults and outrage, and +followed by their murder, would be but repeating what has been described +in other States, showing that it is the same organization in all, +working by the same means for the same end. Five murders are shown to +have been committed in Monroe County, fifteen in Noxubee, one in +Lowndes, by the testimony taken in the city of Washington; but the +extent to which school-houses were burnt, teachers whipped, and outrages +committed in this State, cannot be fully given until the testimony taken +by the sub-committee shall have been printed and made ready to report." + +There are about eighty, closely printed, large octavo pages of this kind +of testimony given by sufferers from the outrages. + +Something was done to suppress the Ku-Klux by a Federal Act passed in +1871, which made offences of this kind punishable in the Federal Courts. +Considerable numbers of them were arrested, tried, and convicted, and +sent to undergo their punishment in the Northern jails. But there was no +complete pacification of the South until the carpet-bag governments were +refused the support of the Federal troops by President Hayes, on his +accession to power in 1876. Then the carpet-bag _regime_ disappeared +like a house of cards. The chief carpet-baggers fled, and the government +passed at once into the hands of the native whites. I do not propose to +defend or explain the way in which they have since then kept it in their +hands, by suppressing or controlling the negro vote. This is not +necessary to my purpose. + +What I seek to show is that the Irish are not peculiar in their manner +of expressing their discontent with a government directed or controlled +by the public opinion of another indifferent or semi-hostile community +which it is impossible to resist in open warfare; that Anglo-Saxons +resort to somewhat the same methods under similar circumstances, and +that lawlessness and cruelty, considered as expressions of political +animosity, do not necessarily argue any incapacity for the conduct of an +orderly and efficient government, although I admit freely that they do +argue a low state of civilization. + +I will add one more illustration which, although more remote than those +which I have taken from the Southern States during the reconstruction +period, is not too remote for my purpose, and is in some respects +stronger than any of them. I do not know a more orderly community in the +world, or one which, down to the outbreak of the Civil War, when +manufactures began to multiply, and the Irish immigration began to pour +in, had a higher average of intelligence than the State of Connecticut. +Down to 1818 all voters in that State had to be members of the +Congregational Church. It had no large cities, and this, with the aid of +its seat of learning, Yale College, preserved in it, I think, in greater +purity than even Massachusetts, the old Puritan simplicity of manners, +the Puritan spirit of order and thrift, and the business-like view of +government which grew out of the practice of town government. A less +sentimental community, I do not think, exists anywhere, or one in which +the expression of strong feeling on any subject but religion is less +cultivated or viewed with less favour. In the matter of managing their +own political affairs in peace or war, I do not expect the Irish to +equal the Connecticut people for a hundred years to come, no matter how +much practice they may have in the interval, and I think that fifty +years ago it was only picked bodies of Englishmen who could do so. Yet, +in 1833, in the town of Canterbury, one of the most orderly and +intelligent in the State, an estimable and much-esteemed lady, Miss +Prudence Crandall, was carrying on a girls' school, when something +happened to touch her conscience about the condition of the free negroes +of the North. She resolved, in a moment of enthusiasm, to undertake the +education of negro girls only. What follows forms one of the most famous +episodes in the anti-slavery struggle in America, and is possibly +familiar to many of the older readers of this article. I shall extract +the account of it as given briefly in the lately published life of +William Lloyd Garrison, by his sons. Some of the details are much worse +than is here described. + +"The story of this remarkable case cannot be pursued here except in +brief.... It will be enough to say that the struggle between the modest +and heroic young Quaker woman and the town lasted for nearly two years; +that the school was opened in April; that attempts were immediately made +under the law to frighten the pupils away and to fine Miss Crandall for +harbouring them; that in May an Act prohibiting private schools for +non-resident coloured persons, and providing for the expulsion of the +latter, was procured from the legislature, amid the greatest rejoicing +in Canterbury (even to the ringing of church bells); that, under this +Act, Miss Crandall was in June arrested and temporarily imprisoned in +the county jail, twice tried (August and October) and convicted; that +her case was carried up to the Supreme Court of Errors, and her +persecutors defeated on a technicality (July, 1834), and that pending +this litigation the most vindictive and inhuman measures were taken to +isolate the school from the countenance and even the physical support of +the townspeople. The shops and the meeting-house were closed against +teacher and pupils, carriage in the public conveyances was denied them, +physicians would not wait upon them, Miss Crandall's own family and +friends were forbidden, under penalty of heavy fines, to visit her, the +well was filled with manure and water from other sources refused, the +house itself was smeared with filth, assailed with rotten eggs and +stones, and finally set on fire" (vol. i. p. 321). + +Miss Crandall is still living in the West, in extreme old age, and the +Connecticut legislature voted her a small pension two years ago, as a +slight expiation of the ignominy and injustice from which she had +suffered at the hands of a past generation. + +The _Spectator_ frequently refers to the ferocious hatred displayed +toward the widow of Curtin, the man who was cruelly murdered by +moonlighters somewhere in Kerry, as an evidence of barbarism which +almost, if not quite, justifies the denial of self-government to a +people capable of producing such monsters in one spot and on one +occasion. Let me match this from Mississippi with a case which I +produce, not because it was singular, but because it was notorious at +the North, where it occurred, in 1877. One Chisholm, a native of the +State, and a man of good standing and character, became a Republican +after the war, and was somewhat active in organizing the negro voters in +his district. He was repeatedly warned by some of his neighbours to +desist and abandon politics, but continued resolutely on his course. A +mob, composed of many of the leading men in the town, then attacked him +in his house. He made his escape, with his wife and young daughter and +son, a lad of fourteen, to the jail. His assailants broke the jail open, +and killed him and his son, and desperately wounded the daughter. The +poor lad received such a volley of bullets, that his blood went in one +rush to the floor, and traced the outlines of his trunk on the ceiling +of the room below, where it remained months afterwards, an eye-witness +told me, as an illustration of the callousness of the jailer. The +leading murderers were tried. They had no defence. The facts were not +disputed. The judge and the bar did their duty, but the jury acquitted +the prisoners without leaving their seats. Mrs. Chisholm, the widow, +found neither sympathy nor friends at the scene of the tragedy. She had +to leave the State, and found refuge in Washington, where she now holds +a clerkship in the Treasury department. + +Let me cite as another illustration the violent ways in which popular +discontent may find expression in communities whose political capacity +and general respect for the law and its officers, as well as for the +sanctity of contracts, have never been questioned. Large tracts of land +were formerly held along the Hudson river in the State of New York, by a +few families, of which the Van Rensselaers and the Livingstons were the +chief, either under grants from the Dutch at the first settlement of the +colony, or from the English Crown after the conquest. That known as the +"Manor of Rensselaerwick," held by the Van Rensselaers, comprised a +tract of country extending twenty-four miles north and south, and +forty-eight miles east and west, lying on each side of the Hudson river. +It was held by the tenants for perpetual leases. The rents were, on the +Van Rensselaer estate, fourteen bushels of wheat for each hundred acres, +and four fat hens, and one day's service with a carriage and horses, to +each farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Besides this, there was a fine +on alienation amounting to about half a year's rent. The Livingston +estates were let in much the same way. + +In 1839, Stephen Van Rensselaer, the proprietor, or "Patroon" as he was +called, died, with $400,000 due to him as arrears from the tenants, for +which, being a man of easy temper, he had forborne to press them. But he +left the amount in trust by his will for the payment of his debts, and +his heirs proceeded to collect it, and persisted in the attempt during +the ensuing seven years. What then happened I shall describe in the +words of Mr. John Bigelow. Mr. Tilden was a member of the State +Legislature in 1846, and was appointed Chairman of a Committee to +investigate the rent troubles, and make the report which furnished the +basis for the legislation by which they were subsequently settled. Mr. +Bigelow, who has edited Mr. Tilden's _Public Writings and Speeches_, +prefaces the report with the following explanatory note:-- + +"Attempts were made to enforce the collection of these rents. The +tenants resisted. They established armed patrols, and, by the adoption +of various disguises, were enabled successfully to defy the civil +authorities. Eventually it became necessary to call out the military, +but the result was only partially satisfactory. These demonstrations of +authority provoked the formation of 'anti-rent clubs' throughout the +manorial district, with a view of acquiring a controlling influence in +the legislature. Small bands, armed and disguised as Indians, were also +formed to hold themselves in readiness at all times to resist the +officers of the law whenever and wherever they attempted to serve legal +process upon the tenants. The principal roads throughout the infected +district were guarded by the bands so carefully, and the animosity +between the tenants and the civil authorities was so intense, that at +last it became dangerous for any one not an anti-renter to be found in +these neighbourhoods. It was equally dangerous for the landlords to make +any appeal to the law or for the collection of rents or for protection +of their persons. When Governor Wright entered upon his duties in Albany +in 1845, he found that the anti-rent party had a formidable +representation in the legislature, and that the questions involved were +assuming an almost national importance." + +The sheriff made gallant attempts to enforce the law, but his deputies +were killed, and a legal investigation in which two hundred persons were +examined, failed to reveal the perpetrators of the crime. The militia +were called out, but they were no more successful than the sheriff. In +the case of one murder committed in Delaware County in 1845, however, +two persons were convicted, but their sentence was commuted to +imprisonment for life. Various others concerned in the disturbances were +convicted of minor offences, but when Governor Young succeeded Governor +Seward after an election in which the anti-renters showed considerable +voting strength, he pardoned them all on the ground that their crimes +were political. The dispute was finally settled by a compromise--that +is, the Van Rensselaers and the Livingstons both sold their estates, +giving quit-claim deeds to the tenants for what they chose to pay, and +the granting of agricultural leases for a longer term than twelve years +was forbidden by the State Constitution of 1846. + +This anti-rent agitation is described by Professor Johnston of +Princeton, in the _Cyclopaedia of Political Science_, as "a reign of +terror which for ten years practically suspended the operations of law +and the payment of rent throughout the district." Suppose all the land +of the State had been held under similar tenures; that the controversy +had lasted one hundred years; that the rents had been high; and that the +Van Rensselaers and the Livingstons had had the aid of the Federal army +in enforcing distraints and evictions, and in enabling them to set local +opinion at defiance, what do you suppose the state of morals and manners +would have been in New York by this time? What would have been the +feelings of the people towards the Federal authority had the matter been +finally adjusted with the strong hand, in accordance, not with the views +of the people of the State, but of the landholders of South Carolina or +of the district of Columbia? I am afraid they would have been terribly +Irish. + + +I know very well the risk I run, in citing all these precedents and +parallels, of seeming to justify, or at all events to palliate, Irish +lawlessness. But I am not doing anything of the kind. I am trying to +illustrate a somewhat trite remark which I recently made: "that +government is a very practical business, and that those succeed best in +it who bring least sentiment or enthusiasm to the conduct of their +affairs." The government of Ireland, like the government of all other +countries, is a piece of business--a very difficult piece of business, I +admit--and therefore horror over Irish doings, and the natural and human +desire to "get even with" murderers and moonlighters, by denying the +community which produces them something it would like much to possess, +should have no influence with those who are charged with Irish +government. It is only in nurseries and kindergartens that we can give +offenders their exact due and withhold their toffee until they have +furnished satisfactory proofs of repentance. Rulers of men have to +occupy themselves mainly with the question of drying up the sources of +crime, and often, in order to accomplish this, to let much crime and +disorder go unwhipped of justice. + +With the state of mind which cannot bear to see any concessions made to +the Irish Nationalists because they are such wicked men, in which so +many excellent Englishmen, whom we used to think genuine political +philosophers, are now living, we are very familiar in the United States. +It is a state of mind which prevailed in the Republican party with +regard to the South, down to the election of 1884, and found constant +expression on the stump and in the newspapers in what is described, in +political slang, as "waving the bloody shirt." It showed itself after +the war in unwillingness to release the South from military rule; then +in unwillingness to remove the disfranchisement of the whites or to +withdraw from the carpet-bag State governments the military support +without which they could not have existed for a day; and, last of all, +in dread of the advent of a Democratic Federal Administration in which +Southerners or "ex-rebels" would be likely to hold office. At first the +whole Republican party was more or less permeated by these ideas; but +the number of those who held them gradually diminished, until in 1884 it +was at last possible to elect a Democratic President. Nevertheless a +great multitude witnessed the entrance into the White House of a +President who is indebted for his election mainly to the States formerly +in rebellion, with genuine alarm. They feared from it something +dreadful, in the shape either of a violation of the rights of the +freedmen, or of an assault on the credit and stability of the Federal +Government. Nothing but actual experiment would have disabused them. + +I am very familiar with the controversy with them, for I have taken some +part in it ever since the passage of the reconstruction Acts, and I know +very well how they felt, and am sometimes greatly impressed by the +similarity between their arguments and those of the opponents of Irish +Home Rule. One of their fixed beliefs for many years, though it is now +extinct, was that Southerners were so bent on rebelling again, and were +generally so prone to rebellion, that the awful consequences of their +last attempt in the loss of life and property, had made absolutely no +impression on them. The Southerner was, in fact, in their eyes, what Mr. +Gladstone says the Irishman is in the eyes of some Englishmen: "A _lusus +naturae_; that justice, common sense, moderation, national prosperity had +no meaning for him; that all he could appreciate was strife and +perpetual dissension. It was for many years useless to point out to them +the severity of the lesson taught by the Civil War as to the physical +superiority of the North, or the necessity of peace and quiet to enable +the new generation of Southerners to restore their fortunes, or even +gain a livelihood. Nor was it easy to impress them with the +inconsistency of arguing that it was slavery which made Southerners what +they were before they went to war, and maintaining at the same time that +the disappearance of slavery would produce no change in their manners, +ideas, or opinions. All this they answered by pointing to speeches +delivered by some fiery adorer of "the lost cause," to the Ku-Klux +outrages, to political murders, like that of Chisholm, to the building +of monuments to the Confederate dead, or to some newspaper expression of +reverence for Confederate nationality. In fact, for fully ten years +after the close of the war the collection of Southern "outrages" and +their display before Northern audiences, was the chief work of +Republican politicians. In 1876, during the Hayes-Tilden canvass, the +opening speech which furnished what is called "the key-note of the +campaign" was made by Mr. Wheeler, the Republican candidate for the +Vice-Presidency, and his advice to the Vermonters, to whom it was +delivered, was "to vote as they shot," that is, to go to the polls with +the same feelings and aims as those with which they enlisted in the war. + +I need hardly tell English readers how all this has ended. The +withdrawal of the Federal troops from the South by President Hayes, and +the consequent complete restoration of the State governments to the +discontented whites, have fully justified the expectations of those who +maintained that it is no less true in politics than in physics, that if +you remove what you see to be the cause, the effect will surely +disappear. It is true, at least in the Western world, that if you give +communities in a reasonable degree the management of their own affairs, +the love of material comfort and prosperity which is now so strong among +all civilized, and even partially civilized men, is sure in the long run +to do the work of creating and maintaining order; or, as Mr. Gladstone +has expressed it, in setting up a government, "the best and surest +foundation we can find to build on is the foundation afforded by the +affections, the convictions, and the will of men." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 2: Report of Secretary of War, 1869-70, vol. i. p. 89.] + + + + +HOW WE BECAME HOME RULERS. + +BY JAMES BRYCE, M.P. + + +In the Home Rule contest of the last eighteen months no argument has +been more frequently used against the Liberal party than the charge of +sudden, and therefore, it would seem, dishonest change of view. "You +were opposed to an Irish Parliament at the election of 1880 and for some +time afterward; you are not entitled to advocate it in 1886." "You +passed a Coercion Bill in 1881, your Ministry (though against the +protests of an active section of its supporters) passed another Coercion +Bill in 1882; you have no right to resist a third such Bill in 1887, +and, if you do, your conduct can be due to nothing but party spite and +revenge at your own exclusion from office." Reproaches of this kind are +now the stock-in-trade, not merely of the ordinary politician, who, for +want of a case, abuses the plaintiff's attorney, but of leading men, +and, still more, of leading newspapers, who might be thought bound to +produce from recent events and an examination of the condition of +Ireland some better grounds for the passion they display. It is +noticeable that such reproaches come more often from the so-called +Liberal Unionists than from the present Ministry. Perhaps, with their +belief that all Liberals are unprincipled revolutionaries, the Tories +deem a sin more or less to be of small account. Perhaps a recollection +of their own remarkable gyrations, before and after the General +Election of 1885, may suggest that the less said about the past the +better for everybody. Be the cause what it may, it is surprising to find +that a section commanding so much ability as the group of Dissentient +Liberals does, should rely rather on the charge of inconsistency than on +the advocacy of any counter-policy of their own. It is not large and +elevated, but petty, minds that rejoice to say to an opponent (and all +the more so if he was once a friend), "You must either be wrong now, or +have been wrong then, because you have changed your opinion. I have not +changed; I was right then, and I am right now." Such an argument not +only dispenses with the necessity of sifting the facts, but it fosters +the satisfaction of the person who employs it. Consistency is the pet +virtue of the self-righteous, and the man who values himself on his +consistency can seldom be induced to see that to shut one's eyes to the +facts which time develops, to refuse to reconsider one's position by the +light they shed, to cling to an old solution when the problem is +substantially new, is a proof, not of fortitude and wisdom, but rather +of folly and conceit. + +Such persons may be left to the contemplation of their own virtues. But +there are many fair-minded men of both political parties, or of neither, +who, while acquitting those Liberal members who supported Home Rule in +1886 and opposed Coercion in 1887 of the sordid or spiteful motives with +which the virulence of journalism credits them, have nevertheless been +surprised at the apparent swiftness and completeness of the change in +their opinions. It would be idle to deny that, in startling the minds of +steady-going people, this change did, for the moment, weaken the +influence and weight of those who had changed. This must be so. A man +who says now what he denied six years ago cannot expect to be believed +on his _ipse dixit_. He must set forth the grounds of his conviction. He +must explain how his views altered, and why reasons which formerly +satisfied him satisfy him no longer. It may be that the Liberal party +have omitted to do this as they ought. Occupied by warm and incessant +discussions, and conscious, I venture to believe, of their own honesty, +few of its members have been at the trouble of showing what were the +causes which modified their views, and what the stages of the process +which carried them from the position of 1880 to that of 1886. + +Of that process I shall attempt in the following pages to give a sketch. +Such a sketch, though mainly retrospective, is pertinent to the issues +which now divide the country. It will indicate the origin and the +strength of the chief reasons by which Liberals are now governed. And, +if executed with proper fairness and truth, it may, as a study in +contemporary history, be of some little interest to those who in future +will attempt to understand our present conflict. The causes which +underlie changes of opinion are among the most obscure phenomena in +history, because those who undergo, these changes are often only half +conscious of them, and do not think of recording that which is +imperceptible in its growth, and whose importance is not realized till +it already belongs to the past. + +The account which follows is based primarily on my own recollection of +the phases of opinion and feeling through which I myself, and the +friends whom I knew most intimately in the House of Commons, passed +during the Parliament which sat from 1880 till 1885. But I should not +think of giving it to the public if I did not believe that what happened +to our minds happened to many others also, and that the record of our +own slow movement from the position of 1880 to that of 1886 is +substantially a record of the movement of the Liberal party at large. We +were fairly typical members of that party, loyal to our leaders, but +placing the principles for which the Liberal party exists above the +success of the party itself; with our share of prepossessions and +prejudices, yet with reasonably open minds, and (as we believed) +inferior to no other section of the House of Commons in patriotism and +in attachment to the Constitution. I admit frankly that when we entered +Parliament we knew less about the Irish question than we ought to have +known, and that even after knowledge had been forced upon us, we were +more deferential to our leaders than was good either for us or for them. +But these are faults always chargeable on the great majority of members. +It is because those of whom I speak were in these respects fairly +typical, that it seems worth while to trace the history of their +opinions. If any one should accuse me of attributing to an earlier year +sentiments which began to appear in a later one, I can only reply that I +am aware of this danger, as one which always besets those who recall +their past states of mind, and that I have done my utmost to avoid it. + +The change I have to describe was slow and gradual. It was +reluctant--that is to say, it seemed rather forced upon us by the +teaching of events than the work of our own minds. Each session marked a +further stage in it; and I therefore propose to examine its progress +session by session. + +Session of 1880.--The General Election of 1880 turned mainly on the +foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield's Government. Few Liberal candidates +said much about Ireland. Absorbed in the Eastern and Afghan questions, +they had not watched the progress of events in Ireland with the +requisite care, nor realized the gravity of the crisis which was +approaching. They were anxious to do justice to Ireland, in the way of +amending both the land laws and local government, but saw no reason for +going further. Nearly all of them refused, even when pressed by Irish +electors in their constituencies, to promise to vote for that +"parliamentary inquiry into the demand for Home Rule," which was then +propounded by those electors as a sort of test question. We (_i.e._ the +Liberal candidates of 1880) then declared that we thought an Irish +Parliament would involve serious constitutional difficulties, and that +we saw no reason why the Imperial Parliament should not do full justice +to Ireland. Little was said about Coercion. Hopes were expressed that it +would not be resorted to, but very few (if any) pledged themselves +against it. + +When Mr. Forster was appointed Irish Secretary in Mr. Gladstone's +Government which the General Election brought into power, we (by which I +mean throughout the new Liberal members) were delighted. We knew him to +be conscientious, industrious, kind-hearted. We believed him to be +penetrating and judicious. We applauded his conduct in not renewing the +Coercion Act which Lord Beaconsfield's Government had failed to renew +before dissolving Parliament, and which indeed there was scarcely time +left after the election to renew, a fact which did not save Mr. Forster +from severe censure on the part of the Tories. + +The chief business of the session was the Compensation for Disturbance +Bill, which Mr. Forster brought in for the sake of saving from immediate +eviction tenants whom a succession of bad seasons had rendered utterly +unable to pay their rents. This Bill was pressed through the House of +Commons with the utmost difficulty, and at an expenditure of time which +damaged the other work of the session, though the House continued to sit +into September. The Executive Government declared it to be necessary, in +order not only to relieve the misery of the people, but to secure the +tranquillity of the country. Nevertheless, the whole Tory party, and a +considerable section of the Liberal party, opposed it in the interests +of the Irish landlords, and of economic principles in general, +principles which (as commonly understood in England) it certainly +trenched on. When it reached the House of Lords it was contemptuously +rejected, and the unhappy Irish Secretary left to face as he best might +the cries of a wretched peasantry and the rising tide of outrage. What +was even more remarkable, was the coolness with which the Liberal party +took the defeat of a Bill their leaders had pronounced absolutely +needed. Had it been an English Bill of the same consequence to England +as it was to Ireland, the country would have been up in arms against the +House of Lords, demanding the reform or the abolition of a Chamber which +dared to disregard the will of the people. But nothing of the kind +happened. It was only an Irish measure. We relieved ourselves by a few +strong words, and the matter dropped. + +It was in this session that the Liberal party first learnt what sort of +a spirit was burning in the hearts of Irish members. There had been +obstruction in the last years of the previous Parliament, but, as the +Tories were in power, they had to bear the brunt of it. Now that a +Liberal Ministry reigned, it fell on the Liberals. At first it incensed +us. Full of our own good intentions towards Ireland, we thought it +contrary to nature that Irish members should worry us, their friends, as +they had worried Tories, their hereditary enemies. Presently we came to +understand how matters stood. The Irish members made little difference +between the two great English parties. Both represented to them a +hostile domination. Both were ignorant of the condition of their +country. Both cared so little about Irish questions that nothing less +than deeds of violence out of doors or obstruction within doors could +secure their attention. Concessions had to be extorted from both by the +same devices; Coercion might be feared at the hands of both. Hence the +Irish party was resolved to treat both parties alike, and play off the +one against the other in the interests of Ireland alone, using the +questions which divide Englishmen and Scotchmen merely as levers +whereby to effect their own purposes, because themselves quite +indifferent to the substantial merits of those questions. To us new +members this was an alarming revelation. We found that the House of +Commons consisted of two distinct and dissimilar bodies: a large British +body (including some few Tories and Liberals from Ireland), which, +though it was distracted by party quarrels, really cared for the welfare +of the country and the dignity of the House, and would set aside its +quarrels in the presence of a great emergency; and a small Irish body, +which, though it spoke the English language, was practically foreign, +felt no interest in, no responsibility for, the business of Britain or +the Empire, and valued its place in the House only as a means of making +itself so disagreeable as to obtain its release. When we had grasped +this fact, we began to reflect on its causes and conjecture its effects. +We had read of the same things in the newspapers, but what a difference +there is between reading a drama in your study and seeing it acted on +the stage! We realized what Irish feeling was when we heard these angry +cries, and noted how appeals that would have affected English partisans +fell on deaf ears. I remember how one night in the summer of 1880, when +the Irish members kept us up very late over some trivial Bill of theirs, +refusing to adjourn till they had extorted terms, a friend, sitting +beside me, said, "See how things come round. They keep us out of bed +till five o'clock in the morning because our ancestors bullied theirs +for six centuries." And we saw that the natural relations of an +Executive, even a Liberal Executive, to the Irish members were those of +strife. Whose fault it was we were unable to decide. Perhaps the +Government was too stiff; perhaps the members were vexatious. Anyhow, +this strife was evidently the normal state of things, wholly unlike that +which existed between Scotch members, to whichever party they belonged, +and the executive authorities of Scotland. + +Thus the session of 1880, though it did not bring us consciously nearer +to Home Rule, impressed three facts upon us: first, that the House of +Lords regarded Ireland solely from the point of view of English +landlords, sympathizing with Irish landlords; secondly, that the House +of Commons knew so little or cared so little about Ireland that when the +Executive declared a measure essential to the peace of Ireland, it +scarcely resented the rejection of that measure by the House of Lords; +thirdly, that the Irish Nationalists in the House of Commons were a +foreign body, foreign in the sense in which a needle which a man +swallows is foreign, not helping the organism to discharge its +functions, but impeding them, and setting up irritation. We did not yet +draw from these facts all the conclusions we should now draw. But the +facts were there, and they began to tell upon our minds. + +SESSION OF 1881.--The winter of 1880-81 was a terrible one in Ireland. +The rejection of the Compensation for Disturbance Bill had borne the +fruit which Mr. Forster had predicted, and which the House of Lords had +ignored. Outrages were numerous and serious. The cry in England for +repressive measures had gone on rising from November, when it occasioned +a demonstration at the Guildhall banquet. Several Liberal members (of +whom I was one) went to Ireland at Christmas, to see with our own eyes +how things stood. We were struck by the difficulty of obtaining +trustworthy information in Dublin, where the richer classes, with whom +we chiefly came in contact, merely abused the Land League, while the +Land Leaguers declared that the accounts of outrages were grossly +exaggerated. The most prominent, Mr. Michael Davitt, assured me, and I +believe with perfect truth, that he had exerted himself to +discountenance outrage, and that if, as he expected, he was locked up by +the Government, outrages would increase. When one reached the disturbed +districts, where, of course, one talked to members as well of the +landlord class as of the peasantry, the general conclusion which emerged +from the medley of contradictions was that, though there was much +agrarian crime, and a pervading sense of insecurity, the disorders were +not so bad as people in England believed, and might have been dealt with +by a vigorous administration of the existing law. Unfortunately, the +so-called "better classes," full of bitterness against the Liberal +Ministry and Mr. Forster (whom they did not praise till it was too +late), had not assisted the Executive, and had allowed things to reach a +pass at which it found the work of governing very difficult. + +When the Coercion Bill of 1881 was introduced, many English Liberals +were inclined to resist it. The great majority voted for it, but within +two years they bitterly repented their votes. Our motives, which I +mention by way of extenuation, not of defence, were these. The Executive +Government declared that it could not deal with crime by the ordinary +law. If its followers refused exceptional powers, they must displace the +Ministry, and let in the Tories, who would doubtless obtain such powers, +and probably use them worse. We had still confidence in Mr. Forster's +judgment, and a deference to Irish Executive Governments generally which +Parliamentary experience is well fitted to dissipate. The violence with +which the Nationalist members resisted the introduction of the Bill had +roused our blood, and the foolish attempts which the Radical and Irish +electors in some constituencies had made to deter their members from +supporting it had told the other way, and disposed these members to vote +for it, in order to show that they were not to be cowed by threats. +Finally, we were assured that votes given for the Coercion Bill would +purchase a thorough-going Land Bill, and our anxiety for the latter +induced us, naturally, but erringly, to acquiesce in the former. + +When that Land Bill went into Committee we perceived how much harm the +Coercion Bill had done in intensifying the bitterness of Irish members. +Although the Ministry was fighting for their interests against the Tory +party and the so-called Whiggish section of its own supporters, who were +seeking to cut down the benefits which the measure offered to Irish +tenants, the Nationalist members regarded it, and in particular Mr. +Forster, as their foe. They resented what they deemed the insult put +upon their country. They saw those who had been fighting, often, no +doubt, by unlawful methods, for the national cause, thrown into prison +and kept there without trial. They anticipated (not without reason) the +same fortune for themselves. Hence the friendliness which the Liberal +party sought to show them met with no response, and Mr. Forster was +worried with undiminished vehemence. In the discussions on the Bill we +found the Ministry generally resisting all amendments which came from +Irish members. When these amendments seemed to us right, we voted for +them, but they were almost always defeated by the union of the Tories +with the steady Ministerialists. Subsequent events have proved that many +were right, but, whether they were right or wrong, the fact which +impressed us was that in matters which concerned Ireland only, and lay +within the exclusive knowledge of Irishmen, Irish members were +constantly outvoted by English and Scotch members, who knew nothing at +all of the merits of the case, but simply obeyed the party whip. This +happened even when the Irish members who sat on the Liberal side (such +as Mr. Dickson and his Liberal colleagues from Ulster) joined the +Nationalist section in demanding some extension of the Bill which the +Ministry refused. And we perceived that nothing incensed the Irish +members more than the feeling that their arguments were addressed to +deaf ears; that they were overborne, not by reason, but by sheer weight +of numbers. Even if they convinced the Ministry, they could seldom hope +to obtain its assent, because the Ministry had to consider the House of +Lords, sure to reject amendments which favoured the tenant, while to +detach a number of Ministerialists sufficient to carry an amendment +against the Treasury Bench, the Moderate Liberals, and the Tories, was +evidently hopeless. + +At the end of the session the House of Lords came again upon the scene. +It seriously damaged the Bill by its amendments, and would have +destroyed it but for the skill with which the head of the Government +handled these amendments, accepting the least pernicious, so as to +enable the Upper House without loss of dignity to recede from those +which were wholly inadmissible. Several times it seemed as if the +conflict would have to pass from Westminster to the country, and, in +contemplating the chances of a popular agitation or a dissolution, we +were regretfully obliged to own that the English people cared too little +and knew too little about Irish questions to give us much hope of +defeating the House of Lords and the Tories upon these issues. + +An incident which occurred towards the end of the session seems, though +trifling in itself, so illustrative of the illogical position in which +we stood towards Ireland, as to deserve mention. Mr. Forster, still +Chief Secretary, had brought in a Bill for extinguishing the Queen's +University in Ireland, and creating in place of it a body to be called +the Royal University, which, however, was not to be a real university at +all, but only a set of examiners plus some salaried fellowships, to be +held at various places of instruction. Regarding this as a gross +educational blunder, which would destroy a useful existing body, and +create a sham university in its place, and finding several Parliamentary +friends on whose judgment I could rely to be of the same opinion, I gave +notice of opposition to the Bill. Mr. Forster came to me, and pressed +with great warmth that the opposition should be withdrawn. The Bill, he +said, would satisfy the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and complete the work +of the Land Bill in pacifying Ireland. The Irish members wanted it: what +business had an English member to interfere to defeat their wishes, and +thwart the Executive? The reply was obvious. Not to speak of the +simplicity of expecting the hierarchy to be satisfied by this small +concession, what were such arguments but the admission of Home Rule in +its worst form? "You resist the demand of the Irish members to legislate +for Ireland; you have just been demanding, and obtaining, the support of +English members against those amendments of the Land Bill which Irish +members declare to be necessary. Now you bid us surrender our own +judgment, ignore our own responsibility, and blindly pass a Bill which +we, who have studied these university questions as they affect both +Ireland and England, believe to be thoroughly mischievous to the +prospects of higher education in Ireland, only because the Irish +members, as you say, desire it. Do one thing or the other. Either give +them the power and the responsibility, or leave both with the Imperial +Parliament. You are now asking us to surrender the power, but to remain +still subject to the responsibility. We will not bear the latter without +the former. We shall prefer Home Rule." Needless to add that this +device--a sample of the petty sops by which successive generations of +English statesmen, Whigs and Tories alike, have sought to win over a +priesthood which uses and laughs at them--failed as completely as its +predecessors to settle the University question or to range the bishops +on the side of the Government. + +The autumn and winter of 1881 revealed the magnitude of the mischief +done by making a Coercion Bill precede a Relief Bill. The Land Bill was +the largest concession made to the demands of the people since Catholic +Emancipation. It was a departure, justified by necessity, but still a +departure from our established principles of legislation. It ought to +have brought satisfaction and confidence, if not gratitude, with it; +ought to have led Ireland to believe in the sincere friendliness of +England, and produced a new cordiality between the islands. It did +nothing of the kind. It was held to have been extorted from our fears; +its grace and sweetness were destroyed by the concomitant severities +which the Coercion Act had brought into force, as wholesome food becomes +distasteful when some bitter compound has been sprinkled over it. We +were deeply mortified at this result of our efforts. What was the malign +power which made the boons we had conferred shrivel up, "like fairy +gifts fading away"? We still believed the Coercion Act to have been +justified, but lamented the fate which baffled the main object of our +efforts, the winning over Ireland to trust the justice and the capacity +of the Imperial Parliament. And thus the two facts which stood out from +the history of this eventful session were, first, that even in +legislating for the good of Ireland we were legislating against the +wishes of Ireland, imposing on her enactments which her representatives +opposed, and which we supported only at the bidding of the Ministry; +and, secondly, that at the end of a long session, entirely devoted to +her needs, we found her more hostile and not less disturbed than she had +been at its beginning. We began to wonder whether we should ever succeed +better on our present lines. But we still mostly regarded Home Rule as a +disagreeable solution. + +SESSION OF 1882.--Still graver were the lessons of the first four months +of this year. Mr. Forster went on filling the prisons of Ireland with +persons whom he arrested under the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act, and +never brought to trial. But the country grew no more quiet. At last he +had nine hundred and forty men under lock and key, many of them not +"village ruffians," whose power a few weeks' detention was to break, but +political offenders, and even popular leaders. How long could this go +on? Where was it to stop? It became plain that the Act was a failure, +and that the people, trained to combination by a century and a half's +practice, were too strong for the Executive. Either the scheme and plan +of the Act had been wrong, or its administration had been incompetent. +Whichever was the source of the failure (most people will now blame +both), the fault must be laid at the door of the Irish Executive; not of +Mr. Forster himself, but of those on whom he relied. It had been a +Dublin Castle Bill, conceived and carried out by the incompetent +bureaucracy which has so long pretended to govern Ireland. Such a proof +of incompetence destroyed whatever confidence in that bureaucracy then +remained to us, and the disclosures which the Phoenix Park murders and +the subsequent proceedings against the Invincibles brought out, proved +beyond question that the Irish Executive had only succeeded in giving a +more dark and dangerous form, the form of ruthless conspiracy, to the +agitation it was combating. + +When therefore the Prevention of Crime Bill of 1882 was brought in, some +of us felt unable to support it, and specially bound to resist those of +its provisions which related to trials without a jury, and to +boycotting. It was impossible, on the morrow of the Phoenix Park +murders, to deny that some coercive measure might be needed; but we had +so far lost faith in repression, and in the officials who were to +administer it, as to desire to limit it to what was absolutely +necessary, and we protested against enacting for Ireland a criminal code +which was not to be applied to Great Britain. Our resistance might have +been more successful but for the manner in which the Nationalist members +conducted their opposition. When they began to obstruct--not that under +the circumstances we felt entitled to censure them for obstructing a +Bill dealing so harshly with their countrymen--we were obliged to +desist, and our experience of the stormy scenes of the summer of 1882 +deepened our sense of the passionate bitterness with which they regarded +English members, scarcely making an exception in favour of those who +were most disposed to sympathize with them. Many and many a time when we +listened to their fierce cries, we seemed to hear in them the +battle-cries of the centuries of strife between Celt and Englishman from +Athenry to Vinegar Hill; many a time we felt that this rage and mistrust +were chiefly of England's making; and yet not of England's, but rather +of the overmastering fate which had prolonged to our own days the +hatreds and the methods of barbarous times: + + hemeis d' ouk aitioi esmen + Alla Zeus kai Moira kai eerophoitis Herinus. + +So much of the session as the Crime Bill had spared was consumed by the +Arrears Bill, over which we had again a "crisis" with the House of +Lords. This was the third session that had been practically given up to +Irishmen. The freshness and force of the Parliament of 1880--a +Parliament full of zeal and ability--had now been almost spent, yet few +of the plans of domestic legislation spread before the constituencies of +1880 had been realized. The Government had been anxious to legislate, +their majority had been ready to support them, but Ireland had blocked +the way; and now the only expedient for improving the procedure of the +House was to summon Parliament in an extra autumn session. Here was +another cause for reflection. England and Scotland were calling for +measures promised years ago, but no time could be found to discuss them. +Nothing was done to reorganize local government, to reform the liquor +laws, to improve secondary education, to deal with the housing of the +poor, or a dozen other urgent questions, because we were busy with +Ireland; and yet how little more loyal or contented did Ireland seem to +be for all we had done. We began to ask whether Home Rule might not be +as much an English and Scotch question as an Irish question. It was, at +any rate, clear that to allow Ireland to manage her own affairs would +open a prospect for England and Scotland to obtain time to attend to +theirs.[3] + +This feeling was strengthened by the result of the attempts made in the +autumn session of 1882, to improve the procedure of the House of +Commons. We had cherished the hope that more drastic remedies against +obstruction and better arrangements for the conduct of business, might +relieve much of the pressure Irish members had made us suffer. The +passing of the New Rules shattered this hope, for it was plain they +would not accomplish what was needed. Some blamed the Government for not +framing a more stringent code. Some blamed the Tory and the Irish +Oppositions (now beginning to work in concert) for cutting down the +proposals of the Government. But most of us saw, and came to see still +more clearly in the three succeeding sessions, that the evil was too +deep-rooted to be cured by any changes of procedure, unless they went so +far as to destroy freedom of debate for English members also. The +presence in a deliberative assembly of a section numbering (or likely +soon to number) one-seventh of the whole--a section seeking to lower the +character of the assembly, and to derange its mechanism, with no further +interest in the greater part of its business except that of preventing +it from conducting that business--this was the phenomenon which +confronted us, and we felt that no rules of debate would overcome the +dangers it threatened. + +It is from this year 1882 that I date the impression which we formed, +that Home Rule was sure to come. "It may be a bold experiment," we said +to one another in the lobbies; "there are serious difficulties in the +way, though the case for it is stronger than we thought two years ago. +But if the Irishmen persist as they are doing now, they will get it. It +is only a question of their tenacity." + +It was impossible not to be struck during the conflicts of 1881 and 1882 +with the small amount of real bitterness which the conduct of the Irish +members, irritating as it often was, provoked among the Liberals, who of +course bore the brunt of the conflict. The Nationalists did their best +to injure a Government which was at the same time being denounced by the +Tories as too favourable to Irish claims; they lowered the character of +Parliament by scenes far more painful than those of the session of 1887, +on which so much indignation has been lately expended; they said the +hardest things they could think of against us in the House; they +attacked us in our constituencies. Their partisans (for I do not charge +this on the leaders) interrupted and broke up our meetings. +Nevertheless, all this did not provoke responsive hatred from the +Liberals. There could not be a greater contrast than that between the +way in which the great bulk of the Liberal members all through the +Parliament of 1880 behaved towards their Irish antagonists, and the +violence with which the Tory members, under much slighter provocation, +conduct themselves towards those antagonists now. I say this not to the +credit of our temper, which was no better than that of other men heated +by the struggles of a crowded assembly. It was due entirely to our +feeling that there was a great balance of wrong standing to the debit of +England; that if the Irish were turbulent, it was the ill-treatment of +former days that had made them so; and that, whatever might be their +methods, they were fighting for their country. Although, therefore, +there was little social intercourse between us and them, there was +always a hope and a wish that the day might come when the Liberal party +should resume its natural position of joining the representatives of the +Irish people in obtaining radical reforms in Irish government. And the +remarkable speech of February 9, 1882, in which Mr. Gladstone declared +his mind to be open on the subject, and invited the Nationalists to +propound a practicable scheme of self-government, had encouraged us to +hope that this day might soon arrive. + +SESSION OF 1883.--Three facts stood out in the history of this +comparatively quiet session, each of which brought us further along the +road we had entered. + +One was the omission of Parliament to complete the work begun by the +Land Bill of 1881, of improving the condition of the Irish peasantry and +reorganizing Irish administration. The Nationalist members brought in +Bills for these purposes, including one for amending the Land Act by +admitting leaseholders to its benefits and securing tenants against +having their improvements reckoned against them in the fixing of rents. +Though we could not approve all the contents of these Bills, we desired +to see the Government either take them up and amend them, or introduce +Bills of its own to do what was needed. Some of us spoke strongly in +this sense, nor will any one now deny that we were right. Sound policy +called aloud for the completion of the undertaking of 1881. The +Government however refused, alleging, no doubt with some truth, that +Ireland could not have all the time of Parliament, but must let England +and Scotland have their turn. Nor was anything done towards the creation +of new local institutions in Ireland, or the reform of the Castle +bureaucracy. We were profoundly disheartened. We saw golden +opportunities slipping away, and doubted more than ever whether +Westminster was the place in which to legislate for Irish grievances. + +Another momentous fact was the steady increase in the number of +Nationalist members. Every seat that fell vacant in Ireland was filled +by them. The moderate Irish party, most of whom had by this time crossed +the floor of the House, and were sitting among us, had evidently no +future. They were estimable, and, in some cases, able men, from whom we +had hoped much, as a link between the Liberal party and the Irish +people. But they seemed to have lost their hold on the people, nor were +they able to give us much practical counsel as to Irish problems. It was +clear that they would vanish at the next General Election, and +Parliament be left to settle accounts with the extreme men, whose +spirits rose as those of our friends steadily sank. + +Lastly: it was in this session that the alliance of the Nationalists and +the Tory Opposition became a potent factor in politics. Its first +conspicuous manifestation was in the defeat of the Government by the +allied forces on the Affirmation Bill, when the least respectable +privates in both armies vied with one another in boisterous rejoicings +over the announcement of numbers in the division. I do not refer to this +as ground for complaint. It was in the course of our usual political +warfare that two groups, each hating and fearing the Ministry, should +unite to displace it. But we now saw what power the Irish section must +exert when it came to hold the balance of numbers in the House. Till +this division, the Government had commanded a majority of the whole +House. This would probably not outlast a dissolution. What then? Could +the two English parties, differing so profoundly from one another, +combine against the third party? Evidently not. We must, therefore, look +forward to unstable Governments, if not to a total dislocation of our +Parliamentary system. + +Session of 1884.--I pass over the minor incidents of this year, +including the continued neglect of remedial legislation for Ireland to +dwell on its dominant and most impressive lesson. It was the year of the +Franchise Bill, which, as regards Ireland, worked an extension, not +merely of the county but also of the borough franchise, and produced, +owing to the economic condition of the humbler classes in that country, +a far more extensive change than in England or Scotland. When the Bill +was introduced the question at once arose--Should Ireland be included? + +There were two ways of treating Ireland between which Parliament had to +choose. + +One was to leave her out of the Bill, on the ground that the masses of +her population could not be trusted with the franchise, as being +ignorant, sympathetic to crime, hostile to the English Government. This +course was the logical concomitant of exceptional coercive legislation, +such as had been passed in 1881 and 1882. It was quite compatible with +generous remedial legislation. But it placed Ireland in an unequal and +lower position, treating her, as the Coercion Acts did, as a dependent +country, inhabited by a population unfit for the same measure of power +which the inhabitants of Britain might receive. + +The other course was to bestow on Ireland the same extended franchise +which the English county occupiers were to receive, applying the +principle of equality, and disregarding the obvious consequences. These +consequences were both practical and logical. The practical consequence +was the increase in numbers and weight of the Irish party in Parliament +hostile to Parliament itself. The logical consequence was the duty of +complying with the wishes of the enfranchised nation. Whatever reasons +were good for giving this enlarged suffrage to the Irish masses, were +good for respecting the will which they might use to express it. If the +Irish were deemed fit to exercise the same full constitutional rights +in legislation as the English, must they not be fit for the same rights +of trial by jury, a free press, and all the privileges of personal +freedom? + +Of these two courses the Cabinet chose the latter, those of its members +whom we must suppose, from the language they now hold, to have then +hesitated, either stifling their fears or not apprehending the +consequences of their boldness. It might have been expected, and indeed +was generally expected, that the Tory party would refuse to follow. They +talked largely about the danger of an extended Irish suffrage, and +pointed out that it would be a weapon in the hands of disloyalty. But +when the moment for resistance came, they swerved, and never divided in +either House against the application of the Bill to Ireland. They might +have failed to defeat the measure; but they would have immensely +strengthened their position, logically and morally, had they given +effect by their votes to the sentiments they were known to entertain, +and which not a few Liberals shared. + +The effect of this uncontested grant to Ireland of a suffrage +practically universal was immense upon our minds, and the longer we +reflected on it the more significant did it become. It meant to us that +the old methods were abandoned, and, as we supposed, for ever. We had +deliberately given the Home Rule party arms against English control far +more powerful than they previously possessed. We had deliberately +asserted our faith in the Irish people. Impossible after this to fall +back on Coercion Bills. Impossible to refuse any request compatible with +the general safety of the United Kingdom, which Ireland as a nation +might prefer. Impossible to establish that system of Crown Colony +Government which we had come to perceive was the only real and solid +alternative to self-government. To those of us who had been feeling that +the Irish difficulty was much the greatest of all England's +difficulties, this stood out beyond the agitation of the autumn and the +compromise of the winter as the great political event of 1884.[4] + +Although this sketch is in the main a record of Parliamentary opinion, I +ought not to pass over the influence which the study of their +constituents' ideas exerted upon members for the larger towns. We found +the vast bulk of our supporters--English supporters, for after 1882 it +was understood that the Irish voters were our enemies--sympathetic with +the Irish people. They knew and thought little about Home Rule, +believing that their member understood that question better than they +did, and willing, so long as he was sound on English issues, to trust +him. But they pitied Irish tenants, and condemned Irish landlords. +Though they acquiesced in a Coercion Bill when proposed by a Liberal +Cabinet, because they concluded that nothing less than necessity would +lead such a Cabinet to propose one, they so much disliked any +exceptional or repressive legislation that it was plain they would not +long tolerate it. Any popular leader denouncing coercion was certain to +have the sentiment of the English masses with him, while as to +suspending Irish representation or carrying out consistently the policy +of treating Ireland as a subject country, there was no chance in the +world of their approval. Those of us, therefore, who represented large +working-class constituencies became convinced that the solution of the +Irish problem must be sought in conciliation and self-government, if +only because the other solution, Crown Colony Government, was utterly +repugnant to the English masses, in whom the Franchise Bill of 1884, +completing that of 1867, had vested political supremacy.[5] + +Session of 1885.--The allied powers of Toryism and Nationalism gained in +this year the victory they had so long striven for. In February they +reduced the Ministerial majority to fourteen; in June they overthrew the +Ministry. No one supposed that on either occasion the merits of the +issue had anything to do with the Nationalist vote: that vote was given +simply and solely against the Government, as the Government which had +passed the Coercion Acts of 1881 and 1882--Acts demanded by the Tory +party, and which had not conceded an Irish Parliament. At last the Irish +party had attained its position as the arbiter of power and office. Some +of us said, as we walked away from the House, under the dawning light of +that memorable 9th of June, "This means Home Rule." Our forecast was +soon to be confirmed. Lord Salisbury's Cabinet, formed upon the +resignation of Mr. Gladstone's, announced that it would not propose to +renew any part of the Coercion Act of 1882, which was to expire in +August. Here was a surrender indeed! But the Tory leaders went further. +They did not excuse themselves on the ground of want of time. They took +credit for their benevolence towards Ireland; they discovered excellent +reasons why the Act should be dropped. They even turned upon Lord +Spencer, whose administration they had hitherto blamed for its leniency, +and attacked him in Parliament, among the cheers of his Irish enemies. +From that time till the close of the General Election in December +everything was done, short of giving public pledges, to keep the Irish +leaders and the Irish voters in good humour. The Tory party in fact +posed as the true friends of Ireland, averse from coercion, and with +minds perfectly open on the subject of self-government. + +This change of front, so sudden, so unblushing, completed the process +which had been going on in our minds. By 1882 we had come to feel that +Home Rule was inevitable, though probably undesirable. Before long we +had asked ourselves whether it was really undesirable, whether it might +not be a good thing both for England, whose Parliament and Cabinet +system it would relieve from impending dangers, while leaving free scope +for domestic legislation, and for Ireland, which could hardly manage her +affairs worse than we were managing them for her, and might manage them +better. And thus, by the spring of 1885, many of us were prepared for a +large scheme of local self-government in Ireland, including a central +legislative body in Dublin.