Mr. John Redmond addressed a large meeting at the Town
Hall, Birmingham, on Wednesday night. He said that the bitterness between the two nations had been assuaged. English prejudices had been modified, and the old feeling in Ireland of disloyalty to the Empire and hostility to England was dead and replaced by belief and trust in the British democracy. After a graceful tribute to Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Redmond went on to discuss the attitude of the Unionist leaders. There was now, he boldly stated, no argument against Home Rule on its merits ; "the solitary argument—, if it could be dignified by that name—was that a certain section of Ulster would not have Home Rule." Mr. Balfour stood alone in his old-world hatred of Ireland and of liberty and progress. The anti-Home Rule fight, Mr. Red mond went on, was not honest : it was not a fight against the merits of Home Rule, but a fight against the Parliament Act, a last and desperate attempt to restore the veto of the House of Lords. Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Bonar Law desired a general election, but they might make up their minds that there would be no general election ; that the Home Rule, Welsh Disesta.blishment, and Plural -Voting Bills would pass into law in the lifetime of this Parliament. The absence of any attempt to discuss or dismiss the policy of exclusion was perhaps the most interesting feature of the speech.
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