MR. REDMOND'S "STRONG HAND" SPEECH.
[To rag EDITOR OF THE "SPEcTITos.."] Sin,—It is with some rein& ance that I revert to "in Irish- man's" recent letters in your columns in which he conveyed to the readers of the Spectator that Mr. John Redmond had declared his policy as one of "crushing the Protestant minority with a strong band." A friend has sent me a copy of the Press report of Mr. Redmond's speech—delivered in Ulster in October, 1906—from which "An Irishman" purports to quote. It is vital that Mr. Redmond should not be misrepresented in a matter of such importance, and I feel sure you will find space for a true version. Mr. Redmond on the occasion referred to addressed himself specially to the position of the Protestant minority towards Home-rule. Speaking for Irish Nationalists, he said :—
" It would be the Nationalists' greatest and most sacred duty to go to any length, short of the surrender of principle, to disarm their hostility and remove their suspicions." And again :— " He confessed that be did not want Home-rule to e,ome in the garb of a bitter and humiliating defeat, political defeat, for any intelligent and honest section of his countrymen."
Incidentally Mr. Redmond referred to a minority of the minority whose political and ascendency interests would
ensure implacable opposition and bitterness. Speaking of this section, he said
"They were only a handful even of the Protestants of Ulster, and he feared they must be overborne by the strong hand."
This is "An Irishman's" justification for asking your readers to believe that "the only tolerance preached is that of Mr.
Redmond when he bombastically talked about crushing the Protestant minority." The quotations I have given are only short passages from a speech remarkable throughout as a proclamation that Mr. Redmond would not accept Home-rule if he did not believe that the Protestant minority would reap its benefits as fully as would the Catholic majority. Your readers can be left to form their own estimate of "An Irish-
man's" methods.—I am, Sir, &fa., E. A. ASTON.
Dublin.
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