[6] + +Now when it was plain that the English party which had hitherto called +for repression, and had professed itself anxious for a patriotic union +of all parties to maintain order and a continuity of policy in Ireland, +was ready to bid for Irish help at the polls by throwing over repression +and reversing the policy it had advocated, we felt that the sooner +Ireland was taken out of English party politics the better. What +prospect was there of improving Ireland by the superior wisdom and +fairness of the British Parliament, if British leaders were to make +their Irish policy turn on interested bargains with Nationalist leaders? +Repression, which we clearly saw to be the only alternative to +self-government, seemed to be by common consent abandoned. I remember +how, at a party of members in the beginning of July, some one said, +"Well, there's an end for ever of coercion at any rate," and every one +assented as to an obvious truth. Accordingly the result of the new +departure of the Salisbury Cabinet in 1885 was to convince even doubters +that Home Rule must come, and to make those already convinced anxious to +see it come quickly, and to find the best form that could be given it. +Many of us expected the Tory Government to propose it. Rumour declared +the new Lord Lieutenant to be in favour of it. His government was +extremely conciliatory in Ireland, even to the recalcitrant corporation +of Limerick. Not to mention less serious and less respected Tory +Ministers, Lord Salisbury talked at Newport about the dualism of the +Austro-Hungarian Monarchy with the air of a man who desired to have a +workable scheme, analogous, if not similar, suggested for Ireland and +Great Britain. The Irish Nationalists appeared to place their hopes in +this quarter, for they attacked the Liberal party with unexampled +bitterness, and threw all their voting strength into the Tory scale. + +As it has lately been attempted to blacken the character of the Irish +leaders, it deserves to be remarked that whatever has been charged +against them was said or done by them before the spring of 1885, and +was, practically, perfectly well known to the Tory leaders when they +accepted the alliance of the Irish party in the House of Commons, and +courted their support in the election of 1885. To those who remember +what went on in the House in the sessions of 1884 and 1885, the horror +now professed by the Tory leaders for the conduct and words of the Irish +party would be matter for laughter if it were not also matter for just +indignation. + +Why, it may be asked, if the persuasion that Home Rule was certain, and +even desirable, had become general among the Liberals who had sat +through the Parliament of 1880, was it not more fully expressed at the +election of 1885? This is a fair question, which I shall try to answer. + +In the first place, the electors made few inquiries about Ireland. They +disliked the subject; they had not realized its supreme importance. +Those of us who felt anxious to explain our views (as was my own case) +had to volunteer to do so, for we were not asked about them. The Irish +party in the constituencies was in violent opposition to Liberal +candidates; it did not interrogate, but denounced. Further, it was felt +that the issue was mainly one to be decided in Ireland itself. The +question of Home Rule was being submitted, not, as heretofore, to a +limited constituency, but to the whole Irish people. Till their will had +been constitutionally declared at the polls it was not proper that +Englishmen or Scotchmen should anticipate its tenour. We should even +have been accused, had we volunteered our opinions, of seeking to affect +the result in Ireland, and, not only of playing for the Irish vote in +Great Britain, as we saw the Tories doing, but of prejudicing the +chances of those Liberal candidates who, in Irish constituencies, were +competing with extreme Nationalists. A third reason was that most +English and Scotch Liberals did not know how far their own dispositions +towards Home Rule were shared by their leaders. Mr. Gladstone's +declaration in his Midlothian address was no doubt a decided intimation +of his views, and was certainly understood by some (as by myself) to +imply the grant to Ireland of a Parliament; but, strong as its words +were, its importance does not seem to have been fully appreciated at the +moment. And the opinions of a statesman whose unequalled Irish +experience and elevated character gave him a weight only second to that +of Mr. Gladstone--I mean Lord Spencer--had not been made known. We had +consequently no certainty that there were leaders prepared to give +prompt effect to the views we entertained. Lastly, we were not prepared +with a practical scheme of self-government for Ireland. The Nationalist +members had propounded none which we could either adopt or criticize. +Convinced as we were that Home Rule would come and must come, we felt +the difficulties surrounding every suggestion that had yet been made, +and had not hammered out any plan which we could lay before the electors +as approved by Liberal opinion.[7] We were forced to confine ourselves +to generalities. + +Whether it would have been better for us to have done our thinking and +scheme-making in public, and thereby have sooner forced the details of +the problem upon the attention of the country, need not now be inquired. +Any one can now see that something was lost by the omission. But those +who censure a course that has actually been taken usually fail to +estimate the evils that would have followed from the taking of the +opposite course. Such evils might in this instance have been as great as +those we have encountered. + +I have spoken of the importance we attached to the decision of Ireland +itself, and of the attitude of expectancy which, while that decision was +uncertain, Englishmen were forced to maintain. We had not long to wait. +Early in December it was known that five-sixths of the members returned +from Ireland were Nationalists, and that the majorities which had +returned them were crushing. If ever a people spoke its will, the Irish +people spoke theirs at the election of 1885. The last link in the chain +of conviction, which events had been forging since 1880, was now +supplied. In passing the Franchise Bill of 1884, we had asked Ireland to +declare her mind. She had now answered. If the question was not a +mockery, and representative government a sham, we were bound to accept +the answer, subject only, but subject always, to the interests of the +whole United Kingdom. In other words, we were bound to devise such a +scheme of self-government for Ireland as would give full satisfaction to +her wishes, while maintaining the ultimate supremacy of the Imperial +Parliament and the unity of the British Empire. + +Very few words are needed to summarize the outline which, omitting many +details which would have illustrated and confirmed its truth, I have +attempted to present of the progress of opinion among Liberal members of +the Parliament of 1880. + +1. Our experience of the Coercion Bills of 1881 and 1882 disclosed the +enormous mischief which such measures do in alienating the minds of +Irishmen, and the difficulty of enlisting Irish sentiment on behalf of +the law. The results of the Act of 1881 taught us that the repression of +open agitation means the growth of far more dangerous conspiracy; those +of the Act of 1882 proved that even under an administration like Lord +Spencer's repression works no change for the better in the habits and +ideas of the people. + +2. The conduct of the House of Lords in 1880 and 1881, and the malign +influence which its existence exerted whenever remedial legislation for +Ireland came in question, convinced us that full and complete justice +will never be done to Ireland by the British Parliament while the Upper +House (as at present constituted) remains a part of that Parliament. + +3. The break-down of the procedure of the House of Commons, and the +failure of the efforts to amend it, proved that Parliament cannot work +so long as a considerable section of its members seek to impede its +working. To enable it to do its duty by England and Scotland, it was +evidently necessary, either to make the Irish members as loyal to +Parliament as English and Scotch members usually are, or else to exclude +them. + +4. The discussions of Irish Bills in the House of Commons made us +realize how little English members knew about Ireland; how utterly +different were their competence for, and their attitude towards, Irish +questions and English questions. We perceived that we were legislating +in the dark for a country whose economic and social condition we did not +understand--a country to which we could not apply our English ideas of +policy; a country whose very temper and feeling were strange to us. We +were really fitter to pass laws for Canada or Australia than for this +isle within sight of our shores. + +5. I have said that we were legislating in the dark. But there were two +quarters from which light was proffered, the Irish members and the Irish +Executive. We rejected the first, and could hardly help doing so, for to +accept it would have been to displace our own leaders. We followed the +light which the Executive gave. But in some cases (as notably in the +case of the Coercion Bill of 1881) it proved to be a "wandering fire," +leading us into dangerous morasses. And we perceived that at all times +legislation at the bidding of the Executive, against the wishes of Irish +members, was not self-government or free government. It was despotism. +The rule of Ireland by the British Parliament was really "the rule of a +dependency through an official, responsible no doubt, but responsible +not to the ruled, but to an assembly of which they form less than a +sixth part."[8] As this assembly closed its ears to the one-sixth, and +gave effect to the will of the official, this was essentially arbitrary +government, and wanted those elements of success which free government +contains. + +This experience had, by 1884, convinced us that the present relations of +the British Parliament to Ireland were bad, and could not last; that the +discontent of Ireland was justified; that the existing system, in +alienating the mind of Ireland, tended, not merely to Repeal, but to +Separation; that the simplest, and probably the only effective, remedy +for the increasing dangers was the grant of an Irish Legislature. Two +events clinched these conclusions. One was the Tory surrender of June, +1885. Self-government, we had come to see, was the only alternative to +Coercion, and now Coercion was gone. The other was the General Election +of December, 1885, when newly-enfranchised Ireland, through five-sixths +of her representatives, demanded a Parliament of her own. + +These were not, as is sometimes alleged, conclusions of despair. We were +mostly persons of a cautious and conservative turn of mind, as men +imbued with the spirit of the British Constitution ought to be. The +first thing was to convince us that the existing relations of the +islands were faulty, and could not be maintained. This was a negative +result, and while we remained in that stage we were despondent. Many +Liberal members will remember the gloom that fell on us in 1882 and 1883 +whenever we thought or spoke of Ireland. But presently the clouds +lifted. We still felt the old objections to any Home Rule scheme, though +we now saw that they were less formidable than the evils of the present +system. But we came to feel that the grant of self-government was a +right thing in itself. It was not merely a means of ridding ourselves of +our difficulties, not merely a boon yielded because long demanded. It +was a return to broad and deep principles, a conformity to those +natural laws which govern human society as well as the inanimate +world--an effort to enlist the better and higher feelings of mankind in +the creation of a truer union between the two nations than had ever yet +existed. When we perceived this, hope returned. It is strong with us +now, for, though we see troubles, perhaps even dangers, in the immediate +future, we are confident that the principles on which Liberal policy +towards Ireland is based will in the long run work out a happy issue for +her, as they have in and for every other country that has trusted to +them. + +One last word as to Consistency. We learnt in the Parliament of 1880 +many facts about Ireland we had not known before; we felt the force and +bearing of other facts previously accepted on hearsay, but not realized. +We saw the Irish problem change from what it had been in 1880 into the +new phase which stood apparent at the end of 1885, Coercion abandoned by +its former advocates, Self-government demanded by the nation. Were we to +disregard all these new facts, ignore all these new conditions, and +cling to old ideas, some of which we perceived to be mistaken, while +others, still true in themselves, were out-weighed by arguments of far +wider import? We did not so estimate our duty. We foresaw the taunts of +foes and the reproaches of friends. But we resolved to give effect to +the opinions we slowly, painfully, even reluctantly formed, opinions all +the stronger because not suddenly adopted, and founded upon evidence +whose strength no one can appreciate till he has studied the causes of +Irish discontent in Irish history, and been forced (as we were) to face +in Parliament the practical difficulties of the government of Ireland by +the British House of Commons. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: I may mention here another fact whose significance +impressed some among us. Parliament, which usually sinned in not doing +for Ireland what Ireland asked, occasionally passed bills for Ireland +which were regarded as setting very bad precedents for England. By some +bargain between the Irish Office and the Nationalist members, measures +were put through which may have been right as respects Ireland, but +which embodied principles mischievous as respects Great Britain. We felt +that if it was necessary to enact such statutes, it would be better that +they should proceed from an Irish Legislature rather than from the +Imperial Parliament, which might be embarrassed by its own acts when +asked to extend the same principles to England. The Labourers' Act of +July, 1885, is the most conspicuous example.] + +[Footnote 4: At Easter, 1885, I met a number of leading Ulster Liberals +in Belfast, told them that Home Rule was certainly coming, and urged +them to prepare some plan under which any special interests they +conceived the Protestant part of Ulster to have, would be effectually +safe-guarded. They were startled, and at first discomposed, but +presently told me I was mistaken; to which I could only reply that time +would show, and perhaps sooner then even English Liberals expected.] + +[Footnote 5: My recollection of a conversation with a distinguished +public man in July, 1882, enables me to say that this fact had impressed +itself upon us as early as that year. He doubted the fact, but admitted +that, if true, it was momentous. The passing of the Franchise Bill made +it, in our view, more momentous than ever.] + +[Footnote 6: Some thought that its functions should be very limited, +while large powers were granted to county boards or provincial councils. +But most had, I think, already perceived that the grant of a merely +local self-government, while retaining an irresponsible central +bureaucracy, would do more harm than good. It seemed at first sight a +safer experiment than the creation of a central legislative body. But, +like many middle courses, it combined the demerits and wanted the merits +of each of the extreme courses. It would not make the country tranquil, +as firm and long-continued repression might possibly do. Neither would +it satisfy the people's demands, and divert them from struggles against +England to disputes and discussions among themselves, as the gift of +genuine self-government might do.] + +[Footnote 7: Some of us had tried to do so. I prepared such a scheme in +the autumn of 1885, and submitted it to some specially competent +friends. Their objections, made from what would now be called the +Unionist point of view, were weighty. But their effect was to convince +me that the scheme erred on the side of caution; and I believe the +experience of other Liberals who worked at the problem to have been the +same as my own--viz. that a small and timid scheme is more dangerous +than a large and bold one. Thus the result of our thinking from July, +1885, till April, 1886, was to make us more and more disposed to reject +half-and-half solutions. Some of us (of whom I was one) expressed this +feeling by saying in our election addresses in 1885, "the further we go +in giving the Irish people the management of their own affairs (subject +to the maintenance of the unity of the empire) the better."] + +[Footnote 8: Quoted from an article contributed by myself to the +American _Century Magazine_, which I refer to because, written in the +spring of 1883, it expresses the ideas here stated.] + + + + +HOME RULE AND IMPERIAL UNITY + +BY LORD THRING + + +The principal charge made against the scheme of Home Rule contained in +the Irish Government Bill, 1886, is that it is incompatible with the +maintenance of the unity of the Empire and the supremacy of the Imperial +Parliament. A further allegation states that the Bill is useless, as +agrarian exasperation lies at the root of Irish discontent and Irish +disloyalty, and that no place would be found for a Home Rule Bill even +in Irish aspirations if an effective Land Bill were first passed. An +endeavour will be made in the following pages to secure a verdict of +acquittal on both counts--as to the charge relating to Imperial unity +and the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament, by proving that the +accusation is absolutely unfounded, and based partly on a misconception +of the nature of Imperial ties, and partly on a misapprehension of the +effect of the provisions of the Home Rule Bill as bearing on Imperial +questions; and as to the inutility of the Home Rule Bill in view of the +necessity of Land Reform, by showing that without a Home Rule Bill no +Land Bill worth consideration as a means of pacifying Ireland can be +passed. + +The complete partisan spirit in which Home Rule has been treated is the +more to be deplored as the subject is one which does not lend itself +readily to the trivialities of party debates. It raises questions of +principle, not of detail. It ascends at once into the highest region of +politics. It is conversant with the great questions of constitutional +and international law, and leads to an inquiry into the very nature of +governments and the various modes in which communities of men are +associated together either as simple or composite nations. To describe +those modes in detail would be to give a history of the various +despotic, monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic systems of +government which have oppressed or made happy the children of men. Such +a description is calculated to perplex and mislead from its very extent; +not so an inquiry into the powers of government, and a classification of +those powers. They are limited in extent, and, if we confine ourselves +to English names and English necessities, we shall readily attain to an +apprehension of the mode in which empires, nations, and political +societies are bound together, at least in so far as such knowledge is +required for the understanding of the nature of Imperial supremacy, and +the mode in which Home Rule in Ireland is calculated to affect that +supremacy. + +The powers of government are divisible into two great classes--1. +Imperial powers; 2. State powers, using "State" in the American sense of +a political community subordinated to some other power, and not in the +sense of an independent nation. The Imperial powers are in English law +described as the prerogatives of the Crown, and consist in the main of +the powers of making peace and war, of maintaining armies and fleets and +regulating commerce, and making treaties with foreign nations. State +powers are complete powers of local self-government, described in our +colonial Constitutions as powers to make laws "for the peace, order, and +good government of the Colony or State" in which such powers are to be +exercised. + +Intermediate between the Imperial and State powers are a class of +powers required to prevent disputes and facilitate intercourse between +the various parts of an empire or other composite system of States--for +example, the coinage of money, and other regulations relating to the +currency; the laws relating to copyright, or other exclusive rights to +the use and profits of any works or inventions; and so forth. These +powers may be described as quasi-Imperial powers. + +Having arrived at a competent knowledge of the materials out of which +governments are formed, it may be well to proceed to a consideration of +the manner in which those materials have been worked up in building the +two great Anglo-Saxon composite nations--namely, the American Union and +the British Empire--for, if we find that the arrangements proposed by +the Irish Home Rule Bill are strictly in accordance with the principles +on which the unity of the American Union was based and on which the +Imperial power of Great Britain has rested for centuries, the conclusion +must be that the Irish Home Rule Bill is not antagonistic to the unity +of the Empire or to the supremacy of the British Parliament. + +In discussing these matters it will be convenient to begin with the +American Union, as it is less extensive in area and more homogeneous in +its construction than the British Empire. The thirteen revolted American +colonies, on the conclusion of their war with England, found themselves +in the position of thirteen independent States having no connection with +each other. The common tie of supremacy exercised by the mother country +was broken, and each State was an independent nation, possessed both of +Imperial and Local rights. + +The impossibility of a cluster of thirteen small independent nations +maintaining their independence against foreign aggression became +immediately apparent, and, to remedy this evil, the thirteen States +appointed delegates to form a convention authorized to weld them into +one body as respected Imperial powers. This was attempted to be done by +the establishment of a central body called a Congress, consisting of +delegates from the component States, and invested with all the powers +designated above as Imperial and quasi-Imperial powers. The expenses +incurred by the confederacy were to be defrayed out of a common fund, to +be supplied by requisitions made on the several States. In effect, the +confederacy of the thirteen States amounted to little more than an +offensive and defensive alliance between thirteen independent nations, +as the central power had States for its subjects and not individuals, +and could only enforce the law against any disobedient State by calling +on the twelve other States to make war on the refractory member of the +union. A system dependent for its efficacy on the concurrence of so many +separate communities contained in itself the seeds of dissolution, and +it soon became apparent that one of two things must occur--either the +American States must cease as such to be a nation, or the component +members of that union must each be prepared to relinquish a further +portion of the sovereign or quasi-sovereign powers which it possessed. +Under those circumstances, what was the course taken by the thirteen +States? They perceived that it was quite possible to maintain complete +unity and compactness as a nation if, in addition to investing the +Supreme Government with Imperial and quasi-Imperial powers, they added +full power to impose federal taxes on the component States and +established an Executive furnished with ample means to carry all federal +powers into effect through the medium of federal officers. The +government so formed consisted of a President and two elected Houses +called Congress, and, as a balance-wheel of the Constitution, a Supreme +Court was established, to which was confided the task of deciding in +case of dispute all questions arising under the Constitution of the +United States or relating to international law. The Executive of the +United States, with the President as its source and head, was furnished +with full authority and power to enforce the federal laws. The army and +navy were under its command, and it was provided with courts of justice, +and subordinate officers to enforce the decrees of those courts +throughout the length and breadth of the Union. Above all, a complete +system of federal taxation supplied the Central Government with the +necessary funds to perform effectually all the functions of a supreme +national government. + +The nature of the Constitution of the United States will be best +understood by considering the position in which its subjects stand to +the Central Government and their own State Governments. In effect, every +inhabitant of the United States has a double nationality. He belongs to +one great nation called the United States, or, as it would be more aptly +called to show its absolute unity, the American Republic, having +jurisdiction over the whole surface of ground comprised in the area of +the United States. He is also a citizen of a smaller local and partially +self-governing body--more important than a county, but not approaching +the position of a nation--called a State. + +It is no part of the object of this article to enter into the details of +the American government, its advantages or defects. This much, however, +is clear--the American Constitution has lasted nearly one hundred years, +and shows no signs of decay or disruption. It has stood the strain of +the greatest war of modern times, and has emerged from the conflict +stronger than before. Even during the war the antagonism of the rebels +was directed, not against the Union, but against the efforts of the +Northern States to suppress slavery, or, in other words, to destroy, as +the Southern States believed (not unjustly as the event showed), their +property in slaves, and consequently the only means they had of making +their estates profitable. One conclusion, then, we may draw, that a +nation in which the Imperial powers and the State powers are vested in +different authorities is no less compact and powerful, as respects all +national capacities, than a nation in which both classes of powers are +wielded by the same functionaries; and one lesson more may be learnt +from the American War of Secession--namely, that in a nation having such +a division of powers, any conflict between the two classes results in +the Supreme or Imperial powers prevailing over the Local governmental +powers, and not in the latter invading or driving a wedge into the +Supreme powers. In fact, the tendency in case of a struggle is towards +an undue centralization of the nation by reason of the encroachment by +the Supreme authority, rather than towards a weakening of the national +unity by separatist action on the part of the constituent members of the +nation. + +In comparing the Constitution of the United States with the Constitution +of the British Empire, we find an apparent resemblance in form as +respects the Anglo-Saxon colonies, but underlying the surface a total +difference of principle. The United States is an aggregate of +homogeneous and contiguous States which, in order to weld themselves +into a nation, gave up a portion of their rights to a central authority, +reserving to themselves all powers of government which they did not +expressly relinquish. + +The British Empire is an aggregate of many communities under one common +head, and is thus described by Mr. Burke in 1774, in language which may +seem to have been somewhat too enthusiastic at the time when it was +spoken, but at the present day does not more than do justice to an +Empire which comprises one-sixth of the habitable globe in extent and +population:-- + +"I look, I say, on the Imperial rights of Great Britain, and the +privileges which the colonies ought to enjoy under those rights, to be +just the most reconcilable things in the world. The Parliament of Great +Britain sits at the head of her extensive Empire in two capacities: one +as the local legislature of this island, providing for all things at +home immediately and by no other instrument than the executive power; +the other, and I think her nobler capacity, is what I call her Imperial +character, in which, as from the throne of heaven, she superintends all +the several Legislatures, and guides and controls them all without +annihilating any. As all these provincial Legislatures are only +co-ordinate with each other, they ought all to be subordinate to her, +else they can neither preserve mutual peace, nor hope for mutual +justice, nor effectually afford mutual assistance."[9] + +The means by which the possessions of Great Britain were acquired have +been as various as the possessions themselves. The European, Asiatic, +and African possessions became ours by conquest and cession; the +American by conquest, treaty, and settlement; the Australasian by +settlement, and by that dubious system of settlement known by the name +of annexation. Now, what is the link which fastens each of these +possessions to the mother country? Surely it is the inherent and +indestructible right of the British Crown to exercise Imperial +powers--in other words, the supremacy of the Queen and the British +Parliament? What, again, is the common bond of union between these vast +colonial possessions, differing in laws, in religion, and in the +character of the population? The same answer must be given: the joint +and several tie, so to speak, is the same--namely, the sovereignty of +Great Britain. It is true that the mode in which the materials composing +the British Empire have been cemented together is exactly the reverse of +the manner of the construction of the American Union. In the case of the +Union, independent States voluntarily relinquished a portion of their +sovereignty to secure national unity, and entrusted the guardianship of +that unity to a representative body chosen by themselves. Such a union +was based on contract, and could only be constructed by communities +which claimed to be independent. Far different have been the +circumstances under which England has developed itself into the British +Empire. England began as a sovereign power, having its sovereignty +vested at first solely in the Sovereign, but gradually in the Sovereign +and Parliament. This sovereignty neither the Crown nor the Parliament +can, jointly or severally, get rid of, for it is of the very essence of +a sovereign power that it cannot, by Act of Parliament or otherwise, +bind its successors.[10] This principle of supremacy has never been lost +sight of by the British Parliament. Their right to alter or suspend a +colonial Constitution has never been disputed. Contract never enters +into the question. The dominant authority delegates to its subordinate +communities as much or as little power as it deems advantageous for each +body, and, if it sees fit, resumes a portion or the whole of the +delegated authority. The last point of difference to be noted between +the American Constitution and the Constitution of the British Empire is +the fact that as Minerva sprang from the brain of Jupiter fully +equipped, so the American Constitution came forth from the hands of its +framers complete and, what is of more importance, practically in +material matters unchangeable except by the agony of an internecine war +or some overwhelming passions. The British Empire, on the other hand, +is, as respects its component members, ever in progress and flux. An +Anglo-Saxon colony, no less than a human being, has its infancy under +the maternal care of a governor, its boyhood subject to the government +of a representative council and an Executive appointed by the Crown, its +manhood under Home Rule and responsible government, in which the +Executive are bound to vacate their offices whenever they are out-voted +in the Legislature. Changes are ever taking place in the growth, so to +speak, of the several British possessions, but what is the result? +Nobody ever dreams of these changes injuring the Imperial tie or the +supremacy of the British Parliament, that alone towers above all, +unchangeable and unimpaired; and, what is most notable, loyalty and +devotion to the Crown--that is to say, the Imperial tie--so far from +being weakened by the transition of a colony from a state of dependence +in local affairs to the higher degree of a self-governing colony, are, +on the contrary, strengthened almost in direct proportion as the central +interference with local affairs is diminished. On this point an +unimpeachable witness--Mr. Merivale--says: "What, then, are the lessons +to be learnt from a consideration of the American Constitution and of +our colonial system? Surely these: that Imperial unity and Imperial +supremacy are in no degree dependent on the control exercised by the +central power on its dependent members." Facts, however, are more +conclusive than any arguments; and we have only to look back to the +state some forty years ago of Canada, New Zealand, and the various +colonies of Australia, and compare that state with their condition +to-day, to come to the conclusion that the fullest power of local +government is perfectly consistent with the unity of the Empire and the +supremacy of the British Parliament. Under the old colonial +Constitutions the Executive of those colonies was under the control of +the Crown; and Mr. Merivale says "that the political existence consisted +of a series of quarrels and reconciliations between the two opposing +authorities--the colonial legislative body and the Executive nominated +by the Crown." England resolved to give up the control of the Executive, +and to grant complete responsible government--that is to say, the +Governor of each colony was instructed that his Executive Council (or +Ministry, as we should call it) must resign whenever they were out-voted +by the legislative body. The effect of this change, this relaxing, as +would be supposed, of the Imperial tie, was magical, and is thus +described by Mr. Merivale:[11] + +"The magnitude of that change--the extraordinary rapidity of its +beneficial effects--it is scarcely possible to exaggerate. None but +those who have traced it can realize the sudden spring made by a young +community under its first release from the old tie of subjection, +moderate as that tie really was. The cessation, as if by magic, of the +old irritant sores between colony and mother country is the first +result. Not only are they at concord, but they seem to leave hardly any +traces in the public mind behind them. Confidence and affection towards +the home, still fondly so termed by the colonist as well as the +emigrant, seem to supersede at once distrust and hostility. Loyalty, +which was before the badge of a class suspected by the rest of the +community, became the common watchword of all, and, with some +extravagance in the sentiment, there arises no small share of its +nobleness and devotion. Communities, which but a few years ago would +have wrangled over the smallest item of public expenditure to which they +were invited by the Executive to contribute, have vied with each other +in their subscriptions to purposes of British interests in response to +calls of humanity, or munificence for objects but indistinctly heard of +at the distance of half the world." + +The Dominion of Canada has been so much talked about that it may be well +to give a summary of its Constitution, though, in so far as regards its +relations to the mother country, it differs in no material respect from +any other self-governing colony. The Dominion consists of seven +provinces, each of which has a Legislature of its own, but is at the +same time subject to the Legislature of the Dominion, in the same manner +as each State in the American Union has a Legislature of its own, and is +at the same time subject to the control of Congress. The distinguishing +feature between the system of the American States and the associated +colonies of the Dominion of Canada is this--that all Imperial powers, +everything that constitutes a people a nation as respects foreigners, +are reserved to the mother country. The division, then, of the Dominion +and its provinces consists only in a division of Local powers. It is +impossible to mark accurately the line between Dominion and Provincial +powers, but, speaking generally, Dominion powers relate to such +matters--for example, the regulation of trade and commerce, postal +service, currency, and so forth--as require to be dealt with on a +uniform principle throughout the whole area of a country; while the +Provincial powers relate to provincial and municipal institutions, +provincial licensing, and other subjects restricted to the limits of the +province. As a general rule, the Legislature of the Dominion and the +Legislature of each province have respectively exclusive jurisdiction +within the limits of the subjects entrusted to them; but, as respects +agriculture and immigration, the Dominion Parliament have power to +overrule any Act of the provincial Legislatures, and, as respects +property and civil rights in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, +the Dominion Parliament may legislate with a view to uniformity, but +their legislation is not valid unless it is accepted by the Legislature +of each province to which it applies. + +The executive authority in the Dominion Government, as in all the +self-governing colonies, is carried on by the Governor in the name of +the Queen, but with the advice of a Council: that is to say, as to all +Imperial matters, he is under the control of the mother country; as to +all local matters, he acts on the advice of his local Council. The +result of the whole is that the citizenship of an inhabitant of the +Dominion of Canada is a triple tie. Suppose him to reside in the +province of Quebec. First, he is a citizen of that province, and bound +to obey all the laws which it is within the competence of the provincial +Legislature to pass. Next, he is a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, +and acknowledges its jurisdiction in all matters outside the legitimate +sphere of the province. Lastly, and above all, he is a subject of her +Majesty. He is to all intents and purposes, as respects the vast company +of nations, an Englishman, entitled to all the privileges as he is to +all the glory of the mother country so far as such privileges can be +enjoyed and glory participated in without actual residence in England. +One startling point of likeness in events and unlikeness in consequences +is to be found in the history of Ireland and Canada. In 1798 Ireland +rebelled. Protestant and Catholic were arrayed in arms against each +other. The rebellion was quenched in blood, and measures of repression +have been in force, with slight intervals of suspension, ever since, +with this result--that the Ireland of 1886 is scarcely less disloyal and +discontented than the Ireland of 1798. In 1837 and 1838 Canada rebelled. +Protestants and Catholics, differing in nationality as well as in +religion, were arrayed in arms against each other. The rebellion was +quelled with the least possible violence, a free Constitution was given, +and the Canada of 1886 is the largest, most loyal, and most contented +colony in her Majesty's dominions. + +Assuming, then, thus much to be proved by the Constitution of the United +States that national unity of the closest description is consistent with +complete Home Rule in the component members of the nation, and by the +history of Canada and the British colonial empire that an Imperial tie +is sufficient to bind together for centuries dependencies differing in +situation, in nationality, in religion, in laws, in everything that +distinguishes peoples one from another, and further and more +particularly that emancipation of the Anglo-Saxon colonies from control +in their internal affairs strengthens instead of weakening Imperial +unity, let us turn to Ireland and inquire whether there is anything in +the circumstances under which Home Rule was proposed to be granted to +Ireland, or in the measures intended to establish that Home Rule, fairly +leading to the inference that disruption of the Empire or an impairment +of Imperial powers would probably be a consequence of passing the Irish +Government Bill and the Irish Land Bill. And, first, as to the +circumstances which would seem to recommend the Irish Home Rule Bill. + +Ireland, from the very commencement of her connection with England, has +chafed under the restraints which that connection imposed. The closer +the apparent union between the two countries the greater the real +disunion. The Act of 1800, _in words and in law_, effected not a union +merely, but a consolidation of the two countries. The effect of those +words and that law was to give rise to a restless discontent, which has +constantly found expression in efforts to procure the repeal of the Act +of Union and the reestablishment of a National Parliament in Dublin. How +futile have been the efforts of the British Parliament to diminish by +concession or repress by coercion Irish aspirations or Irish discontent +it is unnecessary to discuss here. All men admit the facts, however +different the conclusions which they draw from those facts. What Burke +said of America on moving in 1775 his resolution on conciliation with +the colonies was true in 1885 with respect to Ireland:-- + +"The fact is undoubted, that under former Parliaments the state of +America [read for America, Ireland] has been kept in continual +agitation. Everything administered as remedy to the public complaint, if +it did not produce, was at least followed by an heightening of the +distemper, until, by a variety of experiments, that important country +has been brought into her present situation--a situation which I will +not miscall, which I dare not name, which I scarcely know how to +comprehend in the terms of any description."[12] + +At length, after the election of 1885, Mr. Gladstone and the majority of +his followers came to the conclusion that an opportunity had presented +itself for providing Ireland with a Constitution conferring on the +people of that country the largest measure of self-government consistent +with the absolute supremacy of the Crown and the Imperial Parliament and +the entire unity of the Empire. A scheme was proposed which was accepted +in principle by the representatives of the National party in Ireland as +a fair and sufficient adjustment of the Imperial claims of Great Britain +and the Local claims of Ireland. The scheme was shortly this. A +Legislative Assembly was proposed to be established in Ireland with +power to make all laws necessary for the good government of Ireland--in +other words, invested with the same powers of local self-government as a +colonial Assembly. The Irish Assembly was in one respect unlike a +colonial Legislature. It consisted of one House only, but this House was +divided into two orders, each of which, in case of differences on any +important legislative matter, voted separately. This form was adopted in +order to minimize the chances of collision between the two orders, by +making it imperative on each order to hear the arguments of the other +before proceeding to a division, thus throwing on the dissentient order +the full responsibility of its dissent, with a complete knowledge of the +consequences likely to ensue therefrom. The clause conferring on the +Irish Legislature full powers of local self-government was immediately +followed by a provision excepting, by enumeration, from any interference +on the part of the Irish Legislature, all Imperial powers, and declaring +any enactment void which infringed on that provision. This exception (as +is well known) is not found in colonial Constitutional Acts. In them the +restriction of the words of the grant to Local powers only has been +held sufficient to safeguard the supremacy of the British Parliament and +the unity of the Empire. The reason for making a difference in the case +of the Home Rule Bill was political, not legal. Separation was declared +by the enemies of the Bill to be the real intention of its supporters, +and destruction of the unity of the Empire to be its certain +consequence. It seemed well that Ireland, by her representatives, should +accept as a satisfactory charter of Irish liberty a document which +contained an express submission to Imperial power and a direct +acknowledgment of Imperial unity. Similarly with respect to the +supremacy of the British Parliament. In the colonial Constitutions all +reference to this supremacy is omitted as being too clear to require +notice. In the case of the Irish Home Rule Bill instructions were given +to preserve in express words the supremacy of the British Parliament in +order to pledge Ireland to an express admission of that supremacy by the +same vote which accepted Local powers. It is true that the wording by +the draftsman of the sentence reserving the supremacy of Parliament was +justly found fault with as inaccurate and doubtful, but that defect +would have been cured by an amendment in Committee; and, even if there +had not been any such clause in the Bill, it is clear, from what has +been said above, that the Imperial Legislature could not, if it would, +renounce its supremacy or abdicate its sovereign powers. The executive +government in Ireland was continued in the Queen, to be carried on by +the Lord Lieutenant on behalf of her Majesty, with the aid of such +officers and Council as to her Majesty might from time to time seem fit. +Her Majesty was also a constituent part of the Legislature, with power +to delegate to the Lord Lieutenant the prerogative of assenting to or +dissenting from Bills, and of summoning, proroguing, and dissolving +Parliament. Under these provisions the Lord Lieutenant resembled the +Governor of a colony with responsible government. He was invested with a +double authority--first, Imperial; secondly, Local. As an Imperial +officer, he was bound to veto any Bill injuriously affecting Imperial +interests or inconsistent with general Imperial policy; as a Local +officer, it was his duty to act in all local matters according to the +advice of his Council, whose tenure of office depended on their being in +harmony with, and supported by, a majority of the Legislative Assembly. +Questions relating to the constitutionality of any particular law were +not left altogether to the decision of the Governor. If a Bill +containing a provision infringing Imperial rights passed the +Legislature, its validity might be decided in the first instance by the +ordinary courts of law, but the ultimate appeal lay to the Judicial +Committee of the Privy Council, and, with a view to secure absolute +impartiality in the Committee, it was provided that Ireland should be +represented on that body by persons who either were or had been Irish +judges. Not the least important provision of the Bill, as respects the +maintenance of Imperial interests, was the continuance of Imperial +taxation. The Customs and Excise duties were directed to be levied, as +heretofore, in pursuance of the enactments of the Imperial Parliament, +and were excepted from the control of the Irish Legislature, which had +full power, with that exception, to impose such taxes in Ireland as they +might think expedient. The Bill further provided that neither the +Imperial taxes of Excise nor any Local taxes that might be imposed by +the Irish Legislature should be paid into the Irish Exchequer. An +Imperial officer, called the Receiver-General, was appointed, into whose +hands the produce of every tax, both Imperial and Local, was required to +be paid, and it was the duty of the Receiver-General to take care that +all claims of the English Exchequer, including especially the +contribution payable by Ireland for Imperial purposes, were satisfied +before a farthing found its way into the Irish Exchequer for Irish +purposes. The Receiver-General was provided with an Imperial Court to +enforce his rights of Imperial taxation, and adequate means for +enforcing all Imperial powers by Imperial civil officers. The Bill did +not provide for the representation of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament +on all Imperial questions, including questions relating to Imperial +taxation, but it is fully understood that in any Bill which might +hereafter be brought forward relating to Home Rule those defects would +be remedied. + +An examination, then, of the Home Rule Bill, that "child of revolution +and parent of separation," appears to lead irresistibly to two +conclusions. First, that Imperial rights and Imperial powers, +representation for Imperial purposes, Imperial taxation--in short, every +link that binds a subordinate member of an Empire to its supreme +head--have been maintained unimpaired and unchanged. Secondly, that, in +granting Home Rule to discontented Ireland, that form of responsible +government has been adopted which, as Mr. Merivale declares--and his +declaration subsequent events have more than verified--when conferred on +the discontented colonies, changed restless aspirations for separation +into quiet loyalty. + +That such a Bill as the Home Rule Bill should be treated as an invasion +of Imperial rights is a proof of one, or perhaps of both, the following +axioms--that Bills are never read by their accusers, and that party +spirit will distort the plainest facts. The union of Great Britain and +Ireland was not, so far as Imperial powers were concerned, disturbed by +the Bill, and an Irishman remains a citizen of the British Empire under +the Home Rule Bill, with the same obligations and the same privileges, +on the same terms as before. All the Bill did was to make his Irish +citizenship distinct from his Imperial citizenship, in the same manner +as the citizenship of a native of the State of New York is distinct +from his citizenship as a member of the United States. Now it has been +found that the Central power in the United States has been more than a +match for the State powers, and can it be conceived for a moment that +the Imperial power of Great Britain should not be a match for the Local +power of Ireland--a State which has not one-seventh of the population or +one-twentieth part of the income of the dominant community? + +One argument remains to be noticed which the opponents of Home Rule urge +as absolutely condemnatory of the measure, whereas, if properly weighed, +it is conclusive in its favour. Home Rule, they say, is a mere question +of sentiment. "National aspirations" are the twaddle of English +enthusiasts who know nothing of Ireland. What is really wanted is the +reform of the Land Law. Settle the agrarian problem, and Home Rule may +be relegated to the place supposed to be paved with good intentions. The +Irish will straightway change their character, and become a law-abiding, +contented, loyal people. Be it so. But suppose it to be proved that the +establishment of an Irish Government, or, in other words, Home Rule, is +an essential condition of agrarian reform--that the latter cannot be had +without the former--surely Home Rule should stand none the worse in the +estimation of its opponents if it not only secures a safe basis for +putting an end to agrarian exasperation, but also gratifies the feeling +of the Irish people as expressed by the majority of its representatives +in Parliament? Now, what is the nature of the Irish Land Question? This +we must understand before considering the remedy. In Ireland (meaning by +Ireland that part of the country which is in the hands of tenants, and +falls within the compass of a Land Bill) the tenure of land is wholly +unlike that which is found in the greater part of England. Instead of +large farms in which the landlord makes all the improvements and the +tenant pays rent for the privilege of cultivating the land and receives +the produce, small holdings are found in which the tenant does the +improvements (if any) and pays a fixed rent-charge to the owner. In +England the tenant does not perform the obligations or in any way aspire +to the character of owner. If he thinks he can get a cheaper farm, he +quits his former one, regarding his interest in the land as a mere +matter of pounds, shillings, and pence. Not so the Irish tenant. He has +made what he calls improvements, he claims a quasi-ownership in the +land, and has the characteristic Celtic attachment for the patch of +ground forming his holding, however squalid it may be, however +inadequate for his support. In short, in Ireland there is a dual +ownership--that of the proprietor, who has no interest in the soil so +long as the tenant pays his rent and fulfils the conditions of his +tenancy; and that of the tenant, who, subject to the payment of his rent +and performance of the fixed conditions, acts, thinks, and carries +himself as the owner of his holding. A system, then, of agrarian reform +in Ireland resolves itself into an inquiry as to the best mode of +putting an end to this dual ownership--that is to say, of making the +tenant the sole proprietor of his holding, and compensating the landlord +for his interest in the ownership. The problem is further narrowed by +the circumstance that the tenant cannot be expected to advance any +capital or pay an increased rent, so that the means of compensating the +landlord must be found out of the existing rent. + +The plan adopted in Mr. Gladstone's Land Bill was to commute the +rent-charges, offering the landlord, as a general rule, twenty years' +purchase on the net rental of the estate (that is to say, the rent +received by him after deducting all outgoings), and paying him the +purchase-money in L3 per cent. stock taken at par. The stock was to be +advanced by the English Government to an Irish State department at 3-1/8 +per cent. interest, and the Bill provided that the tenant, instead of +rent, was to pay an annuity of L4 per cent. on a capital sum equal in +amount to twenty times the gross rental. + +The notable feature which distinguished this plan from all other schemes +was the security given for the repayment of the purchase-money: hitherto +the English Government has lent the money directly to the landlord or +tenant, and has become the mortgagee of the land--in other words, has +become in effect the landlord of the land sold to the tenant until the +repayment of the loan has been completed. To carry into effect under +such a system any extensive scheme of agrarian reform (and if not +extensive such a reform would be of no value in pacifying Ireland) +presupposes a readiness on the part of the English Government to become +virtually the landlord of a large portion of Ireland, with the attendant +odium of absenteeism and alien domination. Under a land scheme such as +that of 1886, all these difficulties would be overcome. The Irish, not +the English, Government would be the virtual landlord. It would be the +interest of Ireland that the annuities due from the tenants should be +regularly paid, as, subject to the prior charge of the English +Exchequer, they would form part of the Irish revenues. The cardinal +difference, then, between Mr. Gladstone's scheme and any other land +scheme that has seen the light is this--that in Mr. Gladstone's scheme +the English loans would have been lent to the Irish Government on the +security of the whole Irish revenues, whereas in every other scheme they +have been lent by the English Government to the Irish creditors on the +security of individual patches of land. + +The whole question, then, of the relation between Home Rule and agrarian +reform may be summed up as follows:--Agrarian reform is necessary for +the pacification of Ireland; agrarian reform cannot be efficiently +carried into effect without an Irish Government; an Irish Government can +only be established by a Home Rule Bill: therefore a Home Rule Bill is +necessary for the pacification of Ireland. It is idle to say, as has +been said on numerous platforms, that plans no doubt can be devised for +agrarian reform without Home Rule. The Irish revenues are the only +collateral security that can be obtained for loans of English money, and +Irish revenues are only available for the purpose on the establishment +of an Irish Government. Baronial guarantees, union guarantees, county +guarantees, debenture schemes, have all been tried and found wanting, +and vague assertions as to possibilities are idle unless they are based +on intelligible working plans. + +The foregoing arguments will be equally valid if, instead of making the +tenants peasant-proprietors, it were thought desirable that the Irish +State should be the proprietor and the tenants be the holders of the +land at perpetual rents and subject to fixed conditions. Again, it might +be possible to pay the landlords by annual sums instead of capital sums. +Such matters are really questions of detail. The substance is to +interpose the Irish Government between the tenant and the English +mortgagee, and to make the loans general charges on the whole of the +Irish Government revenues as paid into the hands of an Imperial Receiver +instead of placing them as special charges, each fixed on its own small +estate or holding. The fact that Mr. Gladstone's land scheme was +denounced as confiscation of L100,000,000 of the English taxpayers' +property, while Lord Ashbourne's Act is pronounced by the same party +wise and prudent, shows the political blindness of party spirit in its +most absurd form. Lord Ashbourne's Act requires precisely the same +expenditure to do the same work as Mr. Gladstone's Bill requires, but in +Mr. Gladstone's scheme the whole Irish revenue was pledged as collateral +security, and the Irish Government was interposed between the ultimate +creditor and the Irish tenant, while under Lord Ashbourne's Act the +English Government figures without disguise as the landlord of each +tenant, exacting a debt which the tenant is unwilling to pay as being +due to what he calls an alien Government. + +An endeavour has been made in the preceding pages to prove that Home +Rule in no respect infringes on Imperial rights or Imperial unity, for +the simple reason that the Imperial power remains exactly in the same +position as it was before, the Home Rule Bill dealing only with Local +matters. At all events, Burke thought that the Imperial supremacy alone +constituted a real union between England and Ireland. He says-- + +"My poor opinion is, that the closest connection between Great Britain +and Ireland is essential to the well-being--I had almost said to the +very being--of the three kingdoms; for that purpose I humbly conceive +that the whole of the superior, and what I should call Imperial +politics, ought to have its residence here, and that Ireland, locally, +civilly, and commercially independent, ought politically to look up to +Great Britain in all matters of peace and war. In all these points to be +joined with her, and, in a word, with her to live and to die."[13] + +How strange to Burke would have seemed the doctrine that the restoration +of a limited power of self-government to Ireland, excluding commerce, +and excluding all matters not only Imperial, but those in which +uniformity is required, should be denounced as a disruption of the +Empire! + +It remains to notice one other charge made against the Gladstonian Home +Rule Bill, namely, that of impairing the supremacy of the British +Parliament. That allegation has been shown also to be founded on a +mistake. Next, it is said that the Gladstonian scheme does not provide +securities against executive and legislative oppression. The answer is +complete. The executive authority being vested in the Queen, it will be +the duty of the Governor not to allow executive oppression; still more +will it be his duty to veto any act of legislative oppression. Further, +it is stated that difficulties will arise with respect to the power of +the Privy Council to nullify unconstitutional Acts. But it is hard to +see why a power which is exercised with success in the United States, +where all the States are equal, and without dispute in our colonies, +which are all dependent, should not be carried into effect with equal +ease in Ireland, which is more closely bound to us and more completely +under our power than the colonies are, or than the several States are +under the power of the Central Government. + +To conclude: the cause of Irish discontent is the conjoint operation of +the passion for nationality and the vicious system of land tenure, and +the scheme of the Irish Home Rule Bill and the Land Bill removes the +whole fabric on which Irish discontent is raised. The Irish, by the +great majority of their representatives, have accepted the Home Rule +Bill as a satisfactory settlement of the nationality question. The +British Parliament can, through the medium of the Home Rule Bill and the +establishment of an Irish Legislature, carry through a final settlement +of agrarian disputes with less injustice to individuals than could a +Parliament sitting in Dublin, and, be it added, with scarcely any +appreciable risk to the British taxpayer. Of course it may be said that +an Irish Parliament will go farther--that Home Rule is a step to +separation, and a reform of the Land Laws a spoliation of the landlords. +To those who urge such arguments I would recommend the perusal of the +speech of Burke on Conciliation with America, and especially the +following sentences, substituting "Ireland" for "the colonies:"-- + +"But [the Colonies] Ireland will go further. Alas! alas! when will this +speculating against fact and reason end? What will quiet these panic +fears which we entertain of the hostile effect of a conciliatory +conduct? Is it true that no case can exist in which it is proper for the +Sovereign to accede to the desires of his discontented subjects? Is +there anything peculiar in this case to make it a rule for itself? Is +all authority of course lost when it is not pushed to the extreme? Is it +a certain maxim that the fewer causes of discontentment are left by +Government the more the subject will be inclined to resist and rebel?" