On the same evening, Mr. Rathbone made a careful and
im- pressive speech on the economical side of the question, pointing out how easy it would be for Ireland to ruin the owners of property through the imposition of heavy local rates, and how likely this policy would be to be acceptable to the Irish people. And later in the evening, Mr. Childers delivered a very interesting historical speech, showing that the six reasons for Union in 1799 were reasons which would not in any way tell against the separate Legislature proposed under this Bill, since they were, —first, the necessity for removing the claim of the Irish Parlia- ment to appoint a different Regent ; next, the necessity for establishing commercial relations between Great Britain and Ireland ; thirdly, the necessity for removing all disputes as to the treaty-making power ; fourthly, the necessity of securing Ireland Free-trade with Great Britain ; fifthly, for securing Catholics from Irish disabilities by Imperial laws ; and sixthly, the necessity for removing the discrepancies between the Irish and English military systems. Now, said Mr. Childers, not a single one of these reasons would have any force against the proposal of the Government.
Previous page
