Mr. Chamberlain made another powerful speech on Thurs- day, at
Smethwick. He maintained that the Unionist Government had made fewer mistakes than any Government of recent times; that it had so restored social order in Ire- land that the murderer and the boycotter found their work did not pay; and that the present Parliament had effected great and liberal reforms. As regarded Labour, he was himself in- clined to establish Courts of Arbitration, which, though their decisions could not be made compulsory, would govern the public opinion without which nowadays no strike succeeds; to allow a legislative Eight-Hours Act to any trade which decisively desired such interference; and to establish a volun- tary system of State-aided pensions for old age. Then, pass- ing on to Ireland, he asked what Home-rule was actually to
be, and showed that every Parnellite had rejected the
idea of a Parliament in Dublin controlled by the Parlia- ment in Westminster ; while Ulster rejected the idea of a Dublin Parliament, and could only be coerced by bloodshed ordered by a Government which rejected the very idea of coercion. It was wicked in Radical eyes to use troops against boycotters, but not against loyalists. The Unionist policy in Ireland was to maintain the law, but to root out the causes of disaffection, and pay some attention to the greater claims of the greater population of Great Britain. It was a strong speech, in places quite unanswerable, and can hardly be wholly
without effect. The difficulty is to induce disbelievers -to read it.
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