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: Burke's Speech on American Taxation, vol. i. p. 174] + +[Footnote 10: This is the opinion of both English and American lawyers. +See Blackstone's Comm., i. 90; Austin on Jurisprudence, i. 226. As to +American cases, see Corley on Constitutional Limitations, pp. 2-149.] + +[Footnote 11: "Lectures on the Colonies," p, 641.] + +[Footnote 12: Burke, vol. i. p. 181.] + +[Footnote 13: "Letter on Affairs of Ireland," i. 462.] + + + + +THE IRISH GOVERNMENT BILL AND THE IRISH LAND BILL + +BY LORD THRING + + +A mere enumeration or analysis of the contents of the Irish Government +Bill, 1886, and the Land (Ireland) Bill, 1886, would convey scarcely any +intelligible idea to the mind of an ordinary reader. It is, therefore, +proposed in the following pages, before entering on the details of each +Bill, to give a summary of the reasons which led to its introduction, +and of the principles on which it is founded. To begin with the Irish +Government Bill-- + +The object of the Irish Government Bill is to confer on the Irish people +the largest measure of self-government consistent with the absolute +supremacy of the Crown and Imperial Parliament and the entire unity of +the Empire. To carry into effect this object it was essential to create +a separate though subordinate legislature; thus occasion was given to +opponents to apply the name of Separatists to the supporters of the +Bill--a term true in so far only as it denoted the intention to create a +separate legislature, but false and calumnious when used in the sense in +which it was intended to be understood--of imputing to the promoters of +the Bill the intention to disunite or in any way to disintegrate the +Empire. Indeed, the very object of the measure was, by relaxing a little +the legal bonds of union, to draw closer the actual ties between England +and Ireland, in fact, to do as we have done in our Colonies, by +decentralizing the subordinate functions of government to strengthen the +central supremacy of natural affection and Imperial unity. The example +of the effects of giving complete self-government to our Colonies would +seem not unfavourable to trying the same experiment in Ireland. Some +forty years ago, Canada, New Zealand, and the various colonies of +Australia were discontented and uneasy at the control exercised by the +Government of England over their local affairs. What did England do? She +gave to each of those communities the fullest power of local government +consistent with the unity of the Empire. The result was that the real +union was established in the same degree as the apparent tie of control +over local affairs was loosened. Are there any reasons to suppose that +the condition of Ireland is such as to render the example of the +Colonies applicable? Let us look a little at the past history of that +country. Up to 1760 Ireland was governed practically as a conquered +country. The result was that in 1782, in order to save Imperial unity, +we altogether relaxed the local tie and made Ireland legislatively +independent. The Empire was thus saved, but difficulties naturally arose +between two independent legislatures. The true remedy would have been to +have imposed on Grattan's Parliament the conditions imposed by the Irish +Government Bill on the statutory Parliament created by that Bill; the +course actually taken was that, instead of leaving the Irish with their +local government, and arranging for the due supremacy of England, the +Irish Legislature was destroyed under the guise of Union, and Irish +representatives were transferred to an assembly in which they had little +weight, and in which they found no sympathy. The result was that from +the date of the Union to the present day Ireland has been constantly +working for the reinstatement of its National Legislature, and has been +governed by a continuous system of extraordinary legislature called +coercion; the fact being that between 1800, the date of the Act of +Union, and 1832, the date of the great Reform Act, there were only +eleven years free from coercion, while in the fifty-three years since +that period there have been only two years entirely free from special +repressive legislation. So much, therefore, is clear, that Irish +discontent at not being allowed to manage their own affairs has +gradually increased instead of diminishing. The conclusion then would +seem irresistible, that if coercion has failed, the only practical mode +of governing Ireland satisfactorily is to give the people power to +manage their local affairs. Coming, then, to the principle of the Bill, +the first step is to reconcile local government with Imperial supremacy, +in other words, to divide Imperial from local powers; for if this +division be accurately made, and the former class of powers be reserved +to the British Crown and British Parliament, while the latter only are +intrusted to the Irish Parliament, it becomes a contradiction in terms +to say that Imperial unity is dissolved by reserving to the Imperial +authority all its powers, or that Home Rule is a sundering of the +Imperial tie when that tie is preserved inviolable. Imperial powers, +then, are the prerogatives of the Crown with respect to peace and war, +and making treaties with foreign nations; in short, the power of +regulating the relations of the Empire towards foreign nations. These +are the _jura summi imperii_, the very insignia of supremacy; the +attributes of sovereign authority in every form of government, be it +despotism, limited monarchy, or republic; the only difference is that in +a system of government under one supreme head, they are vested in that +head alone, in a federal government, as in America or Switzerland, they +reside in the composite body forming the federal supreme authority. +Various subsidiary powers necessarily attend the above supreme powers; +for example, the power of maintaining armies and navies, of commanding +the militia, and other incidental powers. Closely connected with the +power of making peace and war is the power of regulating commerce with +foreign nations. Next in importance to the reservations necessary to +constitute the Empire a Unity with regard to foreign nations, are the +powers required to prevent disputes and to facilitate intercourse +between the various parts of the Empire. These are the coinage of money +and other regulations relating to currency, to copyright or other +exclusive rights to the use or profit of any works or inventions. The +above subjects must be altogether excluded from the powers of the +subordinate legislature; it ceases to be subordinate as soon as it is +invested with these Imperial, or quasi-Imperial, powers. + +Assuming, however, the division between Imperial and local powers to be +accurately determined, how is the subordinate legislative body to be +kept within its due limits? The answer is very plain,--an Imperial court +must be established to decide in the last resort whether the subordinate +legislature has or has not infringed Imperial rights. Such a court has +been in action in the United States of America ever since their union, +and no serious conflict has arisen in carrying its decisions into +effect, and the Privy Council, acting as the Supreme Court in respect to +Colonial appeals, has been accepted by all the self-governing colonies +as a just and impartial expositor of the meaning of their several +constitutions. + +Next in importance to the right division of Imperial and local powers is +a correct understanding of the relation borne by the executive of an +autonomous country to the mother country. In every part of the British +Empire which enjoys home rule the legislature consists of the Queen and +the two local legislative bodies. The administrative power resides in +the Queen alone. The Queen has the appointment of all the officers of +the government; money bills can be introduced into the legislature only +with the consent of the Queen. The initiative power of taxation then is +vested in the Queen, the executive head, in practice represented by the +Governor. But such a power of initiation is of course useless unless the +legislative body is willing to support the executive, and grants it the +necessary funds for carrying on the government. What, then, is the +contrivance by which the governmental machine is prevented from being +stopped by a difference between the executive and legislative +authorities? It is the same in the mother country, and in every British +home-rule country, with this difference only--that beyond the limits of +the mother country the Queen is represented by a governor to whom are +delegated such a measure of powers as is necessary for the supreme head +of a local self-governing community. The contrivance is this in the +mother country:--the Queen acts upon the advice of a cabinet council; in +home-rule dependencies the Governor acts on the advice of a local +council. If this cabinet council in the mother country, or local council +in a dependency, ceases to command a majority in the popular legislative +body, it resigns, and the Governor is obliged to select a council which, +by commanding such a majority, can obtain the supplies necessary to +carry on the government. The consequence then is, that in a home-rule +community, if a serious difficulty arises between the legislative and +executive authority, the head of the executive, the governor, refers the +ultimate decision of the question to the general body of electors by +dissolving the popular legislative body. It has been urged in the +discussion on the Irish Government Bill that the powers of the executive +in relation to the legislative body ought to be expressed in the Bill +itself; but it is clear to anybody acquainted with the rudiments of +legislation that the details of such a system (in other words, the mode +in which a governor ought to act under the endless variety of +circumstances which may occur in governing a dependency) never have been +and never can be expressed in an Act of Parliament. But how little +difficulty this absence of definition has caused may be judged from the +fact that neither in England nor in any of her home-rule dependencies +has any vital collision arisen between the executive and legislative +authorities, and that all the home-rule colonies have managed to +surmount the obstacles which the opponents of Home Rule argued would be +fatal to their existence. The main principles have now been stated on +which the Irish Government Bill is framed, and it remains to give a +summary of the provisions of the Bill, the objects and bearing of which +will be readily understood from the foregoing observations. The first +clause provides that-- + +"On and after the appointed day there shall be established in Ireland a +Legislature consisting of Her Majesty the Queen and an Irish legislative +body." + +This is the first step in all English constitutional systems, to vest +the power of legislation in the Queen and the legislative body. Such a +legislature might have had conferred on it the independent powers vested +in Grattan's Parliament: but the second clause at once puts an end to +any doubt as to the subordination of the Irish legislative body; for +while on the one hand it confers full powers of local self-government, +by declaring that the Legislature may make any laws for the peace, +order, and good government of Ireland, it subjects that power to +numerous exceptions and restrictions. The exceptions are contained in +the third clause, and the restrictions in the fourth. The exceptions are +as follows:-- + +"The Legislature of Ireland shall not make laws relating to the +following matters or any of them:-- + +"(1.) The status or dignity of the Crown, or the succession to the +Crown, or a Regency; + +"(2.) The making of peace or war; + +"(3.) The army, navy, militia, volunteers, or other military or naval +forces, or the defence of the realm; + +"(4.) Treaties and other relations with foreign States, or the +relations between the various parts of Her Majesty's dominions; + +"(5.) Dignities or titles of honour; + +"(6.) Prize or booty of war; + +"(7.) Offences against the law of nations; or offences committed in +violation of any treaty made, or hereafter to be made, between Her +Majesty and any foreign State; or offences committed on the high seas; + +"(8.) Treason, alienage, or naturalization; + +"(9.) Trade, navigation, or quarantine; + +"(10.) The postal and telegraph service, except as hereafter in this Act +mentioned with respect to the transmission of letters and telegrams in +Ireland; + +"(11.) Beacons, lighthouses, or sea-marks; + +"(12.) The coinage; the value of foreign money; legal tender; or weights +and measures; or + +"(13.) Copyright, patent rights, or other exclusive rights to the use or +profits of any works or inventions." + +Of these exceptions the first four preserve the imperial rights which +have been insisted on above, and maintain the position of Ireland as an +integral portion of that Empire of which Great Britain is the head. The +remaining exceptions are either subsidiary to the first four, or relate, +as is the case with exceptions 10 to 13, to matters on which it is +desirable that uniformity should exist throughout the whole Empire. The +restrictions in clause 4 are:-- + +"The Irish Legislature shall not make any law-- + +"(1.) Respecting the establishment or endowment of religion, or +prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or + +"(2.) Imposing any disability, or conferring any privilege, on account +of religious belief; or + +"(3.) Abrogating or derogating from the right to establish or maintain +any place of denominational education or any denominational institution +or charity; or + +"(4.) Prejudicially affecting the right of any child to attend a school +receiving public money without attending the religious instruction at +that school; or + +"(5.) Impairing, without either the leave of Her Majesty in Council +first obtained on an address presented by the legislative body of +Ireland, or the consent of the corporation interested, the rights, +property, or privileges of any existing corporation incorporated by +royal charter or local and general Act of Parliament; or + +"(6.) Imposing or relating to duties of customs and duties of excise, as +defined by this Act, or either of such duties, or affecting any Act +relating to such duties or either of them; or + +"(7.) Affecting this Act, except in so far as it is declared to be +alterable by the Irish Legislature." + +These restrictions differ from the exceptions, inasmuch as they do not +prevent the Legislature of Ireland from dealing with the subjects to +which they refer, but merely impose on it an obligation not to handle +the specified matters in a manner detrimental to the interests of +certain classes of Her Majesty's subjects. For example, restrictions 1 +to 4 are practically concerned in securing religious freedom; +restriction 5 protects existing charters; restriction 6 is necessary, as +will be seen hereinafter, to carrying into effect the financial scheme +of the bill; restriction 7 is a consequence of the very framework of the +Bill: it provides for the stability of the Irish constitution, by +declaring that the Irish Legislature is not competent to alter the +constitutional act to which it owes its existence, except on those +points on which it is expressly permitted to make alterations. + +Clause 5 is an exposition, so to speak, of the consequence which would +seem to flow from the fact of the Queen being a constitutional part of +the Legislature. It states that the royal prerogatives with respect to +the summoning, prorogation, and dissolution of the Irish legislative +body are to be the same as the royal prerogatives in relation to the +Imperial Parliament. The next clause (6) is comparatively immaterial; +it merely provides that the duration of the Irish legislative body is to +be quinquennial. As it deals with a matter of detail, it perhaps would +have more aptly found a place in a subsequent part of the Bill. Clause 7 +passes from the legislative to the executive authority; it declares:-- + +(1.) The executive government of Ireland shall continue vested in Her +Majesty, and shall be carried on by the Lord Lieutenant on behalf of Her +Majesty with the aid of such officers and such council as to Her Majesty +may from time to time seem fit. + +(2.) Subject to any instructions which may from time to time be given by +Her Majesty, the Lord Lieutenant shall give or withhold the assent of +Her Majesty to bills passed by the Irish legislative body, and shall +exercise the prerogatives of Her Majesty in respect of the summoning, +proroguing, and dissolving of the Irish legislative body, and any +prerogatives the exercise of which may be delegated to him by Her +Majesty. + +Bearing in mind what has been said in the preliminary observations in +respect of the relation between the executive and the legislative +authority, it will be at once understood how much this clause implies, +according to constitutional maxims, of the dependence on the one hand of +the Irish executive in respect of imperial matters, and of its +independence in respect of local matters. The clause is practically +co-ordinate and correlative with the clause conferring complete local +powers on the Irish Legislature, while it preserves all imperial powers +to the Imperial Legislature. The governor is an imperial officer, and +will be bound to watch over imperial interests with a jealous scrutiny, +and to veto any bill which may be injurious to those interests. On the +other hand, as respects all local matters, he will act on and be guided +by the advice of the Irish executive council. The system is, as has been +shown above, self-acting. The governor, for local purposes, must have a +council which is in harmony with the legislative body. If a council, +supported by the legislative body and the governor do not agree, the +governor must give way unless he can, by dismissing his council and +dissolving the legislative body, obtain both a council and a legislative +body which will support his views. As respects imperial questions, the +case is different; here the last word rests with the mother country, and +in the last resort a determination of the executive council, backed by +the legislative body, to resist imperial rights, must be deemed an act +of rebellion on the part of the Irish people, and be dealt with +accordingly. + +The above clauses contain the pith and marrow of the whole scheme. The +exact constitution of the legislative body, and the orders into which it +should be divided, the exclusion or non-exclusion of the Irish members +from the Imperial Parliament, indeed, the whole of the provisions found +in the remainder of this Bill, are matters which might be altered +without destroying, or even violently disarranging, the Home-rule scheme +as above described. + +Clauses 9, 10, and 11 provide for the constitution of the legislative +body; it differs materially from the colonial legislative bodies, and +from the Legislature of the United States. For the purpose of +deliberation it consists of one House only; for the purpose of voting on +all questions (except interlocutory applications and questions of +order), it is divided into two classes, called in the Bill "Orders," +each of which votes separately, with the result that a question on which +the two orders disagree is deemed to be decided in the negative. The +object of this arrangement is to diminish the chances of collision +between the two branches of the Legislature, which have given rise to so +much difficulty both in England and the colonies. Each order will have +ample opportunity of learning the strength and hearing the arguments of +the other order. They will therefore, each of them, proceed to a +division with a full sense of the responsibility attaching to their +action. A further safeguard is provided against a final conflict between +the first and second orders. If the first order negative a proposition, +that negative is in force only for a period of three years, unless a +dissolution takes place sooner, in which case it is terminated at once; +the lost bill or clause may then be submitted to the whole House, and if +decided in the affirmative, and assented to by the Queen, becomes law. +The first order of the Irish legislative body comprises 103 members. It +is intended to consist ultimately wholly of elective members; but for +the next immediate period of thirty years the rights of the Irish +representative peers are, as will be seen, scrupulously reserved. The +plan is this: of the 103 members composing the first order, seventy-five +are elective, and twenty-eight peerage members. The qualification of the +elective members is an annual income of L200, or the possession of a +capital sum of L4000 free from all charges. The elections are to be +conducted in the electoral districts set out in the schedule to the +Bill. The electors must possess land or tenements within the district of +the annual value of L25. The twenty-eight peerage members consist of the +existing twenty-eight representative peers, and any vacancies in their +body during the next thirty years are to be filled up in the manner at +present in use respecting the election of Irish representative peers. +The Irish representative peers cease to sit in the English Parliament; +but a member of that body is not required to sit in the Irish Parliament +without his assent, and the place of any existing peer refusing to sit +in the Irish Parliament will be filled up as in the case of an ordinary +vacancy. The elective members of the first order sit for ten years; +every five years one half their number will retire. The members of the +first order do not vacate their seats on a dissolution of the +legislative body. At the expiration of thirty years, that is to say, +upon the exhaustion of all the existing Irish representative peers, the +whole of the upper order will consist of elective members. The second +order consists of 204 members, that is to say, of the 103 existing Irish +members (who are transferred to the Irish Parliament), and of 101 +additional members to be elected by the county districts and the +represented towns, in the same manner as that in which the present 101 +members for counties and towns are elected--each constituency returning +two instead of one member. If an existing member does not assent to his +transfer, his seat is vacated. + +A power is given to the Legislature of Ireland to enable the Royal +University of Ireland to return two members. + +The provisions with respect to this second order fall within the class +of enactments which are alterable by the Irish Legislature. After the +first dissolution of parliament the Irish Legislature may deal with the +second order in any manner they think fit, with the important +restrictions:--(1) That in the distribution of members they must have +due regard to population; (2) that they must not increase or diminish +the number of members. + +The transfer to the Irish legislative body of the Irish representative +peers, and of the Irish members, involves their exclusion under ordinary +circumstances from the Imperial Parliament, with this great exception, +that whenever an alteration is proposed to be made in the fundamental +provisions of the Irish Government Bill, a mode of procedure is devised +for recalling both orders of the Irish legislative body to the Imperial +Parliament for the purpose of obtaining their consent to such alteration +(clause 39). + +Further, it is right to state here that Mr. Gladstone in his speech on +the second reading of the Bill proposed to provide, "that when any +proposal for taxation was made affecting the condition of Ireland, Irish +members should have an opportunity of appearing in the House to take a +share in the transaction of that business." + +Questions arising as to whether the Irish Parliament has or not +exceeded its constitutional powers may be determined by the ordinary +courts of law in the first instance; the ultimate appeal lies to the +Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. An additional safeguard is +provided by declaring that before a provision in a Bill becomes law, the +Lord Lieutenant may take the opinion of the Judicial Committee of the +Privy Council as to its legality, and further, that without subjecting +private litigants to the expense of trying the constitutionality of an +Act, the Lord Lieutenant may, of his own motion, move the judicial +committee to determine the question. With a view to secure absolute +impartiality in the committee, Ireland will be represented on that body +by persons who are or have been Irish judges (clause 25). + +The question of finance forms a separate portion of the Bill, the +provisions of which are contained in clauses twelve to twenty, while the +machinery for carrying those enactments into effect will be found in +Part III. of the Land Bill. The first point to be determined was the +amount to be contributed by Ireland to imperial expenses. Under the Act +of Union it was intended that Ireland should pay 2/17ths, or in the +proportion of 1 to 7-1/2 of the total expenditure of the United Kingdom. +This amount being found exorbitant, it was gradually reduced, until at +the present moment it amounts to something under the proportion of 1 to +11-1/2. The bill fixes the proportion at 1/15th, or 1 to 14, this sum +being arrived at by a comparison between the amount of the income-tax, +death-duties, and valuation of property in Great Britain, and the amount +of the same particulars in Ireland. The amount to be contributed by +Ireland to the imperial expenditure being thus ascertained, the more +difficult part of the problem remained to provide the fund out of which +the contribution should be payable, and the mode in which its payment +should be secured. The plan which commended itself to the framers of the +Bill, as combining the advantage of insuring the fiscal unity of Great +Britain and Ireland, with absolute security to the British exchequer, +was to continue the customs and excise duties under imperial control, +and to pay them into the hands of an imperial officer. This plan is +carried into effect by the conjoint operation of the clauses of the +Irish Government Bill and the Irish Land Bill above referred to. The +customs and excise duties are directed to be levied as heretofore in +pursuance of the enactments of the Imperial Parliament, and are excepted +from the control of the Irish Legislature, which may, with that +exception, impose any taxes in Ireland it may think expedient. The +imperial officer who is appointed under the Land Bill bears the title of +Receiver-General, and into his hands not only the imperial taxes (the +customs and excise duties), but also all local taxes imposed by the +Irish Parliament are in the first instance paid. (See Clauses 25-27 of +the Land Bill.) The Receiver-General having thus in his hands all +imperial and local funds levied in Ireland, his duty is to satisfy all +imperial claims before paying over any moneys to the Irish Exchequer. +Further, an Imperial Court of Exchequer is established in Ireland to +watch over the interests of the Receiver-General, and all revenue cases +are to be tried, and all defaults punished in that court. Any neglect of +the local authorities to carry into effect the decrees of the Imperial +Court will amount to treason, and it will be the duty of the Imperial +Government to deal with it accordingly. + +Supposing the Bill to have passed, the account of the Exchequer in +Ireland would have stood thus:-- + + RECEIPTS. + +1. _Imperial Taxes_: + (1) Customs . . . . . . . . . . L1,880,000 + (2) Excise . . . . . . . . . . 4,300,000 + --------- L6,180,000 + +2. _Local Taxes_: + (1) Stamps . . . . . . . . . . . L600,000 + (2) Income-Tax at 6_d_. in L . . 550,000 + --------- L1,150,000 + +3. _Non-Tax Revenue_: + (Post Office, Telegraph, etc.) . . . . . L1,020,000 + ---------- + L8,350,000 + + EXPENDITURE. + +1. _Contribution to Imperial Exchequer_ on basis of + 1/15th of Imperial Expenditure, viz.: + (1) Debt Charge . . . . . . . . L1,466,000 + (2) Army and Navy . . . . . . . 1,666,000 + (3) Civil Charges . . . . . . . 110,000 + --------- L3,242,000 +2. _Sinking Fund_ on 1/15th of + Capital of Debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360,000 +3. _Charge for Constabulary_[14] . . . . . . . 1,000,000 +4. _Local Civil Charges_ + other than Constabulary . . . . . . . . . 2,510,000 +5. _Collection of Revenue_: + (1) Imperial Taxes . . . . . . L170,000 + (2) Local Taxes . . . . . . . . 60,000 + (3) Non-Tax Revenue . . . . . . 604,000 + ------- 834,000 +6. _Balance_ or Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . 404,000 + -------- + L8,350,000 + +The Imperial contribution payable by Ireland to Great Britain cannot be +increased for thirty years, though it may be diminished if the charges +for the army and navy and Imperial civil expenditure for any year be +less than fifteen times the contribution paid by Ireland, in which case +1/15th of the diminution will be deducted from the annual Imperial +contribution. Apart from the Imperial charges there are other charges +strictly Irish, for the security of the payment of which the Bill +provides. This it does by imposing an obligation on the Irish +legislative body to enact sufficient taxes to meet such charges, and by +directing them to be paid by the Imperial Receiver-General, who is +required to keep an imperial and an Irish account, carrying the customs +and excise duties, in the first instance, to the imperial account, and +the local taxes to the Irish account, transferring to the Irish account +the surplus remaining after paying the imperial charges on the imperial +account. On this Irish account are charged debts due from the Government +of Ireland, pensions, and other sums due to the civil servants, and the +salaries of the judges of the supreme courts in Ireland. + +Some provisions of importance remain to be noticed. Judges of the +superior and county courts in Ireland are to be removable from office +only on address to the Crown, presented by both orders of the +Legislative body voting separately. Existing Civil servants are retained +in their offices at their existing salaries; if the Irish Government +desire their retirement, they will be entitled to pensions; on the other +hand, if at the end of two years the officers themselves wish to retire, +they can do so, and will be entitled to the same pensions as if their +office had been abolished. The pensions are payable by the +Receiver-General out of the Irish account above mentioned. + +The supremacy of the Imperial Parliament over all parts of the Empire is +an inherent quality of which Parliament cannot divest itself, inasmuch +as it cannot bind its successors or prevent them from repealing any +prior Act. In order, however, to prevent any misapprehension on this +point clause 37 was inserted, the efficacy of which, owing in great +measure to a misprint, has been doubted. It is enough to state here that +it was intended by express legislation to reserve all powers to the +Imperial Parliament, and had the Bill gone into Committee the question +would have been placed beyond the reach of cavil by a slight alteration +in the wording of the clause. This summary may be concluded by the +statement that the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords over +actions and suits arising in Ireland (except in respect of +constitutional questions reserved for the determination of the Judicial +Committee of the Privy Council as explained above), and with respect to +claims for Irish Peerages, is preserved intact. + +The object of the Land Bill was a political one: to promote the +contentment of the people, and the cause of good government in Ireland, +by settling once and for ever the vexed question relating to land. To do +this effectually it was necessary to devise a system under which the +tenants, as a class, should become interested in the maintenance of +social order, and be furnished with substantial inducements to rally +round the institutions of their country. On the other hand, it was just +and right that the landlords should participate in the benefits of any +measure proposed for remedying the evils attendant upon the tenure of +land in Ireland; and should be enabled to rid themselves, on fair terms, +of their estates in cases where, from apprehension of impending changes, +or for pecuniary reasons, they were desirous of relieving themselves +from the responsibilities of ownership. Further, it was felt by the +framers of the Bill that a moral obligation rested on the Imperial +Government to remove, if possible, "the fearful exasperations attending +the agrarian relations in Ireland," rather than leave a question so +fraught with danger, and so involved in difficulty, to be determined by +the Irish Government on its first entry on official existence. Such were +the governing motives for bringing in the Land Bill. + +To understand an Irish Land Bill it is necessary to dismiss at once all +ideas of the ordinary relations between landlord and tenant in England, +and to grasp a true conception of the condition of an Irish tenanted +estate. In England the relation between the landlord and tenant of a +farm resembles, with a difference in the subject-matter, the relation +between the landlord and tenant of a furnished house. In the case of the +house, the landlord keeps it in a state fit for habitation, and the +tenant pays rent for the privilege of living in another man's house. In +the case of the farm, the landlord provides the farm with house, +farm-buildings, gates, and other permanent improvements required to fit +it for cultivation by the tenant, and the tenant pays rent for the +privilege of cultivating the farm, receiving the proceeds of that +cultivation. The characters of owner and tenant, however long the +connection between them may subsist, are quite distinct. The tenant does +no acts of ownership, and never regards the land as belonging to +himself, quitting it without hesitation if he can make more money by +taking another farm. In Ireland the whole situation is different: +instead of a farm of some one hundred or two hundred acres, the tenant +has a holding varying, say, from five to fifty acres, for which he pays +an annual rent-charge to the landlord. He, or his ancestors have, in the +opinion of the tenant, acquired a quasi-ownership in the land by making +all the improvements, and he is only removable on non-payment of the +fixed rent, or non-fulfilment of certain specified conditions. In short, +in Ireland the ownership is dual: the landlord is merely the lord of a +quasi-copyhold manor, consisting of numerous small tenements held by +quasi-copyholders who, so long as they pay what may be called the +manorial rents, and fulfil the manorial conditions, regard themselves as +independent owners of their holdings. An Irish Land Bill, then, dealing +with tenanted estates, is, in fact, merely a Bill for converting the +small holders of tenements held at a fixed rent into fee-simple owners +by redemption of the rent due to the landlord and a transfer of the land +to the holders. Every scheme, therefore, for settling the Land question +in Ireland resolves itself into an inquiry as to the best mode of paying +off the rent-charges due to the landlord. The tenant cannot, of course, +raise the capital sufficient for paying off the redemption money; some +State authority must, therefore, intervene and advance the whole or the +greater part of that money, and recoup itself for the advance by the +creation in its own favour of an annual charge on the holding sufficient +to repay in a certain number of years both the principal and interest +due in respect of the advance. + +The first problem, then, in an Irish Land Bill, is to settle the +conditions of this annuity in such a manner as to satisfy the landlord +and tenant; the first, as to the price of his estate; the second, as to +the amount of the annuity to be paid by him, at the same time to provide +the State authority with adequate security for the repayment of the +advance, or, in other words, for the punctual payments of the annuity +which is to discharge the advance. Next in importance to the financial +question of the adjustment of the annuity comes the administrative +difficulty of investigating the title, and thus securing to the tenant +the possession of the fee simple, and to the State authority the +position of a mortgagee. Under ordinary circumstances the investigation +of the title to an estate involves the examination of every document +relating thereto for a period of forty years, and the distribution of +the purchase-money amongst the head renters, mortgagees, and other +encumbrancers, who, in addition to the landlord, are found to be +interested in the ownership of almost every Irish estate. Such a +process is costly, even in the case of large estates, and involves an +expense almost, and, indeed, speaking generally, absolutely prohibitory +in the case of small properties. Some mode, then, must be devised for +reducing this expense within manageable limits, or any scheme for +dealing with Irish land, however well devised from a financial point of +view, will sink under the burden imposed by the expense attending the +transfer of the land to the new proprietors. Having thus stated the two +principal difficulties attending the Land question in Ireland, it may be +well before entering on the details of the Sale and Purchase of Land +(Ireland) Bill, to mention the efforts which have been made during the +last fifteen years to surmount those difficulties. The Acts having this +object in view are the Land Acts of 1870, 1872, and 1881, brought in by +Mr. Gladstone, and the Land Purchase Act of 1885, brought in by the +Conservative Lord Chancellor of Ireland (Lord Ashbourne). The Act of +1870, as amended by the Act of 1872, provided that the State authority +might advance two-thirds of the purchase-money. An attempt was made to +get over the difficulties of title by providing that the Landed Estates +Court or Board of Works shall undertake the investigation of the title +and the transfer and distribution of the purchase-money at a fixed +price. The Act of 1881 increased the advance to three-quarters, leaving +the same machinery to deal with the title. Both under the Acts of 1870 +and 1881 the advance was secured by an annuity of 5 per cent., payable +for the period of thirty-five years, and based on the loan of the money +by the English Exchequer at 3-1/2 per cent. interest. These Acts +produced very little effect. The expense of dealing with the titles in +the Landed Estates Court proved overwhelming, and neither the Board of +Works, under the Act of 1872, nor the Land Commission, under the Act of +1881, found themselves equal to the task of completing inexpensively the +transfer of the land; further, the tenants had no means of providing +even the quarter of the purchase-money required by the Act of 1881. In +1885 Lord Ashbourne determined to remove all obstacles at the expense of +the English Exchequer. By the Land Act of that year he authorized the +whole of the purchase-money to be advanced by the State, with a +guarantee by the landlord, to be carried into effect by his allowing +one-fifth of the purchase-money to remain in the hands of the agents of +the State Authority until one-fifth of the purchase-money had been +repaid by the annual payments of the tenants. The principal was to be +recouped by an annuity of 4 per cent., extending over a period of +forty-nine years, instead of an annuity of 5 per cent. extending over a +period of thirty-five years. The English Exchequer was to advance the +money on the basis of interest at 3-1/8 per cent., instead of at 3-1/2 +per cent. Though sufficient time has not yet elapsed to show whether the +great bribe offered by the Act of 1885, at the expense of the British +taxpayer, will succeed in overcoming the apathy of the tenants, it +cannot escape notice that if the Act of 1885 succeeds better than the +previous Acts, it will owe that success solely to the greater amount of +risk which it imposes on the English Exchequer, and not to any +improvement in the scheme in respect of securing greater certainty of +sale to the Irish landlord, or of diminishing the danger of loss to the +English taxpayer. + +Such being the state of legislation, and such the circumstances of the +land question in Ireland in the year 1886, the Irish Government Bill +afforded Mr. Gladstone the means and the opportunity of bringing in a +Land Bill which would secure to the Irish landlord the certainty of +selling his land at a fair price, without imposing any practical +liability on the English Exchequer, and would, at the same time, +diminish the annual sums payable by the tenant; while it also conferred +a benefit on the Irish Exchequer. These advantages were, as will be +seen, gained, firstly, by the pledge of English credit on good security, +instead of advancing money on a mere mortgage on Irish holdings, made +directly to the English Government; and, secondly, by the interposition +of the Irish Government, as the immediate creditor of the Irish tenant. +The scheme of the Land Purchase Bill is as follows:--The landlord of an +agricultural estate occupied by tenants may apply to a department of the +new Irish Government to purchase his estate. The tenants need not be +consulted, as the purchase, if completed, will necessarily better their +condition, and thus at the very outset the difficulty of procuring the +assent of the tenants, which has hitherto proved so formidable an +obstacle to all Irish land schemes, disappears. The landlord may require +the department to which he applies (called in the Bill the State +Authority) to pay him the statutory price of his estate, not in cash, +but in consols valued at par. This price, except in certain unusual +cases of great goodness or of great badness of the land, is twenty +years' purchase of the _net_ rental. The _net_ rental is the _gross_ +rental after deducting from that rent tithe rent-charge, the average +percentage for expenses in respect of bad debts, any rates paid by the +landlord, and any like outgoings. The _gross_ rental of an estate is the +gross rent of all the holdings on the estate, payable in the year ending +in November, 1885. Where a judicial rent has been fixed, it is the +judicial rent; where no judicial rent has been fixed, it is the rent to +be determined in the manner provided by the Bill. + +To state this shortly, the Bill provides that an Irish landlord may +require the State Authority to pay him for his estate, in consols valued +at par, a capital sum equal to twenty times the amount of the annual sum +which he has actually put into his pocket out of the proceeds of the +estate. The determination of the statutory price is, so far as the +landlord is concerned, the cardinal point of the Bill, and in order +that no injustice may be done the landlord, an Imperial +Commission--called the Land Commission--is appointed by the Bill, whose +duty it is to fix the statutory price, and, where there is no judicial +rent, to determine the amount of rent which, in the character of gross +rental, is to form the basis of the statutory price. The Commission also +pay the purchase-money to the landlord, or distribute it amongst the +parties entitled, and generally the Commission act as intermediaries +between the landlord and the Irish State Authority, which has no power +of varying the terms to which the landlord is entitled under the Bill, +or of judging of the conditions which affect the statutory price. If the +landlord thinks the price fixed by the Land Commission, as the statutory +price inequitable, he may reject their offer and keep his estate. + +Supposing, however, the landlord to be satisfied with the statutory +price offered by the Land Commission, the sale is concluded, and the +Land Commission make an order carrying the required sum of consols +(which is for convenience hereinafter called the purchase-money, +although it consists of stock and not of cash) to the account of the +estate in their books after deducting 1 per cent. for the cost of +investigation of title and distribution of the purchase-money, and upon +the purchase-money being thus credited to the estate, the landlord +ceases to have any interest in the estate, and the tenants, by virtue of +the order of the Land Commission, become owners in fee simple of their +holdings, subject to the payment to the Irish State Authority of an +annuity. The amount of the annuity is stated in the Bill. It is a sum +equal to L4 per cent. on a capital sum equal to twenty times the amount +of the gross rental of the holding. The illustration given by Mr. +Gladstone in his speech will at once explain these apparently intricate +matters of finance. A landlord is entitled to the Hendon estate, +producing L1200 a year gross rental; to find the net rental, the Land +Commission deduct from this gross rental outgoings estimated at about 20 +per cent., or L240 a year. This makes the net rental L960 a year, and +the price payable to the landlord is L19,200 (twenty years' purchase of +L960, or L960 multiplied by 20), which, as above stated, will be paid in +consols. The tenants will pay, as the maximum amount for their holdings, +L4 per cent. for forty-nine years on the capitalized value of twenty +years' purchase of the gross rent. This will amount to L960 instead of +L1,200, which they have hitherto paid; a saving of L240 a year will thus +be effected, from which, however, must be deducted the half rates to +which they will become liable, formerly paid by the landlord. This L4 +per cent. charge payable by the tenants will continue for forty-nine +years, but at the end of that time each tenant will become a free owner +of his estate without any annual payment. Next, as to the position of +the State Authority. The State Authority receives L960 from the tenants; +it pays out of that sum L4 per cent., not upon the gross rental, but +upon the net rental capitalized, that is to say, L768 to the Imperial +Exchequer. The State Authority, therefore, receives,L960, and assuming +that the charge of collecting the rental is 2 per cent., that is to say, +L19 4_s._, the State Authority will, out of L960, have to disburse only +L787 4_s._, leaving it a gainer of L172 16_s._, or nearly 18 per cent. +The result then between the several parties is, the landlord receives +L19,200; the tenantry pay L240 a year less than they have hitherto paid, +and at the end of forty-nine years are exempt altogether from payment; +the gain of Irish State Authority is L172 16_s._ a year. Another mode of +putting the case shortly is as follows: The English Exchequer lends the +money to the Irish State Authority at 3-1/8 per cent. and an annuity of +4 per cent. paid during forty-nine years will, as has been stated above, +repay both principal and interest for every L100 lent at 3-1/8 per +cent. On the sale of an estate under the Bill, the landlord receives +twenty years' purchase; the tenant pays L4 per cent. on twenty years' +purchase of the gross rental; the Irish State Authority receives L4 per +cent. on the gross rental; the English Exchequer receives 4 per cent. on +the net rental only. The repayment of the interest due by the Irish +Authority to the English Exchequer is in no wise dependent on the +punctual payment of their annuities by the Irish tenants, nor does the +English Government in any way figure as the landlord or creditor of the +Irish tenants. The annuities payable by the tenants are due to the Irish +Government, and collected by them, while the interest due to the English +Government is a charge on the whole of the Irish Government funds; and +further, these funds themselves are paid into the hands of the Imperial +officer, whose duty it is to liquidate the debt due to his master, the +Imperial Exchequer, before a sixpence can be touched by the Irish +Government. It is not, then, any exaggeration to say that the Land +Purchase Bill of 1886 provides for the settlement of the Irish Land +question without any appreciable risk to the English Exchequer, and with +the advantage of securing a fair price for the landlord, a diminution of +annual payments to the tenant with the ultimate acquisition of the fee +simple, also a gain of no inconsiderable sum to the Irish Exchequer. In +order to obviate the difficulties attending the investigation of title +and transfer of the property, the Bill provides, as stated above, that +on the completion of the agreement for the sale between the landlord and +the Commission, the holding shall vest at once in the tenants: it then +proceeds to declare that the claims of all persons interested in the +land shall attach to the purchase-money in the same manner as though it +were land. The duty of ascertaining these claims and distributing the +purchase-money is vested in the Land Commission, who undertake the task +in exchange for the 1 per cent. which they have, as above stated, +deducted from the purchase-money as the cost of conducting the complete +transfer of the estate from the landlord to the tenants. The difficulty +of the process of dealing with the purchase-money depends, of course, on +the intricacy of the title. If the vendor is the sole unencumbered +owner, he is put in immediate possession of the stock constituting the +price of the estate. If there are encumbrances, as is usually the case, +they are paid off by the Land Commission. Capital sums are paid in full; +jointures and other life charges are valued according to the usual +tables. Drainage and other temporary charges are estimated at their +present value, permanent rent-charges are valued by agreement, or in +case of disagreement, by the Land Commission; a certain minimum number +of years' purchase being assigned by the Bill to any permanent +rent-charge which amounts only to one-fifth part of the rental of the +estate on which it is charged, this provision being made to prevent +injustice being done to the holders of rent-charges which are amply +secured. + +It remains to notice certain other points of some importance. The +landlord entitled to require the State to purchase his property is the +immediate landlord, that is to say, the person entitled to the receipt +of the rent of the estate; no encumbrancer can avail himself of the +privilege, the reason being that the Bill is intended to assist solvent +landlords, and not to create a new Encumbered Estates Court. The +landlord may sell this privilege, and possibly by means of this power of +sale may be able to put pressure on his encumbrancers to reduce their +claims in order to obtain immediate payment. The Land Commission, in +their character of quasi-arbitrators between the landlord and the Irish +State Authority, have ample powers given to enable them to do justice. +If the statutory price, as settled according to the Act, is too low, +they may raise it to twenty-two years' purchase instead of twenty years' +purchase. If it is too high, they may refuse to buy unless the landlord +will reduce it to a proper price. In the congested districts scheduled +in the Bill the land, on a sale, passes to the Irish State Authority, as +landlords, and not to the tenants; the reason being that it is +considered that the tenants would be worsened, rather than bettered, by +having their small plots vested in them in fee simple. For the same +cause it is provided that in any part of Ireland tenants of holdings +under L4 a year may object to become the owners of their holdings, which +will thereupon vest, on a sale, in the Irish State Authority. Lastly, +the opportunity is taken of establishing a registry of title in respect +of all property dealt with under the Bill. The result of such a registry +would be that any property entered therein would ever thereafter be +capable of being transferred with the same facility, and at as little +expense, as stock in the public funds. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 14: Any charge in excess of one million was to be borne by +Imperial Exchequer.] + + + + +THE "UNIONIST" POSITION. + +BY CANON MACCOLL + + +Is it not time that the opponents of Home Rule for Ireland should define +their position? They defeated Mr. Gladstone's scheme last year in +Parliament and in the constituencies; and they defeated it by the +promise of a counter policy which was to consist, in brief, of placing +Ireland on the same footing as Great Britain in respect to Local +Government; or, if there was to be any difference, it was to be in the +direction of a larger and more generous measure for Ireland than for the +rest of the United Kingdom. This certainly was the policy propounded by +the distinguished leader of the Liberal Unionists in his speech at +Belfast, in November, 1885, and repeated in his electoral speeches last +year. In the Belfast speech Lord Hartington said: "My opinion is that it +is desirable for Irishmen that institutions of local self-government +such as are possessed by England and Scotland, and such as we hope to +give in the next session in greater extent to England and Scotland, +should also be extended to Ireland." But this extension of local +self-government to Ireland would require, in Lord Hartington's opinion, +a fundamental change in the fabric of Irish Government. "I would not +shrink," he says, "from a great and bold reconstruction of the Irish +Government," a reconstruction leading up gradually to some real and +substantial form of Home Rule. His Lordship's words are: "I submit with +some confidence to you these principles, which I have endeavoured to lay +down, and upon which, I think, the extension of Local Government in +Ireland must proceed. First, you must have some adequate guarantees both +for the maintenance of the essential unity of the Empire and for the +protection of the minority in Ireland. And, secondly, you must also +admit this principle: the work of complete self-government of Ireland, +the grant of full control over the management of its own affairs, is not +a grant that can be made by any Parliament of this country in a day. It +must be the work of continuous and careful effort." Elsewhere in the +same speech Lord Hartington says: "Certainly I am of opinion that +nothing can be done in the direction of giving Ireland anything like +complete control over her own affairs either in a day, or a session, or +probably in a Parliament." "Complete control over her own affairs," "the +work of complete self-government of Ireland, the grant of full control +over the management of its own affairs:" this is the policy which Lord +Hartington proclaimed in Ulster, the promise which he, the proximate +Liberal leader, held out to Ireland on the eve of the General Election +of 1885. It was a policy to be begun "in the next session," though not +likely to be completed "in a day, or a session, or probably in a +Parliament." + +Next to Mr. Gladstone and Lord Hartington the most important member of +the Liberal party at that time was undoubtedly Mr. Chamberlain, and Mr. +Chamberlain's Irish policy was proclaimed in the _Radical Programme, +which was published before the General Election as the Radical leader's +manifesto to the constituencies. This scheme, which Mr. Chamberlain had +submitted as a responsible minister to the Cabinet of Mr. Gladstone in +June, 1885, culminated in a National Council which was to control a +series of local bodies and govern the whole of Ireland. "His National +Council was to consist of two orders; one-third of its members were to +be elected by the owners of property, and two-thirds by ratepayers. The +National Council also was to be a single one, and Ulster was not to have +a separate Council. As the Council was to be charged with the +supervision and legislation about education, which is the burning +question between Catholics and Protestants, it is clear that Mr. +Chamberlain at that time contemplated no special protection for +Ulster."[15] Moreover, in a letter dated April 23rd, 1886, and published +in the _Daily News_ of May 17th, 1886, Mr. Chamberlain declared that he +"had not changed his opinion in the least" since his first public +declaration on Irish policy in 1874. "I then said that I was in favour +of the principles of Home Rule, as defined by Mr. Butt, but that I would +do nothing which would weaken in any way Imperial unity, and that I did +not agree with all the details of his plan.... Mr. Butt's proposals were +in the nature of a federal scheme, and differ entirely from Mr. +Gladstone's, which are on the lines of Colonial independence. Mr. Butt +did not propose to give up Irish representation at Westminster." It is +true that Mr. Butt did not propose to give up Irish representation at +Westminster; but it is also true that he proposed to give it up in the +sense in which Mr. Chamberlain wishes to retain it. Mr. Butt's words, in +the debate to which Mr. Chamberlain refers, are, "that the House should +meet _without Irish members_ for the discussion of English and Scotch +business; and when there was any question affecting the Empire at large, +Irish members might be summoned to attend. He saw no difficulty in the +matter."[16] + +There is no need to quote Mr. Gladstone's declarations on the Irish +question at the General Election of 1885, and previously. He has been +accused of springing a surprise on the country when he proposed Home +Rule in the beginning of 1886. That is not, at all events, the opinion +of Lord Hartington. In a speech delivered at the Eighty Club in March, +1886, his Lordship, with his usual manly candour, declared as follows: +"I am not going to say one word of complaint or charge against Mr. +Gladstone for the attitude which he has taken on this question. I think +no one who has read or heard, during a long series of years, the +declarations of Mr. Gladstone on the question of self-government for +Ireland, can be surprised at the tone of his present declarations.... +When I look back to those declarations that Mr. Gladstone made in +Parliament, which have not been unfrequent; when I look back to the +increased definiteness given to those declarations in his address to the +electors of Midlothian, and in his Midlothian speeches; I say, when I +consider all these things, I feel that I have not, and that no one has, +any right to complain of the tone of the declarations which Mr. +Gladstone has recently made upon this subject." + +So much as to the state of Liberal opinion on the Irish question at the +General Election of 1885. The leaders of all sections of the party put +the Irish question in the foreground of their programme for the session +of 1886. We all remember Sir Charles Dilke's public announcement that he +and Mr. Chamberlain were going to visit Ireland in the autumn of 1885, +to study the Irish question on the spot, with a view to maturing a plan +for the first session of the new Parliament. + +What about the Conservative party? Lord Salisbury's Newport speech was +avowedly the programme of his Cabinet. It was the Conservative answer to +Mr. Gladstone's Midlothian manifesto. He dealt with the Irish question +in guarded language; but it was language which plainly showed that he +recognized, not less clearly than the Liberal leaders, the crucial +change which the assimilation of the Irish franchise to that of Great +Britain had wrought in Irish policy. His keen eye saw at once the +important bearing which that enfranchisement had on the traditional +policy of coercion: "You had passed an Act of Parliament, giving in +unexampled abundance, and with unexampled freedom, supreme power to the +great mass of the Irish people--supreme power as regards their own +locality.... To my mind the renewal of exceptional legislation against a +population whom you had treated legislatively to this marked confidence +was so gross in its inconsistency that you could not possibly hope, +during the few remaining months that were at your disposal before the +present Parliament expired, to renew any legislation which expressed on +one side a distrust of what on the other side your former legislation +had so strongly emphasized. The only result of your doing it would have +been, not that you would have passed the Act, but that you would have +promoted by the very inconsistency of the position that you were +occupying--by the untenable character of the arguments that you were +advancing--you would have produced so intense an exasperation amongst +the Irish people, that you would have caused ten times more evil, ten +times more resistance to law than your Crimes Act, even if it had been +renewed, would possibly have been able to check." Lord Salisbury went on +to say that "the effect of the Crimes Act had been very much +exaggerated," and that "boycotting is of that character which +legislation has very great difficulty in reaching." "Boycotting does not +operate through outrage. Boycotting is the act of a large majority of a +community resolving to do a number of things which are themselves legal, +and which are only illegal by the intention with which they are done." + +Next to Lord Salisbury the most prominent member of the Conservative +party at that date was Lord Randolph Churchill. On the 3rd of January, +1885, when it was rumoured that Mr. Gladstone's Government, then in +office, intended to renew a few of the clauses of the Crimes Act, Lord +Randolph Churchill made a speech at Bow against any such policy. The +following quotation will suffice as a specimen of his opinion: "It comes +to this, that the policy of the Government in Ireland is to declare on +the one hand, by the passing of the Reform Bill, that the Irish people +are perfectly capable of exercising for the advantage of the Empire the +highest rights and privileges of citizenship; and by the proposal to +renew the Crimes Act they simultaneously declare, on the other hand, +that the Irish people are perfectly incapable of performing for the +advantage of society the lowest and most ordinary duties of +citizenship.... All I can say is that, if such an incoherent, such a +ridiculous, such a dangerously ridiculous combination of acts can be +called a policy, then, thank God, the Conservative party have no +policy." + +Within a few months of the delivery of that speech a Conservative +Government was in office, with Lord Randolph Churchill as its leader in +the House of Commons; and one of the first acts of the new leader was to +separate himself ostentatiously from the Irish policy of Lord Spencer +and from the policy of coercion in general. Lord Randolph Churchill, as +the organ of the Government in the House of Commons, repudiated in +scornful language any atom of sympathy with the policy pursued by Lord +Spencer in Ireland; and Lord Carnarvon, the new Viceroy, declared that +"the era of coercion" was past, and that the Conservative Government +intended to govern Ireland by the ordinary law. Lord Carnarvon, in +addition, and very much to his credit, sought and obtained an interview +with Mr. Parnell, and discussed with him, in sympathetic language, the +question of Home Rule. In his own explanation of this interview Lord +Carnarvon admitted that he desired to see established in Ireland some +form of self-government which would satisfy "the national sentiment." + +It is idle, therefore, to assert that the question of Home Rule for +Ireland, in some form or other, was sprung on the country as a surprise +by Mr. Gladstone in the beginning of 1886. The question was brought +prominently before the public in the General Election of 1885 as one +that must be faced in the new Parliament. All parties were committed to +that policy, and the only difference was as to the character and limits +of the measure of self-government to be granted to Ireland; whether it +was to be large enough to satisfy "the national sentiment," as Lord +Carnarvon, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Gladstone, and others desired; or +whether it was to consist only of a system of county boards under the +control of a reformed Dublin Castle. There was a general agreement that +the grant to Ireland of electoral equality with England necessitated +equality of political treatment, and that, above all things, there was +to be no renewal of the stale policy of Coercion until the Irish people +had got an opportunity of proving or disproving their fitness for +self-government, unless, indeed, there should happen to be a +recrudescence of crime which would render exceptional legislation +necessary. The election of 1886 turned almost entirely on the question +of Irish government, and it is not too much to say that Conservatives +and Liberal Unionists vied with Home Rulers in repudiating a return to +the policy of coercion until the effect of some kind of self-government +had been tried. Of course, there were the usual platitudes about the +necessity of maintaining law and order; but there was a _consensus_ of +profession that coercion should not be resorted to unless there was a +fresh outbreak of crime and disorder in Ireland. + +Such were the professions of the opponents of Home Rule in 1885 and in +1886. They have now been in office for eighteen months, and what do we +behold? They have passed a perpetual Coercion Bill for Ireland, and the +question of any kind of self-government has been relegated to an +uncertain future. In his recent speech at Birmingham (Sept. 29), Mr. +Chamberlain has declared that the question is not ripe for solution, and +that the question of disestablishment, in Wales, Scotland, and England +successively, as well as the questions of Local Option, local government +for Great Britain, and of the safety of life at sea, must take +precedence of it. That means the postponement of the reform of Irish +Government to the Greek Kalends. What justification can be made for this +change of front? No valid justification has been offered. So far from +there having been any increase of crime in the interval, there has been +a very marked decrease. When the Coercion Bill received the royal assent +last August, Ireland was more free from crime than it had been for many +years past. Nothing had happened to account for the return to the policy +of coercion in violation of the promise to try the experiment of +conciliation. The National League was in full vigour in 1885-1886, when +the policy of coercion was abandoned; boycotting was just as prevalent, +and outrages were much more numerous. + +Under these circumstances it is the opponents of Home Rule, not its +advocates, who owe an explanation to the public. They defeated Mr. +Gladstone's Bill, but promised a Bill of their own. Where is their Bill? +We hear nothing of it. They have made a complete change of front. They +now tell us that the grievance of Ireland is entirely economic, and that +the true solution of the Irish question is the abolition of dual +ownership in land combined with a firm administration of the existing +law. England and Scotland are to have a large measure of local +government next year; but Ireland is to wait till a more convenient +season. A more complete reversal of the policy proclaimed last summer by +the so-called Unionists cannot be imagined. + +Still, however, the "Unionists" hope to be able some day to offer some +form of self-government to Ireland. For party purposes they are wise in +postponing that day to the latest possible period, for its advent will +probably dissolve the union of the "Unionists." Lord Salisbury, Lord +Hartington, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Chamberlain cannot agree upon any scheme +which all can accept without a public recantation of previous +professions. Mr. Bright is opposed to Home Rule "in any shape or form." +Mr. Chamberlain, on the other hand, is in favour of a great National +Council, on Mr. Butt's lines or on the lines of the Canadian plan; +either of which would give the National Council control over education +and the maintenance of law and order. Latterly, indeed, Mr. Chamberlain +has advocated a separate treatment for Ulster. But the first act of an +Ulster Provincial Assembly would probably be to declare the union of +that Province with the rest of Ireland. Ulster, be it remembered, +returns a majority of Nationalists to the Imperial Parliament. To +exclude Ulster from any share in the settlement offered to the other +three Provinces would therefore be impracticable; and Mr. Bright has +lately expressed his opinion emphatically in that sense. In any case, +Lord Hartington could be no party to any scheme so advanced as Mr. +Chamberlain's. For although he declared, in his Belfast speech, that +"complete self-government" was the goal of his policy for Ireland, he +was careful to explain that "the extension of Irish management over +Irish affairs must be a growth from small beginnings." But this "growth +from small beginnings" would be, in Lord Salisbury's opinion, a very +dangerous and mischievous policy. The establishment of self-government +in Ireland, as distinct from what is commonly known as Home Rule, he +pronounced in his Newport speech to be "a very difficult question;" and +in the following passage he placed his finger upon the kernel of the +difficulty:--"A local authority is more exposed to the temptation, and +has more of the facility for enabling a majority to be unjust to the +minority, than is the case when the authority derives its sanction and +extends its jurisdiction over a wide area. That is one of the weaknesses +of local authorities. In a large central authority the wisdom of several +parts of the country will correct the folly or the mistakes of one. In a +local authority that correction to a much greater extent is wanting; and +it would be impossible to leave that out of sight in the extension of +any such local authority to Ireland." + +This seems to me a much wiser and more statesmanlike view than a system +of elective boards scattered broadcast over Ireland. A multitude of +local boards all over Ireland, without a recognized central authority to +control them, would inevitably become facile instruments in the hands of +the emissaries of disorder and sedition. And, even apart from any such +sinister influences, they would be almost certain to yield to the +temptation of being oppressive, extravagant, and corrupt, if there were +no executive power to command their confidence and enforce obedience. +Without the previous creation of some authority of that kind it would be +sheer madness to offer Ireland the fatal boon of local self-government. +It would enormously increase without conciliating the power of the +Nationalists, and would make the administration of Ireland by +constitutional means simply impossible. The policy of the Liberal +Unionists is thus much too large or much too small. It is too small to +conciliate, and therefore too large to be given with safety. All these +proposed concessions are liable to one insuperable objection; they would +each and all enable the Irish to extort Home Rule, but under +circumstances which would rob it of its grace and repel gratitude. Mill +has some admirable observations bearing on this subject, and I venture +to quote the following passage: "The greatest imperfection of popular +local institutions, and the chief cause of the failure which so often +attends them, is the low calibre of the men by whom they are almost +always carried on. That these should be of a very miscellaneous +character is, indeed, part of the usefulness of the institution; it is +that circumstance chiefly which renders it a school of political +capacity and general intelligence. But a school supposes teachers as +well as scholars; the utility of the instruction greatly depends on its +bringing inferior minds into contact with superior, a contact which in +the ordinary course of life is altogether exceptional, and the want of +which contributes more than anything else to keep the generality of +mankind on one level of contented ignorance.... It is quite hopeless to +induce persons of a high class, either socially or intellectually, to +take a share of local administration in a corner by piecemeal as members +of a Paving Board or a Drainage Commission."