THE PROGRAMME OF THE IRISH FEDERALISTS.
THOUGH for some months there has been much talk in Ireland about the policy of Federation, though a society was formed which exhibited a zealous activity in the distribu- tion of circulars and the enrolment of names, it was not easy to discover till quite recently what practical suggestions were meant to be embodied under the sounding generalities of the programme published by "The Home Government Asso- ciation." Federalism is a large word, including so many dis- tinct varieties of political construction, that it could not be inferred from its adoption by the advocates of Home Govern- ment how far they proposed to weaken existing ties between England and Ireland. We were told only that an Imperial Parliament retaining all its dignity and much of its power was to be the binding link between the three nations that people these Islands, while an Irish Parliament was to legislate in all matters concerning Irish "local purposes." What these local purposes were to be no one seemed able to define. At a meeting in Dublin, where the Federalists succeeded in enlisting two rov- ing M.P.'s in their cause, the speakers expressed contemptuous indifference to the difficulty that had been made about draw- ing the line of separation between local and imperial affairs. It was "a mere matter of detail," so they said, and in Ireland the phrase carries a sort of invidious meaning. But upon the settlement of this point of detail rests the entire policy of the scheme. Any proposal that would still leave to the Im- perial Parliament the predominant influence in domestic legislation, and an ultimate controlling power over even what are termed local affairs, we might be prepared to discuss, though we should probably reject even such a scheme as im- politic. But a plan which would strip the Imperial Parlia- ment of all its authority at home, and confine it to a constantly narrowing sphere of foreign relations,—a plan that, by taking away all substantial power, would rob the Central Assembly of the Confederation of all respect,—is, in fact, out of the pale of discussion. It is as wild a conception as Repeal of the Union, and as impracticable in these days. It aims a deadlier blow at the consideration and strength of the representative element in the Constitution, and it may safely be asserted that if a trial were possible the experiment would break down in half-a-dozen years, and lead through disaster and public loss either to a restored Union, or to a separation of the Kingdoms.
The Home Government Association, as we have observed, have put forward no practical suggestions and have scorned the notion of going into details, but we are not left without some indications of the measures that would meet their approval. Mr. Butt, Q.C., is a member of the Committee,—a remarkable conversion, for Mr. Butt is the same man that in 1843 moved an amendment and made an able speech against O'Connell's Repeal resolution in the Dublin Corporation. Mr. Butt, however, is a convert to the doctrine of Home Govern- ment, and he has just published a pamphlet, "Irish Federal- ism, its Meaning, its Objects, and its Hopes," which is intended, as the writer says in his preface, to aid "the effort which is now making to win for Ireland such an amount of self-govern- ment as may give us the management of our own internal affairs." It must be allowed that Mr. Butt does not shrink, like the other members of the Association to which he belongs, from the labour and responsibility of working out the pro- posed Federal scheme in its details ; and although he disclaims the right to speak in the name of the "Federalists," his plan, being the only systematic one yet given to the world by the Dublin Committee, may be taken to represent their views. It is unnecessary to discuss the arguments which Mr. Butt advances to prove the necessity of taking away from the Imperial Parliament the control over Irish affairs. We may only point out that he skilfully mixes up objections to existing Parliamentary practice in which we can readily agree, with windy declamation against foreign rule. Thus, for example, he points to the acknowledged evils of delay and costliness im- posed upon the promoters and opponents of Irish Private Bills by the necessities of appearing at Westminster, but he anti- cipates the obvious answer that such business might be very well disposed of by a Committee sitting in Dublin. "The evil," he says, "is capable of being at least partially remedied by the establishment of a special tribunal for such purposes, following up the principle already applied to the trial of election petitions ; I have very little doubt that it will be so, and that we will be mocked by having this called a concession of home government." Surely this impracticable attitude is not only foolish, but disingenuous. If the admitted evil be an argument against the existing system, the admitted remedy,
Ieven though it may not go so far as Mr. Butt desires, cannot fairly be called a mockery. But we are not obliged to enter into these questions. We are rather concerned to show that Mr. Butt's proposal is of the kind which, destroying the authority and consideration of the Imperial Parliament, stands condemned on its mere statement.
The Home Government Association professes to maintain the desirability of an Imperial Parliament, and Mr. Butt re- peatedly affirms the same thing. Yet under his proposed reform of the Constitution that Imperial Parliament would find its power limited "to the regulation of Indian and Colonial affairs, to voting the men for the Army and Navy and the supplies for the Imperial expenditure, and to inter- ference in foreign affairs where such interference would be called for, and generally to such supervision of Imperial concerns as circumstances might make necessary." The last member of this sentence is unmeaning, and as for the rest, we are afraid neither Indian, nor Colonial, nor foreign affairs, except under peculiar conditions, would possess interest enough to infuse life into the Assembly. The only important duty of this Imperial Parliament would be the administration of the funds for Imperial purposes, but in this respect also Mr. Butt narrows Parliamentary power. He would have the permanent charge (for the National Debt, the Civil List, &c.) met by permanent taxation falling upon the Three Kingdoms, and to be altered only by an Imperial Act. He would also prevent the Imperial Parliament from raising funds except by direct taxation, thus reversing the arrange- ment adopted in Canada, where the local Assemblies are not allowed to impose indirect taxes. This has been done in Canada to prevent the local governments from enacting incom- patible tariffs ; but, as Mr. Butt wants fiscal independence for Ireland, or, in other words, the power of restoring protection, he inflicts the disability on the Imperial Parliament. Practi- cally, therefore, in ordinary times the only duty this Assembly would have to perform would be the voting of the estimates for the Navy, Army, and Diplomatic Service. We are not surprised that Mr. Butt anticipates that business could be despatched in a two months' session. We do not wonder either at the complacency with which he puts aside the notion that the best men could not be found for the local Assemblies,—it is, of course, part of his plan that England and Scotland should have separate Legislatures as well as Ireland,—because the Imperial Parliament would draw them away. "With the limited functions assigned to an Imperial Parliament," says Mr. Butt, "this could not be the case to any injurious extent." Certainly, if to the local Parliament were to be assigned, as he claims, "every matter relating to the internal administration of the county, our railways, our post office, our Courts of Justice, our corporations, our systems of education, our manufactures, and our commerce," few am- bitious or able men would care to leave these large and urgent interests to enter a debating society, where foreign, colonial, and Indian questions would be discussed without responsibility or result. The complaint that has been made in the United States, and also in the Canadian Dominion, that the Central Legislature " guts " the local Assemblies of ability and ex- perience, would be reversed. The Imperial Parliament would itself be gutted ; it would fall into contempt, and the local Assemblies would have no choice between amalgamation and independence.
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