Mr. John Morley made a great speech at Newcastle on
Monday, of which the most remarkable passage was the cordial support which he gave to Lord Salisbury's foreign policy at the very moment at which even Unionists are fretting over the absolute inaction of the Great Powers. This means, we fear, that Mr. Morley is not prepared to sanction any independent step to be taken by this country on behalf of the Armenians, though we observe that Lord Tweedmouth, another member of the Rosebery Cabinet, on Wednesday took a different line, and expressed his impatience at our absolute inactivity while the Christians are being stamped out in the East day by day. As regards the policy of the Newcastle programme, Mr. Morley said he had nothing to withdraw or recant ; that he had not each a thing as a white sheet in his political wardrobe. However, he did not seem inclined to maintain that it was a wise policy to intro. duce a large number of first-rate and almost revolutionary measures, any one of which would have taken the greater part of a long Session, co-ordinately in the same Session; and he made a singular mistake when be declared that in forcing the Irish Home-rule Bill of 1893 through the House of Commons the guillotine was never applied. The Bill was passed only by fixing a certain period for the discussion of each fraction of it, and dividing at the close of that time on the whole fraction, whether it had been discussed or not. And as very important points of that measure were certainly carried without any discussion, the guillotine, in the common use of the word, was certainly used,—and freely used,—to kill debate. Mr. Morley was for open war on the proposal to give more assistance to the voluntary schools, but in other respects his speech was reasonable and rather low-spirited,—as well it might be.
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