[17] + +Mr. Mill goes on to argue that it is essential to the safe working of +any scheme of local self-government that it should be under the control +of a central authority in harmony with public opinion. + +When the "Unionists" begin, if they ever do begin, seriously to +deliberate on the question of self-government for Ireland, they will +find that they have only two practicable alternatives--the maintenance +of the present system, or some scheme of Home Rule on the lines of Mr. +Gladstone's much misunderstood Bill. And the ablest men among the +"Unionists" are beginning to perceive this. The _Spectator_ has in a +recent article implored Mr. Chamberlain to desist from any further +proposal in favour of self-government for Ireland, because the +inevitable result would be to split up the Unionist party; and Mr. +Chamberlain, as we have seen, has accepted the advice. Another very able +and very logical opponent of Home Rule has candidly avowed that the +only alternative to Home Rule is the perpetuation of "things as they +are." Ireland, he thinks, "possesses none of the conditions necessary +for local self-government." His own view, therefore, is "that in +Ireland, as in France, an honest, centralized administration of +impartial officials, and not local self-government, would best meet the +real wants of the people." + +"The name of 'Self-government' has a natural fascination for Englishmen; +but a policy which cannot satisfy the wishes of Home Rulers, which +may--it is likely enough--be of no benefit to the Irish people, which +will certainly weaken the Government in its contest with lawlessness and +oppression, is not a policy which obviously commends itself to English +good sense."[18] + +Well may this distinguished "Supporter of things as they are" declare: +"The maintenance of the Union [on such terms] must necessarily turn out +as severe a task as ever taxed a nation's energies; for to maintain the +Union with any good effect, means that, while refusing to accede to the +wishes of millions of Irishmen, we must sedulously do justice to every +fair demand from Ireland; must strenuously, and without fear or favour, +assert the equal rights of landlords and tenants, of Protestants and +Catholics; and must, at the same time, put down every outrage and reform +every abuse." + +What hope is there of this? Our only guide to the probabilities of the +future is our experience of the past And what has that been in Ireland? +In every year since the Legislative Union there have been multitudes of +men in England as upright, as enlightened, as well-intentioned towards +Ireland, as Professor Dicey, and with better opportunities of +translating their thoughts into acts. Yet what has been the result? _Si +monumenlum requiris circumspice_. Behold Ireland at this moment, and +examine every year of its history since the Union. Do the annals of any +constitutional Government in the world present so portentous a monument +of Parliamentary failure, so vivid an example of a moral and material +ruin "paved with good intentions"? Therein lies the pathos of it. Not +from malice, not from cruelty, not from wanton injustice, not even from +callous indifference to suffering and wrong, does our misgovernment of +Ireland come. If the evil had its root in deliberate wrong-doing on the +part of England it would probably have been cured long ago. But each +generation, while freely confessing the sins of its fathers, has +protested its own innocence and boasted of its own achievements, and +then, with a pharisaic sense of rectitude, has complacently pointed to +some inscrutable flaw in the Irish character as the key to the Irish +problem. The generation which passed the Act of Union, oblivious of +British pledges solemnly given and lightly broken, wondered what had +become of the prosperity and contentment which the promoters of the +Union had promised to Ireland. The next generation made vicarious +penance, and preferred the enactment of Catholic emancipation to the +alternative of civil war; and then wondered in its turn that Ireland +still remained unpacified. Then came a terrible famine, followed by +evictions on a scale so vast and cruel that the late Sir Robert Peel +declared that no parallel could be found for such a tale of inhumanity +in "the records of any country, civilized or barbarous." Another +generation, pluming itself on its enlightened views and kind intentions, +passed the Encumbered Estates Act, which delivered the Irish tenants +over to the tender mercies of speculators and money-lenders; and then +Parliament for a time closed its eyes and ears, and relied upon force +alone to keep Ireland quiet. It rejected every suggestion of reform in +the Land laws; and a great Minister, himself an Irish landlord, +dismissed the whole subject in the flippant epigram that "tenant-right +was landlord-wrong." Since then the Irish Church has been +disestablished, and two Land Acts have been passed; yet we seem to be as +far as ever from the pacification of Ireland. Surely it is time to +inquire whether the evil is not inherent in our system of governing +Ireland, and whether there is any other cure than that which De Beaumont +suggested, namely, the destruction of the system. It is probable that +there is not in all London a more humane or a more kind-hearted man than +Lord Salisbury. Yet Lord Salisbury's Government will do some harsh and +inequitable things in Ireland this winter, just as Liberal Governments +have done during their term of office. The fault is not in the men, but +in the system which they have to administer. I see no reason to doubt +that Sir M. Hicks-Beach did the best he could under the circumstances; +but, unfortunately, bad is the best. In a conversation which I had with +Dr. Doellinger while he was in full communion with his Church, I ventured +to ask him whether he thought that a new Pope, of Liberal ideas, force +of character, and commanding ability, would make any great difference in +the Papal system. "No," he replied, "the Curial system is the growth of +centuries, and there can be no change of any consequence while it lasts. +Many a Pope has begun with brave projects of reform; but the struggle +has been brief, and the end has been invariably the same: the Pope has +been forced to succumb. His _entourage_ has been too much for him. He +has found himself enclosed in a system which was too strong for him, +wheel within wheel; and while the system lasts the most enlightened +ideas and the best intentions are in the long run unavailing." This +criticism applies, _mutatis mutandis_, to what may be called the Curial +system of Dublin Castle. It is a species of political Ultramontanism, +exercising supreme power behind the screen of an official infallibility +on which there is practically no check, since Parliament has never +hitherto refused to grant it any power which it demanded for enforcing +its decrees. + +There is, moreover, another consideration which must convince any +dispassionate mind which ponders it, that the British Parliament is +incompetent to manage Irish affairs, and must become increasingly +incompetent year by year. In ordinary circumstances Parliament sits +about twenty-seven weeks out of the fifty-two. Five out of the +twenty-seven may safely be subtracted for holidays, debates on the +Address, and other debates apart from ordinary business. That leaves +twenty-two weeks, and out of these two nights a week are at the disposal +of the Government and three at the disposal of private members; leaving +in all forty-four days for the Government and sixty-six for private +members. Into those forty-four nights Government must compress all its +yearly programme of legislation for the whole of the British Empire, +from the settlement of some petty dispute about land in the Hebrides, to +some question of high policy in Egypt, India, or other portions of the +Queen's world-wide empire; and all this amidst endless distractions, +enforced attendance through dreary debates and vapid talk, and a running +fire of cross-examination from any volunteer questioner out of the six +hundred odd members who sit outside the Government circle. The +consequence is, that Parliament is getting less able every year to +overtake the mass of business which comes before it. Each year +contributes its quota of inevitable arrears to the accumulated mass of +previous Sessions, and the process will go on multiplying in increasing +ratio as the complex and multiform needs of modern life increase. The +large addition recently made to the electorate of the United Kingdom is +already forcing a crop of fresh subjects on the attention of Parliament, +as well as presenting old ones from new points of view. Plans of +devolution and Grand Committees will fail to cope with this evil. To +overcome it we need some organic change in our present Parliamentary +system, some form of decentralization, which shall leave the Imperial +Parliament supreme over all subordinate bodies, yet relegate to the +historic and geographical divisions of the United Kingdom the management +severally of their own local affairs. + +I should have better hope from governing Ireland (if it were possible) +as we govern India, than from the present Unionist method of leaving +"things as they are." A Viceroy surrounded by a Council of trained +officials, and in semi-independence of Parliament, would have settled +the Irish question, land and all, long ago. But imagine India governed +on the model of Ireland: the Viceroy and the most important member of +his Government changing with every change of Administration at +Westminster;[19] his Council and the official class in general +consisting almost exclusively of native Mussulmans, deeply prejudiced by +religious and traditional enmity against the great mass of the +population; himself generally subordinate to his Chief Secretary, and +exposed to the daily criticism of an ignorant Parliament and to the +determined hostility of eighty-six Hindoos, holding seats in Parliament +as the representatives of the vast majority of the people of India, and +resenting bitterly the domination of the hereditary oppressors of their +race. How long could the Government of India be carried on under such +conditions? + +Viewing it all round, then, it must be admitted that the problem of +governing Ireland while leaving things as they are is a sufficiently +formidable one. Read the remarkable admissions which the facts have +forced from intelligent opponents of Home Rule like Mr. Dicey, and add +to them all the other evils which are rooted in our existing system of +Irish government, and then consider what hope there is, under "things as +they are," of "sedulously doing justice to every demand from Ireland," +"strenuously, and without fear or favour, asserting the equal rights of +landlords and tenants, Protestants and Catholics," "putting down every +outrage, and reforming every abuse;" and all the "while refusing to +accede to the wishes of millions of Irishmen" for a fundamental change +in a political arrangement that has for centuries produced all the +mischief which the so-called Unionist party are forced to admit, and +much more besides, while it has at the same time frustrated every +serious endeavour to bring about the better state of things which they +expect from--what? From "things as they are!" As well expect grapes from +thorns, or figs from thistles. While the tree remains the same, no +amount of weeding, or pruning, or manuring, or change of culture, will +make it bring forth different fruit. Mr. Dicey, among others, has +demolished what Lord Beaconsfield used to call the "bit-by-bit" +reformers of Irish Government--those who would administer homoeopathic +doses of local self-government, but always under protest that the supply +was to stop short of what would satisfy the hunger of the patient. But a +continuance of "things as they are," gilded with a thin tissue of +benevolent hopes and aspirations, is scarcely a more promising remedy +for the ills of Ireland. Is it not time to try some new treatment--one +which has been tried in similar cases, and always with success? One only +policy has never been tried in Ireland--honest Home Rule. + +Certainly, if Home Rule is to be refused till all the prophets of evil +are refuted, Ireland must go without Home Rule for ever. "If the sky +fall, we shall catch larks." But he would be a foolish bird-catcher who +waited for that contingency. And not less foolish is the statesman who +sits still till every conceivable objection to his policy has been +mathematically refuted in advance, and every wild prediction falsified +by the event; for that would ensure his never moving at all. _Sedet +aeternumque sedebit_. A proper enough attitude, perhaps, on the part of +an eristic philosopher speculating on politics in the silent shade of +academic groves, but hardly suitable for a practical politician who has +to take action on one of the most burning questions of our time. Human +affairs are not governed by mathematical reasoning. You cannot +demonstrate the precise results of any legislative measure beforehand as +you can demonstrate the course of a planet in the solar system. +"Probability," as Bishop Butler says, "is the guide of life;" and an +older philosopher than Butler has warned us that to demand demonstrative +proof in the sphere of contingent matter is the same kind of absurdity +as to demand probable reasoning in mathematics. You cannot confute a +prophet before the event; you can only disbelieve him. The advocates of +Home Rule believe that their policy would in general have an exactly +contrary effect to that predicted by their opponents. In truth, every +act of legislation is, before experience, amenable to such destructive +criticism as these critics urge against Home Rule. I have not a doubt +that they could have made out an unanswerable "case" against the Great +Charter at Runnymede; and they would find it easy to prove on _a priori_ +grounds that the British Constitution is one of the most absurd, +mischievous, and unworkable instruments that ever issued from human +brains or from the evolution of events. By their method of reasoning the +Great Charter and other fundamental portions of the Constitution ought +to have brought the Government of the British Empire to a deadlock long +ago. Every suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, every Act of Attainder, +every statute for summary trial and conviction before justices of the +peace, is a violation of the fundamental article of the Constitution, +which requires that no man shall be imprisoned or otherwise punished +except after lawful trial by his peers.[20] Consider also the magazines +of explosive materials which lie hidden in the constitutional +prerogatives of the Crown, if they could only be ignited by the match of +an ingenious theorist. The Crown, as Lord Sherbrooke once somewhat +irreverently expressed it, "can turn every cobbler in the land into a +peer," and could thus put an end, as the Duke of Wellington declared, to +"the Constitution of this country."[21] "The Crown is not bound by Act +of Parliament unless named therein by special and particular words."[22] +The Crown can make peace or war without consulting Parliament, can by +secret treaty saddle the nation with the most perilous obligations, and +give away all such portions of the empire as do not rest on Statute. The +prerogative of mercy, too, would enable an eccentric Sovereign, aided by +an obsequious Minister, to open the jails and let all the convicted +criminals in the land loose upon society.[22] But criticism which proves +too much in effect proves nothing. + +In short, every stage in the progress of constitutional reform has, in +matter of fact, been marked by similar predictions falsified by results, +and the prophets who condemn Home Rule have no better credentials; +indeed, much worse, for they proclaim the miserable failure of "things +as they are," whereas their predecessors were in their day satisfied +with things as they were.[23] + +It is, high time, therefore, to call upon the opponents of Home Rule to +tell us plainly where they stand. They claim a mandate from the country +for their policy. They neither asked nor received a mandate to support +the system of Government which prevailed in Ireland at the last +election, and still less the policy of coercion which they have +substituted for that system. Do they mean to go back or forward? They +cannot stand still. They have already discovered that one act of +repression leads to another, and they will find ere long that they have +no alternative except Home Rule or the suppression of Parliamentary +Government in Ireland. Men may talk lightly of the ease with which +eighty-six Irish members may be kept in order in Parliament. They forget +that the Irish people are behind the Irish members. How is Ireland to be +governed on Parliamentary principles if the voice of her representatives +is to be forcibly silenced or disregarded? Could even Yorkshire or +Lancashire be governed permanently in that way? Let it be observed that +we have now reached this pass, namely, that the opponents of Home Rule +are opposed to the Irish members, not on any particular form of +self-government for Ireland, but on any form; in other words, they +resist the all but unanimous demand of Ireland for what "Unionists" of +all parties declared a year ago to be a reasonable demand. No candidate +at the last election ventured to ask the suffrages of any constituency +as "a supporter of things as they are." Yet that is practically the +attitude now assumed by the Ministerial party, both Conservatives and +Liberal Unionists. It is an attitude of which the country is getting +weary, as the bye-elections have shown. But the "Unionists," it must be +admitted, are in a sore dilemma. Their strength, such as it is, lies in +doing nothing for the reform of Irish Government. Their bond of union +consists of nothing else but opposition to Mr. Gladstone's policy. They +dare not attempt to formulate any policy of their own, knowing well that +they would go to pieces in the process. Their hope and speculation is +that something may happen to remove Mr. Gladstone from the political +arena before the next dissolution. But, after all, Mr. Gladstone did not +create the Irish difficulty. It preceded him and will survive him, +unless it is settled to the satisfaction of the Irish people before his +departure. And the difficulty of the final settlement will increase with +every year of delay. Nor will the difficulty be confined to Ireland. The +Irish question is already reacting upon kindred, though not identical, +problems in England and Scotland, and the longer it is kept open, so +much the worse will it be for what are generally regarded as +Conservative interests. It is not the Moderate Liberals or Conservatives +who are gaining ground by the prolongation of the controversy, and the +disappearance of Mr. Gladstone from the scene would have the effect of +removing from the forces of extreme Radicalism a conservative influence, +which his political opponents will discover when it is too late to +restore it. Their regret will then be as unavailing as the lament of +William of Deloraine over his fallen foe-- + + "I'd give the lands of Deloraine + Dark Musgrave were alive again." + +The Irish landlords have already begun to realize the mistake they made +when they rejected Mr. Gladstone's policy of Home Rule and Land +Purchase. It is the old story of the Sibyl's books. No British +Government will ever again offer such terms to the Irish landlords as +they refused to accept from Mr. Gladstone. On the other hand, Home Rule +is inevitable. Can any reflective person really suppose that the +democracy of Great Britain will consent to refuse to share with the +Irish people the boon of self-government which will be offered to +themselves next year? Any attempt to exclude the Irish from the benefits +of such a scheme, after all the promises of the last general election, +would almost certainly wreck the government; for constituencies have +ways and means of impressing their wills on their representatives in +Parliament even without a dissolution. If, on the other hand, Ireland +should be included in a general scheme of local Government, the question +of who shall control the police will arise. In Great Britain the police, +of course, will be under local control. To refuse this to Ireland would +be to offer a boon with a stigma attached to it. The Irish members +agreed to let the control of the constabulary remain, under Mr. +Gladstone's scheme, for some years in the hands of the British +Government; but they would not agree to this while Dublin Castle ruled +the country. Moreover, the formidable difficulty suggested by Lord +Salisbury and Mr. John Stuart Mill (see pp. 115, 116) would appear the +moment men began seriously to consider the question of local government +for Ireland. The government of Dublin Castle would have to go, but +something would have to be put in its place; and when that point has +been reached it will probably be seen that nothing much better or safer +can be found than some plan on the main lines of Mr. Gladstone's Bill. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 15: Speech at Manchester, May 7, 1886, by Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, +who was a member of the Cabinet to which Mr. Chamberlain's scheme was +submitted.] + +[Footnote 16: _Hansard_, vol. 220, pp. 708, 715.] + +[Footnote 17: _Considerations on Representative Government_, p. 281.] + +[Footnote 18: Dicey's _England's Case against Home Rule_, pp. 25-31, and +Letter in _Spectator_ of September 17th, 1887.] + +[Footnote 19: From the beginning of 1880 till now there have been six +Viceroys and ten Chief Secretaries in Dublin--namely, Duke of +Marlborough, Earls Cowper and Spencer, Earls of Carnarvon and Aberdeen, +and the Marquis of Londonderry; Mr. Lowther, Mr. Forster, Lord F. +Cavendish, Mr. Trevelyan, Mr. Campbell Bannerman, Sir W. Hart Dyke, Mr. +W.H. Smith, Mr. J. Morley, Sir M. Hicks-Beach, and Mr. A. Balfour. A +fine example, truly, of stable government and continuous policy!] + +[Footnote 20: Creasy's _Imperial and Colonial Constitutions of the +Britannic Empire,_ p. 155.] + +[Footnote 21: May's _Const. Hist._, i. 313.] + +[Footnote 22: Blackstone's _Commentaries_, by Stephen, ii. 491, 492, +497, 507.] + +[Footnote 23: We need not go far afield for illustrations. A few samples +will suffice. "It was natural," says Mill (_Rep. Gov._, p. 311), "to +feel strong doubts before trial had been made how such a provision [as +the Supreme Court of the United States] would work; whether the tribunal +would have the courage to exercise its constitutional power; if it did, +whether it would exercise it wisely, and whether the Government would +consent peaceably to its decision. The discussions on the American +Constitution, before its final adoption, give evidence that these +natural apprehensions were strongly felt; but they are now entirely +quieted, since, during the two generations and more which have +subsequently elapsed, nothing has occurred to verify them, though there +have at times been disputes of considerable acrimony, and which became +the badges of parties respecting the limits of the authority of the +Federal and State Governments." The Austrian opponents of Home Rule in +Hungary predicted that it would lead straight to separation. The +opponents of the Canadian Constitution prophesied that Canada would in a +few years be annexed to the United States; and Home Rule in Australia +was believed by able statesmen to involve independence at an early date. +Mr. Dicey himself tells us "that the wisest thinkers of the eighteenth +century (including Burke) held that the independence of the American +Colonies meant the irreparable ruin of Great Britain. There were +apparently solid reasons for this belief: experience has proved it to be +without foundation." The various changes in our own Constitution, and +even in our Criminal Code, were believed by "men of light and leading" +at the time to portend national ruin. All the judges in the land, all +the bankers, and the professions generally, petitioned against +alteration in the law which sent children of ten to the gallows for the +theft of a pocket-handkerchief. The great Lord Ellenborough declared in +the House of Lords that "the learned judges were unanimously agreed" +that any mitigation in that law would imperil "the public security." "My +Lords," he exclaimed, "if we suffer this Bill to pass we shall not know +where we stand; we shall not know whether we are on our heads or on our +feet." Mr. Perceval, when leader of the House of Commons in 1807, +declared that "he could not conceive a time or change of circumstances +which would render further concessions to the Catholics consistent with +the safety of the State." (_Croker Papers_, i. 12.) Croker was a very +astute man; but here is his forecast of the Reform Act of 1832: "No +kings, no lords, no inequalities in the social system; all will be +levelled to the plane of the petty shopkeepers and small farmers: this, +perhaps, not without bloodshed, but certainly by confiscations and +persecutions." "There can be no longer any doubt that the Reform Bill is +a stepping-stone in England to a Republic, and in Ireland to +separation." Croker met the Queen in 1832, considered her very +good-looking, but thought it not unlikely that "she may live to be plain +Miss Guelph." Even Sir Robert Peel wrote: "If I am to be believed, I +foresee revolution as the consequence of this Bill;" and he "felt that +it had ceased to be an object of ambition to any man of equable and +consistent mind to enter into the service of the Crown." And as late as +1839, so robust a character as Sir James Graham thought the world was +coming to an end because the young Queen gave her confidence to a Whig +Minister. "I begin to share all your apprehensions and forebodings," he +writes to Croker, "with regard to the probable issue of the present +struggle. The Crown in alliance with Democracy baffles every calculation +on the balance of power in our mixed form of Government. Aristocracy and +Church cannot contend against Queen and people mixed; they must yield in +the first instance, when the Crown, unprotected, will meet its fate, and +the accustomed round of anarchy and despotism will run its course." And +he prays that he may "lie cold before that dreadful day." (_Ibid._, ii. +113, 140, 176, 181, 356.) Free Trade created a similar panic. "Good +God!" Croker exclaimed, "what a chaos of anarchy and misery do I foresee +in every direction, from so comparatively small a beginning as changing +an _average_ duty of 8_s._ into a _fixed_ duty of 8_s._, the fact being +that the fixed duty means _no duty at all_; and _no duty at all_ will be +the overthrow of the existing social and political system of our +country!" (_Ibid._, iii. 13.) And what have become of Mr. Lowe's gloomy +vaticinations as to the terrible consequences of the very moderate +Reform Bill of 1866, followed as it was by a much more democratic +measure?] + + + + +A LAWYER'S OBJECTIONS TO HOME RULE. + +BY E.L. GODKIN. + + +Mr. Dicey in his _Case against Home Rule_ does me the honour to refer to +an article which I wrote a year ago on "American Home Rule,"[24] +expressing in one place "disagreement in the general conclusion to which +the article is intended to lead," and in another "inability to follow +the inference" which he supposes me to draw "against all attempts to +enforce an unpopular law." Now the object of that article, I may be +permitted to explain, was twofold. I desired, in the first place, to +combat the notion which, it seemed to me, if I might judge from a great +many of the speeches and articles on the Irish question, was widely +diffused even among thoughtful Englishmen that the manner in which the +Irish have expressed their discontent--that is, through outrage and +disorder--was indicative of incapacity for self-government, and even +imposed upon the Englishmen the duty, in the interest of morality (I +think it was the _Spectator_ who took this view), and as a disciplinary +measure, of refusing to such a people the privilege of managing their +own affairs. I tried to show by several noted examples occurring in this +country that prolonged displays of lawlessness, and violence, and even +cruelty, such as the anti-rent movement in the State of New York, the +Ku-Klux outrages in the South, and the persecution of Miss Prudence +Crandall in Connecticut, were not inconsistent with the possession of +marked political capacity. I suggested that it was hardly adult politics +to take such things into consideration in passing on the expediency of +conceding local self-government to a subject community. There was to me +something almost childish in the arguments drawn from Irish lawlessness +in the discussion of Home Rule, and in the moral importance attached by +some Englishmen to the refusal to such wicked men as the Irish of the +things they most desire. It is only in kindergartens, I said, that +rulers are able to do equal and exact justice, and see that the naughty +are brought to grief and the good made comfortable. Statesmen occupy +themselves with the more serious business of curing discontent. They +concern themselves but little, if at all, with the question whether it +might not be manifested by less objectionable methods. + +The Irish methods of manifesting it, I endeavoured to show, were not +exceptional, and did not prove either inability to make laws or +unwillingness to obey them. I illustrated this by examples drawn from +the United States. I might, had I had more time and space, have made +these examples still more numerous and striking. I might have given very +good reasons for believing that, were Ireland a state in the American +Union, there probably would not have been any rent paid in the island +within the last fifty years, and that the armed resistance of the +tenants would have had the open or secret sympathy of the great bulk of +the American people. In truth, the importance of Irish crime as a +political symptom is grossly exaggerated by English writers. I venture +to assert that more murders unconnected with robbery are committed in +the State of Kentucky in one year than in Ireland in ten, and the +condition of some other Southern and Western States is nearly as bad. +All good Americans lament this and are ashamed of it, but it never +enters into the heads of even the most lugubrious American moralists +that Kentucky or any other State should be disfranchised and remanded to +the condition of a Territory, because the offences against the person +committed in it are so numerous, and the punishment of them, owing to +popular sympathy or apathy, so difficult. + +There are a great many Englishmen who think that when they show that +Grattan's Parliament was a venal and somewhat disorderly body, which +occasionally indulged in mixed metaphor, they have proved the +impossibility of giving Ireland a Parliament now. But then, as they are +obliged to admit, Walpole's Parliament was very corrupt, and no one +would say that for that reason it would have been wise to suspend +constitutional government in England in the eighteenth century. It is +only through the pernicious habit of thinking of Irishmen as exceptions +to all political rules that Grattan's Parliament is considered likely, +had it lasted, to have come down to our time unreformed and unimproved. + +Those have misunderstood me who suppose that I draw from the success of +the anti-rent movement in this State between 1839 and 1846 an inference +against "all attempts to enforce an unpopular law." Such was not by any +means my object. What I sought to show by the history of this movement +was that there was nothing peculiar or inexplicable in the hostility to +rent-paying in Ireland. The rights of the New York landlords were as +good in law and morals as the rights of the Irish landlords, and their +mode of asserting them far superior. Moreover, those who resisted them +were not men of a different race, religion, or nationality, and had, as +Mr. Dicey says, "none of the excuses that can be urged in extenuation of +half-starved tenants." Their mode of setting the law at defiance was +exactly similar to that adopted by the Irish, and it was persisted in +for a period of ten years, or until they had secured a substantial +victory. The history of the anti-rent agitation in New York also +illustrates strikingly, as it seems to me, the perspicacity of a remark +made, in substance, long ago by Mr. Disraeli, which, in my eyes at +least, threw a great deal of light on the Irish problem, namely, that +Ireland was suffering from suppressed revolution. As Mr. Dicey says, +"The crises called revolutions are the ultimate and desperate cures for +the fundamental disorganization of society. The issue of a revolutionary +struggle shows what is the true sovereign power in the revolutionized +state. So strong is the interest of mankind, at least in any European +country, in favour of some sort of settled rule, that civil disturbance +will, if left to itself, in general end in the supremacy of some power +which by securing the safety at last gains the attachment of the people. +The Reign of Terror begets the Empire; even wars of religion at last +produce peace, albeit peace may be nothing better than the iron +uniformity of despotism. Could Ireland have been left for any lengthened +period to herself, some form of rule adapted to the needs of the country +would in all probability have been established. Whether Protestants or +Catholics would have been the predominant element in the State; whether +the landlords would have held their own, or whether the English system +of tenure would long ago have made way for one more in conformity with +native traditions; whether hostile classes and races would at last have +established some _modus vivendi_ favourable to individual freedom, or +whether despotism under some of its various forms would have been +sanctioned by the acquiescence of its subjects, are matters of uncertain +speculation. A conclusion which, though speculative, is far less +uncertain, is that Ireland, if left absolutely to herself, would have +arrived, like every other country, at some lasting settlement of her +difficulties" (p. 87). That is to say, that in Ireland as in New York +the attempt to enforce unpopular land laws would have been abandoned, +had local self-government existed. For "revolution" is, after all, only +a fine name for the failure or refusal of the rulers of a country to +persist in executing laws which the bulk of the population find +obnoxious. When the popular hostility to the law is strong enough to +make its execution impossible, as it was in New York in the rent affair, +it is accepted as the respectable solution of a very troublesome +problem. When, as in Ireland, it is strong enough to produce turbulence +and disorder, but not strong enough to tire out and overcome the +authorities, it simply ruins the political manners of the people. If the +Irish landlords had had from the beginning to face the tenants +single-handed and either hold them down by superior physical force, or +come to terms with them as the New York landlords had to do, conditions +of peace and good will would have assuredly been discovered long ago. +The land question, in other words, would have been adjusted in +accordance with "Irish ideas," that is, in some way satisfactory to the +tenants. The very memory of the conflict would probably by this time +have died out, and the two classes would be living in harmony on the +common soil. If in New York, on the other hand, the Van Rensselaers and +Livingstons had been able to secure the aid of martial law and of the +Federal troops in asserting their claims, and in preventing local +opinion having any influence whatever on the settlement of the dispute, +there can be no doubt that a large portion of this State would to-day be +as poor and as savage, and apparently as little fitted for the serious +business of government, as the greater part of Ireland is. + +There is, in truth, no reason to doubt that the idea of property in +land, thoroughly accepted though it be in the United States, is +nevertheless held under the same limitations as in the rest of the +world. No matter what the law may say in any country, in no country is +the right of the landed proprietor in his acres as absolute as his right +in his movables. A man may own as much land as he can purchase, and may +assert his ownership in its most absolute form against one, two, or +three occupants, but the minute he began to assert it against a large +number of occupants, that is, to act as if his rights were such that he +had only to buy a whole state or a whole island in order to be able to +evict the entire population, he would find in America, as he finds in +Ireland, that he cannot have the same title to land as to personal +property. He would, for instance, if he tried to oust the people of a +whole district or of a village from their homes on any plea of +possession, or of a contract, find that he was going too far, and that +no matter what the judges might say, or the sheriff might try to do for +him, his legal position was worth very little to him. Consequently a +large landlord in America, if he were lucky enough to get tenants at +all, would be very chary indeed about quarrelling with more than one of +them at a time. The tenants would no more submit to wholesale ejectment +than the farmers in Missouri would submit some years ago to a tax levy +on their property to pay county bonds given in aid of a railroad. The +goods of some of them were seized, but a large body of them attended the +sale armed with rifles, having previously issued a notice that the place +would be very "unhealthy" for outside bidders. + +The bearing of this condition of American opinion on the Irish question +will be plainer if I remind English readers that the Irish in the United +States numbered in 1880 nearly 2,000,000, and that the number of persons +of Irish parentage is probably between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000. In short +there are, as well as one can judge, more Irish nationalists in the +United States than in Ireland. The Irish-Americans are to-day the only +large and prosperous Irish community in the world. The children of the +Irish born in the United States or brought there in their infancy are +just as Irish in their politics as those who have grown up at home. +Patrick Ford, for instance, the editor of the _Irish World_, who is such +a shape of dread to some Englishmen, came to America in childhood, and +has no personal knowledge nor recollection of Irish wrongs. Of the part +this large Irish community plays in stimulating agitation--both agrarian +and political--at home I need not speak; Englishmen are very familiar +with it, and are very indignant over it. The Irish-Americans not only +send over a great deal of American money to their friends at home, but +they send over American ideas, and foremost among them American +hostility to large landowners, and American belief in Home Rule. Now, to +me, one of the most curious things in the English state of mind about +the Irish problem is the apparent expectation that this Irish-American +interference is transient, and will probably soon die out. It is quite +true, as Englishmen are constantly told, that "the best Americans," that +is, the literary people and the commercial magnates, whom travelling +Englishmen see on the Atlantic coast, dislike the Irish anti-English +agitation. But it is also true that the disapproval of the "best +Americans" is not of the smallest practical consequence, particularly as +it is largely due to complete indifference to, and ignorance of, the +whole subject. There are probably not a dozen of them who would venture +to express their disapproval publicly. The mass of the population, +particularly in the West, sympathize, though half laughingly, with the +efforts of the transplanted Irish to "twist the British lion's tail," +and all the politicians either sympathize with them, or pretend to do +so. I am not now expressing any opinion as to whether this state of +things is good or bad. What I wish to point out is that this +Irish-American influence on Irish affairs is very powerful, and may, for +all practical purposes, be considered permanent, and must be taken into +account as a constant element in the Irish problem. I will indeed +venture on the assertion that it is the appearance of the +Irish-Americans on the scene which has given the Irish question its +present seriousness. The attempts of the Irish at physical resistance to +English authority have been steadily diminishing in gravity during the +present century--witness the descent from the rebellion of 1798 to Smith +O'Brien's rebellion and the Fenian rising of 1867. On the other hand the +power of the Irish to act as a disturbing agency in English politics has +greatly increased, and the reason is that the stream of Irish discontent +is fed by thousands of rills from the United States. Every emigrant's +letter, every Irish-American newspaper, every returned emigrant with +money in his pocket and a good coat on his back, helps to swell it, and +there is not the slightest sign, that I can see, of its drying up. + +Where Mr. Dicey is most formidable to the Home Rulers, as it seems to +me, is in his chapter on "Home Rule as Federalism," which is the form in +which the Irish ask for it. He attacks this in two ways. One is by +maintaining that the necessary conditions for a federal union between +Great Britain and Ireland do not exist. This disposes at one blow of all +the experience derived from the working of the foreign federations, on +which the advocates of Home Rule have relied a good deal. The other is +what I may call predictions that the federation even if set up would not +work. Either the state of facts on which all other federations have been +built does not exist in Ireland, or if it now exists, will not, owing to +the peculiarities of Irish character, continue to exist. In other words, +the federation will either fail at the outset, or fail in the long run. +No one can admire more than I do the force and ingenuity and wealth of +illustration with which Mr. Dicey supports this thesis. But +unfortunately the arguments by which he assails Irish federalism might +be, or might have been, used against all federations whatever. They +might have been used, as I shall try to show, against the most +successful of them all, the Government of the United States. I was +reminded, while reading Mr. Dicey's account of the impossibility of an +Anglo-Irish federation, of Mr. Madison's rehearsal in the _Federalist_ +(No. 38) of the objections made to the Federal Constitution after the +Convention had submitted it to the States. These objections covered +every feature in it but one; and that, the mode of electing the +President, curiously enough, is the only one which can be said to have +utterly failed. A more impressive example of the danger of _a priori_ +attacks on any political arrangement, history does not contain. Mr. +Madison says: "This one tells me that the proposed Constitution ought to +be rejected, because it is not a confederation of the states, but a +government over individuals. Another admits that it ought to be a +government over individuals to a certain extent, but by no means to the +extent proposed. A third does not object to the government over +individuals, or to the extent proposed, but to the want of a bill of +rights. A fourth concurs in the absolute necessity of a bill of rights, +but contends that it ought to be declaratory not of the personal rights +of individuals, but of the rights reserved to the states in their +political capacity. A fifth is of opinion that a bill of rights of any +sort would be superfluous and misplaced, and that the plan would be +unexceptionable but for the fatal power of regulating the times and +places of election. An objector in a large state exclaims loudly against +the unreasonable equality of representation in the Senate. An objector +in a small state is equally loud against the dangerous inequality in the +House of Representatives. From one quarter we are alarmed with the +amazing expense, from the number of persons who are to administer the +new government. From another quarter, and sometimes from the same +quarter, on another occasion the cry is that the Congress will be but +the shadow of a representation, and that the government would be far +less objectionable if the number and the expense were doubled. A patriot +in a state that does not import or export discerns insuperable +objections against the power of direct taxation. The patriotic adversary +in a state of great exports and imports is not less dissatisfied that +the whole burden of taxes may be thrown on consumption. This politician +discovers in the constitution a direct and irresistible tendency to +monarchy. That is equally sure it will end in aristocracy. Another is +puzzled to say which of these shapes it will ultimately assume, but sees +clearly it must be one or other of them. Whilst a fourth is not wanting, +who with no less confidence affirms that the Constitution is so far from +having a bias towards either of these dangers, that the weight on that +side will not be sufficient to keep it upright and firm against the +opposite propensities. With another class of adversaries to the +Constitution, the language is, that the legislative, executive, and +judiciary departments are intermixed in such a manner as to contradict +all the ideas of regular government and all the requisite precautions in +favour of liberty. Whilst this objection circulates in vague and general +expressions, there are not a few who lend their sanction to it. Let each +one come forward with his particular explanation, and scarcely any two +are exactly agreed on the subject. In the eyes of one the junction of +the Senate with the President in the responsible function of appointing +to offices, instead of vesting this power in the executive alone, is the +vicious part of the organization. To another the exclusion of the House +of Representatives, whose numbers alone could be a due security against +corruption and partiality in the exercise of such a power, is equally +obnoxious. With a third the admission of the President into any share of +a power which must ever be a dangerous engine in the hands of the +executive magistrate is an unpardonable violation of the maxims of +republican jealousy. No part of the arrangement, according to some, is +more inadmissible than the trial of impeachments by the Senate, which is +alternately a member both of the legislative and executive departments, +when this power so evidently belonged to the judiciary department. We +concur fully, reply others, in the objection to this part of the plan, +but we can never agree that a reference of impeachments to the judiciary +authority would be an amendment of the error; our principal dislike to +the organization arises from the extensive powers already lodged in that +department. Even among the zealous patrons of a council of state, the +most irreconcilable variance is discovered concerning the mode in which +it ought to be constituted." + +Mr. Madison's challenge to the opponents of the American Constitution to +agree on some plan of their own, and his humorous suggestion that if the +American people had to wait for some such agreement to be reached they +would go for a long time without a government, are curiously applicable +to the opponents of Irish Home Rule. They are very fertile in reasons +for thinking that neither the Gladstone plan nor any other plan can +succeed, but no two of them, so far as I know, have yet hit upon any +other mode of pacifying Ireland, except the use of force for a certain +period to maintain order, and oddly enough, even when they agree on this +remedy, they are apt to disagree about the length of time during which +it should be tried. + +Mr. Dicey, in conceding the success of the American Constitution, seems +to me unmindful, if I may use the expression, of the judgments he would +probably have passed on it had it been submitted to him at the outset +were he in the frame of mind to which a prolonged study of the Irish +problem has now brought him. The Supreme Court, for instance, which he +now recognizes as an essential feature of the Federal Constitution, and +the absence of which in the Gladstonian arrangement he treats as a fatal +defect, would have undoubtedly appeared to him a preposterous +contrivance. It would have seemed to him impossible that a legislature +like Congress, with the traditions of parliamentary omnipotence still +strong in the minds of the members, would ever submit to have its acts +nullified by a board composed of half a dozen elderly lawyers. Nor would +he have treated as any more reasonable the expectation that the State +tribunals, which had existed in each colony from its foundation, and had +earned the respect and confidence of the people, would quietly submit to +have their jurisdiction curtailed, their decisions overruled, causes +torn from their calendar, and prisoners taken out of their custody by +new courts of semi-foreign origin, which the State neither paid nor +controlled. He would, too, very probably have been most incredulous +about the prospect of the growth of loyalty on the part of New-Yorkers +and Massachusetts men to a new-fangled government, which was to make +itself only slightly felt in their daily lives, and was to sit a +fortnight away in an improvised village in the midst of a Virginian +forest. + +He would, too, have ridiculed the notion that State legislatures would +refrain, in obedience to the Constitution, from passing any law which +local sentiment strongly favoured or local convenience plainly demanded, +such as a law impairing the obligation of obnoxious contracts, or +levying duties on imports or exports. The possibility that the State +militia could ever be got to obey federal officers, or form an efficient +part of a federal army, he would have scouted. On the feebleness of the +front which federation would present to a foreign enemy he would have +dwelt with emphasis, and would have pointed with confidence to the +probability that in the event of a war some of the states would make +terms with him or secretly favour his designs. National allegiance and +local allegiance would divide and perplex the feelings of loyal +citizens. Unless the national sentiment predominated--and it could not +predominate without having had time to grow--the federation would go to +pieces at any of those crises when the interests or wishes of any of the +states conflicted with the interests or wishes of the Union. That the +national sentiment could grow at all rapidly, considering the maturity +of the communities which composed the Union and the differences of +origin, creed, and manners which separated them, no calm observer of +human nature would believe for one moment. + +The American Constitution is flecked throughout with those flaws which a +lawyer delights to discover and point out, and which the framers of a +federal contract can only excuse by maintaining that they are +inevitable. It is true that Mr. Dicey does not even now acknowledge the +success of the American Constitution to be complete. He points out that +if the "example either of America or of Switzerland is to teach us +anything worth knowing, the history of these countries must be read as a +whole. It will then be seen that the two most successful confederacies +in the world have been kept together only by the decisive triumph +through force of arms of the central power over real or alleged State +rights" (p. 192). + +It is odd that such objectors do not see that the decisive triumph of +the central power in the late civil war in America was, in reality, a +striking proof of the success of the federation. The armies which +General Grant commanded, and the enormous resources in money and +devotion from which he was able to draw, were the product of the Federal +Union and of nothing else. One of the greatest arguments its founders +used in its favour was that if once established it would supply +overwhelming force for the suppression of any attempt to break it up. +They did not aim at setting up a government which neither foreign malice +nor domestic treason, would ever assail, for they knew that this was +something beyond the reach of human endeavour. They tried to set up one +which, if attacked either from within or from without, would make a +successful resistance, and we now know that they accomplished their +object. Somewhat the same answer may be made to the objection, which is +supposed to have fatal applicability to the case of Ireland, that among +the "special faults of federalism" is that it does not provide +"sufficient protection of the legal rights of unpopular minorities," and +that "the moral of it all is that the [American] Federal Government is +not able to protect the rights of individuals against strong local +sentiment" (p. 194 of Mr. Dicey's book). He says, moreover, if I +understand the argument rightly, that it was bound to protect free +speech in the States because "there is not and never was a word in the +Articles of the Constitution forbidding American citizens to criticize +the institutions of the State." It would seem from this as if Mr. Dicey +were under the impression that in America the citizen of a State has a +right to do in his State whatever he is not forbidden to do by the +Federal Constitution, and in doing it has a right to federal protection. +But the Federal Government can only do what the Constitution expressly +authorizes it to do, and the Constitution does not authorize it to +protect a citizen in criticizing the institutions of his own State. This +arrangement, too, is just as good federalism as the committal of free +speech to federal guardianship would have been. The goodness or badness +of the federal system is in no way involved in the matter. + +The question to what extent a minority shall rely on the federation for +protection, and to what extent on its own State, is a matter settled by +the contract which has created the federation. The settlement of this +is, in fact, the great object of a Constitution. Until it is settled +somehow, either by writing or by understanding, there is, and can be, no +federation. If I, as a citizen of the State of New York, could call on +the United States Government to protect me under all circumstances and +against all wrongs, it would show that I was not living under a +federation at all, but under a centralized republic. The reason why I +have to rely on the United States for protection against some things and +not against others is that it was so stipulated when the State of New +York entered the Union. There is nothing in the nature of the federal +system to prevent the United States Government from protecting my +freedom of speech. Nor is there anything in the federal system which +forbids its protecting me against the establishment of a State Church, +which, as a matter of fact, it does not do. Nor is there anything in the +federal system compelling the Government to protect me against the +establishment of an order of nobility, which, as a matter of fact, it +does do. The reason why it does not do one of these things and does the +other is simply and solely that it was so stipulated, after much +discussion, in the contract. Most thinking men are to-day of opinion +that the United States ought to have exclusive jurisdiction of marriage, +so that the law of marriage might be uniform in all parts of the Union. +The reason why they do not possess such jurisdiction is not that +Congress is not fully competent to pass such a law or the federal courts +to execute it, but that no such jurisdiction is conferred by the +Constitution. In fact it seems to me just as reasonable to cite the ease +of divorce in various States of the Union as a defect in the federal +system, as to cite the oppression of local minorities in matters not +placed under federal authority by the organic law. + +If one may judge from a great deal of writing on American matters which +one sees in English journals and the demands for federal interference in +America in State affairs which they constantly make, the greatest +difficulty Irish Home Rule has to contend with is the difficulty which +men bred in a united monarchy and under an omnipotent Parliament +experience in grasping what I may call the federal idea. The influence +of association on their minds is so strong that they can hardly conceive +of a central power, worthy of the name of a government, standing by and +witnessing disorders or failures of justice in any place within its +borders, without stepping in to set matters right, no matter what the +Constitution may say. They remind me often of an old verger in +Westminster Abbey during the American civil war who told me that "he +always knew a government without a head couldn't last." Permanence and +peace were in his mind inseparably linked with kingship. That even Mr. +Dicey has not been able to escape this influence appears frequently in +his discussions of federalism. He, of course, thoroughly understands the +federal system as a jurist, but when he comes to discuss it as a +politician he has evidently some difficulty in seeing how a government +with a power to enforce _any_ commands can be restrained by contract +from enforcing _all_ commands which may seem to be expedient or +salutary. Consequently the cool way in which the Federal Government here +looks on at local disorders seems to him a sign, not of the fidelity of +the President and Congress to the federal pact, but of some inherent +weakness in the federal system. + +The true way to judge the federal system, however, either in the United +States or elsewhere, is by observing the manner in which it has +performed the duties assigned to it by the Constitution. If the +Government at Washington performs these faithfully, its failure to +prevent lawlessness in New York or the oppression of minorities in +Connecticut is of no more consequence than its failure to put down +brigandage in Macedonia. Possibly it would have been better to saddle it +with greater responsibility for local peace; but the fact is that the +framers of the Constitution decided not to do so. They did not mean to +set up a government which would see that every man living under it got +his due. They could not have got the States to accept such a +government. They meant to set up a government which should represent +the nation worthily in all its relations with foreigners, which should +carry on war effectively, protect life and property on the high seas, +furnish a proper currency, put down all resistance to its lawful +authority, and secure each State against domestic violence on the demand +of its Legislature. + +There is no common form for federal contracts, and no rules describing +what such a contract must contain in order that the Government may be +federal and not unitarian. There is no hard and fast line which must, +under the federal system, divide the jurisdiction of the central +Government from the jurisdiction of each State Government. The way in +which the power is divided between the two must necessarily depend on +the traditions, manners, aims, and needs of the people of the various +localities. The federal system is not a system manufactured on a +regulation model, which can be sent over the world like iron huts or +steam launches, in detached pieces, to be put together when the scene of +operation is reached. Therefore I am unable to see the force of the +argument that, as the conditions under which all existing federations +were established differ in some respects from those under which the +proposed federal union between England and Ireland would have to be +established, therefore the success of these confederations, such as it +is, gives them no value as precedents. A system which might have worked +very well for the New England States would not have worked well for a +combination which included also the middle and southern States. And the +framers of the American Constitution were not so simple-minded as to +inquire, either before beginning their labours or before ending them--as +Mr. Dicey would apparently have the English and Irish do--whether this +or that style of constitution was "the correct thing" in federalism. +Assuming that the people desired to form a nation as regarded the world +outside, they addressed themselves to the task of discovering how much +power the various States were willing to surrender for this purpose. +That was ascertained, as far as it could be ascertained, by assembling +their delegates in convention, and discussing the wishes and fears and +suggestions of the different localities in a friendly and conciliatory +spirit. They had no precedents to guide them. There had not