23 APRIL 1910, Page 3

One other ugly fact is to be noticed. On Thursday

night the Irish Members claimed the right to silence a Member of the House of Commons who said things which they disliked, and succeeded in so silencing him after the manner in which the extremists during the French Revolution were accustomed to silence those whose speeches they disliked. Nationalist domination in this Parliament would thus seem to be complete In effect, the Closure was used, not because the House had come to the determination that a point had been sufficiently debated, but because the Irish Members had determined to withdraw the right of free speech from an individual in Parliament. We can imagine no precedent more fraught with evil consequences.