19 JUNE 1886, Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

A SUGGESTION ON THE IRISH DIFFICULTY.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—In the Home-rule debate it was frequently said by those who favoured the Bill that there were only two courses open for the settlement of Ireland. Either the Irish Party must get what they want, or the country must be coerced. Mr. Glad- stone is no believer in the force of the Civil arm ; it cannot, he thinks, prevent men from outraging each other, and therefore he proposes to satisfy those who have persistently set the law at defiance, and bribe them to preserve the social order which he is unable to maintain. It is unnecessary to examine this strange and novel doctrine, or to show how similar it is to the practice pursued by the later Roman Emperors,—rich enough to pay the barbarians who hovered on their frontiers, but not brave enough to face them. The whole series of devices by which the Government have endeavoured to get support for their policy of surrender is now before the public ; these subterfuges have failed, and ably and successfully have they have been exposed to the country by the opponents to the Bill. We can leave the past ; it is full of degrading memories, and may well be forgotten. Rather let us look to the future, and examine the important question regarding the two courses which it is alleged are the only ones open to any Government which will have to deal with Ireland. Must we really ally ourselves to men who have been accused of being " steeped to the lips in treason," or must we crush the liberties of Ireland ? Is there nothing between these two extreme alternatives, and can there be no peace in Ireland without a thoroughly drastic revolution ?

There is an obvious course still left open, and however per- sistently it was neglected by Mr. Gladstone, it is one which would go far to resolve the Irish difficulty. We can still invite Mr. Parnell to produce his own measure, which shall, on the one hand, completely satisfy the Irish people, and which, on the other, shall not impair the integrity of the Empire. No one can for an instant assert that such a course is unfair to the Irish Party. If they are honest in their agitation, if their inten- tion has been to rectify legitimate grievances without detriment to the British Crown, they must be able to offer such a scheme to the consideration of Parliament. If they refuse to do so, it will most surely indicate that their aim has been to perpetuate a state of political and social unrest, and to bring about a final disruption of the British Empire. In a crisis like the present, it is but reasonable that the character of the Irish National Party should be tested. They have been suspected of the most grievous sins by responsible Ministers who have watched their doings ; the same statesmen now load them with strange adula- tion. It is surely time that the uncertainty which exists regarding them should now, at least, come to an end.

Nor can it be said that a measure for the pacification of Ireland must necessarily proceed from the Government of the day. However much we may deplore it, it is a fact that for the present, at least, the Irish tell us as plainly as they can that

they have no confidence in English-made law. The Attorney- General, in his remarkable speech on the second reading a short time ago, showed bow legislation for Ireland had failed, because the reforms which satisfied the House of Commons were not what the Irish people wanted. The Land Acts have been of no use, and all the measures calculated to remedy Irish grievances have missed their mark. They have been accepted, but un- willingly, and used merely as so many stepping-stones to further demands. It is therefore but reasonable in so important a matter as an Irish Constitution, that the scheme should be presented upon the responsibility of those who state that they represent a people having claims upon England. It is distinctly for them to formulate their demands in full ; it is for Parlia- ment to decide whether these demands interfere or not with the dignity and welfare of the British Empire.

One of the fundamental conditions of Mr. Gladstone's Home- rule Bill was that it should be a final measure. Now, what is finality P It means that social order is to be re-established, out- rages to cease, contentment to prevail,—in a word, law and order to resume their sway. The English people, who have long been troubled with the Irish problem, would make considerable sacri- fices to attain to so desirable an end ; and in this they would be right, for a discontented neighbour impairs their prosperity and militates against their interests. But how can this finality be reached, unless those who are discontented will show us exactly what they desire, and will prove that, if given, Ireland will be pacified, and agitation put an end to P The Irish Members who took part in the recent debate told us that they were prepared to accept the Bill, and Mr. Gladstone's supporters were eager to believe in these assurances. It is, however, im- portant to point out at this serious juncture, that the mere belief in the good faith of these persons is not at all sufficient. We need some security on this point, because, however much the Irish Members may have been in earnest in their good intentions to induce the people to accept as a final settlement any particular system of self-government, it is clear that Mr. Parnell him- self may not be able to make them adopt his views in this respect. It is a remarkable fact that none of the Nationalist leaders considered it to be their duty to go to Ireland and to explain the principles of the measure proposed by Mr. Gladstone for their relief ; no convention was held in Dublin or elsewhere publicly to discuss the Bill, and to ascer- tain whether the people would be favourable to its provisions ; no effort was made to offer to England a certain pledge of finality on the Irish Question. Why was this not done P The idea of Home-rale in some shape or other was doubtless a dazzling prospect, and as far as this indeterminate principle was concerned, it was naturally agreed to as a means to promote the national cause. About this there could be no misconcep- tion whatsoever. What, however, we did require to ascertain was whether the stipulations in the scheme relating to the union with the Empire and to the protection of minorities, would also be loyally accepted by the Irish people, and whether the measure would be received as a real and a final settlement. But nothing was done in this very important direction, and thus we have no guarantee whatsoever that the radical reform dealing with the British Constitution and affecting the dearest in- terests of the English people, would conduce to pacification and not to a further and a more acute form of agitation. The im- portance of this matter can be with difficulty exaggerated ; if the country is prepared to satisfy the demands of Ireland, it can never be repeated too often that the scheme for doing so must be final, and must not be an instalment offered to national claims, and that no scheme can be final unless propounded upon the responsibility of the Irish leaders and honestly adopted by the Irish people as the end and object of all their desires.

Assuming even the basis of Mr. Gladstone's proposals; it is clear that a Bill to deal with Ireland must proceed from the initiative of the Irish Members, and that it will then be for Par- liament to consider the scheme as far as it touches Imperial and purely British interests. Mr. Gladstone did not take this obvious course ; he preferred to construct his own measure, and to darken the judgment of the public by letting it be supposed, either that all must be surrendered to men whom be himself had denounced, or that a whole nation must be crushed. He has deservedly fallen ; for the English people would lack the very elements of common sense if they were to permit any man, how- ever illustrious, to tinker with their Constitution, to weaken their power, and, after all these concessions, to leave the Irish Question in its original state of difficulty and confusion.—I am,