existed a +federal government, either in ancient or modern times, whose working +afforded an example by which the imagination or the understanding of the +American people was likely to be affected in the smallest degree. They, +therefore, had to strike out an entirely new path for themselves, and +they ended by producing an absolutely new kind of federation, which was +half Unitarian, that is, in some respects a union of states, and in +others a centralized government; and it was provided for a Territory one +end of which was more than a month's distance from the other. + +It is not in its details, therefore, but in the manner of its +construction, that the American Constitution furnishes anything in the +way of guidance or suggestion to those who are now engaged in trying to +find a _modus vivendi_ between England and Ireland. The same thing may +be said of the Swiss Constitution and of the Austro-Hungarian +Constitution. Both of them contain many anomalies--that is, things that +are not set down in the books as among the essentials of federalism. But +both are adapted to the special wants of the people who live under them, +and were framed in reference to those wants. + +The Austro-Hungarian Delegations are another exception to the rule. +These Delegations undoubtedly control the ministry of the Empire, or at +all events do in practice displace it by their votes. It is made +formally responsible to them by the Constitution. All that Mr. Dicey can +say to this is that "the real responsibility of the Ministry to the +Delegations admits of a good deal of doubt," and that, at all events, +it is not like the responsibility of Mr. Gladstone or Lord Salisbury to +the British Parliament. This may be true, but the more mysterious or +peculiar it is the better it illustrates the danger of speaking of any +particular piece of machinery or of any particular division of power as +an essential feature of a federal constitution. + +We are told by the critics of the Gladstonian scheme that federalism is +not "a plan for disuniting the parts of a united state." But whether it +is or not once more depends on circumstances. Federalism, like the +British or French Constitution, is an arrangement intended to satisfy +the people who set it up by gratifying some desire or removing some +cause of discontent. If that discontent be due to unity, federalism +disunites; if it be due to disunion, federalism unites. In the case of +the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for instance, it clearly is a "plan for +disuniting the parts of a united state." Austria and Hungary were united +in the sense in which the opponents of Home Rule use the word for many +years before 1867, but the union did not work, that is, did not produce +moral as well as legal unity. A constitution was therefore invented +which disunites the two countries for the purposes of domestic +legislation, but leaves them united for the purposes of foreign +relations. This may be a queer arrangement. Although it has worked well +enough thus far, it may not continue to work well, but it does work well +now. It has succeeded in converting Hungary from a discontented and +rebellious province and a source of great weakness to Austria into a +loyal and satisfied portion of the Empire. In other words, it has +accomplished its purpose. It was not intended to furnish a symmetrical +piece of federalism. It was intended to conciliate the Hungarian people. +When therefore the professional federal architects make their tour of +inspection and point out to the Home Ruler what flagrant departures from +the correct federal model the Austro-Hungarian Constitution contains, +how improbable it is that so enormous a structure can endure, and how, +after all, the Hungarians have not got rid of the Emperor, who commands +the army and represents the brute force of the old _regime_, I do not +think he need feel greatly concerned. This may be all true, and yet the +Austro-Hungarian federalism is a valuable thing. It has proved that the +federal remedy is good for more than one disease, that it can cure both +too much unity and too little. The truth is that there are only two +essentials of a federal government. One is an agreement between the +various communities who are to live under it as to the manner in which +the power is to be divided between the general and local governments; +the other is an honest desire on the part of all concerned to make it +succeed. As a general rule, whatever the parties agree on and desire to +make work is likely to work, just as a Unitarian government is sure to +succeed if the people who live under it determine that it shall succeed. +If a federal plan be settled in the only right way, by amicable and +mutually respectful discussion between representative men, all the more +serious obstacles are certain to be revealed and removed. Those which +are not brought to light by such discussions are pretty sure to be +comparatively trifling, and to disappear before the general success of +arrangement. But by a "mutually respectful discussion" I mean discussion +in which good faith and intelligence of all concerned are acknowledged +on both sides. + +In what I have said by way of criticism of a book which may be taken as +a particularly full exposition of the legal criticism that may be +levelled at Mr. Gladstone's scheme, I have not touched on the arguments +against Home Rule which Mr. Dicey draws from the amount of disturbance +it would cause in English political habits and arrangements. I freely +admit the weight of these arguments. The task of any English statesman +who gives Home Rule to Ireland in the only way in which it can be +given--with the assent of the British people--will be a very arduous +one. But this portion of Mr. Dicey's book, producing, as it does, the +distinctively English objections to Home rule, is to me much the most +instructive, because it shows the difficulty there would be in creating +the state of mind in England about any federal relation to Ireland which +would be necessary to make it succeed. I do not think it an exaggeration +to say that two-thirds of the English objections to Home Rule as +federalism are unconscious expressions of distrust of Irish sincerity or +intelligence thrown into the form of prophecy, and prophets, as we all +know, cannot be refuted. For instance, "the changes necessitated by +federalism would all tend to weaken the power of Great Britain" (Dicey, +p. 173). The question of the command of the army could not be arranged; +the Irish army could not be depended on by the Crown (p. 174); the +central Government would be feeble against foreign aggression, and the +Irish Parliament would give aid to a foreign enemy (pp. 176-7). +Federalism would aggravate or increase instead of diminishing the actual +Irish disloyalty to the Crown (pp. 179-80); the Irish expectations of +material prosperity from Home Rule are baseless or grossly exaggerated +(p. 182); the probability is, it would produce increased poverty and +hardship; there would be frequent quarrels between the two countries +over questions of nullification, secession, and federal taxation (p. +184); neither side would acquiesce in the decision either of the Privy +Council or of any other tribunal on these questions; Home Rulers would +be the first to resist these decisions (p. 185). Irish federation "would +soon generate a demand that the whole British Empire should be turned +into a Confederacy" (p. 188). Finally, as "the one prediction which may +be made with absolute confidence," "federalism would not generate the +goodwill between England and Ireland which, could it be produced, would +be an adequate compensation even for the evils and inconveniences of a +federal system" (p. 191). + +Now I do not myself believe these things, but what else can any advocate +of Home Rule say in answer to them? They are in their very nature the +utterances of a prophet--an able, acute, and fair-minded prophet, I +grant, but still a prophet--and before a prophet the wisest man has to +be silent, or content himself by answering in prophecy also. What makes +the sceptical frame of mind in which Mr. Dicey approaches the Home Rule +question so important is not simply that it probably represents that of +a very large body of educated Englishmen, but that it is one in which a +federal system cannot be produced. Faith, hope, and charity are +political as well as social virtues. The minute you leave the region of +pure despotism and try any form of government in which the citizen has +in the smallest degree to co-operate in the execution of the laws, you +have need of these virtues at every step. As soon as you give up the +attempt to rule men by drumhead justice, you have to begin to trust in +some degree to their intelligence, to their love of order, to their +self-respect, and to their desire for material prosperity, and the +nearer you get to what is called free government the larger this trust +has to be. It has to be very large indeed in order to carry on such a +government as that of Great Britain or of the United States; it has to +be larger still in order to set up and administer a federal government. +In such a government the worst that can happen is very patent. The +opportunities which the best-drawn federal constitution offers for +outbreaks of what Americans call "pure cussedness"--that is, for the +indulgence of anarchical tendencies and impulses--is greater than in any +other. Therefore, to set it up, or even to discuss it with any profit, +your faith in the particular variety of human nature, which is to live +under it, has to be great. No communities can live under it together +and make it work which do not respect each other. I say respect, I do +not say love, each other. The machine can be made to go a good while +without love, and if it goes well it will bring love before long; but +mutual respect is necessary from the first day. This is why Mr. Dicey's +book is discouraging. The arguments which he addressed to Englishmen +would not, I think, be formidable but for the mood in which he finds +Englishmen, and that this mood makes against Home Rule there can be +little doubt. + +I am often asked by Americans why the English do not call an Anglo-Irish +convention in the American fashion, and discuss the Irish question with +the Irish, find out exactly what they will take to be quiet, and settle +with them in a rational way. I generally answer that, in the first +place, a convention is a constitution-making agency with which the +English public is totally unfamiliar, and that, in the second place, +Englishmen's temper is too imperial, or rather imperious, to make the +idea of discussion on equal terms with the Irish at all acceptable. They +are, in fact, so far from any such arrangement that--preposterous and +even funny as it seems to the American mind--to say that an English +statesman is carrying on any sort of communication with the +representatives of the Irish people is to bring against him, in English +eyes, a very damaging accusation. When a man like Mr. Matthew Arnold +writes to the _Times_ to contend that Englishmen should find out what +the Irish want solely for the purpose of not letting them have it, and a +journal like the _Spectator_ maintains that the sole excuse for +extending the suffrage in Ireland, as it has lately been extended in +England, was that the Irish as a minority would not be able to make any +effective use of it; and when another political philosopher writes a +long and very solemn letter in which, while conceding that in governing +Ireland a sympathetic regard for Irish feelings and interests should be +displayed, he mentions, as one of the leading facts of the situation, +that in "the Irish character there is a grievous lack of independence, +of self-respect, of courage, and above all of truthfulness"--when men of +this kind talk in this way, it is easy to see that the mental and moral +conditions necessary to the successful formation of a federal union are +still far off. No federal government, and no government requiring +loyalty and fidelity for its successful working, was ever set up by, or +even discussed between, two parties, one of which thought the other so +unreasonable that it should be carefully denied everything it asked for +and as unfit for any sort of political co-operation as mendacity, +cowardice, and slavishness could make it. + +Finally let me say that there is nothing in Mr. Dicey's book which has +surprised me more, considering with what singular intellectual integrity +he attacks every point, than his failure to make any mention or to take +any account of the large part which time and experience must necessarily +play in bringing to perfection any political arrangement which is made +to order, if I may use the expression, no matter how carefully it may be +drafted. Hume says on this point with great wisdom, "To balance the +large state or society, whether monarchical or republican, on general +laws, is a work of so great difficulty, that no human genius, however +comprehensive, is able by the mere dint of reason or reflection to +effect it. The judgments of many must unite in the work, experience must +guide their labour, time must bring it to perfection, and the feeling of +inconveniences must correct the mistakes which they inevitably fall into +in their first trial and experiments."[25] + +This has proved true of the American and Swiss federations; it will +probably prove true of the Austro-Hungarian federation and of any that +may be set up by Great Britian [Transcriber: sic.] and her colonies. It +will prove still more true of any attempt that may be made at +federation between Great Britain and Ireland. No corrections which could +be made in the Gladstonian or any other constitution would make it work +exactly on the lines laid down by its framers. Even if it were revised +in accordance with Mr. Dicey's criticism, it would probably be found, as +in the case of the American Constitution, that few of the dangers which +were most feared for it had beset it, and that some of the +inconveniences which were most distinctly foreseen as likely to arise +from it were among the things which had materially contributed to its +success. History is full of the gentle ridicule which the course of +events throws on statesmen and philosophers. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 24: Printed in the earlier part of this volume.] + +[Footnote 25: Essay on the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences.] + + + + +THE "UNIONIST" CASE FOR HOME RULE. + +BY R. BARRY O'BRIEN. + + +I am often asked, What are the best books to read on the Irish question? +and I never fail to mention Mr. Lecky's _Leaders of Public Opinion in +Ireland_ and the _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_; Mr. +Goldwin Smith's _Irish History and Irish Character, Three English +Statesmen, The Irish Question_, and Professor Dicey's admirable work, +_England's Case against Home Rule_. + +Indeed, the case for Home Rule, as stated in these books, is +unanswerable; and it redounds to the credit of Mr. Lecky, Mr. Goldwin +Smith, and Mr. Dicey that their narrative of facts should in no wise be +prejudiced by their political opinions. + +That their facts are upon one side and their opinions on the other is a +minor matter. Their facts, I venture to assert, have made more Home +Rulers than their opinions can unmake. + +To put this assertion to the test I propose to quote some extracts from +the works above mentioned. These extracts shall be full and fair. +Nothing shall be left out that can in the slightest degree qualify any +statement of fact in the context. Arguments will be omitted, for I wish +to place facts mainly before my readers. From these facts they can draw +their own conclusions. Neither shall I take up space with comments of my +own. I shall call my witnesses and let them speak for themselves. + +I.--MR. LECKY. + +In the introduction to the new edition of the _Leaders of Public Opinion +in Ireland_, published in 1871--seventy-one years after Mr. Pitt's +Union, which was to make England and Ireland one nation--we find the +following "contrast" between "national life" in the two countries:-- + +"There is, perhaps, no Government in the world which succeeds more +admirably in the functions of eliciting, sustaining, and directing +public opinion than that of England. It does not, it is true, escape its +full share of hostile criticism, and, indeed, rather signally +illustrates the saying of Bacon, that 'the best Governments are always +subject to be like the finest crystals, in which every icicle and grain +is seen which in a fouler stone is never perceived;' but whatever +charges may be brought against the balance of its powers, or against its +legislative efficiency, few men will question its eminent success as an +organ of public opinion. In England an even disproportionate amount of +the national talent takes the direction of politics. The pulse of an +energetic national life is felt in every quarter of the land. The +debates of Parliament are followed with a warm, constant, and +intelligent interest by all sections of the community. It draws all +classes within the circle of political interests, and is the centre of a +strong and steady patriotism, equally removed from the apathy of many +Continental nations in time of calm, and from their feverish and +spasmodic energy in time of excitement. Its decisions, if not instantly +accepted, never fail to have a profound and calming influence on the +public mind. It is the safety-valve of the nation. The discontents, the +suspicions, the peccant humours that agitate the people, find there +their vent, their resolution, and their end. + +"It is impossible, I think, not to be struck by the contrast which, in +this respect, Ireland presents to England. If the one country furnishes +us with an admirable example of the action of a healthy public opinion, +the other supplies us with the most unequivocal signs of its disease. +The Imperial Parliament exercises for Ireland legislative functions, but +it is almost powerless upon opinion--it allays no discontent, and +attracts no affection. Political talent, which for many years was at +least as abundant among Irishmen as in any equally numerous section of +the people, has been steadily declining, and marked decadence in this +respect among the representatives of the nation reflects but too truly +the absence of public spirit in their constituents. + +"The upper classes have lost their sympathy with and their moral +ascendency over their tenants, and are thrown for the most part into a +policy of mere obstruction. The genuine national enthusiasm never flows +in the channel of imperial politics. With great multitudes sectarian +considerations have entirely superseded national ones, and their +representatives are accustomed systematically to subordinate all party +and all political questions to ecclesiastical interests; and while +calling themselves Liberals, they make it the main object of their home +politics to separate the different classes of their fellow-countrymen +during the period of their education, and the main object of their +foreign policy to support the temporal power of the Pope. With another +and a still larger class the prevailing feeling seems to be an +indifference to all Parliamentary proceedings; an utter scepticism about +constitutional means of realizing their ends; a blind, persistent hatred +of England. Every cause is taken up with an enthusiasm exactly +proportioned to the degree in which it is supposed to be injurious to +English interests. An amount of energy and enthusiasm which if rightly +directed would suffice for the political regeneration of Ireland is +wasted in the most insane projects of disloyalty; while the diversion of +so much public feeling from Parliamentary politics leaves the +Parliamentary arena more and more open to corruption, to place-hunting, +and to imposture. + +"This picture is in itself a very melancholy one, but there are other +circumstances which greatly heighten the effect. In a very ignorant or a +very wretched population it is natural that there should be much vague, +unreasoning discontent; but the Irish people are at present neither +wretched nor ignorant. Their economical condition before the famine was, +indeed, such that it might well have made reasonable men despair. With +the land divided into almost microscopic farms, with a population +multiplying rapidly to the extreme limits of subsistence, accustomed to +the very lowest standard of comfort, and marrying earlier than in any +other northern country in Europe, it was idle to look for habits of +independence or self-reliance, or for the culture which follows in the +train of leisure and comfort. But all this has been changed. A fearful +famine and the long-continued strain of emigration have reduced the +nation from eight millions to less than five, and have effected, at the +price of almost intolerable suffering, a complete economical revolution. +The population is now in no degree in excess of the means of +subsistence. The rise of wages and prices has diffused comfort through +all classes. ... Probably no country in Europe has advanced so rapidly +as Ireland within the last ten years, and the tone of cheerfulness, the +improvement of the houses, the dress, and the general condition of the +people must have struck every observer.[26] ... If industrial +improvement, if the rapid increase of material comforts among the poor, +could allay political discontent, Ireland should never have been so +loyal as at present. + +"Nor can it be said that ignorance is at the root of the discontent. The +Irish people have always, even in the darkest period of the penal laws, +been greedy for knowledge, and few races show more quickness in +acquiring it. The admirable system of national education established in +the present century is beginning to bear abundant fruit, and, among the +younger generation at least, the level of knowledge is quite as high as +in England. Indeed, one of the most alarming features of Irish +disloyalty is its close and evident connection with education. It is +sustained by a cheap literature, written often with no mean literary +skill, which penetrates into every village, gives the people their first +political impressions, forms and directs their enthusiasm, and seems +likely in the long leisure of the pastoral life to exercise an +increasing power. Close observers of the Irish character will hardly +have failed to notice the great change which since the famine has passed +over the amusements of the people. The old love of boisterous +out-of-door sports has almost disappeared, and those who would have once +sought their pleasures in the market or the fair now gather in groups in +the public-house, where one of their number reads out a Fenian +newspaper. Whatever else this change may portend, it is certainly of no +good omen for the future loyalty of the people. + +"It was long customary in England to underrate this disaffection by +ascribing it to very transitory causes. The quarter of a century that +followed the Union was marked by almost perpetual disturbance; but this +it was said was merely the natural ground swell of agitation which +followed a great reform. It was then the popular theory that it was the +work of O'Connell, who was described during many years as the one +obstacle to the peace of Ireland, and whose death was made the subject +of no little congratulation, as though Irish discontent had perished +with its organ. It was as if, the AEolian harp being shattered, men wrote +an epitaph upon the wind. Experience has abundantly proved the folly of +such theories. Measured by mere chronology, a little more than seventy +years have passed since the Union, but famine and emigration have +compressed into these years the work of centuries. The character, +feelings, and conditions of the people have been profoundly altered. A +long course of remedial legislation has been carried, and during many +years the national party has been without a leader and without a +stimulus. Yet, so far from subsiding, disloyalty in Ireland is probably +as extensive, and is certainly as malignant, as at the death of +O'Connell, only in many respects the public opinion of the country has +palpably deteriorated. O'Connell taught an attachment to the connection, +a loyalty to the crown, a respect for the rights of property, a +consistency of Liberalism, which we look for in vain among his +successors; and that faith in moral force and constitutional agitation +which he made it one of his greatest objects to instil into the people +has almost vanished with the failure of his agitation."[27] + +Few Irish Nationalists have drawn a weightier indictment against the +Union than this. After a trial of seventy years, Mr. Lecky sums up the +case against the Union in these pregnant sentences:-- + +"The Imperial Parliament allays no discontent, and attracts no +affection;" "The genuine national enthusiasm never flows in the channel +of imperial politics;" the people have "an utter scepticism about +constitutional means of realizing their ends," and are imbued with "a +blind, persistent hatred of England." Worse still, neither the material +progress of the country, nor the education of the people, has +reconciled them to the Imperial Parliament. Indeed, their disloyalty has +increased with their prosperity and enlightenment. This is the story +which Mr. Lecky has to tell. But why are the Irish disloyal? Mr. Lecky +shall answer the question. + +"The causes of this deep-seated disaffection I have endeavoured in some +degree to investigate in the following essays. To the merely dramatic +historian the history of Ireland will probably appear less attractive +than that of most other countries, for it is somewhat deficient in great +characters and in splendid episodes; but to a philosophic student of +history it presents an interest of the very highest order. In no other +history can we trace more clearly the chain of causes and effects, the +influence of past legislation, not only upon the material condition, but +also upon the character of a nation. In no other history especially can +we investigate more fully the evil consequences which must ensue from +disregarding that sentiment of nationality which, whether it be wise or +foolish, whether it be desirable or the reverse, is at least one of the +strongest and most enduring of human passions. This, as I conceive, lies +at the root of Irish discontent. It is a question of nationality as +truly as in Hungary or in Poland. Special grievances or anomalies may +aggravate, but do not cause it, and they become formidable only in as +far as they are connected with it. What discontent was felt against the +Protestant Established Church was felt chiefly because it was regarded +as an English garrison sustaining an anti-national system; and the +agrarian difficulty never assumed its full intensity till by the repeal +agitation the landlords had been politically alienated from the +people."[28] + +Let those who imagine that the Irish question can be completely settled +by the redress of material grievances take those words to heart. + + +But, it is said, Scotch national sentiment is as strong as Irish, why +should not a legislative union be as acceptable to Ireland as to +Scotland? Mr. Lecky shall answer this question too. + +"It is hardly possible to advert to the Scotch Union, without pausing +for a moment to examine why its influence on the loyalty of the people +should have ultimately been so much happier than that of the legislative +union which, nearly a century later, was enacted between England and +Ireland. A very slight attention to the circumstances of the case will +explain the mystery, and will at the same time show the extreme +shallowness of those theorists who can only account for it by reference +to original peculiarities of national character. The sacrifice of a +nationality is a measure which naturally produces such intense and such +enduring discontent that it never should be exacted unless it can be +accompanied by some political or material advantages to the lesser +country that are so great and at the same time so evident as to prove a +corrective. Such a corrective in the case of Scotland, was furnished by +the commercial clauses. The Scotch Parliament was very arbitrary and +corrupt, and by no means a faithful representation of the people. The +majority of the nation were certainly opposed to the Union, and, +directly or indirectly, it is probable that much corruption was employed +to effect it; but still the fact remains that by it one of the most +ardent wishes of all Scottish patriots was attained, that there had been +for many years a powerful and intelligent minority who were prepared to +purchase commercial freedom even at the expense of the fusion of +legislatures, and that in consequence of the establishment of free trade +the next generation of Scotchmen witnessed an increase of material +well-being that was utterly unprecedented in the history of their +country. Nothing equivalent took place in Ireland. The gradual abolition +of duties between England and Ireland was, no doubt, an advantage to the +lesser country, but the whole trade to America and the other English +colonies had been thrown open to Irishmen between 1775 and 1779. Irish +commerce had taken this direction; the years between 1779 and the +rebellion of 1798 were probably the most prosperous in Irish history, +and the generation that followed the Union was one of the most +miserable. The sacrifice of nationality was extorted by the most +enormous corruption in the history of representative institutions. It +was demanded by no considerable section of the Irish people. It was +accompanied by no signal political or material benefit that could +mitigate or counteract its unpopularity, and it was effected without a +dissolution, in opposition to the votes of the immense majority of the +representatives of the counties and considerable towns, and to +innumerable addresses from every part of the country. Can any impartial +man be surprised that such a measure, carried in such a manner, should +have proved unsuccessful?"[29] + + +In the _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_ Mr. Lecky traces the +current of events which have led to the present situation. He shows how +the Treaty of Limerick was shamelessly violated, and how the native +population was oppressed and degraded. + +"The position of Ireland was at this time [1727] one of the most +deplorable that can be conceived.... The Roman Catholics had been +completely prostrated by the battle of the Boyne and by the surrender of +Limerick. They had stipulated indeed for religious liberty, but the +Treaty of Limerick was soon shamelessly violated, and it found no +avengers. Sarsfield and his brave companions had abandoned a country +where defeat left no opening for their talents, and had joined the Irish +Brigade which had been formed in the service of France.... But while the +Irish Roman Catholics abroad found free scope for their ambition in the +service of France, those who remained at home had sunk into a condition +of utter degradation. All Catholic energy and talent had emigrated to +foreign lands, and penal laws of atrocious severity crushed the +Catholics who remained."[30] + +Mr. Lecky's account of these "penal laws" is upon the whole, I think, +the best that has been written. + +"The last great Protestant ruler of England was William III., who is +identified in Ireland with the humiliation of the Boyne, with the +destruction of Irish trade, and with the broken Treaty of Limerick. The +ceaseless exertions of the extreme Protestant party have made him more +odious in the eyes of the people than he deserves to be; for he was +personally far more tolerant than the great majority of his +contemporaries, and the penal code was chiefly enacted under his +successors. It required, indeed, four or five reigns to elaborate a +system so ingeniously contrived to demoralize, to degrade, and to +impoverish the people of Ireland. By this code the Roman Catholics were +absolutely excluded from the Parliament, from the magistracy, from the +corporations, from the bench, and from the bar. They could not vote at +Parliamentary elections or at vestries; they could not act as +constables, or sheriffs, or jurymen, or serve in the army or navy, or +become solicitors, or even hold the positions of gamekeeper or watchman. +Schools were established to bring up their children as Protestants; and +if they refused to avail themselves of these, they were deliberately +assigned to hopeless ignorance, being excluded from the university, and +debarred, under crushing penalties, from acting as schoolmasters, as +ushers, or as private tutors, or from sending their children abroad to +obtain the instruction they were refused at home. They could not marry +Protestants, and if such a marriage were celebrated it was annulled by +law, and the priest who officiated might be hung. They could not buy +land, or inherit or receive it as a gift from Protestants, or hold +life-annuities, or leases for more than thirty-one years, or any lease +on such terms that the profits of the land exceeded one-third of the +rent. If any Catholic leaseholder by his industry so increased his +profits that they exceeded this proportion, and did not immediately make +a corresponding increase in his payments, any Protestant who gave the +information could enter into possession of his farm. If any Catholic had +secretly purchased either his old forfeited estate, or any other land, +any Protestant who informed against him might become the proprietor. The +few Catholic landowners who remained were deprived of the right which +all other classes possessed of bequeathing their lands as they pleased. +If their sons continued Catholics, it was divided equally between them. +If, however, the eldest son consented to apostatize, the estate was +settled upon him, the father from that hour became only a life-tenant, +and lost all power of selling, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of it. +If the wife of a Catholic abandoned the religion of her husband, she was +immediately free from his control, and the Chancellor was empowered to +assign to her a certain proportion of her husband's property. If any +child, however young, professed itself a Protestant, it was at once +taken from the father's care, and the Chancellor could oblige the father +to declare upon oath the value of his property, both real and personal, +and could assign for the present maintenance and future portion of the +converted child such proportion of that property as the court might +decree. No Catholic could be guardian either to his own children or to +those of another person; and therefore a Catholic who died while his +children were minors had the bitterness of reflecting upon his death-bed +that they must pass into the care of Protestants. An annuity of from +twenty to forty pounds was provided as a bribe for every priest who +would become a Protestant. To convert a Protestant to Catholicism was a +capital offence. In every walk of life the Catholic was pursued by +persecution or restriction. Except in the linen trade, he could not have +more than two apprentices. He could not possess a horse of the value of +more than five pounds, and any Protestant, on giving him five pounds, +could take his horse. He was compelled to pay double to the militia. He +was forbidden, except under particular conditions, to live in Galway or +Limerick. In case of war with a Catholic power, the Catholics were +obliged to reimburse the damage done by the enemy's privateers. The +Legislature, it is true, did not venture absolutely to suppress their +worship, but it existed only by a doubtful connivance--stigmatized as if +it were a species of licensed prostitution, and subject to conditions +which, if they had been enforced, would have rendered its continuance +impossible. An old law which prohibited it, and another which enjoined +attendance at the Anglican worship, remained unrepealed, and might at +any time be revived; and the former was, in fact, enforced during the +Scotch rebellion of 1715. The parish priests, who alone were allowed to +officiate, were compelled to be registered, and were forbidden to keep +curates or to officiate anywhere except in their own parishes. The +chapels might not have bells or steeples. No crosses might be publicly +erected. Pilgrimages to the holy wells were forbidden. Not only all +monks and friars, but also all Catholic archbishops, bishops, deacons, +and other dignitaries, were ordered by a certain day to leave the +country; and if after that date they were found in Ireland they were +liable to be first imprisoned and then banished; and if after that +banishment they returned to discharge their duty in their dioceses, they +were liable to the punishment of death. To facilitate the discovery of +offences against the code, two justices of the peace might at any time +compel any Catholic of eighteen years of age to declare when and where +he last heard Mass, what persons were present, and who officiated; and +if he refused to give evidence they might imprison him for twelve +months, or until he paid a fine of twenty pounds. Any one who harboured +ecclesiastics from beyond the seas was subject to fines which for the +third offence amounted to confiscation of all his goods. A graduated +scale of rewards was offered for the discovery of Catholic bishops, +priests, and schoolmasters; and a resolution of the House of Commons +pronounced 'the prosecuting and informing against Papists' 'an +honourable service to the Government.' + +"Such were the principal articles of this famous code--a code which +Burke truly described as 'well digested and well disposed in all its +parts; a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, and as well fitted +for the oppression, impoverishment, and degradation of a people, and the +debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the +perverted ingenuity of man.'"[31] + +The effects of these laws Mr. Lecky has described thus: + +"The economical and moral effects of the penal laws were, however, +profoundly disastrous. The productive energies of the nation were +fatally diminished. Almost all Catholics of energy and talent who +refused to abandon their faith emigrated to foreign lands. The relation +of classes was permanently vitiated; for almost all the proprietary of +the country belonged to one religion, while the great majority of their +tenants were of another. The Catholics, excluded from almost every +possibility of eminence, deprived of their natural leaders, and +consigned by the Legislature to utter ignorance, soon sank into the +condition of broken and dispirited helots. A total absence of industrial +virtues, a cowering and abject deference to authority, a recklessness +about the future, a love of secret illegal combinations, became general +among them. Above all, they learned to regard law as merely the +expression of force, and its moral weight was utterly destroyed. For the +greater part of a century, the main object of the Legislature was to +extirpate a religion by the encouragement of the worst, and the +punishment of some of the best qualities of our nature. Its rewards were +reserved for the informer, for the hypocrite, for the undutiful son, or +for the faithless wife. Its penalties were directed against religious +constancy and the honest discharge of ecclesiastical duty. + +"It would, indeed, be scarcely possible to conceive a more infamous +system of legal tyranny than that which in the middle of the eighteenth +century crushed every class and almost every interest in Ireland."[32] + +But laws were not only passed against the native race and the national +religion. Measures were taken to destroy the industries of the country, +and to involve natives and colonists, Protestants and Catholics, in +common ruin. Mr. Lecky shall tell the story. + +"The commercial and industrial condition of the country was, if +possible, more deplorable than its political condition, and was the +result of a series of English measures which for deliberate and selfish +tyranny could hardly be surpassed. Until the reign of Charles II. the +Irish shared the commercial privileges of the English; but as the island +had not been really conquered till the reign of Elizabeth, and as its +people were till then scarcely removed from barbarism, the progress was +necessarily slow. In the early Stuart reigns, however, comparative +repose and good government were followed by a sudden rush of prosperity. +The land was chiefly pasture, for which it was admirably adapted; the +export of live cattle to England was carried on upon a large scale, and +it became a chief source of Irish wealth. The English landowners, +however, took the alarm. They complained that Irish rivalry in the +cattle market was reducing English rents; and accordingly, by an Act +which was first passed in 1663, and was made perpetual in 1666, the +importation of cattle into England was forbidden. + +"The effect of a measure of this kind, levelled at the principal article +of the commerce of the nation, was necessarily most disastrous. The +profound modification which it introduced into the course of Irish +industry was sufficiently shown by the estimate of Sir W. Petty, who +declares that before the statute three-fourths of the trade of Ireland +was with England, but not one-fourth of it since that time. In the very +year when this Bill was passed another measure was taken not less fatal +to the interest of the country. In the first Navigation Act, Ireland was +placed on the same terms as England; but in the Act as amended in 1663 +she was omitted, and was thus deprived of the whole Colonial trade. With +the exception of a very few specified articles no European merchandise +could be imported into the British Colonies except directly from +England, in ships built in England, and manned chiefly by English +sailors. No articles, with a few exceptions, could be brought from the +Colonies to Europe without being first unladen in England. In 1670 this +exclusion of Ireland was confirmed, and in 1696 it was rendered more +stringent, for it was enacted that no goods of any sort could be +imported directly from the Colonies to Ireland. It will be remembered +that at this time the chief British Colonies were those of America, and +that Ireland, by her geographical position, was naturally of all +countries most fitted for the American trade. + +"As far, then, as the Colonial trade was concerned, Ireland at this time +gained nothing whatever by her connection with England. To other +countries, however, her ports were still open, and in time of peace a +foreign commerce was unrestricted. When forbidden to export their cattle +to England, the Irish turned their land chiefly into sheep-walks, and +proceeded energetically to manufacture the wool. Some faint traces of +this manufacture may be detected from an early period, and Lord +Strafford, when governing Ireland, had mentioned it with a +characteristic comment. Speaking of the Irish he says, 'There was little +or no manufactures amongst them, but some small beginnings towards a +cloth trade, which I had and so should still discourage all I could, +unless otherwise directed by His Majesty and their Lordships. It might +be feared that they would beat us out of the trade itself by +underselling us, which they were able to do.' With the exception, +however, of an abortive effort by this governor, the Irish wool +manufacture was in no degree impeded, and was indeed mentioned with +special favour in many Acts of Parliament; and it was in a great degree +on the faith of this long-continued legislative sanction that it was so +greatly expanded. The poverty of Ireland, the low state of civilization +of a large proportion of its inhabitants, the effects of the civil wars +which had so recently convulsed it, and the exclusion of its products +from the English Colonies, were doubtless great obstacles to +manufacturing enterprise; but, on the other hand, Irish wool was very +good, living was cheaper, taxes were lighter than in England, a spirit +of real industrial energy began to pervade the country, and a +considerable number of English manufacturers came over to colonize it. +There appeared for a time every probability that the Irish would become +an industrial nation, and, had manufactures arisen, their whole social, +political, and economical condition would have been changed. But English +jealousy again interposed. By an Act of crushing and unprecedented +severity, which was introduced in 1698 and carried in 1699, the export +of the Irish woollen manufactures, not only to England, but also to all +other countries, was absolutely forbidden. + +"The effects of this measure were terrible almost beyond conception. The +main industry of the country was at a blow completely and irretrievably +annihilated. A vast population was thrown into a condition of utter +destitution. Several thousands of manufacturers left the country, and +carried their skill and enterprise to Germany, France, and Spain. The +western and southern districts of Ireland are said to have been nearly +depopulated. Emigration to America began on a large scale, and the blow +was so severe that long after, a kind of chronic famine prevailed."[33] + +Mr. Lecky relates with pride how the penal code was relaxed, and the +commercial restrictions were removed, while the Irish Parliament, +essentially a Protestant and landlord body, still existed, and shows how +the cause of Catholic Emancipation was retarded by the Union. + +"The Relief Bill of '93 naturally suggests a consideration of the +question so often agitated in Ireland, whether the Union was really a +benefit to the Roman Catholic cause. It has been argued that Catholic +Emancipation was an impossibility as long as the Irish Parliament +lasted; for in a country where the great majority were Roman Catholics, +it would be folly to expect the members of the dominant creed to +surrender a monopoly on which their ascendency depended. The arguments +against this view are, I believe, overwhelming. The injustice of the +disqualification was far more striking before the Union than after it. +In the one case, the Roman Catholics were excluded from the Parliament +of a nation of which they were the great majority; in the other, they +were excluded from the Parliament of an empire in which they were a +small minority. Grattan, Plunket, Curran, Burrowes, and Ponsonby were +the great supporters of Catholic Emancipation, and the great opponents +of the Union. Clare and Duigenan were the two great opponents of +emancipation, and the great supporters of the Union. At a time when +scarcely any public opinion existed in Ireland, when the Roman Catholics +were nearly quiescent, and when the leaning of Government was generally +liberal, the Irish Protestants admitted their fellow-subjects to the +magistracy, to the jury-box, and to the franchise. By this last measure +they gave them an amount of political power which necessarily implied +complete emancipation. Even if no leader of genius had arisen in the +Roman Catholic ranks, and if no spirit of enthusiasm had animated their +councils, the influence possessed by a body who formed three fourths of +the population, who were rapidly rising in wealth, and who could send +their representatives to Parliament, would have been sufficient to +ensure their triumph. If the Irish Legislature had continued, it would +have been found impossible to resist the demand for reform; and every +reform, by diminishing the overgrown power of a few Protestant +landholders, would have increased that of the Roman Catholics. The +concession accorded in 1793 was, in fact, far greater and more important +than that accorded in 1829, and it placed the Roman Catholics, in a +great measure, above the mercy of Protestants. But this was not all. The +sympathies of the Protestants were being rapidly enlisted in their +behalf. The generation to which Charlemont and Flood belonged had passed +away, and all the leading intellects of the country, almost all the +Opposition, and several conspicuous members of the Government, were +warmly in favour of emancipation. The rancour which at present exists +between the members of the two creeds appears then to have been almost +unknown, and the real obstacle to emancipation was not the feelings of +the people, but the policy of the Government. The Bar may be considered +on most subjects a very fair exponent of the educated opinion of the +nation; and Wolf Tone observed, in 1792, that it was almost unanimous in +favour of the Catholics; and it is not without importance, as showing +the tendencies of the rising generation, that a large body of the +students of Dublin University in 1795 presented an address to Grattan, +thanking him for his labours in the cause. The Roman Catholics were +rapidly gaining the public opinion of Ireland, when the Union arrayed +against them another public opinion which was deeply prejudiced against +their faith, and almost entirely removed from their influence. Compare +the twenty years before the Union with the twenty years that followed +it, and the change is sufficiently manifest. There can scarcely be a +question that if Lord Fitzwilliam had remained in office the Irish +Parliament would readily have given emancipation. In the United +Parliament for many years it was obstinately rejected, and if O'Connell +had never arisen it would probably never have been granted unqualified +by the veto. In 1828 when the question was brought forward in +Parliament, sixty-one out of ninety-three Irish members, forty-five out +of sixty-one Irish county members, voted in its favour. Year after year +Grattan and Plunket brought forward the case of their fellow-countrymen +with an eloquence and a perseverance worthy of their great cause; but +year after year they were defeated. It was not till the great tribune +had arisen, till he had moulded his co-religionists into one compact and +threatening mass, and had brought the country to the verge of +revolution, that the tardy boon was conceded. Eloquence and argument +proved alike unavailing when unaccompanied by menace, and Catholic +Emancipation was confessedly granted because to withhold it would be to +produce a rebellion."[34] + +Many people will think that this is a sufficiently weighty condemnation +of the Union, but what follows is a still graver reflection on that +untoward measure. + +"In truth the harmonious co-operation of Ireland with England depends +much less upon the framework of the institutions of the former country +than upon the dispositions of its people and upon the classes who guide +its political life. With a warm and loyal attachment to the connection +pervading the nation, the largest amount of self-government might be +safely conceded, and the most defective political arrangement might +prove innocuous. This is the true cement of nations, and no change, +however plausible in theory, can be really advantageous which +contributes to diminish it. Theorists may argue that it would be better +for Ireland to become in every respect a province of England; they may +contend that a union of Legislatures, accompanied by a corresponding +fusion of characters and identification of hopes, interests, and +desires, would strengthen the empire; but as a matter of fact this was +not what was effected in 1800. The measure of Pitt centralized, but it +did not unite, or rather, by uniting the Legislatures it divided the +nations. In a country where the sentiment of nationality was as intense +as in any part of Europe, it destroyed the national Legislature contrary +to the manifest wish of the people, and by means so corrupt, +treacherous, and shameful that they are never likely to be forgotten. In +a country where, owing to the religious difference, it was peculiarly +necessary that a vigorous lay public opinion should be fostered to +dilute or restrain the sectarian spirit, it suppressed the centre and +organ of political life, directed the energies of the community into the +channels of sectarianism, drove its humours inwards, and thus began a +perversion of public opinion which has almost destroyed the elements of +political progress. In a country where the people have always been +singularly destitute of self-reliance, and at the same time eminently +faithful to their leaders, it withdrew the guidance of affairs from the +hands of the resident gentry, and, by breaking their power, prepared the +ascendency of the demagogue or the rebel. In two plain ways it was +dangerous to the connection: it incalculably increased the aggregate +disloyalty of the people, and it destroyed the political supremacy of +the class that is most attached to the connection. The Irish Parliament, +with all its faults, was an eminently loyal body. The Irish people +through the eighteenth century, in spite of great provocations, were on +the whole a loyal people till the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, and even +then a few very moderate measures of reform might have reclaimed them. +Burke, in his _Letters on a Regicide Peace_, when reviewing the elements +of strength on which England could confide in her struggle with +revolutionary France, placed in the very first rank the co-operation of +Ireland. At the present day, it is to be feared that most impartial men +would regard Ireland, in the event of a great European war, rather as a +source of weakness than of strength. More than seventy years have passed +since the boasted measure of Pitt, and it is unfortunately incontestable +that the lower orders in Ireland are as hostile to the system of +government under which they live as the Hungarian people have ever been +to Austrian, or the Roman to Papal rule; that Irish disloyalty is +multiplying enemies of England wherever the English tongue is spoken; +and that the national sentiment runs so strongly that multitudes of +Irish Catholics look back with deep affection to the Irish Parliament, +although no Catholic could sit within its walls, and although it was +only during the last seven years of its independent existence that +Catholics could vote for its members. Among the opponents of the Union +were many of the most loyal, as well as nearly all the ablest men in +Ireland; and Lord Charlemont, who died shortly before the measure was +consummated, summed up the feelings of many in the emphatic sentence +with which he protested against it. 'It would more than any other +measure,' he said, 'contribute to the separation of two countries the +perpetual connection of which is one of the warmest wishes of my heart.' + +"In fact, the Union of 1800 was not only a great crime, but was also, +like most crimes, a great blunder. The manner in which it was carried +was not only morally scandalous; it also entirely vitiated it as a work +of statesmanship. No great political measure can be rationally judged +upon its abstract merits, and without considering the character and the +wishes of the people for whom it is intended. It is now idle to discuss +what might have been the effect of a Union if it had been carried before +1782, when the Parliament was still unemancipated; if it had been the +result of a spontaneous movement of public opinion; if it had been +accompanied by the emancipation of the Catholics. Carried as it was +prematurely, in defiance of the national sentiment of the people and of +the protests of the unbribed talent of the country, it has deranged the +whole course of political development, driven a large proportion of the +people into sullen disloyalty, and almost destroyed healthy public +opinion. In comparing the abundance of political talent in Ireland +during the last century with the striking absence of it at present, +something no doubt may be attributed to the absence of protection for +literary property in Ireland in the former period, which may have +directed an unusual portion of the national talent to politics, and +something to the Colonial and Indian careers which have of late years +been thrown open to competition; but when all due allowances have been +made for these, the contrast is sufficiently impressive. Few impartial +men can doubt that the tone of political life and the standard of +political talent have been lowered, while sectarian animosity has been +greatly increased, and the extent to which Fenian principles have +permeated the people is a melancholy comment upon the prophesies that +the Union would put an end to disloyalty in Ireland."[35] + +Mr. Lecky's views as to what ought to have been done in 1800 deserve to +be set forth. + +"While, however, the Irish policy of Pitt appears to be both morally and +politically deserving of almost unmitigated condemnation, I cannot agree +with those who believe that the arrangement of 1782 could have been +permanent. The Irish Parliament would doubtless have been in time +reformed, but it would have soon found its situation intolerable. +Imperial policy must necessarily have been settled by the Imperial +Parliament, in which Ireland had no voice; and, unlike Canada or +Australia, Ireland is profoundly affected by every change of Imperial +policy. Connection with England was of overwhelming importance to the +lesser country, while the tie uniting them would have been found +degrading by one nation and inconvenient to the other. Under such +circumstances a Union of some kind was inevitable. It was simply a +question of time, and must have been demanded by Irish opinion. At the +same time, it would not, I think, have been such a Union as that of +1800. The conditions of Irish and English politics are so extremely +different, and the reasons for preserving in Ireland a local centre of +political life are so powerful, that it is probable a Federal Union +would have been preferred. Under such a system the Irish Parliament +would have continued to exist, but would have been restricted to purely +local subjects, while an Imperial Parliament, in which Irish +representatives sat, would have directed the policy of the empire."[36] + + +MR. GOLDWIN SMITH. + +None of the recent opponents of Home Rule have written against that +policy with more brilliance and epigrammatic keenness than Mr. Goldwin +Smith. But no one has stated with more force the facts and +considerations which, operating on men's mind for years past, have made +the Liberal party Home Rulers now. His _coup d'oeil_ remains the most +pointed indictment ever drawn from the historical annals of Ireland +against the English methods of governing that country. Twenty years ago +he anticipated the advice recently given by Mr. Gladstone. In 1867 he +wrote:-- + +"I have myself sought and found in the study of Irish history the +explanation of the paradox, that a people with so many gifts, so +amiable, naturally so submissive to rulers, and everywhere but in their +own country industrious, are in their own country bywords of idleness, +lawlessness, disaffection, and agrarian crime."[37] He explains the +paradox thus: "But it is difficult to distinguish the faults of the +Irish from their misfortunes. It has been well said of their past +industrial character and history,--'We were reckless, ignorant, +improvident, drunken, and idle. We were idle, for we had nothing to do; +we were reckless, for we had no hope; we were ignorant, for learning was +denied us; we were improvident, for we had no future; we were drunken, +for we sought to forget our misery. That time has passed away for ever.' +No part of this defence is probably more true than that which connects +the drunkenness of the Irish people with their misery. Drunkenness is, +generally speaking, the vice of despair; and it springs from the despair +of the Irish peasant as rankly as from that of his English fellow. The +sums of money which have lately been transmitted by Irish emigrants to +their friends in Ireland seem a conclusive answer to much loose +denunciation of the national character, both in a moral and an +industrial point of view.... There seems no good reason for believing +that the Irish Kelts are averse to labour, provided they be placed, as +people of all races require to be placed, for two or three generations +in circumstances favourable to industry."[38] He shows that the Irish +have not been so placed. "Still more does justice require that allowance +should be made on historical grounds for the failings of the Irish +people. If they are wanting in industry, in regard for the rights of +property, in reverence for the law, history furnishes a full explanation +of their defects, without supposing in them any inherent depravity, or +even any inherent weakness. They have never had the advantage of the +training through which other nations have passed in their gradual rise +from barbarism to civilization. The progress of the Irish people was +arrested at almost a primitive stage, and a series of calamities, +following close upon each other, have prevented it from ever fairly +resuming its course. The pressure of overwhelming misery has now been +reduced; government has become mild and just; the civilizing agency of +education has been introduced; the upper classes are rapidly returning +to their duty, and the natural effect is at once seen in the improved +character of the people. Statesmen are bound to be well acquainted with +the historical sources of the evil with which they have to deal, +especially when those evils are of such a nature as, at first aspect, to +imply depravity in a nation. There are still speakers and writers who +seem to think that the Irish are incurably vicious, because the +accumulated effects of so many centuries cannot be removed at once by a +wave of the legislator's wand. Some still believe, or affect to believe, +that the very air of the island is destructive of the characters and +understandings of all who breathe it."[39] + +Elsewhere he adds, referring to the land system: + +"How many centuries of a widely different training have the English +people gone through in order to acquire their boasted love of law."[40] + +Of the "training" through which the Irish went, he says-- + +"The existing settlement of land in Ireland, whether dating from the +confiscations of the Stuarts, or from those of Cromwell, rests on a +proscription three or four times as long as that on which the settlement +of land rests over a considerable part of France. It may, therefore, be +considered as placed upon discussion in the estimation of all sane men; +and, this being the case, it is safe to observe that no inherent want of +respect for property is shown by the Irish people if a proprietorship +which had its origin within historical memory in flagrant wrong is less +sacred in their eyes than it would be if it had its origin in immemorial +right."[41] + +The character which he gives of Irish landlordism deserves to be quoted: + +"The Cromwellian landowners soon lost their religious character, while +they retained all the hardness of the fanatic and the feelings of +Puritan conquerors towards a conquered Catholic people. 'I have eaten +with them,' said one, 'drunk with them, fought with them; but I never +prayed with them.' Their descendants became, probably, the very worst +upper class with which a country was ever afflicted. The habits of the +Irish gentry grew beyond measure brutal and reckless, and the coarseness +of their debaucheries would have disgusted the crew of Comus. Their +drunkenness, their blasphemy, their ferocious duelling, left the squires +of England far behind. If there was a grotesque side to their vices +which mingles laughter with our reprobation, this did not render their +influence less pestilent to the community of which the motive of destiny +had made them social chiefs. Fortunately, their recklessness was sure, +in the end, to work, to a certain extent, its own cure; and in the +background of their swinish and uproarious drinking-bouts, the +Encumbered Estates Act rises to our view."[42] + +Mr. Goldwin Smith deals with agrarian crime thus: + +"The atrocities perpetrated by the Whiteboys, especially in the earlier +period of agrarianism (for they afterwards grew somewhat less inhuman), +are such as to make the flesh creep. No language can be too strong in +speaking of the horrors of such a state of society. But it would be +unjust to confound these agrarian conspiracies with ordinary crime, or +to suppose that they imply a propensity to ordinary crime either on the +part of those who commit them, or on the part of the people who connive +at and favour their commission. In the districts where agrarian +conspiracy and outrage were most rife, the number of ordinary crimes was +very small. In Munster, in 1833, out of 973 crimes, 627 were Whiteboy, +or agrarian, and even of the remainder, many, being crimes of violence, +were probably committed from the same motive. + +"In plain truth, the secret tribunals which administered the Whiteboy +code were to the people the organs of a wild law of social morality by +which, on the whole, the interest of the peasant was protected. They +were not regular tribunals; neither were the secret tribunals of Germany +in the Middle Ages, the existence of which, and the submission of the +people to their jurisdiction, implied the presence of much violence, but +not of much depravity, considering the wildness of the times. The +Whiteboys 'found in their favour already existing a general and settled +hatred of the law among the great body of the peasantry.'