THE NEXT PROPOSAL FOR IRISH HOME-RULE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." J SIR,—I entirely agree with you in thinking it very important that Mr. Gladstone should consent to disclose before the next General Election how he proposes to deal in his next Bill for granting a separate Parliament to Ireland, with some at least of those difficulties which are obvious to us, so that the electors may have some idea of what they are asked to vote for ; but I doubt very much that Mr. Gladstone will listen to our wish, and be willing to gratify our legitimate curiosity.
Lord Herschell's speeches are always worthy of careful attention. I read them attentively, because in them I find the case of my opponents ably and clearly stated, free from all hollow declamation, by an ex-Chancellor, the legal adviser of his party. In a speech delivered at Reading on November 10th last, Lord Herschel defended his friends against our complaint that they will not tell us their plan. He said, according to the Times' report (November 12th) :—" In the interest of the Irish themselves, the larger the area of
consent obtained in this country to any scheme which might be devised, the better would it be for them, and the more likely would it be to succeed." (So far we are in harmony.) Then Lord Herschel continues :—" That was why he wanted questions of detail left unsettled until the time of settlement came. He did not want to see the leaders of the party pledged to details, because, when so pledged, it was always more difficult to make a change which might be re- garded as a new departure, or a concession which ought not to
have been conceded." And a little further on He should like to see such a question as this raised above the conflict of mere party ; but when it was suggested that the arrangement should be made in the absence of one particular party, and that, the representatives of the majority of the people of Ireland, he said such a scheme as that was one to which it would be impossible for Liberals to assent."
It is not possible to state more clearly, more honourably, more straightforwardly, that the Gladstonian. Party cannot foresee in what direction the exigencies of party tactics may compel them to drift; that it is not fair to expect them to disclose a plan which they themselves do not and cannot know ; and that Mr. Parnell must dictate the details and the clauses of the future Bill if Liberals are to assent.
An eminent leader in the counsels of the Home-rule Party, Lord Granville, has said that he must positively decline to disclose their measure and to oblige his opponents by pro- viding them with a cock-shy. I cannot help thinking that Lord Granville, in using these words, was guided by a sound instinct. I always find in conversation with Gladstonian friends that they refuse to commit themselves to any opinion which they may have to retract when Mr. Parnell's orders are known. The Separatist Party are right, I think, in believing that empty phrases are more likely to secure votes in the coming Election than an explicit declaration of their inten- tions.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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