The debate on these proposals of Mr. Gladstone's for closuring
the Home-rule Bill discussions in four separate compartments was taken on Thursday, when the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister alone, spoke far his motion,. alleging that the real issue was whether a majority is or is not, to have its legitimate power in the House of Commons, and quoting the closuring of the discussion on the Coercion Bill of 1887 as his precedent for the policy he was asking the House to accept. Mr. Balfour's reply was crushing, and stated with the greatest force. He showed that the Coercion Bill or 1887 was a very mild imitation of Mr. Gladstone's own former policy; that it was very simple in its structure, and perfectly familiar to the House; and that it was so framed as to be easily relaxed and even withdrawn by a mere order of the Executive ; while this Bill is quite unprecedented, fall a the gravest Constitutional problems, every clause almost in volving in itself a great revolution, and the Bill once passed, nothing could repeal it except British bayonets. What the
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Government maintained was that an hour's debate was quite enough to thresh out the expediency of "handing over to the Irish Parliament the power to pass endless Coercion Bills,—a Parliament which will be a machine for the pro- duction of Coercion Bills." The House was not even to be allowed to have a second-reading debate on the new financial alauses,--clauses which were not so much as in existence at the time the second reading was passed.
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