[43] We have +seen how much the law, and the ministers of the law, had done to deserve +the peasant's love. We have seen, too, in what successive guises +property had presented itself to his mind: first as open rapine; then as +robbery carried on through the roguish technicalities of an alien code; +finally as legalized and systematic oppression. Was it possible that he +should have formed so affectionate a reverence either for law or +property as would be proof against the pressure of starvation?"[44] "A +people cannot be expected to love and reverence oppression because it is +consigned to the statute-book, and called law."[45] + +These extracts are taken from _Irish History and Irish Character_, which +was published in 1861. But in 1867 Mr. Goldwin Smith wrote a series of +letters to the _Daily News_, which were republished in 1868 under the +title of _The Irish Question_; and these letters form, perhaps, the most +statesmanlike and far-seeing pronouncement that has ever been made on +the Irish difficulty. + +In the preface Mr. Goldwin Smith begins: + +"The Irish legislation of the last forty years, notwithstanding the +adoption of some remedial measures, has failed through the indifference +of Parliament to the sentiments of Irishmen; and the harshness of +English public opinion has embittered the effects on Irish feeling of +the indifference of Parliament. Occasionally a serious effort has been +made by an English statesman to induce Parliament to approach Irish +questions in that spirit of sympathy, and with that anxious desire to be +just, without which a Parliament in London cannot legislate wisely for +Ireland. Such efforts have hitherto met with no response; is it too much +to hope that it will be otherwise in the year now opening?"[46] + +The only comment I shall make on these words is: they were penned more +than half a century after Mr. Pitt's Union, which was to shower down +blessings on the Irish people. + +Mr. Goldwin Smith's first letter was written on the 23rd of November, +1867, the day of the execution of the Fenians Allen, Larkin, and +O'Brien. He says-- + +"There can be no doubt, I apprehend, that the Irish difficulty has +entered on a new phase, and that Irish disaffection has, to repeat an +expression which I heard used in Ireland, come fairly into a line with +the other discontented nationalities of Europe. Active Fenianism +probably pervades only the lowest class; passive sympathy, which the +success of the movement would at once convert into active co-operation, +extends, it is to be feared, a good deal higher. + +"England has ruin before her, unless she can hit on a remedy, and +overcome any obstacles of class interest or of national pride which +would prevent its application, the part of Russia in Poland, or of +Austria in Italy--a part cruel, hateful, demoralizing, contrary to all +our high principles and professions, and fraught with dangers to our own +freedom. Our position will be worse than that of Russia in this respect, +that, while her Poland is only a province, our Fenianism is an element +pervading every city of the United Kingdom in which Irish abound, and +allying itself with kindred misery, discontent, and disorder. +Wretchedness, the result of misgovernment, has caused the Irish people +to multiply with the recklessness of despair, and now here are their +avenging hosts in the midst of us, here is the poison of their +disaffection running through every member of our social frame. Not only +so, but the same wretchedness has sent millions of emigrants to form an +Irish nation in the United States, where the Irish are a great political +power, swaying by their votes the councils of the American Republic, and +in immediate contact with those Transatlantic possessions of England, +the retention of which it is now patriotic to applaud, and will one day +be patriotic to have dissuaded. + +" ... That Ireland is not at this moment, materially speaking, in a +particularly suffering state, but, on the contrary, the farmers are +rather prosperous, and wages, even when allowance is made for the rise +in the price of provisions, considerably higher than they were, only +adds to the significance of this widespread disaffection. + +"The Fenian movement is not religious, nor radically economical (though +no doubt it has in it a socialistic element), but national, and the +remedy for it must be one which cures national discontent. This is the +great truth which the English people have to lay to heart."[47] + +Mr. Goldwin Smith then dispels the notion that the Irish question is a +religious one. + +"When Fenianism first appeared, the Orangemen, in accordance with their +fixed idea, ascribed it to the priests. They were undeceived, I was +told, by seeing a priest run away from the Fenians in fear of his +life."[48] + +Neither was it a question of the land. + +"The land question, no doubt, lies nearer to the heart of the matter, +and it is the great key to Irish history in the past; but I do not +believe that even this is fundamental." + +He then states what is "fundamental."[49] + +"The real root of the disaffection which exhibits itself at present in +the guise of Fenianism, and which has been suddenly kindled into flame +by the arming of the Irish in the American civil war, but which existed +before in a nameless and smouldering state, is, as I believe, the want +of national institutions, of a national capital, of any objects of +national reverence and attachment, and consequently of anything +deserving to be called national life. The English Crown and Parliament +the Irish have never learnt, nor have they had any chance of learning, +to love, or to regard as national, notwithstanding the share which was +given them, too late, in the representation. The greatness of England is +nothing to them. Her history is nothing, or worse. The success of +Irishmen in London consoles the Irish in Ireland no more than the +success of Italian adventurers in foreign countries (which was very +remarkable) consoled the Italian people. The drawing off of Irish +talent, in fact, turns to an additional grievance in their minds. Dublin +is a modern Tara, a metropolis from which the glory has departed; and +the viceroyalty, though it pleases some of the tradesmen, fails +altogether to satisfy the people. 'In Ireland we can make no appeal to +patriotism, we can have no patriotic sentiments in our schoolbooks, no +patriotic emblems in our schools, because in Ireland everything +patriotic is rebellious.' These were the words uttered in my hearing, +not by a complaining demagogue, but by a desponding statesman. They +seemed to me pregnant with fatal truths. + +"If the craving for national institutions, and the disaffection bred in +this void of the Irish people's heart, seem to us irrational and even +insane, in the absence of any more substantial grievance, we ought to +ask ourselves what would become of our own patriotism if we had no +national institutions, no objects of national loyalty and reverence, +even though we might be pretty well governed, at least in intention, by +a neighbouring people whom we regarded as aliens, and who, in fact, +regarded us pretty much in the same light. Let us first judge ourselves +fairly, and then judge the Irish, remembering always that they are more +imaginative and sentimental, and need some centre of national feeling +and affection more than ourselves."[50] + +And all this was written sixty-seven years after the Union of 1800. + +Mr. Goldwin Smith then deals with the subject of the Irish and Scotch +unions much in the same way as Mr. Lecky. + +"The incorporation of the Scotch nation with the English, being +conducted on the right principles by the great Whig statesman of Anne, +has been perfectly successful. The attempt to incorporate the Irish +nation with the English and Scotch, the success of which would have +been, if possible, a still greater blessing, being conducted by very +different people and on very different principles, has unhappily failed. +What might have been the result if even the Hanoverian sovereigns had +done the personal duty to their Irish kingdom which they have +unfortunately neglected, it is now too late to inquire. The Irish Union +has missed its port, and, in order to reach it, will have to tack again. +We may hold down a dependency, of course, by force, in Russian and +Austrian fashion; but force will never make the hearts of two nations +one, especially when they are divided by the sea. Once get rid of this +deadly international hatred, and there will be hope of real union in the +future."[51] + +Mr. Goldwin Smith finally proposes a "plan" by which the "deadly +international hatred" might be got rid of, and a "real union" brought +about. Here it is. + +"1. The residence of the Court at Dublin, not merely to gratify the +popular love of royalty and its pageantries, which no man of sense +desires to stimulate, but to assure the Irish people, in the only way +possible as regards the mass of them, that the sovereign of the United +Kingdom is really their sovereign, and that they are equally cared for +and honoured with the other subjects of the realm. This would also tend +to make Dublin a real capital, and to gather and retain there a portion +of the Irish talent which now seeks its fortune elsewhere. + +"2. An occasional session (say once in every three years) of the +Imperial Parliament in Dublin, partly for the same purposes as the last +proposal, but also because the circumstances of Ireland are likely to +be, for some time at least, really peculiar, and the personal +acquaintance of our legislators with them is the only sufficient +security for good Irish legislation. There could be no serious +difficulty in holding a short session in the Irish capital, where there +is plenty of accommodation for both Houses. + +"3. A liberal measure of local self-government for Ireland. I would not +vest the power in any single assembly for all Ireland, because Ulster is +really a different country from the other provinces. I would give each +province a council of its own, and empower that council to legislate +(subject, of course, to the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament) on all +matters not essential to the political and legal unity of the empire, in +which I would include local education. The provincial councils should of +course be elective, and the register of electors might be the same as +that of electors to the Imperial Parliament. In England itself the +extension of local institutions, as political training schools for the +masses, as checks upon the sweeping action of the great central +assembly, and as the best organs of legislation in all matters requiring +(as popular education, among others, does) adaptation to the +circumstances of particular districts, would, I think, have formed a +part of any statesmanlike revision of our political system. Here, also, +much good might be done, and much evil averted, by committing the +present business of quarter sessions, other than the judicial business, +together with such other matters as the central legislative might think +fit to vest in local hands, to an assembly elected by the county."[52] + +Thus it will be seen that twenty years ago Mr. Goldwin Smith anticipated +Mr. Chamberlain's scheme of provincial councils, and got a good way on +the road to an Irish Parliament. + + * * * * * + +MR. DICEY. + +A fairer controversalist, or an abler supporter of the "paper Union," +than Mr. Dicey there is not; nevertheless no man has fired more +effective shots into Mr. Pitt's unfortunate arrangement of 1800. + +How well has the "failure" of that arrangement been described in these +pithy sentences--"Eighty-six years have elapsed since the conclusion of +the Treaty of Union between England and Ireland. The two countries do +not yet form an united nation. The Irish people are, if not more +wretched (for the whole European world has made progress, and Ireland +with it), yet more conscious of wretchedness, and Irish disaffection to +England is, if not deeper, more widespread than in 1800. An Act meant by +its authors to be a source of the prosperity and concord which, though +slowly, followed upon the Union with Scotland, has not made Ireland +rich, has not put an end to Irish lawlessness, has not terminated the +feud between Protestants and Catholics, has not raised the position of +Irish tenants, has not taken away the causes of Irish discontent, and +has, therefore, not removed Irish disloyalty. This is the indictment +which can fairly be brought against the Act of Union."[53] + +What follows reflects honour on Mr. Dicey as an honest opponent who does +not shrink from facts; but what a wholesale condemnation of the policy +of the Imperial Parliament! + +"On one point alone (it may be urged) all men, of whatever party or of +whatever nation, who have seriously studied the annals of Ireland are +agreed--the history is a record of incessant failure on the part of the +Government, and of incessant misery on the part of the people. On this +matter, if on no other, De Beaumont, Froude, and Lecky are at one. As to +the guilt of the failure or the cause of the misery, men may and do +differ; that England, whether from her own fault or the fault of the +Irish people, or from perversity of circumstances, has failed in Ireland +of achieving the elementary results of good government is as certain as +any fact of history or of experience. Every scheme has been tried in +turn, and no scheme has succeeded or has even, it may be suggested, +produced its natural effects. Oppression of the Catholics has increased +the adherents and strengthened the hold of Catholicism. Protestant +supremacy, while it lasted, did not lead even to Protestant contentment, +and the one successful act of resistance to the English dominion was +effected by a Protestant Parliament supported by an army of volunteers, +led by a body of Protestant officers. The independence gained by a +Protestant Parliament led, after eighteen years, to a rebellion so +reckless and savage that it caused, if it did not justify, the +destruction of the Parliament and the carrying of the Union. The Act of +Union did not lead to national unity, and a measure which appeared on +the face of it (though the appearance, it must be admitted, was +delusive) to be a copy of the law which bound England and Scotland into +a common country inspired by common patriotism, produced conspiracy and +agitation, and at last placed England and Ireland further apart, +morally, than they stood at the beginning of the century. The Treaty of +Union, it was supposed, missed its mark because it was not combined with +Catholic Emancipation. The Catholics were emancipated, but emancipation, +instead of producing loyalty, brought forth the cry for repeal. The +Repeal movement ended in failure, but its death gave birth to the +attempted rebellion in 1848. Suppressed rebellion begot Fenianism, to be +followed in its turn by the agitation for Home Rule. The movement +relies, it is said, and there is truth in the assertion, on +constitutional methods for obtaining redress. But constitutional +measures are supplemented by boycotting, by obstruction, by the use of +dynamite. A century of reform has given us Mr. Parnell instead of +Grattan, and it is more than possible that Mr. Parnell may be succeeded +by leaders in whose eyes Mr. Davitt's policy may appear to be tainted +with moderation. No doubt, in each case the failure of good measures +admits, like every calamity in public or private life, of explanation, +and after the event it is easy to see why, for example, the Poor Law, +when extended to Ireland, did not produce even the good effects such as +they are which in England are to be set against its numerous evils; or +why an emigration of unparalleled proportions has diminished population +without much diminishing poverty; why the disestablishment of the +Anglican Church has increased rather than diminished the hostility to +England of the Catholic priesthood; or why two Land Acts have not +contented Irish farmers. It is easy enough, in short, and this without +having any recourse to theory of race, and without attributing to +Ireland either more or less of original sin than falls to the lot of +humanity, to see how it is that imperfect statesmanship--and all +statesmanship, it should be remembered, is imperfect--has failed in +obtaining good results at all commensurate with its generally good +intentions. Failure, however, is none the less failure because its +causes admit of analysis. It is no defence to bankruptcy that an +insolvent can, when brought before the Court, lucidly explain the errors +which resulted in disastrous speculations. The failure of English +statesmanship, explain it as you will, has produced the one last and +greatest evil which misgovernment can cause. It has created hostility to +the law in the minds of the people. The law cannot work in Ireland +because the classes whose opinion in other countries supports the +actions of the courts, are in Ireland, even when not law-breakers, in +full sympathy with law-breakers."[54] + +No Home Ruler has described the evils of English misrule in Ireland with +such vigour as this. + +"Bad administration, religious persecution, above all, a thoroughly +vicious land tenure, accompanied by such sweeping confiscations as to +make it, at any rate, a plausible assertion that all land in Ireland has +during the course of Irish history been confiscated at least thrice +over, are admittedly some of the causes, if they do not constitute the +whole cause, of the one immediate difficulty which perplexes the policy +of England. This is nothing else than the admitted disaffection to the +law of the land prevailing among large numbers of Irish people. The +existence of this disaffection, whatever be the inference to be drawn +from it, is undeniable. A series of so-called Coercion Acts, passed both +before and since the Act of Union, give undeniable evidence, if evidence +were wanted, of the ceaseless and, as it would appear, almost +irrepressible resistance in Ireland offered by the people to the +enforcement of the law. I have not the remotest inclination to underrate +the lasting and formidable character of this opposition between opinion +and law, nor can any jurist who wishes to deal seriously with a serious +and infinitely painful topic, question for a moment that the ultimate +strength of law lies in the sympathy, or at the lowest the acquiescence, +of the mass of the population. Judges, constables, and troops become +almost powerless when the conscience of the people permanently opposes +the execution of the law. Severity produces either no effect or bad +effects; executed criminals are regarded as heroes or martyrs; and +jurymen and witnesses meet with the execration and often with the fate +of criminals. On such a point it is best to take the opinion of a +foreigner unaffected by prejudices or passions from which no Englishman +or Irishman has a right to suppose himself free. + +"'Quand vous en etes arroes a ce point, croyez bien que dans cette voie +de regueurs tous vos efforts pour retabler l'ordre et la paix seront +inutiles. En vain, pour reprimer des crimes atroces, vous appellerez a +votre aide toutes les severites du code de Dracon; en vain vous ferez +des lois cruelles pour arreter le cours de revoltantes cruautes; +vainement vous frapperez de mort le moindre delit se rattachant a ces +grands crimes; vainement, dans l'effroi de votre impuissance, vous +suspendrez le cours des lois ordinaries proclamerez des comtes entiers +en etat de suspicion legale, voilerez le principe de la liberte +individuelle, creerez des cours martiales, des commissions +extraordinaires, et pour produire de salutaires impressions de terreur, +multiplierez a l'exces les executions capitales.'"[55] + +The next passage is a trenchant condemnation of the "Union." + +"There exists in Europe no country so completely at unity with itself as +Great Britain. Fifty years of reform have done their work, and have +removed the discontents, the divisions, the disaffection, and the +conspiracies which marked the first quarter, or the first half of this +century. Great Britain, if left to herself, could act with all the +force, consistency, and energy given by unity of sentiment and community +of interests. The distraction and the uncertainty of our political aims, +the feebleness and inconsistency with which they are pursued, arise, in +part at least, from the connection with Ireland. Neither Englishmen nor +Irishmen are to blame for the fact that it is difficult for communities +differing in historical associations and in political conceptions to +keep step together in the path of progress. For other evils arising from +the connection the blame must rest on English Statesmen. All the +inherent vices of party government, all the weaknesses of the +parliamentary system, all the evils arising from the perverse notion +that reform ought always to be preceded by a period of lengthy and more +than half factitious agitation met by equally factitious resistance, +have been fostered and increased by the interaction of Irish and English +politics. No one can believe that the inveterate habit of ruling one +part of the United Kingdom on principles which no one would venture to +apply to the government of any other part of it, can have produced +anything but the most injurious effect on the stability of our +Government and the character of our public men. The advocates of Home +Rule find by far their strongest arguments for influencing English +opinion, in the proofs which they produce that England, no less than +Ireland, has suffered from a political arrangement under which legal +union has failed to secure moral union. _These arguments, whatever their +strength, are, however, it must be noted, more available to a +Nationalist than to an advocate of federalism_."[56] + +The words which I have italicised are an expression of opinion; but +nothing can alter the damning statement of fact--"legal union has failed +to secure moral union." Nevertheless, Mr. Dicey advocates the +maintenance of this legal union as it stands. + +"On the whole, then, it appears that, whatever changes or calamities the +future may have in store, the maintenance of the Union is at this day +the one sound policy for England to pursue. It is sound because it is +expedient; it is sound because it is just."[57] + + +I shall not discuss the question of Home Rule with the eminent writers +whose works I have cited. It is enough that they demonstrate the failure +of the Union. So convinced was Mr. Lecky, in 1871, of its failure, that +he suggested a readjustment of the relations of the two countries on a +federal basis;[58] and Mr. Goldwin Smith, in 1868, contended that the +Irish difficulty could only be settled by the establishment of +Provincial Councils, and an occasional session of the Imperial +Parliament in Dublin. Mr. Dicey clings to the existing Union while +demonstrating its failure, because he has persuaded himself that the +only alternative is separation. + +Irishmen may be pardoned for acting on Mr. Dicey's facts, and +disregarding his prophecies. The mass of Irishmen believe, with Grattan, +that the ocean protests against separation as the sea protests against +such a union as was attempted in 1800.[59] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 26: Omissions here and elsewhere are merely for purposes of +space. In some places the omitted parts would strengthen the Irish case; +in no place would they weaken it.] + +[Footnote 27: Lecky, _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, new edit. +(1871), Introduction, pp. viii., xiv.] + +[Footnote 28: Lecky, _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, new edit. +(1871), Introduction, pp. xiv., xv.] + +[Footnote 29: Lecky, _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +vol. ii. pp. 59, 60.] + +[Footnote 30: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 33, 34.] + +[Footnote 31: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 120-123.] + +[Footnote 32: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 125, 126.] + +[Footnote 33: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 34-37.] + +[Footnote 34: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 134-137.] + +[Footnote 35: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 192-195.] + +[Footnote 36: _Leaders of Public Opinion_, pp. 195, 196.] + +[Footnote 37: Goldwin Smith, _Three English Statesmen_, p. 274.] + +[Footnote 38: _Irish History and Irish Character_, pp. 13, 14.] + +[Footnote 39: Ibid., p. 194.] + +[Footnote 40: Ibid., p. 142.] + +[Footnote 41: _Irish History and Irish Character_, p. 101.] + +[Footnote 42: _Irish History and Irish Character_, pp. 139, 140.] + +[Footnote 43: Sir George Cornewall Lewis, _Irish Disturbances_, p. 97.] + +[Footnote 44: _Irish History and Irish Character_, pp. 153-157.] + +[Footnote 45: Ibid., pp. 70, 71] + +[Footnote 46: _The Irish Question_, Preface, pp. iii., iv.] + +[Footnote 47: _The Irish Question_, pp. 3-5.] + +[Footnote 48: Ibid., p. 6.] + +[Footnote 49: Ibid., p. 7.] + +[Footnote 50: _The Irish Question_, pp. 7-9.] + +[Footnote 51: _Irish Question_, p. 10.] + +[Footnote 52: _The Irish Question_, pp. 16-18.] + +[Footnote 53: Dicey, _England's Case against Home Rule_, p. 128.] + +[Footnote 54: Dicey, _England's Case against Home Rule_, pp. 72-74.] + +[Footnote 55: Dicey, _England's Case against Home Rule_, pp. 92-94.--The +foreigner is De Beaumont.] + +[Footnote 56: Dicey, _England's Case against Home Rule_, pp. 151, 152.] + +[Footnote 57: Ibid., p. 288.] + +[Footnote 58: I hope I am not doing Mr. Lecky an injustice in this +statement. I rely on the extract quoted from the _Leaders of Public +Opinion in Ireland,_ at p. 176 of this volume; but see Introduction, p. +xix.] + +[Footnote 59: Irish House of Commons, January 15th, 1800.] + + + + +IRELAND'S ALTERNATIVES. + +BY LORD THRING.[60] + + +Ireland is a component member of the most complex political body the +world has yet known; any inquiry, then, into the fitness of any +particular form of government for that country involves an investigation +of the structures of various composite nations, or nations made up of +numerous political communities more or less differing from each other. +From the examination of the nature of the common tie, and the +circumstances which caused it to be adopted or imposed on the component +peoples, we cannot but derive instruction, and be furnished with +materials which will enable us to take a wide view of the question of +Home Rule, and assist us in judging between the various remedies +proposed for the cure of Irish disorders. + +The nature of the ties which bind, or have bound, the principal +composite nations of the world together may be classified as-- + + 1. Confederate unions. + 2. Federal unions. + 3. Imperial unions. + +A confederate union may be defined to mean an alliance between the +governments of independent States, which agree to appoint a common +superior authority having power to make peace and war and to demand +contributions of men and money from the confederate States. Such +superior authority has no power of enforcing its decrees except through +the medium of the governments of the constituent States; or, in other +words, in case of disobedience, by armed force. + +A federal union differs from a confederate union in the material fact +that the common superior authority, instead of acting on the individual +subjects of the constituent States through the medium of their +respective governments, has a power, in respect of all matters within +its jurisdiction, of enacting laws and issuing orders which are binding +directly on the individual citizens. + +The distinguishing characteristics of an imperial union are, that it +consists of an aggregate of communities, one of which is dominant, and +that the component communities have been brought into association, not +by arrangement between themselves, but by colonization, cession, and by +other means emanating from the resources or power of the dominant +community. + +The above-mentioned distinction between a Government having communities +only for its subjects, and incapable of enforcing its orders by any +other means than war, and a Government acting directly on individuals, +must be constantly borne in mind, for in this lies the whole difference +between a confederate and federal union; that is to say, between a +confederacy which, in the case of the United States, lasted a few short +years, and a federal union which, with the same people as subjects, has +lasted nearly a century, and has stood the strain of the most terrible +war of modern times. + +The material features of the Constitution of the United States have been +explained in a previous article.[61] All that is necessary to call to +mind here is, that the Government of the United States exercises a power +of taxation throughout the whole Union by means of its own officers, and +enforces its decrees through the medium of its own Courts. A Supreme +Court has also been established, which has power to adjudicate on the +constitutionality of all laws passed by the Legislature of the United +States, or of any State, and to decide on all international questions. + +Switzerland was till 1848 an example of a confederate union or league of +semi-independent States, which, unlike other confederacies, had existed +with partial interruptions for centuries. This unusual vitality is +attributed by Mill[62] to the circumstance that the confederate +government felt its weakness so strongly that it hardly ever attempted +to exercise any real authority. Its present government, finally settled +in 1874, but based on fundamental laws passed in 1848, is a federal +union formed on the pattern of the American Constitution. It consists of +a federal assembly comprising two Chambers--the Upper Chamber composed +of forty-four members chosen by the twenty-two cantons, two for each +canton; the Lower consisting of 145 members chosen by direct election at +the rate of one deputy for every 20,000 persons. The chief executive +authority is deputed to a federal council consisting of seven members +elected for three years by the federal assembly, and having at their +head a president and vice-president, who are the first magistrates of +the republic. There is also a federal tribunal, having similar functions +to those of the supreme court of the United States of America, +consisting of nine members elected for six years by the federal +assembly. + +The Empire of Germany is a federal union, differing from the United +States and Switzerland in having an hereditary emperor as its head. It +comprises twenty-six States, who have "formed an eternal union for the +protection of the realm, and the care of the welfare of the German +people."[63] The King of Prussia, under the title of German Emperor, +represents the empire in all its relations to foreign nations, and has +the power of making peace and war, but if the war be more than a +defensive war he must have the assent of the Upper House. The +legislative body of the empire consists of two Houses--the Upper, called +the Bundesrath, representing the several component States in different +proportions according to their relative importance; the lower, the +Reichstag, elected by the voters in 397 electoral districts, which are +distributed amongst the constituent States in unequal numbers, regard +being had to the population and circumstances of each State. + +The Austro-Hungarian Empire is a federal union, differing alike in its +origin and construction from the federal unions above mentioned. In the +beginning Austria and Hungary were independent countries--Austria a +despotism, Hungary a constitutional monarchy, with ancient laws and +customs dating back to the foundation of the kingdom in 895. In the +sixteenth century the supreme power in both countries--that is to say, +the despotic monarchy in Austria and the constitutional monarchy in +Hungary--became vested in the same person; as might have been +anticipated, the union was not a happy one. If we dip into Heeren's +_Political System of Europe_ at intervals selected almost at random, the +following notices will be found in relation to Austria and +Hungary:--Between 1671 and 1700 "political unity in the Austrian +monarchy was to have been enforced especially in the principal country +(Hungary), for this was regarded as the sole method of establishing +power; the consequence was an almost perpetual revolutionary state of +affairs."[64] Again, in the next chapter, commenting on the period +between 1740 and 1786: "Hungary, in fact the chief, was treated like a +conquered province; subjected to the most oppressive commercial +restraints, it was regarded as a colony from which Austria exacted what +she could for her own advantage. The injurious consequences of this +internal discord are evident." Coming to modern times we find that +oppression followed oppression with sickening monotony, and that at last +the determination of Austria to stamp out the Constitution in Hungary +gave rise to the insurrection of 1849, which Austria suppressed with the +assistance of Russia, and as a penalty declared the Hungarian +Constitution to be forfeited, and thereupon Hungary was incorporated +with Austria, as Ireland was incorporated with Great Britain in 1800. +Both events were the consequences of unsuccessful rebellions; but the +junction which, in the case of Hungary, was enforced by the sword, was +in Ireland more smoothly carried into effect by corruption. Hungary, +sullen and discontented, waited for Austria's calamity as her +opportunity, and it came after the battle of Sadowa. Austria had just +emerged from a fearful conflict, and Count Beust[65] felt that unless +some resolute effort was made to meet the views of the constitutional +party in Hungary, the dismemberment of the empire must be the result. +Now, what was the course he took? Was it a tightening of the bonds +between Austria and Hungary? On the contrary, to maintain the unity of +the empire he dissolved its union and restored to Hungary its ancient +constitutional privileges. Austria and Hungary each had its own +Parliament for local purposes. To manage the imperial concerns of peace +and war, and the foreign relations, a controlling body, called the +Delegations, was established, consisting of 120 members, of whom half +represent and are chosen by the Legislature of Austria, and the other +half by that of Hungary; the Upper House of each country returning +twenty members, and the Lower House forty.[66] Ordinarily the delegates +sit and vote in two Chambers, but if they disagree the two branches +must meet together and give their final vote without debate, which is +binding on the whole empire.[67] + +The question arises, What is the magnetic influence which induces +communities of men to combine together in federal unions? Undoubtedly it +is the feeling of nationality; and what is nationality? Mr. Mill +says,[68] "a portion of mankind may be said to constitute a nationality +if they are united among themselves by common sympathies which do not +exist between them and any others; which make them co-operate with each +other more willingly than other people; desire to be under the same +government, and desire that it should be a government by themselves or a +portion of themselves exclusively." He then proceeds to state that the +feeling of nationality may have been generated by various causes. +Sometimes it is the identity of race and descent; community of language +and community of religion greatly contribute to it; geographical limits +are one of its causes; but the strongest of all is identity of political +antecedents: the possession of a national history and consequent +community of recollections--collective pride and humiliation, pleasure +and regret--connected with the same incidents in the past. + +The only point to be noted further in reference to the foregoing federal +unions, is that the same feeling of nationality which, in the United +States, Switzerland, and the German Empire, produced a closer legal bond +of union, in the case of Austria-Hungary operated to dissolve the +amalgamation formed in 1849 of the two States, and to produce a federal +union of States in place of a single State. + +One conclusion seems to follow irresistibly from any review of the +construction of the various States above described: that the stability +of a nation bears no relation whatever to the legal compactness or +homogeneity of its component parts. Russia and France, the most compact +political societies in Europe, do not, to say the least, rest on a +firmer basis than Germany and Switzerland, the inhabitants of which are +subjected to the obligations of a double nationality. Above all, no +European nation, except Great Britain, can for a moment bear comparison +with the United States in respect of the devotion of its people to their +Constitution. + +An imperial union, though resembling somewhat in outward form a federal +union, differs altogether from it both in principle and origin. Its +essential characteristic is that one community is absolutely dominant +while all the others are subordinate. In the case of a federal union +independent States have agreed to resign a portion of their powers to a +central Government for the sake of securing the common safety. In an +imperial union the dominant or imperial State delegates to each +constituent member of the union such a portion of local government as +the dominant State considers the subordinate member entitled to, +consistently with the integrity of the empire. The British Empire +furnishes the best example of an imperial union now existing in the +world. Her Majesty, as common head, is the one link which binds the +empire together and connects with each other every constituent member. +The Indian Empire and certain military dependencies require no further +notice in these pages; but a summary of our various forms of colonial +government is required to complete our knowledge of the forms of Home +Rule possibly applicable to Ireland. + +The colonies, in relation to their forms of government, may be +classified as follows:-- + +I. Crown colonies, in which laws may be made by the Governor alone, or +with the concurrence of a Council nominated by the Crown. + +2. Colonies possessing representative institutions, but not responsible +government, in which the Crown has only a veto on legislation, but the +Home Government retains the control of the executive. + +3. Colonies possessing representative institutions and responsible +government, in which the Crown has only a veto on legislation, and the +Home Government has no control over any public officer except the +Governor. + +The British Colonial Governments thus present an absolute gradation of +rule; beginning with absolute despotism and ending with almost absolute +legal independence, except in so far as a veto on legislation and the +presence of a Governor named by the Crown mark the dependence of the +colony on the mother country. + +It is to be remembered, moreover, that the colonies which have received +this complete local freedom are the great colonies of the earth--nations +themselves possessing territories as large or larger than any European +State--namely, Canada, the Cape, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, +South Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania. And this change from dependence +to freedom has been effected with the good-will both of the mother +country and the colony, and without it being imputed to the colonists, +when desiring a larger measure of self-government, that they were +separatists, anarchists, or revolutionists. + +Such are the general principles of colonial government, but one colony +requires special mention, from the circumstance of its Constitution +having been put forward as a model for Ireland; this is the Dominion of +Canada. The Government of Canada is, in effect, a subordinate federal +union; that is to say, it possesses a central Legislature, having the +largest possible powers of local self-government consistent with the +supremacy of the empire, with seven inferior provincial Governments, +exercising powers greater than those of an English county, but not so +great as those of an American State. The advantage of such a form of +government is that, without weakening the supremacy of the empire or of +the central local power, it admits of considerable diversities being +made in the details of provincial government, where local peculiarities +and antecedents render it undesirable to make a more complete +assimilation of the Governments of the various provinces. + +Materials have now been collected which will enable the reader to judge +of the expediency or inexpediency of the course taken by Mr. Gladstone's +Government in dealing with Ireland. Three alternatives were open to +them-- + + 1. To let matters alone. + 2. To pass a Coercion Bill. + 3. To change the government of Ireland, and at + the same time to pass a Land Bill. + +The two last measures are combined under the head of one alternative, as +it will be shown in the sequel that no effective Land Bill can be passed +without granting Home Rule in Ireland. + +Now, the short answer to the first alternative is, that no party in the +State--Conservative, Whig, Radical, Unionist, Home Ruler, +Parnellite--thought it possible to leave things alone. That something +must be done was universally admitted. + +The second alternative has found favour with the present Government, and +certainly is a better example of the triumph of hope over experience, +than even the proverbial second marriage. + +Eighty-six years have elapsed since the Union. During the first +thirty-two years only eleven years, and during the last fifty-four years +only two years have been free from special repressive legislation; yet +the agitation for repeal of the Union, and general discontent, are more +violent in 1887 than in any one of the eighty-six previous years. In +the name of common-sense, is there any reason for supposing that the +Coercion Bill of 1887 will have a better or more enduring effect than +its numerous predecessors? The _prima facie_ case is at all events in +favour of the contention that, when so many trials of a certain remedy +have failed, it would be better not to try the same remedy again, but to +have recourse to some other medicine. What, then, was the position of +Mr. Gladstone's Government at the close of the election of 1885? What +were the considerations presented to them as supreme supervisors and +guardians of the British Empire? They found that vast colonial empire +tranquil and loyal beyond previous expectation--the greater colonies +satisfied with their existing position; the lesser expecting that as +they grew up to manhood they would be treated as men, and emancipated +from childish restraints. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man were +contented with their sturdy dependent independence, loyal to the +backbone. One member only stood aloof, sulky and dissatisfied, and +though in law integrally united with the dominant community, practically +was dissociated from it by forming within Parliament (the controlling +body of the whole) a separate section, of which the whole aim was to +fetter the action of the entire supreme body in order to bring to an +external severance the practical disunion which existed between that +member and Great Britain. This member--Ireland--as compared with other +parts of the empire, was small and insignificant; measured against Great +Britain, its population was five millions to thirty-one millions, and +its estimated capital was only one twenty-fourth part of the capital of +the United Kingdom. Measured against Australia, its trade with Great +Britain was almost insignificant. Its importance arose from the force of +public opinion in Great Britain, which deemed England pledged to protect +the party in Ireland which desired the Union to be maintained, and from +the power of obstructing English legislation through the medium of the +Irish contingent, willing and ready on every occasion to intervene in +English debates. The first step to be taken obviously was to find out +what the great majority of Irish members wanted. The answer was, that +they would be contented to quit the British Parliament on having a +Parliament established on College Green, with full powers of local +government, and that they would accept on behalf of their country a +certain fixed annual sum to be paid to the Imperial Exchequer, on +condition that such sum should not be increased without the consent of +the Irish representatives. Here there were two great points gained +without any sacrifice of principle. Ireland could not be said to be +taxed without representation when her representatives agreed to a +certain fixed sum to be paid till altered with their consent; while at +the same time all risk of obstruction to English legislation by Irish +means was removed by the proposal that the Irish representatives should +exercise local powers in Dublin instead of imperial powers at +Westminster. + +On the basis of the above arrangement the Bill of Mr. Gladstone was +founded. Absolute local autonomy was conferred on Ireland; the assent of +the Irish members to quit the Imperial Parliament was accepted; and the +Bill provided that after a certain day the representative Irish peers +should cease to sit in the House of Lords, and the Irish members vacate +their places in the House of Commons. Provisions were then made for the +absorption in the Irish Legislative Body of both the Irish +representative peers and Irish members. + +The legislative supremacy of the British Parliament was maintained by an +express provision excepting from any interference on the part of Irish +Legislature all imperial powers, and declaring any enactment void which +infringed that provision; further, an enactment was inserted for the +purpose of securing to the English Legislature in the last resource the +absolute power to make any law for the government of Ireland, and +therefore to repeal, or suspend, the Irish Constitution. + +Technically these reservations of supremacy to the English Legislature +were unnecessary, as it is an axiom of constitutional law that a +sovereign Legislature, such as the Queen and two Houses of Parliament in +England, cannot bind their successors, and consequently can repeal or +alter any law, however fundamental, and annul any restrictions on +alteration, however strongly expressed. Practically they were never +likely to be called into operation, as it is the custom of Parliament to +adhere, under all but the most extraordinary and unforeseen +circumstances, to any compact made by Act of Parliament between itself +and any subordinate legislative body. The Irish Legislature was +subjected to the same controlling power which has for centuries been +applied to prevent any excess of jurisdiction in our Colonial +Legislatures, by a direction that an appeal as to the constitutionality +of any laws which they might pass should lie to the Judicial Committee +of the Privy Council. This supremacy of the imperial judicial power over +the action of the Colonial Legislatures was a system which the founders +of the American Constitution copied in the establishment of their +supreme Court, and thereby secured for that legislative system a +stability which has defied the assaults of faction and the strain of +civil war. + +The Executive Government of Ireland was continued in her Majesty, and +was to be carried on by the Lord Lieutenant on her behalf, by the aid of +such officers and such Council as her Majesty might from time to time +see fit. The initiative power of recommending taxation was also vested +in the Queen, and delegated to the Lord Lieutenant. These clauses are +co-ordinate and correlative with the clause conferring complete local +powers on the Irish Legislature, while it preserves all imperial powers +to the Imperial Legislature. The Governor is an imperial officer, and +will be bound to watch over imperial interests with a jealous scrutiny, +and to veto any Bill which may be injurious to those interests. On the +other hand, as respects all local matters, he will act on and be guided +by the advice of the Irish Executive Council. The system is self-acting. +The Governor, for local purposes, must have a Council which is in +harmony with the Legislative Body. If the Governor and a Council, +supported by the Legislative Body, do not agree, the Governor must give +way, unless he can, by dismissing his Council, and dissolving the +Legislative Body, obtain both a Council and a Legislative Body which +will support his views. As respects imperial questions, the case is +different; here the last word rests with the mother country, and in the +last resort a determination of the Executive Council, backed by the +Legislative Body, to resist imperial rights, must be deemed an act of +rebellion on the part of the Irish people, and be dealt with +accordingly. + +In acceding to the claims of the National Party for Home Rule in Ireland +another question had to be considered: the demands of the English +garrison, as it is called--or, in plain words, of the class of Irish +landlords--for protection. They urged that to grant Home Rule in Ireland +would be to hand them over to their enemies, their tenants, and to lead +to an immediate, or to all events a proximate, confiscation of their +properties. Without admitting the truth of these apprehensions to the +full extent, or indeed to any great extent, it was undoubtedly felt by +the framers of the Home Rule Bill that a moral obligation rested on the +Imperial Government to remove, if possible, "the fearful exasperations +attending the agrarian relations in Ireland," rather than leave a +question so fraught with danger, so involved in difficulty, to be +determined by the Irish Government on its first entry on official +existence. Hence the Land Bill, the scheme of which was to frame a +system under which the tenants, by being made owners of the soil, should +become interested as a class in the maintenance of social order, while +the landlords should be enabled to rid themselves on fair terms of their +estates, in cases where, from apprehension of impending changes, or for +pecuniary reasons, they were desirous of relieving themselves from the +responsibilities of ownership. Of the land scheme brought into +Parliament in 1886, it need only here be said that it proposed to lend +the Irish Government 3 per cent. stock at 3-1/8 per cent. interest, the +Irish Government undertaking to purchase, from any Irish landlord +desirous of selling, his estate at (as a general rule) twenty years' +purchase on the net rental. The money thus disbursed by the Irish +Government was repaid to them by an annuity, payable by the tenant for +forty-nine years, of 4 per cent. on a capital sum equal to twenty times +the gross rental; the result being that, were the Bill passed into law, +the tenant would become immediate owner of the land, subject to the +payment of an annuity considerably less than the previous rent--that the +Irish Government would make a considerable profit on the transaction, +inasmuch as it would receive from the tenant interest calculated on the +basis of the _gross_ rental, whilst it would pay to the English +Government interest calculated on the basis of the _net_ rental--and +that the English Government would sustain no loss if the interest were +duly received by them. + +The effect of such a plan appears almost magical: Ireland is transformed +at one stroke from a nation of landlords into a nation of peasant +proprietors--apparently without loss to any one, and with gain to +everybody concerned, except the British Government, who neither gain nor +lose in the matter. The practicability, however, of such a scheme +depends altogether on the security against loss afforded to the British +tax-payer, for he is industrious and heavily burdened, and cannot be +expected to assent to any plan which will land him in any appreciable +loss. Here it is that the plan of Mr. Gladstone's Land Bill differs from +all other previous plans. Act after Act has been passed enabling the +tenant to borrow money from the British Government on the security of +the holding, for the purpose of enabling him to purchase the fee-simple. +In such transactions the British Government becomes the mortgagee, and +can only recover its money, if default is made in payment, by ejecting +the tenant and becoming the landlord. In proportion, then, as any +existing purchase Act succeeds, in the same proportion the risk of the +British taxpayer increases. He is ever placed in the most invidious of +all lights; instead of posing as the generous benefactor who holds forth +his hand to rescue the landlord and tenant from an intolerable position, +he stands forward either as the grasping mortgagee or as the still more +hated landlord, who, having deprived the tenant of his holding, is +seeking to introduce another man into property which really belongs to +the ejected tenant. Such a position may be endurable when the number of +purchasing tenants is small, but at once breaks down if agrarian reform +in Ireland is to be extended so far as to make any appreciable +difference in the relations of landlord and tenant; still more, if it +become general. Now, what is the remedy of such a state of things? +Surely to interpose the Irish Government between the Irish debtor and +his English creditor, and to provide that the Irish revenues in bulk, +not the individual holdings of each tenant, shall be the security for +the English creditor. This was the scheme embodied in the Land Act of +1886. The punctual payment of all money due from the Government of +Ireland to the Government of Great Britain was to have been secured by +the continuance in the hands of the British Government of the Excise and +Customs duties, and by the appointment of an Imperial Receiver-General, +assisted by subordinate officers, and protected by an Imperial Court. +This officer would have received not only all the imperial taxes, but +also the local taxes; and it would have been his duty to satisfy the +claims of the British Government before he allowed any sum to pass into +the Irish Exchequer. In effect, the British Government, in relation to +the levying of imperial taxes, would have stood in the same relation to +Ireland as Congress does to the United States in respect to the levying +of federal taxes. The fiscal unity of Great Britain and Ireland would +have been in this way secured, and the British Government protected +against any loss of interest for the large sums to be expended in +carrying into effect in Ireland any agrarian reform worthy of the name. + +The Irish Bills of 1886, as above represented, had at least three +recommendations: + +1. They created a state of things in Ireland under which it was possible +to make a complete agrarian reform without exposing the English +Exchequer to any appreciable risk. + +2. They enabled the Irish to govern themselves as respects local +matters, while preserving intact the supremacy of the British Parliament +and the integrity of the Empire. + +3. They enabled the British Parliament to govern the British Empire +without any obstructive Irish interference. + +To the first of these propositions no attempt at an answer has been +made. The Land Bill was never considered on its merits; indeed, was +never practically discussed, but was at once swept into oblivion by the +wave which overwhelmed the Home Rule Bill. + +The contention against the second proposition was concerned in proving +that the supremacy of the British Parliament was not maintained: the +practical answer to this objection has been given above. Pushed to its +utmost, it could only amount to proof that an amendment ought to have +been introduced in Committee, declaring, in words better selected than +those introduced for that purpose in the Bill, that nothing in the Act +should affect the supremacy of the British Parliament. In short, the +whole discussion here necessarily resolved itself into a mere verbal +squabble as to the construction of a clause in a Bill not yet in +Committee, and had no bottom or substance. + +It was also urged that the concession of self-government to Ireland was +but another mode of handing over the Loyalist party--or, as it is +sometimes called, the English garrison--to the tender mercies of the +Parnellites. The reply to this would seem to be, that as respects +property the Land Bill effectually prevented any interference of the +Irish Parliament with the land; nay, more, enabled any Irishman desirous +of turning his land into money to do so on the most advantageous terms +that ever had been--and with a falling market it may be confidently +prophesied ever can be--offered to the Irish landlord; while as respect +life and liberty, were it possible that they should be endangered, it +was the duty of the imperial officer, the Lord Lieutenant, to take means +for the preservation of peace and good order; and behind him, to enforce +his behests, stand the strong battalions who, to our sorrow be it +spoken, have so often been called upon to put down disturbance and +anarchy in Ireland. + +Competing plans have been put forward, with more or less detail, for +governing Ireland. The suggestion that Ireland should be governed as a +_Crown_ colony need only be mentioned to be rejected. It means in +effect, that Ireland should sink from the rank of an equal or +independent member of the British Empire to the grade of the most +dependent of her colonies, and should be governed despotically by +English officials, without representation in the English Parliament or +any machinery of local self-government. Another proposal has been to +give four provincial Governments to Ireland, limiting their powers to +local rating, education, and legislation in respect of matters which +form the subjects of private Bill legislation at present; in fact, to +place them somewhat on the footing of the provinces of Canada, while +reserving to the English Parliament the powers vested in the Dominion of +Canada. Such a scheme would seem adapted to whet the appetite of the +Irish for nationality, without supplying them with any portion of the +real article. It would supply no basis on which a system of agrarian +reform could be founded, as it would be impossible to leave the +determination of a local question, which is a unit in its dangers and +its difficulties, to four different Legislatures; above all, the hinge +on which the question turns--the sufficiency of the security for the +British taxpayer--could not be afforded by provincial resources. Indeed, +no alternative for the Land Bill of 1886 has been suggested which does +not err in one of the following points: either it pledges English credit +on insufficient security, or it requires the landowners to accept Irish +debentures or some form of Irish paper money at par; in other words, it +makes English taxes a fund for relieving Irish landlords, or else it +compels the Irish landowner, if he sells at all, to sell at an +inadequate price. Before parting with Canada, it may be worth while +noticing that another, and more feasible, alternative is to imitate more +closely the Canadian Constitution, and to vest the central or Dominion +powers in a central Legislature in Dublin, parcelling out the provincial +powers, as they have been called, amongst several provincial +Legislatures. This scheme might be made available as a means of +protecting Ulster from the supposed danger of undue interference from +the Central Government, and for making, possibly, other diversities in +the local administration of various parts of Ireland in order to meet +special local exigencies. + +A leading writer among the dissentient Liberals has intimated that one +of two forms of representative colonial government might be imposed on +Ireland--either the form in which the executive is conducted by +colonial officials, or the form of the great irresponsible colonies. The +first of these forms is open to the objection, that it perpetuates those +struggles between English executive measures and Irish opinion which has +made Ireland for centuries ungovernable, and led to the establishment of +the union and destruction of Irish independence in 1800; the second +proposal would destroy the fiscal unity of the empire--leave the +agrarian feud unextinguished, and aggravate the objections which have +been urged against the Home Rule Bill of 1886. A question still remains, +in relation to the _form_ of the Home Rule Bill of 1886, which would not +have deserved attention but for the prominence given to it in some of +the discussions upon the subject. The Bill of 1886 provides "that the +Legislature may make laws for the peace, order, and good government of +Ireland," but subjects their power to numerous exceptions and +restrictions. The Act establishing the Dominion of Canada enumerates +various matters in respect of which the Legislature of Canada is to have +exclusive power, but prefaces the enumeration with a clause "that the +Dominion Legislature may make laws for the peace, order, and good +government of Canada in relation to all matters not within the +jurisdiction of the provincial Legislatures, although such matters may +not be specially mentioned." In effect, therefore, the difference +between the Irish Bill and the Canadian Act is one of expression and not +of substance, and, although the Bill is more accurate in its form, it +would scarcely be worth while to insist on legislating by exception +instead of by enumeration if, by the substitution of the latter form for +the former, any material opposition would be conciliated. + +What, then, are the conclusions intended to be drawn from the foregoing +premises? + +1. That coercion is played out, and can no longer be regarded as a +remedy for the evils of Irish misrule. + +2. That some alternative must be found, and that the only alternative +within the range of practical politics is some form of Home Rule. + +3. That there is no reason for thinking that the grant of Home Rule to +Ireland--a member only, and not one of the most important members, of +the British Empire--will in any way dismember, or even in the slightest +degree risk the dismemberment of the Empire. + +4. That Home Rule presupposes and admits the supremacy of the British +Parliament. + +5. That theory is in favour of Home Rule, as the nationality of Ireland +is distinct, and justifies a desire for local independence; while the +establishment of Home Rule is a necessary condition to the effectual +removal of agrarian disturbances in Ireland. + +6. That precedent is in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland--_e.g._ +the success of the new Constitution in Austria-Hungary, and the happy +effects resulting from the establishment of the Dominion of Canada. + +7. That the particular form of Home Rule granted is comparatively +immaterial. + +8. That the Home Rule Bill of 1886 may readily be amended in such a +manner as to satisfy all real and unpartisan objectors. + +9. That the Land Bill of 1886 is the best that has ever been devised, +having regard to the advantages offered to the new Irish Government, the +landlord, and the tenant. