What, then, said Mr. Chamberlain, are the Gladstonians going to
do ? There is only one point,—the resolve to give an inde- pendent Legislature to Ireland,—on which they differ from the Unionist Liberals. They are now agreed with them, he thought, not only on what used to be called Mr. Gladstone's " authorised programme," but for the most part even on the "unauthorised programme" of 1885 also. Would not the Gladstonians admit that England, Scotland, and Wales have some claim on their services, and that it is hardly fair to postpone indefinitely reforms for these three divisions of the country on which both sections of the Liberal Party are agreed, simply because they differ about a proposed reform for Ireland P But even as regards Ireland there is much agreement. Mr. Gladstone condemns, according to Lord Ripon, the lawlessness now going on in Ireland as much as the Unionists condemn it. Further, Mr. Chamberlain avowed that he does not differ from Lord Spencer and Mr. Morley as to the necessity of settling the agrarian question in Ireland, even at a very great sacrifice to this country, always assuming that Ireland is not preparing to sever the ties between her and England, and to make us pay for a settlement by which only she will benefit. Again, Mr. Cham- berlain quite agrees with the Gladstonians that a large peasant- proprietary should be secured in Ireland, always, however, on the condition above-mentioned, that Ireland remains with us. And he would be prepared, further, to extend to Ireland any kind of local government which would be purely municipal, and not of a nature to endanger the Union. There is thus, said Mr. Chamberlain, plenty on which the Unionists and the Gladstonians are thoroughly agreed, and that being so, why should they not do it, instead of fighting an internecine battle on the only point on which they differ,—and that, too, a point which needs delay, in order that the true solution may be matured P In a word, Mr. Chamberlain's speech was a definite proposal to Mr. Gladstone to join him in doing all on which the two sections of the Liberals are agreed, including an agrarian reform in Ireland, and to postpone the question of Home-rule till that has been effected.
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