Lord Hartington rose into a higher stratum of thought when
he pointed out to his Scotch audience the effect of a demand for Home-rule in Scotland. He was not only willing, but eager to give Scotland the means of arranging her Private- Bill legislation for herself; but a Parliament for Scotland meant a Parliament for England and another for Wales. The Imperial Parliament would then become a Federal Assembly, with new functions and a new Constitution. " The establish- ment of Home-rule for the various nationalities now com- posing this Empire will necessitate the thorough remodelling and recasting of the Constitution, and I altogether object to take the first step in such a process as this—a process which must have vast and momentous consequences which at present no one can foresee—without, at all events, being ready to face the problem of what we agree to do when that principle is being carried out in its legitimate conclusion, and the present Imperial Government of the Empire has been converted into a federal system." That is the change which is inevitable should Home-rule be conceded, and which the people of this country, who know nothing of federalism, and who throughout their modern history have been governed by a Legislature as unlimited as the Deity in theoretic power, have never con- sidered for five minutes. They have always at heart believed that each Parliament would be a big County Council, and have forgotten that while each could promulgate a new Code at its discretion, each would nominate its own Ministry, responsible only to itself. In the American tridon, as in each American State, the Executive is independent of the Legislature.
