16 JANUARY 1886, Page 11

THE IRISH PROBLEM.

rTo THE EDITOR Or TILE " SPECTATOR."] are told that in any concession of self-government to Ireland care must be taken to preserve "the unity of the Em- pire, the supremacy of the Crown, and the authority of Parlia- ment." What does this mean ? The half-independent position of Canada and the Australian Colonies is consistent with a nominal unity of the Empire, which does not prevent them from enforcing hostile tariffs against our trade ; with a nominal supremacy of the Crown, that leaves the Militia, which the suppression of Riel's rebellion has shown to be a really effective force, in Canadian hands ; and a nominal supremacy of the Imperial Parliament, which is certain never to be exerted in matters that the Canadian people really care about. The same kind of independence granted to Ireland would mean anarchy

for Ireland and danger for the Empire. Instead of the "unity of the Empire," which may mean anything, we ought to speak of the" unity of the Kingdom." This would be understood to mean, at least, that Ireland would continue to be part of Great Britain for commercial purposes. When we speak of the supremacy of the Crown, this ought to be understood to mean that the Magistracy and all armed forces, including the Irish Constabu- lary, shall be under the orders of the British Government. And the authority of Parliament ought to be understood to be real, so that no elected Irish authority shall be permitted to confiscate property under the disguise either of a tenancy law or of taxation.

A few words as to what is called "coercion." Coercion is an ugly word, and if you want to hang a dog, you begin by giving him a bad name. Coercion has become a technical and almost a slang expression for any powers whatever conferred upon the authorities, in the interests of order, over and above those of the ordinary law. The power of arbitrary imprisonment, under a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, is rightly called coercion. But the same name is given to such provisions as those of the recently expired Crimes Act, by which the Magistrates were empowered to hold a sworn investigation on the occurrence of a crime, without waiting for a charge against any inclividual,—a power which ought permanently to exist, not in Ireland only, but everywhere ; and to the power of Government, under the same Act, to remove a criminal trial from one county to another ; and to special legislation against the newly invented and most dangerous crime of boycotting. It has been lately said that there is some moral or logical incompatibility between coercion and a widely extended suffrage, a notion which is precisely on a par with the notion some people seemed to have at the time of the American Civil War,—that a Republican Government can have no moral right to suppress rebellion.—I am, Sir, &c.,