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 60: Reprinted by permission, with certain omissions, from the +_Contemporary Review_, August, 1887.] + +[Footnote 61: "Home Rule and Imperial Unity:" _Contemporary Review_, +March, 1887.] + +[Footnote 62: Mill on _Representative Government_, p. 310.] + +[Footnote 63: See _Statesman's Year-Book_: Switzerland and Germany.] + +[Footnote 64: Heeren's _Political System of Europe_, p. 152.] + +[Footnote 65: _Memoirs of Count Beust_, vol. i., Introduction, p. +xliii.] + +[Footnote 66: _Statesman's Year-Book._] + +[Footnote 67: The Emperor of Austria is the head of the empire, with the +title of King in Hungary. Austria-Hungary is treated as a federal, not +as an imperial union, on the ground that Austria was never rightfully a +dominant community over Hungary.] + +[Footnote 68: _Representative Government_, p. 295.] + + + + +THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE IRISH QUESTION[69] + +BY JAMES BRYCE, M.P. + + +For half a century or more no question of English domestic politics has +excited so much interest outside England as that question of resettling +her relations with Ireland, which was fought over in the last +Parliament, and still confronts the Parliament that has lately been +elected. Apart from its dramatic interest, apart from its influence on +the fortune of parties, and its effect on the imperial position of Great +Britain, it involves so many large principles of statesmanship, and +raises so many delicate points of constitutional law, as to deserve the +study of philosophical thinkers no less than of practical politicians in +every free country. + +The circumstances which led to the introduction of the Government of +Ireland Bill, in April, 1886, are familiar to Americans as well as +Englishmen. Ever since the crowns and parliaments of Great Britain and +Ireland were united, in A.D. 1800, there has been in Ireland a party +which protested against that union as fraudulently obtained and +inexpedient in itself. For many years this party, led by Daniel +O'Connell, maintained an agitation for Repeal. After his death a more +extreme section, which sought the complete independence of Ireland, +raised the insurrection of 1848, and subsequently, under the guidance of +other hands, formed the Fenian conspiracy, whose projected insurrection +was nipped in the bud in 1867, though the conspiracy continued to menace +the Government and the tranquillity of the island. In 1872 the Home Rule +party was formed, demanding, not the Repeal of the Union, but the +creation of an Irish Legislature, and the agitation, conducted in +Parliament in a more systematic and persistent way than heretofore, took +also a legitimate constitutional form. To this demand English and Scotch +opinion was at first almost unanimously opposed. At the General Election +of 1880, which, however, turned mainly on the foreign policy of Lord +Beaconsfield's Government, not more than three or four members were +returned by constituencies in Great Britain who professed to consider +Home Rule as even an open question. All through the Parliament, which +sat from 1880 till 1885, the Nationalist party, led by Mr. Parnell, and +including at first less than half, ultimately about half, of the Irish +members, was in constant and generally bitter opposition to the +Government of Mr. Gladstone. But during these five years a steady, +although silent and often unconscious, process of change was passing in +the minds of English and Scotch members, especially Liberal members, due +to their growing sense of the mistakes which Parliament committed in +handling Irish questions, and of the hopelessness of the efforts which +the Executive was making to pacify the country on the old methods. The +adoption of a Home Rule policy by one of the great English parties was, +therefore, not so sudden a change as it seemed. The process had been +going on for years, though in its earlier stages it was so gradual and +so unwelcome as to be faintly felt and reluctantly admitted by the minds +that were undergoing it. In the spring of 1886 the question could be no +longer evaded or postponed. It was necessary to choose between one of +two courses; the refusal of the demand for self-government, coupled with +the introduction of a severe Coercion Bill, or the concession of it by +the introduction of a Home Rule Bill. There were some few who suggested, +as a third course, the granting of a limited measure of local +institutions, such as county boards; but most people felt, as did Mr. +Gladstone's Ministry, that this plan would have had most of the dangers +and few of the advantages of either of the two others. + +How the Government of Ireland Bill was brought into the House of Commons +on April 8th, amid circumstances of curiosity and excitement +unparalleled since 1832; how, after debates of almost unprecedented +length, it was defeated in June, by a majority of thirty; how the policy +it embodied was brought before the country at the General Election, and +failed to win approval--all this is too well known to need +recapitulation here. But the causes of the disaster have not been well +understood, for it is only now--now, when the smoke of the battle has +cleared away from the field--that these causes have begun to stand +revealed in their true proportions. + +Besides some circumstances attending the production of the Bill, to +which I shall refer presently, and which told heavily against it, there +were three feelings which worked upon men's minds, disposing them to +reject it. + +The first of these was dislike and fear of the Irish Nationalist +members. In the previous House of Commons this party had been uniformly +and bitterly hostile to the Liberal Government. Measures intended for +the good of Ireland, like the Land Act of 1881, had been ungraciously +received, treated as concessions extorted, for which no thanks were +due--inadequate concessions, which must be made the starting-point for +fresh demands. Obstruction had been freely practised to defeat not only +bills restraining the liberty of the subject in Ireland, but many other +measures. Some few members of the Irish party had systematically sought +to delay all English and Scotch legislation, and, in fact, to bring the +work of Parliament to a dead stop. Much violent language had been used, +even where the provocation was slight. The outbreaks of crime which had +repeatedly occurred in Ireland had been, not, indeed, defended, but so +often passed over in silence by Nationalist speakers, that English +opinion was inclined to hold them practically responsible for disorders +which, so it was thought, they had neither wished nor tried to prevent. +(I am, of course, expressing no opinion as to the justice of this view, +nor as to the excuses to be made for the Parliamentary tactics of the +Irish party, but merely stating how their conduct struck many +Englishmen.) There could be no doubt as to the hostility which they, +still less as to that which their fellow-countrymen in the United +States, had expressed toward England, for they had openly wished success +to Russia while war seemed impending with her, and the so-called Mahdi +of the Soudan was vociferously cheered at many a Nationalist meeting. At +the Election of 1885 they had done their utmost to defeat Liberal +candidates in every English and Scotch constituency where there existed +a body of Irish voters, and had thrown some twenty seats or more into +the hands of the Tories. Now, to many Englishmen, the proposal to create +an Irish Parliament seemed nothing more or less than a proposal to hand +over to these Irish members the government of Ireland, with all the +opportunities thence arising to oppress the opposite party in Ireland +and to worry England herself. It was all very well to urge that the +tactics which the Nationalists had pursued when their object was to +extort Home Rule would be dropped, because superfluous, when Home Rule +had been granted; or to point out that an Irish Parliament would contain +different men from those who had been sent to Westminster as Mr. +Parnell's nominees. Neither of these arguments could overcome the +suspicious antipathy which many Englishmen felt, nor dissolve the +association in their minds between the Nationalist leaders and the +forces of disorder. The Parnellites (thus they reasoned) are bad men; +what they seek is therefore likely to be bad, and whether bad in itself +or not, they will make a bad use of it. In such reasonings there was +more of sentiment and prejudice than of reason, but sentiment and +prejudice are proverbially harder than arguments to expel from minds +where they have made a lodgment. + +The internal condition of Ireland supplied more substantial grounds for +alarm. As everybody knows, she is not, either in religion or in blood, +or in feelings and ideas, a homogeneous country. Three-fourths of the +people are Roman Catholics, one-fourth Protestants, and this Protestant +fourth subdivided into bodies not fond of one another, who have little +community of sentiment. Besides the Scottish colony in Ulster, many +English families have settled here and there through the country. They +have been regarded as intruders by the aboriginal Celtic population, and +many of them, although hundreds of years may have passed since they +came, still look on themselves as rather English than Irish. The last +fifty years, whose wonderful changes have in most parts of the world +tended to unite and weld into one compact body the inhabitants of each +part of the earth's surface, connecting them by the ties of commerce, +and of a far easier and swifter intercourse than was formerly possible, +have in Ireland worked in the opposite direction. It has become more and +more the habit of the richer class in Ireland to go to England for its +enjoyment, and to feel itself socially rather English than Irish. Thus +the chasm between the immigrants and the aborigines has grown deeper. +The upper class has not that Irish patriotism which it showed in the +days of the National Irish Parliament (1782-1800), and while there is +thus less of a common national feeling to draw rich and poor together, +the strife of landlords and tenants has continued, irritating the minds +of both parties, and gathering them into two hostile camps. As everybody +knows, the Nationalist agitation has been intimately associated with the +Land agitation--has, in fact, found a strong motive-force in the desire +of the tenants to have their rents reduced, and themselves secured +against eviction. Now, many people in England assumed that an Irish +Parliament would be under the control of the tenants and the humbler +class generally, and would therefore be hostile to the landlords. They +went farther, and made the much bolder assumption that as such a +Parliament would be chosen by electors, most of whom were Roman +Catholics, it would be under the control of the Catholic priesthood, and +hostile to Protestants. Thus they supposed that the grant of +self-government to Ireland would mean the abandonment of the upper and +wealthier class, the landlords and the Protestants, to the tender +mercies of their enemies. Such abandonment, it was proclaimed on a +thousand platforms, would be disgraceful in itself, dishonouring to +England, a betrayal of the very men who had stood by her in the past, +and were prepared to stand by her in the future, if only she would stand +by them. It was, of course, replied by the defenders of the Home Rule +Bill, that what the so-called English party in Ireland really stood by +was their own ascendency over the Irish masses--an oppressive +ascendency, which had caused most of the disorders of the country. As to +religion, there were many Protestants besides Mr. Parnell himself among +the Nationalist leaders. There was no ill-feeling (except in Ulster) +between Protestants and Roman Catholics in Ireland. There was no reason +to expect that either the Catholic hierarchy or the priesthood generally +would be supreme in an Irish Parliament, and much reason to expect the +contrary. As regards Ulster, where, no doubt, there were special +difficulties, due to the bitter antagonism of the Orangemen (not of the +Protestants generally) and Catholics, Mr. Gladstone had undertaken to +consider any special provisions which could be suggested as proper to +meet those difficulties. These replies, however, made little impression. +They were pronounced, and pronounced all the more confidently the more +ignorant of Ireland the speaker was, to be too hypothetical. To many +Englishmen the case seemed to be one of two hostile factions contending +in Ireland for the last sixty years, and that the gift of +self-government might enable one of them to tyrannize over the other. +True, that party was the majority, and, according to the principles of +democratic government, therefore entitled to prevail. But it is one +thing to admit a principle and another to consent to its application. +The minority had the sympathy of the upper classes in England, because +the minority contained the landlords. It had the sympathy of a part of +the middle class, because it contained the Protestants. And of those +Englishmen who were impartial as between the Irish factions, there were +some who held that England must in any case remain responsible for the +internal peace and the just government of Ireland, and could not grant +powers whose possession might tempt the one party to injustice, and the +other to resist injustice by violence. + +There was another anticipation, another forecast of evils to follow, +which told most of all upon English opinion. This was the notion that +Home Rule was only a stage in the road to the complete separation of the +two islands. The argument was conceived as follows: "The motive passions +of the Irish agitation have all along been hatred toward England and a +desire to make Ireland a nation, holding her independent place among the +nations of the world. This design was proclaimed by the Young Irelanders +of 1848 and by the Fenian rebels of 1866; it has been avowed, in +intervals of candour, by the present Nationalists themselves. The grant +of an Irish Parliament will stimulate rather than appease this thirst +for separate national existence. The nearer complete independence seems, +the more will it be desired. Hatred to England will still be an active +force, because the amount of control which England retains will irritate +Irish pride, as well as limit Irish action; while all the misfortunes +which may befall the new Irish Government will be blamed, not on its own +imprudence, but on the English connection. And as the motives for +seeking separation will remain, so the prospect of obtaining it will +seem better. Agitation will have a better vantage-ground in an Irish +Parliament than it formerly had among the Irish members of a British +Legislature; and if actual resistance to the Queen's authority should be +attempted, it will be attempted under conditions more favourable than +the present, because the rebels will have in their hands the machinery +of Irish Government, large financial resources, and a _prima facie_ +title to represent the will of the Irish people. As against a rebellious +party in Ireland, England has now two advantages--an advantage of +theory, an advantage of fact. The advantage of theory is that she does +not admit Ireland to be a distinct nation, but maintains that in the +United Kingdom there is but one nation, whereof some inhabit Great +Britain and some Ireland. The advantage of fact is that, through her +control of the constabulary, the magistrates, the courts of justice, +and, in fine, the whole administrative system of Ireland, she can easily +quell insurrectionary movements. By creating an Irish Parliament and +Government she would strip herself of both these advantages." + +I need hardly say that I do not admit the fairness of this statement of +the case, because some of the premises are untrue, and because it +misrepresents the nature of the Irish Government which Mr. Gladstone's +Bill would have created. But I am trying to state the case as it was +sedulously and skilfully presented to Englishmen. And it told all the +more upon English waverers, because the considerations above mentioned +seemed, if well founded, to destroy and cut away the chief ground on +which Home Rule had been advocated, viz. that it would relieve England +from the constant pressure of Irish discontent and agitation, and bring +about a time of tranquillity, permitting good feeling to grow up between +the peoples. If Home Rule was, after all, to be nothing more than a +half-way house to independence, an Irish Parliament only a means of +extorting a more complete emancipation from imperial control, was it not +much better to keep things as they were, and go on enduring evils, the +worst of which were known already? Hence the advocates of the Bill +denied not the weight of the argument, but its applicability. +Separation, they urged, is impossible, for it is contrary to the nature +of things, which indicates that the two islands must go together. It is +not desired by the Irish people, for it would injure them far more than +it could possibly injure England, since Ireland finds in England the +only market for her produce, the only source whence capital flows to +her. A small revolutionary party has, no doubt, conspired to obtain it. +But the only sympathy they received was due to the fact that the +legitimate demand of Ireland for a recognition of her national feeling +and for the management of her own local affairs was contemptuously +ignored by England. The concession of that demand will banish the notion +even from those minds which now entertain it, whereas its continued +refusal may perpetuate that alienation of feeling which is at the bottom +of all the mischief, the one force that makes for separation. + +It is no part of my present purpose to examine these arguments and +counter arguments, but only to show what were the grounds on which a +majority of the English voters refused to pronounce in favour of the +Home Rule Bill. The reader will have observed that the issues raised +were not only numerous, but full of difficulty. They were issues of +fact, involving a knowledge both of the past history of Ireland and of +her present state. They were also issues of inference, for even +supposing the broad facts to be ascertained, these facts were +susceptible of different interpretations, and men might, and did, +honestly draw opposite conclusions from them. A more obscure and +complicated problem, or rather group of problems, has seldom been +presented to a nation for its decision. But the nation did not possess +the requisite knowledge. Closely connected as Ireland seems to be with +England, long as the Irish question has been a main trouble in English +politics, the English and Scottish people know amazingly little about +Ireland. Even in the upper class, you meet with comparatively few +persons who have set foot on Irish soil, and, of course, far fewer who +have ever examined the condition of the island and the sources of her +discontent. Irish history, which is, no doubt, dismal reading, is a +blank page to the English. In January, 1886, one found scarce any +politicians who had ever heard of the Irish Parliament of 1782. And in +that year, 1886, an Englishman anxious to discover the real state of the +country did not know where to go for information. What appeared in the +English newspapers, or, rather, in the one English newspaper which keeps +a standing "own correspondent" in Dublin, was (as it still is) a grossly +and almost avowedly partisan report, in which opinions are skilfully +mixed with so-called facts, selected, consciously or unconsciously, to +support the writer's view. The Nationalist press is, of course, not less +strongly partisan on its own side, so that not merely an average +Englishman, but even the editor of an English newspaper, who desires to +ascertain the true state of matters and place it before his English +readers, has had, until within the last few months, when events in +Ireland began to be fully reported in Great Britain, no better means at +his disposal for understanding Ireland than for understanding Bulgaria. +I do not dwell upon this ignorance as an argument for Home Rule, though, +of course, it is often so used. I merely wish to explain the +bewilderment in which Englishmen found themselves when required to +settle by their votes a question of immense difficulty. Many, on both +sides, simply followed their party banners. Tories voted for Lord +Salisbury; thorough-going admirers of Mr. Gladstone voted for Mr. +Gladstone. But there was on the Liberal side a great mass who were +utterly perplexed by the position. Contradictory statements of fact, as +well as contradictory arguments, were flung at their heads in +distracting profusion. They felt themselves unable to determine what was +true and who was right. But one thing seemed clear to them. The policy +of Home Rule was a new policy. They had been accustomed to censure and +oppose it. Only nine months before, the Irish Nationalists had +emphasized their hostility to the Liberal party by doing their utmost to +defeat Liberal candidates in English constituencies. Hence, when it was +proclaimed that Home Rule was the true remedy which the Liberal party +must accept, they were startled and discomposed. + +Now, the English are not a nimble-minded people. They cannot, to use a +familiar metaphor, turn round in their own length. Their momentum is +such as to carry them on for some distance in the direction wherein they +have been moving, even after the order to stop has been given. They need +time to appreciate, digest, and comprehend a new proposition. Timid they +are not, nor, perhaps, exceptionally cautious, but they do not like to +be hurried, and insist on looking at a proposition for a good while +before they come to a decision regarding it. It is one of the qualities +which make them a great people. As has been observed, this proposition +was novel, was most serious, and raised questions which they felt that +their knowledge was insufficient to determine. Accordingly, a certain +section of the Liberal party refused to accept it. A great number, +probably the majority, of these doubtful men abstained from voting. +Others voted against the Home Rule Liberal candidates, not necessarily +because they condemned the policy, but because, as they were not +satisfied that it was right, they deemed delay a less evil than the +committal of the nation to a new departure, which might prove +irrevocable. + +It must not, however, be supposed that it was only hesitation which +drove many Liberals into the host arrayed against the Irish Government +Bill. I have already said that among the leaders there were some, and +those men of great influence, who condemned its principles. This was +true also of a considerable, though a relatively smaller, section of the +rank and file. And it was only what might have been expected. The +proposal to undo much of the work done in 1800, to alter fundamentally +the system which had for eighty-six years regulated the relations of the +two islands, by setting up a Parliament in Ireland, was a proposal which +not only had not formed a part of the accepted creed of the Liberal +party, but fell outside party lines altogether. It might, no doubt, be +argued, as was actually done, and as those who understand the history of +the Liberal party have more and more come to see, that Liberal +principles recommended it, since they involve faith in the people, and +faith in the curative tendency of local self-government. But this was by +no means axiomatic. Taking the whole complicated facts of the case, and +taking Liberalism as it had been practically understood in England, a +man might in July, 1886, deem himself a good Liberal and yet think that +the true interests of both peoples would be best served by maintaining +the existing Parliamentary system. Similarly, there was nothing in +Toryism or Tory principles to prevent a fair-minded and patriotic Tory +from approving the Home Rule scheme. It was a return to the older +institutions of the monarchy, and not inconsistent with any of the +doctrines which the Tory party had been accustomed to uphold. The +question, in short, was one of those which cut across ordinary party +lines, creating new divisions among politicians; and there might have +been and ought to have been Liberal Home Rulers and Tory Home Rulers, +Liberal opponents of Home Rule and Tory opponents of Home Rule. + +But here comes in a feature, a natural but none the less a regrettable +feature, of the English party system. As the object of the party in +opposition is to turn out the party in power and seat itself in their +place, every Opposition regards with the strongest prejudice the +measures proposed by a ruling Ministry. Cases sometimes occur where +these measures are so obviously necessary, or so evidently approved by +the nation, that the Opposition accepts them. But in general it scans +them with a hostile eye. Human nature is human nature; and when the +defeat of Government can be secured by defeating a Government Bill, the +temptation to the Opposition to secure it is irresistible. Now, the Tory +party is far more cohesive than the Liberal party, far more obedient to +its leaders, far less disposed to break into sections, each of which +thinks and acts for itself. Accordingly, that division of opinion in the +Tory party which might have been expected, and which would have occurred +if those who composed the Tory party had been merely so many reflecting +men, and not members of a closely compacted political organization, did +not occur. Liberals were divided, as such a question would naturally +divide them. Tories were not divided; they threw their whole strength +against the Bill. I am far from suggesting that they did so against +their consciences. Whatever may be said as to two or three of the +leaders, whose previous language and conduct seemed to indicate that +they would themselves, had the election of 1885 gone differently, have +been inclined to a Home Rule policy, many of the Tory chiefs, as well +as the great mass of the party, honestly disapproved Mr. Gladstone's +measure. But their party motives and party affiliations gave it no +chance of an impartial verdict at their hands. They went into the +jury-box with an invincible prepossession against the scheme of their +opponents. When all these difficulties are duly considered, and +especially when regard is had to those which I have last enumerated, the +suddenness with which the new policy was launched, and the fact that as +coming from one party it was sure beforehand of the hostility of the +other, no surprise can be felt at its fate. Those who, in England, now +look back over the spring and summer of 1886 are rather surprised that +it should come so near succeeding. To have been rejected by a majority +of only thirty in Parliament, and of little over ten per cent. of the +total number of electors who voted at the general election, is a defeat +far less severe than any one who knew England would have predicted. + +That the decision of the country is regarded by nobody as a final +decision goes without saying. It was not regarded as final, even in the +first weeks after it was given. This was not because the majority was +comparatively small, for a smaller majority the other way would have +been conclusive. It is because the country had not time enough for full +consideration and deliberate judgment. The Bill was brought in on April +14th, the elections began on July 1st; no one can say what might have +been the result of a long discussion, during which the first feelings of +alarm (for alarm there was) might have worn off. And the decision is +without finality, also, because the decision of the country was merely +against the particular plan proposed by Mr. Gladstone, and not in favour +of any alternative plan for dealing with Ireland, most certainly not for +the coercive method which has since been adopted. One particular +solution of the Irish problem was refused. The problem still stands +confronting us, and when other modes of solving it have been in turn +rejected, the country may come back to this mode. + +We may now turn from the past to the future. Yet the account which has +been given of the feelings and ideas arrayed against the Bill does not +wholly belong to the past. They are the feelings to which the opponents +of any plan of self-government for Ireland still appeal, and which will +have to be removed or softened down before it can be accepted by the +English. In particular, the probability of separation, and the supposed +dangers to the Protestants and the landlords from an Irish Parliament, +will continue to form the themes of controversy so long as the question +remains unsettled. + +What are the prospects of its settlement? What is the position which it +now occupies? How has it affected the current politics of England? + +It broke up the Liberal party in Parliament. The vast numerical majority +of that party in the country supported, and still supports, Mr. +Gladstone and the policy of Irish self-government. But the dissentient +minority includes many men of influence, and constitutes in the House of +Commons a body of about seventy members, who hold the balance between +parties. For the present they are leagued with the Tory Ministry to +resist Home Rule, and their support insures a parliamentary majority to +that Ministry. But it is, of course, necessary for them to rally to Lord +Salisbury, not only on Irish questions, but on all questions; for, under +our English system, a Ministry defeated on any serious issue is bound to +resign, or dissolve Parliament. Now, to maintain an alliance for a +special purpose, between members of opposite parties, is a hard matter. +Agreement about Ireland does not, of itself, help men to agree about +foreign policy, or bimetallism, or free trade, or changes in land laws, +or ecclesiastical affairs. When these and other grave questions come up +in Parliament, the Tory Ministry and their Liberal allies must, on +every occasion, negotiate a species of concordat, whereby the liberty +of both is fettered. One party may wish to resist innovation, the other +to yield to it, or even to anticipate it. Each is obliged to forego +something in order to humour the other; neither has the pleasure or the +credit of taking a bold line on its own responsibility. There is, no +doubt, less difference between the respective tenets of the great +English parties than there was twenty years ago, when Mr. Disraeli had +not yet completed the education of one party, and economic laws were +still revered by the other. But, besides its tenets, each party has its +tendencies, its sympathies, its moral atmosphere; and these differ so +widely as to make the co-operation of Tories and Liberals constrained +and cumbrous. Moreover, there are the men to be considered, the leaders +on each side, whose jealousies, rivalries, suspicions, personal +incompatibilities, neither old habits of joint action nor corporate +party feeling exist to soften. On the whole, therefore, it is unlikely +that the league of these two parties, united for one question only, and +that a question which will pass into new phases, can be durable. Either +the league will dissolve, or the smaller party will be absorbed into the +larger. In England, as in America, third parties rarely last. The +attraction of the larger mass is irresistible, and when the crisis which +created a split or generated a new group has passed, or the opinion the +new group advocates has been either generally discredited or generally +adopted, the small party melts away, its older members disappearing from +public life, its younger ones finding their career in the ranks of one +of the two great standing armies of politics. If the dissentient, or +anti-Home Rule, Liberal party lives till the next general election, it +cannot live longer, for at that election it will be ground to powder +between the upper and nether millstones of the regular Liberals and the +regular Tories. + +The Irish struggle of 1886 has had another momentous consequence. It +has brought the Nationalist or Parnellite party into friendly relations +with the mass of English Liberals. When the Home Rule party was founded +by Mr. Butt, some fifteen years ago, it had more in common with the +Liberal than with the Tory party. But as it demanded what both English +parties were then resolved to refuse, it was forced into antagonism to +both; and from 1877 onward (Mr. Butt being then dead) the antagonism +became bitter, and, of course, specially bitter as toward the statesmen +in power, because it was they who continued to refuse what the +Nationalists sought. Mr. Parnell has always stated, with perfect +candour, that he and his friends must fight for their own hand +unhampered by English alliances, and getting the most they could for +Ireland from the weakness of either English party. This position they +still retain. If the Tory party will give them Home Rule, they will help +the Tory party. However, as the Tory party has gained office by opposing +Home Rule, this contingency may seem not to lie within the immediate +future. On the other hand, the Gladstonian Liberals have lost office for +their advocacy of Home Rule, and now stand pledged to maintain the +policy they have proclaimed. The Nationalists have, therefore, for the +first time since the days immediately following the Union of A.D. 1800 +(a measure which the Whigs of those days resisted), a great English +party admitting the justice of their claim, and inviting them to agitate +for it by purely constitutional methods. For such an alliance the +English Liberals are hotly reproached, both by the Tories and by the +dissentients who follow Lord Harrington and Mr. Chamberlain. They are +accused of disloyalty to England. The past acts and words of the +Nationalists are thrown in their teeth, and they are told that in +supporting the Irish claim they condone such acts, they adopt such +words. They reply by denying the adoption, and by pointing out that the +Tories themselves were from 1881 till 1886 in a practical, and often +very close, though unavowed, Parliamentary alliance with the +Nationalists in the House of Commons. The student of history will, +however, conceive that the Liberals have a stronger and higher defence +than any _tu quoque_. Issues that involve the welfare of peoples are far +too serious for us to apply to them the same sentiments of personal +taste and predilection which we follow in inviting a dinner party, or +selecting companions for a vacation tour. If a man has abused your +brother, or got drunk in the street, you do not ask him to go with you +to the Yellowstone Park. But his social offences do not prevent you from +siding with him in a political convention. So, in politics itself, one +must distinguish between characters and opinions. If a man has shown +himself unscrupulous or headstrong, you may properly refuse to vote him +into office, or to sit in the same Cabinet with him, because you think +these faults of his dangerous to the country. But if the cause he pleads +be a just one, you have no more right to be prejudiced against it by his +conduct than a judge has to be swayed by dislike to the counsel who +argues a case. There were moderate men in America, who, in the days of +the anti-slavery movement, cited against it the intemperate language of +many abolitionists. There were aristocrats in England, who, during the +struggle for the freedom and unity of Italy, sought to discredit the +patriotic party by accusing them of tyrannicide. But the sound sense of +both nations refused to be led away by such arguments, because it held +those two causes to be in their essence righteous. In all revolutionary +movements there are elements of excess and violence, which sober men may +regret, but which must not disturb our judgment as to the substantial +merits of an issue. The revolutionist of one generation is, like +Garibaldi or Mazzini, the hero of the next; and the verdict of posterity +applauds those who, even in his own day, were able to discern the +justice of the cause under the errors or faults of its champion. Doubly +is it the duty of a great and far-sighted statesman not to be repelled +by such errors, when he can, by espousing a revolutionary movement, +purify it of its revolutionary character, and turn it into a legitimate +constitutional struggle. This is what Mr. Gladstone has done. If his +policy be in itself dangerous and disloyal to the true interests of the +people of our islands, let it be condemned. But if it be the policy +which has the best promise for the peace, the prosperity, and the mutual +good will of those peoples, he and those who follow him would be +culpable indeed were they to be deterred by the condemnation which they +have so often expressed, and which they still express, for some of the +past acts of a particular party, from declaring that the aims of that +party were substantially right aims, and from now pressing upon the +country what their conscience approves. + +However, as the Home Rule Liberals and Nationalists, taken together, are +in a minority (although a minority which obtains recruits at many +bye-elections) in the present Parliament, it is not from them that fresh +proposals are expected. They will, of course, continue to speak, write, +and agitate on behalf of the views they hold. But practical attempt to +deal with Irish troubles must for the present come from the Tory +Ministry; for in the English system of government those who command a +Parliamentary majority are responsible for legislation as well as +administration, and are censured not merely if their legislation is bad, +but if it is not forthcoming when events call for it. + +Why, it may be asked, should Lord Salisbury's Government burn its +fingers over Ireland, as so many governments have burnt their fingers +before? Why not let Ireland alone, giving to foreign affairs and to +English and Scottish reforms all the attention which these too much +neglected matters need? + +Well would it be for England, as well as for English Ministries, if +Ireland could be simply let alone, her maladies left to be healed by the +soft, slow hand of nature. But Irish troubles call aloud to be dealt +with, and that promptly. They stand in the way of all other reforms, +indeed of all other business. Letting alone has been tried, and it has +succeeded no better, even in times less urgent than the present, than +the usual policy of coercion followed by concession, or concession +followed by coercion. + +There are three aspects of the Irish question, three channels by which +the troubles of the "distressful island" stream down upon us, forcing +whoever now rules or may come to rule in England to attempt some plan +for dealing with them. I will take them in succession. + +The first is the Parliamentary difficulty. In the British House of +Commons, with its six hundred and seventy members, there are nearly +ninety Irish Nationalists. They are a well-disciplined body, voting as +one man, though capable of speaking enough for a thousand. They have no +interest in English or Scotch or colonial or Indian affairs, but only in +Irish, and look upon the vote which they have the right of giving upon +the former solely as a means of furthering their own Irish aims. They +are, therefore, in the British Parliament not merely a foreign body, +indifferent to the great British and imperial issues confided to it, but +a hostile body, opposed to its present constitution, seeking to +discredit it in its authority over Ireland, and to make more and more +palpable and incurable the incompetence for Irish business whereof they +accuse it. Several modes of doing this are open to them. They may, as +some of the more actively bitter among them did in the Parliaments of +1874 and 1880, obstruct business by long and frequent speeches, dilatory +motions, and all those devices which in America are called +filibustering. The House of Commons may, no doubt, try to check these +tactics by more stringent rules of procedure, but the attempts already +made in this direction have had but slight success, and every +restriction of debate, since it trenches on the freedom of English and +Scotch no less than of Irish members, injures Parliament as a whole. +They may disgust the British people with the House of Commons by keeping +it (as they have done in former years) so constantly occupied with Irish +business as to leave it little time for English and Scotch measures. +They may throw the weight of their collective vote into the scale of one +or other British party, according to the amount of concession it will +make to them, or, by always voting against the Ministry of the day, they +may cause frequent and sudden changes of Government. This plan also they +have followed in time past; for the moment it is not so applicable, +because the Tories and dissentient Liberals, taken together, possess a +majority in the House of Commons. But at any moment the alliance of +those two sections may vanish, or another General Election may leave +Tories and Liberals so nearly balanced that the Irish vote could turn +the scale. Whoever reflects on the nature of Parliamentary Government +will perceive that it is based on the assumption that the members of the +ruling assembly, however much they may differ on other subjects, agree +in desiring the strength, dignity, and welfare of the assembly itself, +and in caring for the main national interests which it controls. He will +therefore be prepared to expect countless and multiform difficulties in +working such a Government, where a large section of the assembly seeks +not to use, but to make useless, its forms and rules--not to preserve, +but to lower and destroy, its honour, its credit, its efficiency. In +vain are Irish members blamed for these tactics, for they answer that +the interests of their own country require them to seek first her +welfare, which can in their view be secured only by removing her from +the direct control of what they deem a foreign assembly. Now that the +demand for Irish self-government has obtained the sympathy of the bulk +of English Liberals, they are unlikely forthwith to resume the +systematic obstruction of past years. But they will be able, without +alienating their English friends, to render the conduct of Parliamentary +business so difficult that every English Ministry will be forced either +to crush them, if it can, or to appease them by a series of concessions. + +The second difficulty is that of maintaining social order in Ireland. +What that difficulty is, and whence it arises, every one knows. It is +chronic, but every second or third winter, when there has been a wet +season, or the price of live stock declines, it becomes specially acute. +The tenants refuse to pay rents which they declare to be impossible. The +landlords, or the harsher among them, try to enforce rents by evictions; +evictions are resisted by outrages and boycotting. Popular sentiment +supports those who commit outrages, because it considers the tenantry to +be engaged in a species of war, a righteous war, against the landlord. +Evidence can seldom be obtained, and juries acquit in the teeth of +evidence. Thus the enforcement of the law strains all the resources of +authority, while a habit of lawlessness and discontent is transmitted +from generation to generation. Of the remedies proposed for this chronic +evil the most obvious is the strengthening of the criminal law. We have +been trying this for more than one hundred years, since Whiteboyism +appeared, and trying it in vain. Since the Union, Coercion Acts, of more +or less severity, have been almost always in force in Ireland, passed +for two or three years, then dropped for a year or two, then renewed in +a form slightly varying, but always with the same result of driving the +disease in for a time, but not curing it. Mr. Gladstone proposed to buy +out the landlords and then leave an Irish Parliament to restore social +order, with that authority which it would derive from having the will of +the people behind it; because he held that when the people felt the law +to be of their own making, and not imposed from without, their sentiment +would be enlisted on its side, and the necessity for a firm Government +recognized. This plan, has, however, been rejected, so the choice was +left of a fresh Coercion Act, or of some scheme, necessarily a costly +scheme, for getting rid of the source of trouble by transferring the +land of Ireland to the peasantry. The present Government, while guided +by Sir M. Hicks-Beach, who had some knowledge of Ireland, did its best +to persuade the landlords to accept reduced rents, while the Nationalist +leaders, on their side, sought to restrain the people from outrages. But +the armistice did not last. The Ministry yielded to the foolish counsels +of its more violent supporters, and entrusted Irish affairs to the hands +of a Chief Secretary without previous knowledge of the island. An +unusually severe Coercion Act has been brought in and passed by the aid +of the dissentient Liberals. And we now see this Act administered with a +mixture of virulence and incompetence to which even the dreary annals of +Irish misgovernment present few parallels. The feeling of the English +people is rising against the policy carried out in their name. So far +from being solved, the problem of social order becomes every day more +acute. + +There remains the question of a reform of local government. For many +years past, every English Ministry has undertaken to frame a measure +creating a new system of popular rural self-government in England. It is +the first large task of domestic legislation which we ask from +Parliament. When such a scheme is proposed, can Ireland be left out of +it? Should she be left out, the argument that she is being treated +unequally and unfairly, as compared with England, would gain immense +force; because the present local government of Ireland is admittedly +less popular, less efficient, altogether less defensible, than even that +of England which we are going to reform. If, therefore, the theory that +the Imperial Parliament is both anxious and able to do its duty by +Ireland is to be maintained, Ireland, too, must have her scheme of local +government. And a scheme of local government is a large project, the +discussion of which must pass into a discussion of the government of the +island as a whole. + +Since, then, we may conclude that whatever Ministry is in power will be +bound to take up the state of Ireland--since Parliament and the nation +will be occupied with the subject during the coming sessions fully as +much as they have been during those that have recently passed--the next +inquiry is, What will the tendency of opinion and legislation be? Will +the reasons and forces described above bring us to Home Rule? and if so, +when, how, and why? + +There are grounds for answering these questions in the negative. A +majority of the House of Commons, including the present Ministry and +such influential Liberals as Mr. Bright, Lord Hartington, Mr. +Chamberlain, stand pledged to resist it, and seem--such is the passion +which controversy engenders--more disposed to resist it than they were +in 1885. But this ground is less strong than it may appear. We have had +too many changes of opinion--ay, and of action too--upon Irish affairs +not to be prepared for further changes. A Ministry in power learns much +which an Opposition fails to learn. Home Rule is an elastic expression, +and some of those who were loudest in denouncing Mr. Gladstone's Bill +will find it easy to explain, should they bring in a Bill of their own +for giving self-government to Ireland, that their measure is a different +thing, and free from the objections brought against his. Nor, if such a +conversion should come, need it be deemed a dishonest one, for events +are potent teachers, and governments now seek rather to follow than to +form opinion. Although a decent interval must be allowed, no one will be +astonished if the Tory leaders should move ere long in the direction +indicated. Toryism itself, as has been remarked already, contains +nothing opposed to the idea. + +Far greater obstacles exist in the aversion which (as already observed) +so many Englishmen of both parties have entertained for any scheme which +should seem to leave the Protestant minority at the mercy of the peasant +and Roman Catholic majority, and to carry us some way toward the +ultimate separation of the islands. These alarms are genuine and +deep-seated. One who (like the present writer) thinks them, if not +baseless, yet immensely overstrained, is, of course, convinced that they +may be allayed. But time must first pass, and the plan that is to allay +them may have to be framed on somewhat different lines from those of Mr. +Gladstone's measure. It is even possible that a conflict more sharp and +painful than any of recent years may intervene before a settlement is +reached. + +Nevertheless, great as are the obstacles in the way, bitter as are the +reproaches with which Mr. Gladstone is pursued by the richer classes in +England, there is good reason to believe that the current is setting +toward his policy. In proceeding to state the grounds for this view, I +must frankly own that I am no longer (as in most of the preceding pages) +merely setting forth facts on which impartial men in England would +agree. The forecast which I seek to give may be tinged by my own belief +that the grant of self-government is the best, if not the only method, +now open to us of establishing peace between the islands, relieving the +English Parliament of work it is ill fitted to discharge, allowing +Ireland opportunities to learn those lessons in politics which her +people so much need. The future, even the near future, is more than +usually dim. Yet, if we examine those three branches of the Irish +question which have been enumerated above, we shall see how naturally, +in each of them, the concession of self-government seems to open, I will +not say the most direct, but the least dangerous way, out of our +troubles. + +The Parliamentary difficulty arises from the fact that the +representatives of Ireland have the feelings of foreigners sitting in a +foreign assembly, whose honour and usefulness they do not desire. While +these are their feelings they cannot work properly in it, and it cannot +work properly with them. The inconvenience may be endured, but the +English will grow tired of it, and be disposed to rid themselves of it, +if they see their way to do so without greater mischief. There are but +two ways out of the difficulty. One is to get rid of the Irish members +altogether; the other is to make them, by the concession of their just +demands, contented and loyal members of a truly united Parliament. The +experience of the Parliament of 1880, which was mainly occupied with +Irish business, and began, being a strongly Liberal Parliament, with a +bias toward the Irish popular party, showed how difficult it is for a +House of Commons which is ignorant of Ireland to legislate wisely for +it. In the House of Lords there is not a single Nationalist; indeed, up +till 1886, that exalted chamber contained only one peer, Lord Dalhousie +(formerly member for Liverpool), who had ever said a word in favour of +Home Rule. The more that England becomes sensible, as she must become +sensible, of the deficiencies of the present machinery for appreciating +the needs and giving effect to the wishes of Irishmen, the more disposed +will she be to grant them some machinery of their own. + +As regards social order, I have shown that the choice which lies before +the opponents of Home Rule is either to continue the policy of coercing +the peasantry by severe special legislation, or to remove the source of +friction by buying out the landlords for the benefit of the tenants. The +present Ministry have chosen the former alternative, but they dangle +before the eyes of their supporters some prospect that they may +ultimately revert to the latter. Now, the only way that has yet been +pointed out of buying out the landlords, without imposing tremendous +liabilities of loss upon the British Treasury, is the creation of a +strong Home Rule Government in Dublin. Supposing, however, that some +other plan could be discovered, which would avoid the fatal objections +to which an extension of the plan of the (Salisbury) Land Purchase Act +of 1885 is open, such a plan would remove one of the chief objections to +an Irish Parliament, by leaving no estates for such a Parliament to +confiscate. As for coercion every day, I might say, every bye-election +shows us how it becomes more and more odious to the British democracy. +They dislike severity; they dislike the inequality involved in passing +harsher laws for Ireland than those that apply to England and Scotland. +They find themselves forced to sympathize with acts of violence in +Ireland which they would condemn in Great Britain, because these acts +seem the only way of resisting harsh and unjust laws. When the recoil +comes, it will be more violent than in former days. The wish to discover +some other course will be very strong, and the obvious other course will +be to leave it to an Irish authority to enforce social order in its own +way--probably a more rough-and-ready way than that of British officials. +The notion which has possessed most Englishmen, that Irish +self-government would be another name for anarchy, is curiously +erroneous. Conflicts there may be, but a vigorous rule will emerge. + +Lastly, as to local government. If a popular system is established in +Ireland--one similar to that which it is proposed to establish in +England--the control of its assemblies and officials will, over +four-fifths of the island, fall into Nationalist hands. Their power will +be enormously increased, for they will then command the machinery of +administration, and the power of taxing. What with taxing landlords, +aiding recalcitrant tenants, stopping the wheels of any central +authority which may displease or oppose them, they will be in so strong +a position that the creation of an Irish Parliament may appear to be a +comparatively small further step, may even appear (as the wisest +Nationalists now think it would prove) in the light of a check upon the +abuse of local powers. These eventualities will unquestionably, when +English opinion has realized them, make such a Parliament as the present +pause before it commits rural local government to the Irish democracy. +But it could not refuse to do something; and if it tried to restrain +popular representative bodies by the veto of a bureaucracy in Dublin, +there would arise occasions for quarrel and irritation more serious than +now exist.[70] Those who once begin to repair an old and tottering +building are led on, little by little, into changes they did not at +starting contemplate. So it will be if once the task is undertaken of +reforming the confessedly bad and indefensible system of Irish +administration. We may stop at some half-way house on the way, but Home +Rule stands at the end of the road. + +Supposing, then, that the Nationalist party, retaining its present +strength and unity, perseveres in its present demands, there is every +prospect that these demands will be granted. But will it persevere? +There are among the English Dissentients those who prophesy that it will +break up, as such parties have broken up before--will lose hope and +wither away. Or the support of the Irish peasantry may be withdrawn--a +result which some English politicians expect from a final settlement of +the land question in the interest of the tenants. Any of these +contingencies is possible, but at present most improbable. The moment +when long-cherished aims begin to seem attainable is not that at which +men are disposed to abandon them. + +There are, however, other reasons which suggest the likelihood of a +change in English sentiment on the whole matter. The surprise with +which the Bill of last April was received has worn off. The alarm is +wearing off too. Those who set their teeth at what seemed to them a +surrender to the Parnellites and their Irish-American allies, having +relieved their temper by an emphatic No, have begun to ponder things +more calmly. The English people are listening to the arguments from +Irish history that are now addressed to them. They will be moved by the +solid grounds of policy which that history suggests; will understand +that what they have deemed insensate hatred is the natural result of +long misgovernment, and will disappear with time and the removal of its +causes. Many of the best minds of both nations will be at work to +discover some method of reconciling Irish self-government with imperial +supremacy and union free from the objections brought against the Bills +of 1886. It is reasonable to expect that they may greatly improve upon +these measures, which were prepared under pressure from a clamorous +Opposition. What Mr. Disraeli once called the historical conscience of +the country will appreciate those great underlying principles to which +Mr. Gladstone's policy appeals. It has been accused of being a policy of +despair; and may have commended itself to some who supported it as being +simply a means of ridding England of responsibility. But to others it +seemed, and more truly, a policy of faith; not, indeed, of thoughtless +optimism, but of faith according to the definition which calls it "the +substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith, +by which nations as well as men must live, means nothing less than a +conviction that great principles, permanent truths of human nature, lie +at the bottom of all sound politics, and ought to be boldly and +consistently applied, even when temporary difficulties surround their +application. Such a principle is the belief in the power of freedom and +self-government to cure the faults of a nation, in the tendency of +responsibility to teach wisdom, and to make men see that justice and +order are the surest sources of prosperity. Such a principle is the +perception that national hatreds do not live on of themselves, but will +expire when oppression has ceased, as a fire burns out without fuel. +Such a principle is the recognition of the force of national sentiment, +and of the duty of allowing it all the satisfaction that is compatible +with the maintenance of imperial unity. Such, again, is the appreciation +of those natural economic laws which show that nations, when disturbing +passions have ceased, follow their own permanent interests, and that an +island which finds its chief market in England and draws its capital +from England will prefer a connection with England to the poverty and +insignificance of isolation. It is the honour of Mr. Gladstone to have +built his policy of conciliation upon principles like these, as upon a +rock; and already the good effects are seen in the new friendliness +which has arisen between the English masses and the people of Ireland, +and in the better temper with which, despite the acrimony of some +prominent politicians, the relations of the two peoples are discussed. +When one looks round the horizon it is still far from clear; nor can we +say from which quarter fair weather will arrive. But the air is fresher, +and the clouds are breaking overhead. + + * * * * * + +POSTSCRIPT. + +What has happened since the above paragraphs were written, ten months +ago, has confirmed more quickly and completely than the writer expected +the forecasts they contain. Home Rule is no longer a word of terror, +even to those English and Scotch voters who were opposed to it in July, +1886. Most sensible men in the Tory and Dissentient Liberal camps have +come to see that it is inevitable; and, while they continue to resist +it for the sake of what is called consistency, or because they do not +yet see in what form it is to be granted, they are disposed to regard +its speedy arrival as the best method of retreat from an indefensible +position. + +The repressive policy which the present Ministry are attempting in +Ireland--for in the face of their failures one cannot say that they are +carrying out any policy--is rendering Coercion Acts more and more +detested by the English people. The actualities of Ireland, the social +condition of her peasantry, the unwisdom of the dominant caste, the +incompetence of the bureaucracy which affects to rule her, are being, by +the full accounts we now receive, brought home to the mind of England +and Scotland as they never were before, and produce their appropriate +effect upon the heart and conscience of the people. The recognition by +the Liberal party of the rights of Ireland, the visits of English +Liberals to Ireland, the work done by Irishmen in English +constituencies, are creating a feeling of unity and reciprocal interest +between the masses of the people on both sides of the Channel without +example in the seven hundred years that have passed since Strongbow's +landing. + +This was the thing most needed to make Home Rule safe and full of +promise, because it affords a guarantee that in such political contests +as may arise in future, the division will not be, as heretofore, between +the Irish people on the one side and the power of Britain on the other, +but between two parties, each of which will have adherents in both +islands. We may now at last hope that national hatreds will vanish; that +England will unlearn her arrogance and Ireland her suspicion; that the +basis is being laid for a harmonious co-operation of both nations in +promoting the welfare and greatness of a common Empire. + +Many of the Irish patriots of 1798 and 1848 desired Separation, because +they thought that Ireland, attached to England, could never be more +than the obscure satellite of a greater State. When Ireland has been +heartily welcomed by the democracy of Great Britain as an equal partner, +the ground for any such desire will have disappeared, and Union will +rest on a foundation firmer than has ever before existed. Ireland will +feel, when those rights of self-government have been secured for which +she has pleaded so long, that she owes them, not only to her own +tenacity and courage, but to the magnanimity, the justice, and the +freely given sympathy of the English and Scottish people. + +_October_, 1887. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 69: This article, which originally appeared in the American +_New Princeton Review_, has been added to in a few places, in order to +bring its narrative of facts up to date.] + +[Footnote 70: The experience of the last few months, which has shown us +rural Boards of Guardians and municipal bodies over four-fifths of +Ireland displaying their zeal in the Nationalist cause, has amply +confirmed this anticipation, expressed nearly a year ago.] + + + + +SOME ARGUMENTS CONSIDERED.