THE CARRYING OF THE CLOTURE.
THE events of Thursday night will make almost every inhabitant of Great Britain, and a very large minority of those of Ireland, breathe more freely, and enable them to recur confidently to their old conviction that the British Parliament on great occasions can do great things in a great way. Not that any of us will regard with anything but pain the fact that the obstructive minority, whose power for mischief has been removed, belonged wholly to the sister-island. It is, we are convinced, the firm resolve of the House of Commons to give to reasonable Irishmen their full share,—perhaps even more than their full share,—of influence under the new Rules, and we note with the utmost satisfaction that both Mr. Shaw and Mr. Litton took an influential part in the debate on the Cloture. It was, of course, inevitable, under the circumstances, that the obstructive section silenced should all come from one portion of the United Kingdom, but that is matter not for triumph, but for regret. What we do congratu- late ourselves upon is that though the resolution of the House was equal to the emergency, there was not a trace of passion in its proceedings ; that Mr. Gladstone, in that stately speech in which he pointed out the absolute necessity of vindicating, even by a virtual revolution, the dignity and power of the House of Commons, never in hislife spoke with more calmness, with more firmness, with more gentleness ; that the Opposition showed as much self-restraint and as much carefulness for the rights of minorities as the Government ; that the House devoted itself to the discussion of the details with a clear sense of the great object to be attained, but a strong determination not to go beyond that object, and put superfluous power into the hands of a reckless Government ; and that the anarchy of a month was redeemed by a single night's—no doubt revolutionary, but none the less dispassionate and deliberate—conclusions.
We admit to the full,—we think it of great importance that all Englishmen should admit to the full,—that the way in which the Chitere was carried was in the best sense revolutionary,— that is, was by way of departure, and signal departure, from the Rules by which the House had for generations back agreed to be guided. The reason for such a revolution is that a revolu- tion was needed, to preserve the power of the Legislature at all. Of course, the thirty-six Members suspended did not wish that the power of the Legislature should be preserved. If they had wished it, they would not have acted as they did. Let us fairly grant to them that, with their views, they could not have wished this ; and that, not wishing it, and being unable to organise any effective Irish rebel- lion, it was not unnatural, and from their point of view hardly culpable, that they should make all the use possible of the forms of the House to paralyse the House,—to make the House impotent and even contemptible. We fully admit that as they went for a revolution of one kind, it was their natural weapon so to appeal to all the forms adopted for the protection of minorities, as to render a revolu- tion of another kind absolutely essential, before they could be defeated. This they did, and we have no desire to reproach them with it. From the point of view of the Irish revolu- tion', it was their legitimate course. But so much the clearer is it that the majority were justified in promptly adopting revolutionary means to put down this revolutionary use of the old Rules. What we regard with mingled pride and wonder, is the wonderful economy of force and passion with which this revolution in the Rules of the House of Commons h. as been carried,—the entire absence of any sort of glorying in the defeat of the Irreconcilablee,—the sincere sympathy with Constitutional minorities which animated all who took part in the discussion,—the hearty desire to minimise the revolution in the true interests of freedom, and this without the least sign of wavering as to the one point,—that what- ever happened, the revolution must go far enough to carry out effectually its real purpose. And this we quite believe that Mr. Gladstone's resolution, as amended by Sir Stafford Northcote and the Independent Members on both sides below the gangway, has effectually done. For the future, in a House of not less than 300 Mem- bers,—Mr. Dillwyn's wise limit, for it would be most dangerous to leave the Government absolute at the end of a Session on subjects not of importance sufficient to bring a large House to- gether,—it will be impossible for a minority of less than a fourth of the House to carry obstruction to any length which the Speaker and the Government think fatal to the effi- ciency of the Legislature. That is the whole of the extra- ordinarily moderate revolution which it cost the House so much suffering and humiliation to string up its nerve to carry by a virtual coup cl'e"tat. Was ever so much effected by so mild a change before ? And yet it is all-important. It arms the House with a weapon by which the obstruction cf a small minority can be so effectually put down, that we hardly expect to see it again seriously attempted. The Irish Irreeoncilables may think it more politic to secede, or they may think it right to return to the charge and vindicate their views in the reasonable way still left open to them, if they are satisfied that in that way they can make out a sufficiently strong case,—and if they choose this last course, we are sure they will have even more than fair-play. But they will not reiterate continually attempts simply useless ; they will not needlessly oblige the House to use the weapon it has forged for itself, by methods such as they have adopted during the last month. They will choose now between the policy of martyrs and the policy of Constitutional critics. And which- ever part they prefer to play, the House will be once more a House of Legislature, not one insulated by a sea of words from all access to deeds.
The form in which the ClOture has been passed seems to us singularly wise and moderate. Tne Cloture can only be adopted on the demand of the Minister and on his assurance that the busi- ness is urgent. It cannot be passed at all in a House of less than 300 Members. It cannot be passed at all without the complete co-operation of the Speaker, who is the sole authority in whom, while the ClOture lasts, the House confides. It cannot be passed without the assent of three-fourths of the Members present. It ceases whenever the Speaker wills, or in the absence of any decision to that effect by the Speaker, when- ever a majority of the House, after proper notice given, so determine on the motion of any Member of the House. These are limitations which seem to us quite adequate to secure the exclusion of anything like abuse ; indeed, it is possible that they may prove even too restrictive, should the sort of obstruction of which we have lately had so much experience, one day recur, as is perhaps possible, on any less national and more doctrinaire class of issues. But for the present purpose, the least that will be effectual is best. And the House of Commons have carried the least that will be effectual, with a promptitude, passionlessness, and determina- tion which will go far to daunt those who would be likely to measure their strength against that House again. Thursday night lifted the House of Commons, and all who were directly concerned in its guidance, to a new level in its already not inglorious history.
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