Mr. Goschen has made two speeches outside the walls of
Parliament within the week,—one yesterday week to his con- stituents, at the Westminster Palace Hotel ; and one on Wed- nesday, at the Hotel Metropole, to the "National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations." In the former speech, the speech of July 12th, he dwelt on the inconsistency of those Scotch Members who are always maintaining that Scotch Bills ought to be treated on the principle of Home-rule, and that they ought to be carried by Scotch majorities, the inter- vention of English Members to defeat those Scotch majorities being in their opinion quite unfair. Now, if they were con- sistent in taking that view, surely last year, in discussing the English Local Government Bill, the Scotch Liberal Members ought to have sedulously abstained from voting with the English Liberal Members, with the-effect of weakening the influence of the English majority on an English question. Yet not only did they not so abstain, but no English Member ever complained of their interference. Home-rule is apparently a principle intended for home consumption, and not intended to prevent those who favour it from meddling in the affairs of their neighbours.
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