[71] + +BY JOHN MORLEY. + + +It is a favourite line of argument to show that we have no choice +between the maintenance of the Union and the concession to Ireland of +national independence. The evils of Irish independence are universally +reckoned by Englishmen to be so intolerable that we shall never agree to +it. The evils of Home Rule are even more intolerable still. Therefore, +it is said, if we shall never willingly bring the latter upon our heads, +_a fortiori_ we ought on no account to invite the former. The business +in hand, however, is not a theorem, but a problem; it is not a thesis to +be proved, but a malady to be cured; and the world will thank only the +reasoner who winds up, not with Q.E.D., but with Q.E.F. To reason that a +patient ought not to take a given medicine because it may possibly cause +him more pain than some other medicine which he has no intention of +taking, is curiously oblique logic. The question is not oblique; it is +direct. Will the operation do more harm to his constitution than the +slow corrosions of a disorder grown inveterate? Are the conditions of +the connection between England and Ireland, as laid down in the Act of +Union, incapable of improvement? Is the present working of these +conditions more prosperous and hopeful, or happier for Irish order and +for English institutions, than any practicable proposal that it is +within the compass of statesmanship to devise, and of civic sense to +accept and to work? That is the question. + +Some people contend that the burden of making out a case rests on the +advocate of change, and not on those who support things as they are. But +who supports things as they are? Things as they are have become +insupportable. If you make any of the constitutional changes that have +been proposed, we are told, parliamentary government, as Englishmen now +know it, is at an end; and our critic stands amazed at those "who deem +it a slighter danger to innovate on the Act of Union than to remodel the +procedure of the House of Commons." As if that were the alternative. +Great changes in the rules may do other good things, but no single +competent authority believes that in this particular they will do the +thing that we want. We cannot avoid constitutional changes. It is made +matter of crushing rebuke that the Irish proposals of the late +Government were an innovation on the old constitution of the realm. But +everybody knows that, while ancient forms have survived, the last +hundred years have witnessed a long succession of silent but most +profound innovations. It was shortsighted to assume that the +redistribution of political power that took place in 1884-5 was the last +chapter of the history of constitutional change. It ought to have been +foreseen that new possessors of power, both Irish and British, would +press for objects the pursuit of which would certainly involve further +novelties in the methods and machinery of government. Every given +innovation must be rigorously scrutinized, but in the mere change or in +the fact of innovation there is no valid reproach. When one of the +plans for the better government of Ireland is described as depriving +parliamentary institutions of their elasticity and strength, as +weakening the Executive at home, and lessening the power of the country +to resist foreign attack, no careful observer of the events of the last +seven years can fail to see that all this evil has already got its grip +upon us. Mr. Dicey himself admits it. "Great Britain," he says, "if left +to herself, could act with all the force, consistency, and energy given +by unity of sentiment and community of interests. The obstruction and +the uncertainty of our political aims, the feebleness and inconsistency +with which they are pursued, arise in part at least from the connection +with Ireland." So then, after all, it is feebleness and inconsistency, +not elasticity and strength, that mark our institutions as they stand; +feebleness and inconsistency, distraction and uncertainty. The supporter +of things as they are is decidedly as much concerned in making out a +case as the advocate of change. + +The strength of the argument from Nationality is great, and full of +significance; but Nationality is not the whole essence of either the +argument from History or the argument from Self-government. Their force +lies in considerations of political expediency as tested by practical +experience. + +The point of the argument from the lessons of History is that for some +reason or another the international concern, whose unlucky affairs we +are now trying to unravel, has always been carried on at a loss: the +point of the argument from Self-government is that the loss would have +been avoided if the Irish shareholders had for a certain number of the +transactions been more influentially represented on the Board. That is +quite apart from the sentiment of pure nationality. The failure has come +about, not simply because the laws were not made by Irishmen as such, +but because they were not made by the men who knew most about Ireland. +The vice of the connection between the two countries has been the +stupidity of governing a country without regard to the interests or +customs, the peculiar objects and peculiar experiences, of the great +majority of the people who live in it. It is not enough to say that the +failures of England in Ireland have to a great extent flowed from causes +too general to be identified with the intentional wrong-doing either of +rulers or of subjects. We readily admit that, but it is not the point. +It is not enough to insist that James I., in his plantations and +transplantations, probably meant well to his Irish subjects. Probably he +did. That is not the question. If it is "absolutely certain that his +policy worked gross wrong," what is the explanation and the defence? We +are quite content with Mr. Dicey's own answer. "Ignorance and want of +sympathy produced all the evils of cruelty and malignity. An intended +reform produced injustice, litigation, misery, and discontent. The case +is noticeable, for it is a type of a thousand subsequent English +attempts to reform and improve Ireland." This description would apply, +with hardly a word altered, to the wrong done by the Encumbered Estates +Act in the reign of Queen Victoria. That memorable measure, as Mr. +Gladstone said, was due not to the action of a party, but to the action +of a Parliament. Sir Robert Peel was hardly less responsible for it than +Lord John Russell. "We produced it," said Mr. Gladstone, "with a +general, lazy, uninformed, and irreflective good intention of taking +capital to Ireland. What did we do? We sold the improvements of the +tenants" (House of Commons, April 16). It is the same story, from the +first chapter to the last, in education, poor law, public works, relief +Acts, even in coercion Acts--lazy, uninformed, and irreflective good +intention. That is the argument from history. When we are asked what +good law an Irish Parliament would make that could not equally well be +made by the Parliament at Westminster, this is the answer. It is not +the will, it is the intelligence, that is wanting. We all know what the +past has been. Why should the future be different? + +"It is an inherent condition of human affairs," said Mill in a book +which, in spite of some chimeras, is a wholesome corrective of the +teaching of our new jurists, "that no intention, however sincere, of +protecting the interests of others can make it safe or salutary to tie +up their own hands. Still more obviously true is it, that by their own +hands only can any positive and durable improvement of their +circumstances in life be worked out" (_Repres. Government_, p. 57). It +is these wise lessons from human experience to which the advocate of +Home Rule appeals, and not the wild doctrine that any body of persons +claiming to be united by a sense of nationality possesses _an inherent +and divine right_ to be treated as an independent community. It is quite +true that circumstances sometimes justify a temporary dictatorship. In +that there is nothing at variance with Liberalism. But the Parliamentary +dictatorship in Ireland has lasted a great deal too long to be called +temporary, and its stupid shambling operations are finally and +decisively condemned by their consequences. That is a straightforward +utilitarian argument, and has nothing whatever to do with inherent and +divine rights, or any other form of political moonshine. + +There are some who believe that an honest centralized administration of +impartial officials, and not Local Self-Government, would best meet the +real wants of the people. In other words, everything is to be for the +people, nothing by the people--which has not hitherto been a Liberal +principle. Something, however, may be said for this view, provided that +the source of the authority of such an administration be acceptable. +Austrian administration in Lombardy was good rather than bad, yet it was +hated and resisted because it was Austrian and not Italian. No rational +person can hold for an instant that the source of a scheme of +government is immaterial to its prosperity. More than that, when people +look for success in the government of Ireland to "honest centralized +administration," we cannot but wonder what fault they find with the +administration of Ireland to-day in respect of its honesty or its +centralization. What administration ever carried either honesty or +centralization to a higher pitch than the Irish administration of Mr. +Forster? What could be less successful? Those who have been most +directly concerned in the government of Ireland, whether English or +Irish, even while alive to the perils of any other principle, habitually +talk of centralization as the curse of the system. Here, again, why +should we expect success in the future from a principle that has so +failed in the past? + +Again, how are we to get a strong centralized administration in the face +of a powerful and hostile parliamentary representation? It is very easy +to talk of the benefits that might have been conferred on Ireland by +such humanity and justice as was practised by Turgot in his +administration of the Generality of Limoges. But Turgot was not +confronted by eighty-six Limousin members of an active sovereign body, +all interested in making his work difficult, and trusted by a large +proportion of the people of the province with that as their express +commission. It is possible to have an honest centralized administration +of great strength and activity in India, but there is no Parliament in +India. If India, or any province of it, ever gets representative +government and our parliamentary system, from that hour, if there be any +considerable section of Indian feeling averse from European rule, the +present administrative system will be paralyzed, as the preliminary to +being revolutionized. It is conceivable, if any one chooses to think so, +that a body of impartial officials could manage the national business in +Ireland much better without the guidance of public opinion and common +sentiment than with it. But if you intend to govern the country as you +think best--and that is the plain and practical English of centralized +administration--why ask the country to send a hundred men to the great +tribunal of supervision to inform you how it would like to be governed? +The Executive cannot set them aside as if they were a hundred dummies; +in refusing to be guided, it cannot escape being harassed, by them. You +may amend procedure, but that is no answer, unless you amend the Irish +members out of voice and vote. They will still count. You cannot gag and +muzzle them effectually, and if you could, they would still be there, +and their presence would still make itself incessantly felt. Partly from +a natural desire to lessen the common difficulties of government, and +partly from a consciousness, due to the prevailing state of the modern +political atmosphere, that there is something wrong in this total +alienation of an Executive from the possessors of parliamentary power, +the officials will incessantly be tempted to make tacks out of their own +course; and thus they lose the coherency and continuity of absolutism +without gaining the pliant strength of popular government. This is not a +presumption of what would be likely to happen, but an account of what +does happen, and what justified Mr. Disraeli in adding a weak Executive +to the alien Church and the absentee aristocracy, as the three great +curses of Ireland. Nothing has occurred since 1844 to render the +Executive stronger, but much to the contrary. There is, and there can +be, no weaker or less effective Government in the world than a highly +centralized system working alongside of a bitterly inimical popular +representation. I say nothing of the effect of the fluctuations of +English parties on Irish administration. I say nothing of the tendency +in an Irish government, awkwardly alternating with that to which I have +just adverted, to look over the heads of the people of Ireland, and to +consider mainly what will be thought by the ignorant public in England. +But these sources of incessant perturbation must not be left out. The +fault of Irish centralization is not that it is strong, but that it is +weak. Weak it must remain until Parliament either approves of the +permanent suspension of the Irish writs, or else devises constitutional +means for making Irish administration responsible to Irish +representatives. + +If experience is decisive against the policy of the past, experience +too, all over the modern world, indicates the better direction for the +future. I will not use my too scanty space in repeating any of the great +wise commonplaces in praise of self-government. Here they are +superfluous. In the case of Ireland they have all been abundantly +admitted in a long series of measures, from Catholic Emancipation down +to Lord O'Hagan's Jury Law and the Franchise and Redistribution Acts of +a couple of years ago. The principle of self-government has been +accepted, ratified, and extended in a hundred ways. It is only a +question of the form that self-government shall take. Against the form +proposed by the late Ministry a case is built up that rests on a series +of prophetic assumptions. These assumptions, from the nature of the +case, can only be met by a counter-statement of fair and reasonable +probabilities. Let us enumerate some of them. + +1. It is inferred that, because the Irish leaders have used violent +language and resorted to objectionable expedients against England during +the last six years, they would continue in the same frame of mind after +the reasons for it had disappeared. In other words, because they have +been the enemies of a Government which refused to listen to a +constitutional demand, therefore they would continue to be its enemies +after the demand had been listened to. On this reasoning, the effect is +to last indefinitely and perpetually, notwithstanding the cessation of +the cause. Our position is that all the reasonable probabilities of +human conduct point the other way. The surest way of justifying violent +language and fostering treasonable designs, is to refuse to listen to +the constitutional demand. + +2. The Irish, we are told, hate the English with an irreconcilable +hatred, and would unquestionably use any Constitution as an instrument +for satisfying their master passion. Irrational hatred, they say, can be +treated by rational men with composure. The Czechs of Bohemia are said +to be irreconcilable, yet the South Germans bear with their hatred; and +if we cannot cure we might endure the antipathy of Ireland. Now, as for +the illustration, I may remark that the hatred of the Czechs would be +much too formidable for German composure, if the Czechs did not happen +to possess a provincial charter and a special constitution of their own. +If the Irish had the same, their national dislike--so far as it +exists--might be expected to become as bearable as the Germans have +found the feeling of the Czechs. But how deep does Irish dislike go? Is +it directed against Englishmen, or against an English official system? +The answers of every impartial observer to the whole group of such +questions as these favour the conclusion that the imputed hatred of +England in Ireland has been enormously exaggerated and overcoloured by +Ascendency politicians for good reasons of their own; that with the +great majority of Irishmen it has no deep roots; that it is not one of +those passionate international animosities that blind men to their own +interests, or lead them to sacrifice themselves for the sake of injuring +their foe; and, finally, that it would not survive the amendment of the +system that has given it birth.[72] + +3. It is assumed that there is a universal desire for Separation. That +there is a strong sentiment of nationality we of course admit; it is +part of the case, and not the worst part. But the sentiment of +nationality is a totally different thing from a desire for Separation. +Scotland might teach our pseudo-Unionists so much as that. Nowhere in +the world is the sentiment of nationality stronger, yet there is not a +whisper of Separation. That there is a section of Irishmen who desire +Separation is notorious, but everything that has happened since the +Government of Ireland Bill was introduced, including the remarkable +declarations of Mr. Parnell in accepting the Bill (June 7), and +including the proceedings at Chicago, shows that the separatist section +is a very small one either in Ireland or in America, and that it has +become sensibly smaller since, and in consequence of, the proposed +concession of a limited statutory constitution. The Irish are quite +shrewd enough to know that Separation, if it were attainable--and they +are well aware that it is not--would do no good to their markets; and to +that knowledge, as well as to many other internal considerations, we may +confidently look for the victory of strong centripetal over very weak +centrifugal tendencies. Even if we suppose these centrifugal tendencies +to be stronger than I would allow them to be, how shall we best resist +them--by strengthening the hands and using the services of the party +which, though nationalist, is also constitutional; or by driving that +party also, in despair of a constitutional solution, to swell the ranks +of Extremists and Irreconcilables? + +4. Whatever may be the ill-feeling towards England, it is at least +undeniable that there are bitter internal animosities in Ireland, and a +political constitution, our opponents argue, can neither assuage +religious bigotry nor remove agrarian discontent. + +It is true, no doubt, that the old feud between Protestant and Catholic +might, perhaps, not instantly die down to the last smouldering embers of +it all over Ireland. But we may remark that there is no perceptible bad +blood between Protestant and Catholic, outside of one notorious corner. +Second, the real bitterness of the feud arose from the fact that +Protestantism was associated with an exclusive and hostile ascendency, +which would now be brought to an end. Whatever feeling about what is +called Ulster exists in the rest of Ireland, arises not from the fact +that there are Protestants in Ulster, but that the Protestants are +anti-National. Third, the Catholics would no longer be one compact body +for persecuting, obscurantist, or any other evil purposes; the abatement +of the national struggle would allow the Catholics to fall into the two +natural divisions of Clerical and Liberal. What we may be quite sure of +is that the feud will never die so long as sectarian pretensions are +taken as good reasons for continuing bad government. + +It is true, again, that a constitution would not necessarily remove +agrarian discontent. But it is just as true that you will never remove +agrarian discontent without a constitution. Mr. Dicey, on consideration, +will easily see why. Here we come to an illustration, and a very +impressive illustration it is, of the impotence of England to do for +Ireland the good which Ireland might do for herself. Nobody just now is +likely to forget the barbarous condition of the broad fringe of +wretchedness on the west coast of Ireland. Of this Lord Dufferin truly +said in 1880 that no legislation could touch it, that no alteration in +the land laws could effectually ameliorate it, and that it must continue +until the world's end unless something be contrived totally to change +the conditions of existence in that desolate region. Parliament lavishly +pours water into the sieve in the shape of Relief Acts. Even in my own +short tenure of office I was responsible for one of these terribly +wasteful and profoundly unsatisfactory measures. Instead of relief, what +a statesman must seek is prevention of this great evil and strong root +of evil; and prevention means a large, though it cannot be a very swift, +displacement of the population. But among the many experts with whom I +have discussed this dolorous and perplexing subject, I never found one +of either political party who did not agree that a removal of the +surplus population was only practicable if carried out by an Irish +authority, backed by the solid weight of Irish opinion. Any exertion of +compulsory power by a British Minister would raise the whole +country-side in squalid insurrection, government would become +impossible, and the work of transplantation would end in ghastly +failure. It is misleading and untrue, then, to say that there is no +possible relation between self-government and agrarian discontent, +misery, and backwardness; and when Mr. Dicey and others tell us that the +British Parliament is able to do all good things for Ireland, I would +respectfully ask them how a British Parliament is to deal with the +Congested Districts. + +Nearly as much may be said of the prevention of the mischievous practice +of Subdivision. Some contend that the old disposition to subdivide is +dying out; others, however, assure us that it is making its appearance +even among the excellent class who purchased their holdings under the +Church Act. That Act did not prohibit subdivision, but it is prohibited +in the Act of 1881. Still the prohibition can only be made effective, if +operations take place on anything like a great scale, on condition that +representative, authorities resident on the spot have the power of +enforcing it, and have an interest in enforcing it. Some of the +pseudo-Unionists are even against any extension of local +self-government, and if it be unaccompanied by the creation of a central +native authority they are right. What such people fail to see is that, +in resisting political reconstruction, they are at the same time +resisting the only available remedies for some of the worst of agrarian +maladies. + +The ruinous interplay between agrarian and political forces, each using +the other for ends of its own, will never cease so long as the political +demand is in every form resisted. That, we are told, is all the fault of +the politicians. Be it so; then the Government must either suppress the +politicians outright, or else it must interest them in getting the terms +of its land settlement accepted and respected. Home Rule on our scheme +was, among other things, part of an arrangement for "settling the +agrarian feud." It was a means of interposing between the Irish tenant +and the British State an authority interested enough and strong enough +to cause the bargain to be kept. It is said that the Irish authority +would have had neither interest nor strength enough to resist the forces +making for repudiation. Would those forces be any less irresistible if +the whole body of the Irish peasantry stood, as Land Purchase _minus_ +Self-Government makes them to stand, directly face to face with the +British State? This is a question that our opponents cannot evade, any +more than they can evade that other question, which lies unnoticed at +the back of all solutions of the problem by way of peasant +ownership--Whether it is possible to imagine the land of Ireland handed +over to Irishmen, and yet the government of Ireland kept exclusively and +directly by Englishmen? Such a divorce is conceivable under a rule like +that of the British in India: with popular institutions it is +inconceivable and impossible. + +5. It is argued that Home Rule on Mr. Gladstone's plan would not work, +because it follows in some respects the colonial system, whereas the +conditions at the root of the success of the system in the Colonies do +not exist in Ireland. They are distant, Ireland is near; they are +prosperous, Ireland is poor; they are proud of the connection with +England, Ireland resents it. But the question is not whether the +conditions are identical with those of any colony; it is enough if in +themselves they seem to promise a certain basis for government. It might +justly be contended that proximity is a more favourable condition than +distance; without it there could not be that close and constant +intercommunication which binds the material interests of Ireland to +those of Great Britain, and so provides the surest guarantee for union. +If Ireland were suddenly to find herself as far off as Canada, then +indeed one might be very sorry to answer for the Union. Again, though +Ireland has to bear her share of the prevailing depression in the chief +branch of her production, it is a great mistake to suppose that outside +of the margin of chronic wretchedness in the west and south-west, the +condition not only of the manufacturing industries of the north, but of +the agricultural industry in the richer parts of the middle and south, +is so desperately unprosperous as to endanger a political constitution. +Under our stupidily [Transcriber: sic] centralized system, Irishmen have +no doubt acquired the enervating trick of attributing every misfortune, +great or small, public or private, to the Government. When they learn +the lessons of responsibility, they will unlearn this fatal habit, and +not before. + +I do not see, therefore, that the differences in condition between +Ireland and the Colonies make against Home Rule. What I do see is ample +material out of which would arise a strong and predominant party of +order. The bulk of the nation are sons and daughters of a Church which +has been hostile to revolution in every country but Ireland, and which +would be hostile to it there from the day that the cause of revolution +ceased to be the cause of self-government. If the peasantry were made to +realize that at last the land settlement, wisely and equitably made, was +what it must inexorably remain, and what no politicians could help them +to alter, they would be as conservative as the peasantry under a similar +condition in every other spot on the surface of the globe. There is no +reason to expect that the manufacturers, merchants, and shopkeepers of +Ireland would be less willing or less able to play an active and useful +part in the affairs of their country than the same classes in England or +Scotland. It will be said that this is mere optimist prophesying. But +why is that to be flung aside under the odd name of sentimentalism, +while pessimist prophesying is to be taken for gospel? + +The only danger is lest we should allot new responsibilities to Irishmen +with a too grudging and restrictive hand. For true responsibility there +must be real power. It is easy to say that this power would be misused, +and that the conditions both of Irish society and of the proposed +Constitution must prevent it from being used for good. It is easy to say +that separation would be a better end. Life is too short to discuss +that. Separation is not the alternative either to Home Rule or to the +_status quo_. If the people of Ireland are not to be trusted with real +power over their own affairs, it would be a hundred times more just to +England, and more merciful to Ireland, to take away from her that +semblance of free government which torments and paralyzes one country, +while it robs the other of national self-respect and of all the +strongest motives and best opportunities of self-help. The _status quo_ +is drawing very near to its inevitable end. The two courses then open +will be Home Rule on the one hand, and some shy bungling underhand +imitation of a Crown Colony on the other. We shall have either to listen +to the Irish representatives or to suppress them. Unless we have lost +all nerve and all political faculty we shall, before many months are +over, face these alternatives. Liberals are for the first; Tories at +present incline to the second. It requires very moderate instinct for +the forces at work in modern politics to foresee the path along which we +shall move, in the interests alike of relief to Great Britain and of a +sounder national life for Ireland. The only real question is not Whether +we are to grant Home Rule, but How. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 71: The following pages, with one or two slight alterations, +are extracted, by the kind permission of Mr. James Knowles, from two +articles which were published in the _Nineteenth Century_ at the +beginning of the present year, in reply to Professor Dicey's statement +of the English case against Home Rule.] + +[Footnote 72: The late J.E. Cairnes, after describing the clearances +after the famine, goes on to say, "I own I cannot wonder that a thirst +for revenge should spring from such calamities; that hatred, even +undying hatred, for what they could not but regard as the cause and +symbol of their misfortunes--English rule in Ireland--should possess the +sufferers.... The disaffection now so widely diffused throughout Ireland +may possibly in some degree be fed from historical traditions, and have +its remote origin in the confiscations of the seventeenth century; but +all that gives it energy, all that renders it dangerous, may, I believe, +be traced to exasperation produced by recent transactions, and more +especially to the bitter memories left by that most flagrant abuse of +the rights of property and most scandalous disregard of the claims of +humanity--the wholesale clearances of the period following the +famine."--_Political Essays_, p. 198.] + + + + +LESSONS OF IRISH HISTORY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. + +BY W.E. GLADSTONE. + + +Ireland for more than seven hundred years has been part of the British +territory, and has been with slight exceptions held by English arms, or +governed in the last resort from this side the water. Scotland was a +foreign country until 1603, and possessed absolute independence until +1707. Yet, whether it was due to the standing barrier of the sea, or +whatever may have been the cause, much less was known by Englishmen of +Ireland than of Scotland. Witness the works of Shakespeare, whose mind, +unless as to book-knowledge, was encyclopaedic, and yet who, while he +seems at home in Scotland, may be said to tell us nothing of Ireland, +unless it is that-- + + "The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms."[73] + +During more recent times, the knowledge of Scotland on this side the +border, which before was greatly in advance, has again increased in afar +greater degree than the knowledge of Ireland. + +It is to Mr. Lecky that we owe the first serious effort, both in his +_Leaders of Public Opinion_ and in his _History of England in the +Eighteenth Century_, to produce a better state of things. He carefully +and completely dovetailed the affairs of Ireland into English History, +and the debt is one to be gratefully acknowledged. But such remedies, +addressing themselves in the first instance to the lettered mind of the +country, require much time to operate upon the mass, and upon the organs +of superficial and transitory opinion, before the final stage, when they +enter into our settled and familiar traditions. Meantime, since Ireland +threatens to absorb into herself our Parliamentary life, there is a +greatly enhanced necessity for becoming acquainted with the true state +of the account between the islands that make up the United Kingdom, and +with the likelihoods of the future in Ireland, so far as they are to be +gathered from her past history. + +That history, until the eighteenth century begins, has a dismal +simplicity about it. Murder, persecution, confiscation too truly +describe its general strain; and policy is on the whole subordinated to +violence as the standing instrument of government. But after, say, the +reign of William III., the element of representation begins to assert +itself. Simplicity is by degrees exchanged for complexity; the play of +human motives, singularly diversified, now becomes visible in the +currents of a real public life. It has for a very long time been my +habit, when consulted by young political students, to recommend them +carefully to study the characters and events of the American +Independence. Quite apart from the special and temporary reasons bearing +upon the case, I would now add a twin recommendation to examine and +ponder the lessons of Irish history during the eighteenth century. The +task may not be easy, but the reward will be ample. + +The mainspring of public life had, from a venerable antiquity, lain _de +jure_ within Ireland herself. The heaviest fetter upon this life was the +Law of Poynings; the most ingenious device upon record for hamstringing +legislative independence, because it cut off the means of resumption +inherent in the nature of Parliaments such as were those of the three +countries. But the Law of Poynings was an Irish Law. Its operation +effectually aided on the civil side those ruder causes, under the action +of which Ireland had lain for four centuries usually passive, and +bleeding at every pore. The main factors of her destiny worked, in +practice, from this side the water. But from the reign of Anne, or +perhaps from the Revolution onwards, + + "Novus saecorum nascitur ordo." + +Of the three great nostrums so liberally applied by England, extirpation +and persecution had entirely failed, but confiscation had done its work. +The great Protestant landlordism of Ireland[74] had been strongly and +effectually built up. But, like other human contrivances, while it held +Ireland fast, it had also undesigned results. The repressed principle of +national life, the struggles of which had theretofore been extinguished +in blood, slowly sprang up anew in a form which, though extremely +narrow, and extravagantly imperfect, was armed with constitutional +guarantees; and, the regimen of violence once displaced, these +guarantees were sure to operate. What had been transacted in England +under Plantagenets and Stuarts was, to a large extent, transacted anew +by the Parliament of Ireland in the eighteenth century. That Parliament, +indeed, deserves almost every imaginable epithet of censure. It was +corrupt, servile, selfish, cruel. But when we have said all this, and +said it truly, there is more to tell. It was alive, and it was national. +Even absenteeism, that obstinately clinging curse, though it enfeebled +and distracted, could not, and did not, annihilate nationality. The +Irish Legislation was, moreover, compressed and thwarted by a foreign +executive; but even to this tremendous agent the vital principle was +too strong eventually to succumb. + +Mr. Lecky well observes that the Irish case supplied "one of the most +striking examples upon record"[75] of an unconquerable efficacy in even +the most defective Parliament. I am, however, doubtful whether in this +proposition we have before us the whole case. This efficacy is not +invariably found even in tolerably constructed Parliaments. Why do we +find it in a Parliament of which the constitution and the environment +were alike intolerable? My answer is, because that Parliament found +itself faced by a British influence which was entirely anti-national, +and was thus constrained to seek for strength in the principle of +nationality. + +Selfishness is a rooted principle of action in nations not less than in +single persons. It seems to draw a certain perfume from the virtue of +patriotism, which lies upon its borders. It stalks abroad with a +semblance of decency, nay, even of excellence. And under this cover a +paramount community readily embraces the notion, that a dependent +community may be made to exist not for its own sake, but for the sake of +an extraneous society of men. With this idea, the European nations, +utterly benighted in comparison with the ancient Greeks, founded their +transmarine dependencies. But a vast maritime distance, perhaps aided by +some filtration of sound ideas, prevented the application of this theory +in its nakedness and rigour to the American Colonies of England. In +Ireland we had not even the title of founders to allege. Nay, we were, +in point of indigenous civilization, the junior people. But the maritime +severance, sufficient to prevent accurate and familiar knowledge, was +not enough to bar the effective exercise of overmastering power. And +power was exercised, at first from without, to support the Pale, to +enlarge it, to make it include Ireland. When this had been done, power +began, in the seventeenth century, to be exercised from within Ireland, +within the precinct of its government and its institutions. These were +carefully corrupted, from the multiplication of the Boroughs by James I. +onwards, for the purpose. The struggle became civil, instead of martial; +and it was mainly waged by agencies on the spot, not from beyond the +Channel. When the rule of England passed over from the old violence into +legal forms and doctrines, the Irish reaction against it followed the +example. And the legal idea of Irish nationality took its rise in very +humble surroundings; if the expression may be allowed, it was born in +the slums of politics. Ireland reached the nadir of political depression +when, at and after the Boyne, she had been conquered not merely by an +English force, but by continental mercenaries. The ascendant +Protestantism of the island had never stood so low in the aspect it +presented to this country; inasmuch as the Irish Parliament, for the +first time, I believe, declared itself dependent upon England,[76] and +either did not desire, or did not dare, to support its champion +Molyneux, when his work asserting Irish independence was burned in +London. It petitioned for representation in the English Parliament, not +in order to uplift the Irish people, but in order to keep them down. In +its sympathies and in its aims the overwhelming mass of the population +had no share. It was Swift who, by the _Drapier's Letters_, for the +first time called into existence a public opinion flowing from and +representing Ireland as a whole. He reasserted the doctrine of Molyneux, +and denounced Wood's halfpence not only as a foul robbery, but as a +constitutional and as a national insult. The patience of the Irish +Protestants was tried very hard, and they were forced, as Sir Charles +Duffy states in his vivid book, to purchase the power of oppressing +their Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen at a great price.[77] Their +pension list was made to provide the grants too degrading to be +tolerated in England. The Presbyterians had to sit down under the +Episcopal monopoly; but the enjoyment of that monopoly was not left to +the Irish Episcopalians. In the time of Henry VIII. it had been +necessary to import an English Archbishop Browne[78] and an English +Bishop Bale, or there might not have been a single Protestant in +Ireland. It was well to enrich the rolls of the Church of Ireland with +the piety and learning of Ussher, and to give her in Bedell one name, at +least, which carries the double crown of the hero and the saint. But, +after the Restoration, by degrees the practice degenerated, and +Englishmen were appointed in numbers to the Irish Episcopate in order to +fortify and develop by numerical force what came to be familiarly known +as the English interest. So that the Primate Boulter, during his +government of Ireland, complains[79] that Englishmen are still less than +one-half the whole body of Bishops, although the most important sees +were to a large extent in their hands. The same practice was followed in +the higher judicial offices. Fitzgibbon was the first Irishman who +became Lord Chancellor.[80] The Viceroy, commonly absent, was +represented by Lords Justices, who again were commonly English; and +Primate Boulter, a most acute and able man, jealous of an Irish Speaker +in that character, recommends that the commander of the forces should +take his place.[81] When, later on, the Viceroy resided, it was a rule +that the Chief Secretary should be an Englishman. On the occasion when +Lord Castlereagh was by way of exception admitted to that office, an +apology was found for it in his entire devotion to English policy and +purposes. "His appointment," says Lord Cornwallis, "gives me great +satisfaction, as he is so very unlike an Irishman!"[82] Resources were +also found in the military profession, and among the voters for the +Union we find the names of eight[83] English generals. + +The arrangements under Poynings's Law, and the commercial proscription, +drove the iron ever deeper and deeper into the souls of Irishmen. It is +but small merit in the Irish Parliament of George I. and George II., if +under these circumstances a temper was gradually formed in, and +transmitted by, them, which might one day achieve the honours of +patriotism. It was in dread of this most healthful process, that the +English Government set sedulously to work for its repression. The odious +policy was maintained by a variety of agencies; by the misuse of Irish +revenue, a large portion of which was unhappily under their control; by +maintaining the duration of the Irish House of Commons for the life of +the Sovereign; and, worst of all, by extending the range of corruption +within the walls, through the constant multiplication of paid offices +tenable by members of Parliament without even the check of re-election +on acceptance. + +Thus by degrees those who sat in the Irish Houses came to feel both that +they had a country, and that their country had claims upon them. The +growth of a commercial interest in the Roman Catholic body must have +accelerated the growth of this idea, as that interest naturally fell +into line with the resistance to the English prescriptive laws. But the +rate of progress was fearfully slow. It was hemmed in on every side by +the obstinate unyielding pressure of selfish interests: the interest of +the Established Church against the Presbyterians; the interest of the +Protestant laity, or tithe-payers, against the clergy; the bold +unscrupulous interest of a landlords' Parliament against the occupier of +the soil; which, together with the grievance of the system of +tithe-proctors, established in Ireland through the Whiteboys the fatal +alliance between resistance to wrong and resistance to law, and supplied +there the yet more disastrous facility of sustaining and enforcing wrong +under the name of giving support to public tranquillity. Yet, forcing on +its way amidst all these difficulties by a natural law, in a strange +haphazard and disjointed method, and by a zigzag movement, there came +into existence, and by degrees into steady operation, a sentiment native +to Ireland and having Ireland for its vital basis, and yet not deserving +the name of Irish patriotism, because its care was not for a nation, but +for a sect. For a sect, in a stricter sense than may at first sight be +supposed. The battle was not between Popery and a generalized +Protestantism, though, even if it had been so, it would have been +between a small minority and the vast majority of the Irish people. It +was not a party of ascendency, but a party of monopoly, that ruled. It +must always be borne in mind that the Roman Catholic aristocracy had +been emasculated, and reduced to the lowest point of numerical and moral +force by the odious action of the penal laws, and that the mass of the +Roman Catholic population, clerical and lay, remained under the grinding +force of many-sided oppression, and until long after the accession of +George III. had scarcely a consciousness of political existence. As long +as the great bulk of the nation could be equated to zero, the Episcopal +monopolists had no motive for cultivating the good-will of the +Presbyterians, who like the Roman Catholics maintained their religion, +with the trivial exception of the _Regium Donum_, by their own +resources, and who differed from them in being not persecuted, but only +disabled. And this monopoly, which drew from the sacred name of religion +its title to exist, offered through centuries an example of religious +sterility to which a parallel can hardly be found among the communions +of the Christian world. The sentiment, then, which animated the earlier +efforts of the Parliament might be _Iricism_, but did not become +patriotism until it had outgrown, and had learned to forswear or to +forget, the conditions of its infancy. Neither did it for a long time +acquire the courage of its opinions; for, when Lucas, in the middle of +the century, reasserted the doctrine of Molyneux and of Swift, the Grand +Jury of Dublin took part against him, and burned his book.[84] And the +Parliament,[85] prompted by the Government, drove him into exile. And +yet the smoke showed that there was fire. The infant, that confronted +the British Government in the Parliament House, had something of the +young Hercules about him. In the first exercises of strength he acquired +more strength, and in acquiring more strength he burst the bonds that +had confined him. + + "Es machte mir zu eng, ich mussie fort."[86] + +The reign of George IV. began with resolute efforts of the Parliament +not to lengthen, as in England under his grandfather, but to shorten its +own commission, and to become septennial. Surely this was a noble +effort. It meant the greatness of their country, and it meant also +personal self-sacrifice. The Parliament which then existed, elected +under a youth of twenty-two, had every likelihood of giving to the bulk +of its members a seat for life. This they asked to change for a +_maximum_ term of seven years. This from session to session, in spite of +rejection after rejection in England, they resolutely fought to obtain. +It was an English amendment which, on a doubtful pretext; changed seven +years to eight. Without question some acted under the pressure of +constituents; but only a minority of the members had constituents, and +popular exigencies from such a quarter might have been bought off by an +occasional vote, and could not have induced a war with the Executive and +with England so steadily continued, unless a higher principle had been +at work. + +The triumph came at last; and from 1768 onwards the Commons never wholly +relapsed into their former quiescence. True, this was for a Protestant +House, constituency, and nation; but ere long they began to enlarge +their definition of nationality. Flood and Lucas, the commanders in the +real battle, did not dream of giving the Roman Catholics a political +existence, but to their own constituents they performed an honourable +service and gave a great boon. Those, who had insincerely supported the +measure, became the dupes of their own insincerity. In the very year of +this victory, a Bill for a slight relaxation of the penal laws was +passed, but met its death in England.[87] Other Bills followed, and one +of them became an Act in 1771. A beginning had thus been made on behalf +of religious liberty, as a corollary to political emancipation. It was +like a little ray of light piercing its way through the rocks into a +cavern and supplying the prisoner at once with guidance and with hope. +Resolute action, in withholding or shortening supply, convinced the +Executive in Dublin, and the Ministry in London, that serious business +was intended. And it appeared, even in this early stage, how necessary +it was for a fruitful campaign on their own behalf to enlarge their +basis, and enlist the sympathies of hitherto excluded fellow-subjects. + +It may seem strange that the first beginnings of successful endeavour +should have been made on behalf not of the "common Protestantism," but +of Roman Catholics. But, as Mr. Lecky has shown, the Presbyterians had +been greatly depressed and distracted, while the Roman Catholics had now +a strong position in the commerce of the country, and in Dublin +knocked, as it were, at the very doors of the Parliament. There may also +have been an apprehension of republican sentiments among the Protestants +of the north, from which the Roman Catholics were known to be free. Not +many years, however, passed before the softening and harmonizing +effects, which naturally flow from a struggle for liberty, warmed the +sentiment of the House in favour of the Presbyterians. + +A Bill was passed by the Irish Parliament in 1778, which greatly +mitigated the stringency of the penal laws. Moreover, in its preamble +was recited, as a ground for this legislation, that for "a long series +of years" the Roman Catholics had exhibited an "uniform peaceable +behaviour." In doing and saying so much, the Irish Parliament virtually +bound itself to do more.[88] In this Bill was contained a clause which +repealed the Sacramental Test, and thereby liberated the Presbyterians +from disqualification. But the Bill had to pass the ordeal of a review +in England, and there the clause was struck out. The Bill itself, though +mutilated, was wisely passed by a majority of 127 to 89. Even in this +form it excited the enthusiastic admiration of Burke.[89] Nor were the +Presbyterians forgotten at the epoch when, in 1779-80, England, under +the pressure of her growing difficulties, made large commercial +concessions to Ireland. The Dublin Parliament renewed the Bill for the +removal of the Sacramental Test. And it was carried by the Irish +Parliament in the very year which witnessed in London the disgraceful +riots of Lord George Gordon, and forty-eight years before the Imperial +Parliament conceded, on this side the Channel, any similar relief. Other +contemporary signs bore witness to the growth of toleration; for the +Volunteers, founded in 1778, and originally a Protestant body, after a +time received Roman Catholics into their ranks. These impartial +proceedings are all the more honourable to Irish sentiment in general, +because Lord Charlemont, its champion out of doors, and Flood, long the +leader of the Independent party in the Parliament, were neither of them +prepared to surrender the system of Protestant ascendency. + +In order to measure the space which had at this period been covered by +the forward movement of liberality and patriotism, it is necessary to +look back to the early years of the Georgian period, when Whiggism had +acquired a decisive ascendency, and the spirits of the great deep were +let loose against Popery. But the temper of proscription in the two +countries exhibited specific differences. Extravagant in both, it became +in Ireland vulgar and indecent. In England, it was Tilburina,[90] gone +mad in white satin; in Ireland it was Tilburina's maid, gone mad in +white linen. The Lords Justices of Ireland, in 1715, recommended the +Parliament to put an end to all other distinctions in Ireland "but that +of Protestant and Papist."[91] And the years that followed seem to mark +the lowest point of constitutional depression for the Roman Catholic +population in particular, as well as for Ireland at large. The Commons, +in 1715, prayed for measures to discover any Papist enlisting in the +King's service, in order that he might be expelled "and punished with +the utmost severity of the law."[92] When an oath of abjuration had been +imposed which prevented nearly all priests from registering, a Bill was +passed by the Commons in 1719 for branding the letter P on the cheek of +all priests, who were unregistered, with a red-hot iron. The Privy +Council "disliked" this punishment, and substituted for it the loathsome +measure by which safe guardians are secured for Eastern harems. The +English Government could not stomach this beastly proposal; and, says +Mr. Lecky,[93] unanimously restored the punishment of branding. The +Bill was finally lost in Ireland, but only owing to a clause concerning +leases. It had gone to England winged with a prayer from the Commons +that it might be recommended "in the most effectual manner to his +Majesty," and by the assurance of the Viceroy in reply that they might +depend on his due regard to what was desired.[94] In the same year +passed the Act which declared the title of the British Parliament to +make laws for the government of Ireland. On the accession of George II., +a considerable body of Roman Catholics offered an address of +congratulation. It was received by the Lords Justices with silent +contempt, and no one knows whether it ever reached its destination. +Finally, the acute state-craft of Primate Boulter resisted habitually +the creation of an "Irish interest," and above all any capacity of the +Roman Catholics to contribute to its formation; and in the first year of +George II. a clause was introduced in committee into a harmless Bill[95] +for the regulation of elections, which disfranchised at a single stroke +all the Roman Catholic voters in Ireland who up to that period had +always enjoyed the franchise. + +It is painful to record the fact that the remarkable progress gradually +achieved was in no way due to British influence. For nearly forty years +from the arrival of Archbishop Boulter in Ireland, the government of +Ireland was in the hands of the Primates. The harshness of +administration was gradually tempered, especially in the brief +viceroyalty of Lord Chesterfield; but the British policy was steadily +opposed to the enlargement of Parliamentary privilege, or the creation +of any Irish interest, however narrow its basis, while the political +extinction of the mass of the people was complete. The pecuniary wants, +however, of the Government, extending beyond the hereditary revenue, +required a resort to the national purse. The demands which were +accordingly made, and these alone, supplied the Parliament with a +vantage-ground, and a principle of life. The action of this principle +brought with it civilizing and humanizing influences, which had become +clearly visible in the early years of George III., and which were +cherished by the war of American Independence, as by a strong current of +fresh air in a close and murky dungeon. + +The force of principles, and the significance of political achievements, +is to be estimated in no small degree by the slenderness of the means +available to those who promote them. And the progress brought about in +the Irish Parliament is among the most remarkable on record, because it +was effected against the joint resistance of a hostile Executive and of +an intolerable constitution. Of the three hundred members, about +two-thirds were nominated by individual patrons and by close +corporations. What was still worse, the action of the Executive was +increasingly directed, as the pulse of the national life came to beat +more vigorously, to the systematic corruption of the Parliament borough +pensions and paid offices. In the latter part of the century, more than +one-third of the members of Parliament were dismissible at pleasure from +public emoluments. If the base influence of the Executive allied itself +with the patriotic party, everything might be hoped. For we must bear in +mind not only the direct influence of this expenditure on those who were +in possession, but the enormous power of expectancy on those who were +not. Conversely, when the Government were determined to do wrong, there +were no means commonly available of forcing it to do right, in any +matter that touched either religious bigotry or selfish interest. With +so miserable an apparatus, and in the face of the ever-wakeful Executive +sustained by British power, it is rather wonderful how much than how +little was effected. I am not aware of a single case in which a measure +on behalf of freedom was proposed by British agency, and rejected by +the Irish Parliament. On the other hand, we have a long list of the +achievements of that Parliament due to a courage and perseverance which +faced and overcame a persistent English opposition. Among other +exploits, it established periodical elections, obtained the writ of +Habeas Corpus, carried the independence of the judges, repealed the Test +Act, limited the abominable expenditure on pensions, subjected the +acceptance of office from the crown to the condition of re-election, and +achieved, doubtless with the powerful aid of the volunteers, freedom of +trade with England, and the repeal of Poynings's Act, and of the British +Act of 1719.[96] + +All this it did without the manifestation, either within the walls or +among the Roman Catholic population, of any disposition to weaken the +ties which bound Ireland to the empire. All this it did; and what had +the British Parliament been about during the same period, with its +vastly greater means both of self-defence and of action? It had been +building up the atrocious criminal code, tampering in the case of Wilkes +with liberty of election, and tampering with many other liberties; +driving, too, the American Colonies into rebellion, while, as to good +legislation, the century is almost absolutely blank, until between 1782 +and 1793 we have the establishment of Irish freedom, the economical +reform of Mr. Burke, the financial reforms of Mr. Pitt, the new libel +law of Mr. Fox, and the legislative constitution of Canada, in which +both these great statesmen concurred. + +But we have not yet reached the climax of Irish advancement. When, in +1782 and 1783, the legislative relations of the two countries were +fundamentally rectified by the formal acknowledgment of Irish +nationality, the beginning of a great work was accomplished; but its +final consummation, though rendered practicable and even easy, depended +wholly on the continuing good intention of the British Cabinet. The +Acts of 1782 and 1783 required a supplemental arrangement, to obviate +those secondary difficulties in the working of the two Legislatures, +which supplied Mr. Pitt with his main parliamentary plea for the Union. +What was yet more important was the completion of the scheme in Ireland +itself. And this under three great heads: (1) The purification of +Parliament by a large measure of reform; (2) the abolition of all Roman +Catholic disabilities; (3) the establishment of a proper relation +between the Legislative and the Executive powers. It is often urged, +with cynical disregard to justice and reason, that with the Grattan +Parliament we had corruption, coercion, discontent, and finally +rebellion. But the political mischiefs, which disfigure the brief life +of the Grattan Parliament, and the failure to obtain the two first of +the three great purposes I have named, were all in the main due to the +third grand flaw in the Irish case after 1782. I mean the false +position, and usually mischievous character, of the Irish Executive, +which, with its army of placemen and expectants in Parliament, was +commonly absolute master of the situation. Well does Mr. Swift +MacNeill,[97] in his very useful work, quote the words of Mr. Fox in +1797: "The advantages, which the form of a free Government seemed to +promise, have been counteracted by the influence of the Executive +Government, and of the British Cabinet." + +There were five Viceroys between 1782 and 1790. Then came a sixth, Lord +Westmoreland, the worst of them all, whose political judgment was on a +par with his knowledge of the English language.[98] The great settlement +of 1782-3 was in the main worked by men who were radically adverse to +its spirit and intention. But they were omnipotent in their control of +the unreformed. Parliament of Ireland, more and more drenched, under +their unceasing and pestilent activity, with fresh doses of corruption. +Westmoreland and his myrmidons actually persuaded Pitt, in 1792, that +Irish Protestantism and its Parliament were unconquerably adverse to the +admission of Roman Catholics to the franchise; but when the proposal was +made from the Throne in 1793, notwithstanding the latent hostility of +the Castle, the Parliament passed the Bill with little delay, and +"without any serious opposition."[99] The votes against it were one and +three on two divisions[100] respectively. A minority of sixty-nine +supported, against the Government, a clause for extending the measure to +seats in Parliament. That clause, lost by a majority of ninety-four, +might apparently have been carried, but for "Dublin Castle," by an even +larger majority. + +I shall not here examine the interesting question, whether the mission +of Lord Fitzwilliam was wholly due to the action of those Whig statesmen +who were friendly to the war, but disinclined to a junction with Mr. +Pitt except on condition of a fundamental change in the administration +of Ireland. Nor shall I dwell upon his sudden, swift, and disastrous +recall. But I purpose here to invite attention to the most remarkable +fact in the whole history of the Irish Parliament. When the Viceroy's +doom was known, when the return to the policy and party of ascendency +lay darkly lowering in the immediate future, this diminutive and tainted +Irish Parliament, with a chivalry rare even in the noblest histories, +made what can hardly be called less than a bold attempt to arrest the +policy of retrogression adopted by the Government in London. Lord +Fitzwilliam was the declared friend of Roman Catholic Emancipation, +which was certain to be followed by reform; and he had struck a +death-blow at bigotry and monopoly in the person of their heads, Mr. +Beresford and Mr. Cooke. The Bill of Emancipation was introduced on the +12th of February,[101] with only three dissentient voices. On the 14th, +when the London Cabinet had declared dissent from the proceedings of +their Viceroy without recalling him, Sir L. Parsons at once moved an +address, imploring him to continue among them, and only postponed it at +the friendly request of Mr. Ponsonby.[102] On the 2nd of March, when the +recall was a fact, the House voted that Lord Fitzwilliam merited "the +thanks of that House, and the confidence of the people."[103] On the 5th +the Duke of Leinster moved, and the House of Peers carried, a similar +resolution.[104] + +At this epoch I pause. Here there opens a new and disastrous drama of +disgrace to England and misery to Ireland. This is the point at which we +may best learn the second and the greatest lesson taught by the history +of Ireland in the eighteenth century. It is this, that, awful as is the +force of bigotry, hidden under the mask of religion, but fighting for +plunder and for power with all the advantages of possession, of +prescription, and of extraneous support, there is a David that can kill +this Goliath. That conquering force lies in the principle of +nationality. + +It was the growing sense of nationality that prompted the Irish +Parliament to develop its earlier struggles for privilege on the narrow +ground into a genuine contest for freedom, civil and religious, on a +ground as broad as Ireland, nay, as humanity at large. If there be such +things as contradictions in the world of politics, they are to be found +in nationality on the one side, and bigotry of all kinds on the other, +but especially religious bigotry, which is of all the most baneful. +Whatever is given to the first of these two is lost to the second. I +speak of a reasonable and reasoning, not of a blind and headstrong +nationality; of a nationality which has regard to circumstances and to +traditions, and which only requires that all relations, of incorporation +or of independence, shall be adjusted to them according to the laws of +Nature's own enactment. Such a nationality was the growth of the last +century in Ireland. As each Irishman began to feel that he had a +country, to which he belonged, and which belonged to him, he was, by a +true process of nature, drawn more and more into brotherhood, and into +the sense of brotherhood, with those who shared the allegiance and the +property, the obligation and the heritage. And this idea of country, +once well conceived, presents itself as a very large idea, and as a +framework for most other ideas, so as to supply the basis of a common +life. Hence it was that, on the coming of Lord Fitzwilliam, the whole +generous emotion of the country leapt up with one consent, and went +forth to meet him. Hence it was that religious bigotry was no longer an +appreciable factor in the public life of Ireland. Hence it was that on +his recall, and in order to induce acquiescence in his recall, it became +necessary to divide again the host that had, welcomed him--to put one +part of it in array as Orangemen, who were to be pampered and inflamed; +and to quicken the self-consciousness of another and larger mass by +repulsion and proscription, by stripping Roman Catholics of arms in the +face of licence and of cruelty, and, finally, by clothing the extreme of +lawlessness with the forms of law. + +Within the last twelve months we have seen, in the streets of Belfast, +the painful proof that the work of Beresford and of Castlereagh has been +found capable for the moment of revival. To aggravate or sustain Irish +disunion, religious bigotry has been again evoked in Ireland. If the +curse be an old one, there is also an old cure, recorded in the grand +pharmacopoeia of history; and if the abstract force of policy and +prudence are insufficient for the work, we may yet find that the evil +spirit will be effectually laid by the gentle influence of a living and +working Irish nationality. _Quod faxit Deus._ + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 73: _2 Henry VI._, act iii. sc. 1.] + +[Footnote 74: Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +chap, vii. vol. ii, p. 205.] + +[Footnote 75: Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +vol. ii. p. 227.] + +[Footnote 76: Duffy's _Bird's-Eye View_, p. 164.] + +[Footnote 77: Duffy's _Bird's-Eye View_, p. 166.] + +[Footnote 78: See Ball's _History of the Church of Ireland_, a valuable +work, deserving of more attention than it seems to have received.] + +[Footnote 79: Boulter's _Letters_, i. 138, _et alibi_.] + +[Footnote 80: Lecky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +ii.] + +[Footnote 81: Boulter's _Letters_, vol. ii.] + +[Footnote 82: Cornwallis's _Correspondence_, ii. 441.] + +[Footnote 83: Grattan's _Life and Times_, v. 173.] + +[Footnote 84: Lecky, ii. 430.] + +[Footnote 85: Duffy, p. 177.] + +[Footnote 86: Schiller's _Wallenstein_.] + +[Footnote 87: Lecky, iv. 489.] + +[Footnote 88: Lecky, iv. 477-479; Brown, _Laws against Catholics_, pp. +329-332.] + +[Footnote 89: Lecky, pp. 499-501.] + +[Footnote 90: Sheridan's _Critic_, act iii. sc. I.] + +[Footnote 91: Plowden's _History_ (1809), ii. 70.] + +[Footnote 92: Brown, _Laws against Catholics_, p. 289.] + +[Footnote 93: Lecky, i. 297.] + +[Footnote 94: Plowden, i. 297.] + +[Footnote 95: 1 Geo. II. c. ix. sect 7.] + +[Footnote 96: See Lecky, vi. 521.] + +[Footnote 97: _The Irish Parliament_, p. 64. Cassell: 1885.] + +[Footnote 98: See Lecky, vi. 492, 493.] + +[Footnote 99: Lecky, vi. 567.] + +[Footnote 100: Plowden's _Historical Review_, ii. 335.] + +[Footnote 101: Ibid., ii. 353.] + +[Footnote 102: Plowden's _Historical Review_, ii. 498.] + +[Footnote 103: Ibid., ii. 357.] + +[Footnote 104: Ibid., ii. 505.] + + + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Handbook of Home Rule (1887) +by W. E. Gladstone et al. + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBOOK OF HOME RULE (1887) *** + +***** This file should be named 14518.txt or 14518.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/5/1/14518/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Aaron Reed and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |