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 LOCAL SELF-dOVERNMENT FOR IRELAND. 
 
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 MR. JOHN COSTIGAN, M.P, 
 
 IN 
 
 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA, 
 
 THURSDAY, APRfL 20, 1882. 
 
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LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR IRELAND. 
 
 sipeeoh: 
 
 DELIVERKD IIY 
 
 MR. JOHN COSTIGAN, M.P, 
 
 IN 
 
 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA 
 
 <•'■'■ 
 
 THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1882. 
 
 Sir LEONARD TILLEY moved that the Speaker do now leave the Chair for 
 the Houst to go again into Committee of Supply. 
 
 Mr. BLAKE. — It was understood that the hon. member for Victoria, N.B. 
 (Mr. Costigan), had some motion to make upon the House being asked to go into 
 Committee of Supply. 
 
 Mr. COSTTGAN. — -I beg leave to move an amendment to the motion now made 
 by the hon. the Minister of Finance, that this House do now go into Committee of 
 Supply. Before placing that motion in your hands, it is my duty to trespass upon 
 the time of the House in order to explain the reasons why I invite the attention of 
 the House to the subject of the motion which I intend to move. At an early period 
 of this Session my attention was called to this subject. 1 was consulted by friends 
 who sympathize with our fellow-countrymen who are suffering in Ireland, and who 
 have been for a long series of years past seeking relief f -om what they consider 
 the unsatisfactory system of Government under which they live. I felt, Mr. 
 Speaker, that this was a question the introduction of which in this Parliament was 
 of very great importance. 1 felt that to invite the consideration of this Parliament, 
 and to ask this Parliament to express an opinion, was to ask it to take a very 
 serious step. I have given the question all the consideration that I could, with a 
 desire to dischai'ge my duty faithfully towards my fellow-coui. trymen, and also to- 
 wards the people of Canada. When I was approached on the subject, I stated at 
 once that, so far as I was personally concerned, I would not hesitate at any time to 
 undertake the duty of moving a resolution similar to one of which I gave notice some 
 time age, in favour of reform in Ireland ; but I would much prefer that the proposal 
 should come from the people, outside the House, and not be made subject to the mere 
 desires or opinions of any individual members of thisHouse. After a very short period 
 I received such indications as led me to believe that a very largo portion of the peopJe 
 of this country would view with very deep satisfaction a movement of this kind in 
 order to obtain from Pai'liament an expression of opinion on this very grave subject. 
 
 56350 
 
■n 
 
 Believing that 1 was fully justitiod in undertakiug the discharge qf this important 
 duty I at once took the steps necessary in order to bring it about. Not 
 only did I take the steps necessary to bring about the moving •f the resolutions, 
 but also to secure their harmonious adoption by the House. 1 feel that to 
 invite the House of Commons ot Canada to express an opinion, and to ask 
 anything that the representatives of the people liere in Parliament assembled might 
 consider unreasonable, would be not to advance the interests of those whose cause I 
 seek to aivojate, and in whose favour I ask an expression of the House. In consulta- 
 tion with friends, it was decided that in reganl to the form of the resolutions which 
 should be moved in Pai'liament it would be well to consult those hon. members 
 who might be expected more particularly to sympathize with us on that question. 
 These gentlemen from both Houses, the Senate as well as the Commons, were invited 
 to attend a meeting to take the subject into consideration. A meeting was held 
 and the subject discussed. A special Committee was formed at that meeting with 
 a view of preparing resolutions which might cover the ground as expressed by 
 resolutions passed in the different cities and towns in Canada. I am glad to say 
 that that duty was performed without any great diflSiculty ; that these gentlemen 
 gave their assistance cheerfully, and that there was on the part of those who did attend 
 and take part in the work, an earnest and honestdesire to frame such a resolution as the 
 Parliament of Canada might reasonably be asked to adopt. The gentlemen present 
 were equally anxious with myself that the sympathy of Parliament should be 
 enlirited with the people of Ireland, and I am sure thev felt they would not bo 
 justified in the discharge of the duty they owed to Canada to ask the Canadian 
 Parliament or its members to pronounce in favour of a resolution which might be 
 inconsistent with the position this Parliament occupies towards the Mother Country. 
 I felt from the first that perhaps no motion could be brought before this Parliament 
 which would obtain more real sympathy from its members than a motion of this 
 kind. It would be well, perhaps, at this stage of my remarks to say that after several 
 drafts of resolutions had been prepared and submitted, after they had been carefully 
 considered, many changes were made, all with a view of avoiding difficulties which 
 we knew we had to contend against. When the i-esolutions of which a copy stands 
 on the notice paper had been before the House for .some time, when hon. members 
 had become fa.-niliar with the terms of those resolutions, I had occasion to feel my 
 way among hon. members on both sides. I may say that I did not make a 
 personal canvass, I did not make an individual canvass, either of hon. gentlemen 
 on the other side of the House or on this side ; I ..rusted to the honesty of the 
 cause, I trusted to the resolutions themselves, I trusted to the history of Ireland 
 and its government, I trusted to the sense of fair 2>lay and justice which every man 
 representing a Canadian constituency must feel and be influenced by, and it is in 
 full confidence of the existence of that sentiment that I introduce the resolutions 
 to-day, and ask for them the sympathy and support of hon. members of this House. 
 But I found that, even though all our caution and tact were used in framing the 
 resolutions so as to avoid objectionable features, they were still objected to by some 
 hon. members on both sides of the House ; therefore it is that in moving the 
 resolutions to-day I hope the House will not be surprised if the wording of the 
 resolutions has been modified — not interfering, however, with the principles involved 
 — from those which I gave notice I would move. In moving these resolutions I 
 cannot call it a difficult duty I have to perform, l)ecause T can say it sincerely and 
 honestly that the difficulty appeared trifling to me. The importance of the duty I 
 have to discharge, the conviction I entertain of the right I have to discharge that 
 duty, are sufficient justification for my rising in this Parliament and taking 
 advantage of the position I now hold and have for some time held, to move resolu- 
 tions which I bejieve every fair minded man in this country admits to be unobjection- 
 able and unassailable. It is because I feel in the Canadiai Parliament, where the 
 liberties and rights ol the people are so safe and so well secured — it is because I 
 believe in the Canadian Parliament that we have rights and liberties not enjoyed 
 by the people in Ireland, tiat I think the people here, feeling and enjoying those 
 blessings, having had experience of a wise Government, and a wise system of 
 government, will readily exte.id their sympathies to those less fortunate in that 
 
; respect. I believe the force of the old raaxia will be admitted by lion, members 
 
 of this House, jind they will be willing to do to others as they would wish to be 
 done by. I am satisfied there is a feeling in the House, and it is shared by the 
 people of this country, that Ireland stands alone among countries where hardship 
 has existed, where harsh treatment has been used towards its people, where we in 
 Canada and the Government under which we live, have not been foremost 
 in expressing not only a sentiment of sympathy in favour of oppressed people, 
 •n all parts of the globe, but in taking active steps to carry relief to those people ; 
 and it will be hard to convince me that in the opinion of any public man 
 Ireland alone should remain misgoverned and have no hope for a better state of 
 things. It will not be my ])lace to attack the policy of different Governments that have 
 ruled Ireland in times past ; it will not be my place to show to what an extent the 
 misgovernmeut of that country has been carried. I might create a hostile feeling 
 if I were to attack the Government of any particular party ; but I say this, 
 without fear of contradiction, that I need not make any accusation against any 
 Government in order to establish that point, but I need only quote the opinions of 
 leading Ministers themselves to prove that it has been admitted by all parties that 
 Ireland has not been wisely and well governed. We find, recently, that on Mr. 
 Forster visiting [reland he was the first, on meeting with the people of Ireland, 
 to declare that they were misgoverned, that they were rendered unhappy by mis- 
 government, and that he would do everything he could to give them that good govern- 
 ment which they had not had before, and he trusted that they would be as happy 
 and prosperous as the people of England are. These, Sir, are admissions which 
 prove, beyond a doubt, that there is a necessity for some change in Ireland, and in 
 the resolutions I shall ask this House to express its sympathy in favour of some 
 measure of self-government for Ireland. I hope I will not be accused of interfering 
 with the rights of the British Parliament.* I hope I will not be accused of 
 attacking the policy of that Government because I move in this direction, author- 
 ized by the leader of the Government of the day and by his public expression when 
 he announced that the time had come when the self-government of Ireland was a 
 i. , debatable question. It being admitted by the leader of the Government that it is a 
 " ' debatable subject, that is one reason why we, to-day, ought to feel that we have a 
 r right to approach it. That is one of the reasons why we point to the long expe- 
 ' ; • rience we have had as a people of self-government and the happy results of it, and 
 , \; , respectfully represent that a like system in Ireland would produce a like favourable 
 : . , result in that country. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that a great change has come over 
 '. ,» t the public mind, and that that change is going on from day to day, and that the 
 >;';■. time is not far distant when men will not say it is too soon to grant this reform, 
 but the wonder will be that it had not been granted many years ago. We all 
 admit that the question of governing Ireland is a very difficult one, that there are 
 difficulties almost insurmountable ; but it appears to me, Mr. Speaker, and I 
 think it appears to the majority of reasonable men in Canada, that if some experi- 
 ment were made in the way of extending to the people ot Ireland a system by 
 which they could legislate for their own local wants, leaving Imperial matters to 
 the Imperial Parliament, that would solve the difficulty that has puzzled them for 
 • ■: so many years. There is, Mr. Speaker, another point to which I may be allowed 
 ^ . to allude. I know how difficult and dangerous it is to deal with questions some- 
 
 times which, either in the past or present, or possibly in the future, might give 
 rise to discussions of a religious character. Sir, there is no one in the Dominion of 
 Canada who would regret the expression of any word in this debate that would 
 tend to wound the feelings or excite the hostility of any special body of people in 
 the country more than I. T intend. Sir, to make some few allusions, and in 
 making them it will not be to decry the minority of our countrymen in Ireland, 
 but to disabuse the mind of some who cling to the fear — more often expressed in 
 the past than the present, but I trust these expressions will entirely disappear in 
 the future — that if home rule were granted to Ireland the minority would suffer 
 persecution at the hands of the majority. At this day that fear is not entertained 
 by a large number of people either in Ireland or out of it. I would be sorry to 
 think, alid I have no reason to believe, that there wjis ground for that fear. 
 
The fioctfi of history are ull against it. Many men who have laid clown their lives 
 and have sacritlced liberty and all they held dear for the rights which they believed 
 Ireland ought to have, many influential men who have ranked among the greatest 
 of Irish patriots, have been those who were not Roman Catholics. I will not, 
 however, rely upon my own views or ask you to consider what may be my own 
 opinion upon this important point, but I will quote the words used by a man who 
 was not a Koman Catholic, of a Protestant who took a very active part in the 
 politics of Ireland, and who did a great deal to remove the prejudices that existed 
 in that country, and to secure harmony between the different elements of the peo- 
 ple. Sir, I allude to the expressions made use of by Mr. Butt, a prominent raiin in 
 tha history of Ireland : — 
 
 '< Immediately on the fdll of the Iriuh (Jburch, be saw what was comiDg in Ireland, He 
 knew the feelings— the fears, the hopes, the questionings — that surged in the breasts of 
 his fellow Protestants. He determined to use the great power which now rested with him in 
 an endeavour to close forever the era of revolt and bloodshed ; to unite in the common work of 
 patriotism Irishmen long divided by class and creed distinctions, and to establish between 
 Ireland and England a union of friendship and justice which might defy the shocks of time. 
 At this fiilton Hotel Conference he listened long to the utterances of his fellow Protestants, 
 many of them the familiar associates of his college days. He marked their fears, their 
 apprehensions that the Fenians and the Romanists would be content with nothing less than 
 separation. He rose to his feet and spoke witli great earnestness. ' It is we — it is our inaction, 
 our desertion of the people and the country, the abdication of our position and duties — that have 
 cast these men into the eddies and whirlpools of rebellion.' Ho said : ' If you are but ready 
 to lead them by constitutional courses to their legitimate national rights, they are ready to 
 follow you. Trust me, we have all grievously wronged the Irish Catholics, Priests and 
 laymen. As for the men whom misgovernment has driven into revolt, I say for them that if 
 they cannot aid you they will not throw out your experiment. Ariue I behold ! have faith ;, 
 have confidence and you will save Ireland ; not Ireland only, but England also.' " 
 
 He concluded by proposing : — . ! ;(;: •, ' "'- u- ;j Ai - 
 
 '< That'it is the opinion of this meeting, that the true remedy for the evils of Ireland is 
 the establishment of an Irish Parliament, with tull control over our domestic affairs. The 
 Chairman put the resolutions to the meeting, ' As many as are of opinion that this resolution do. 
 pass sav, ' Aye.' A shout of 'Aye ' rang through the room. 'The contrary say, 'No.' Not a 
 dissentient voice was heard. Then every one, greatly astonished, Viurst into a cheer ; the first 
 heard that evening, so grave, and earnest, and almost solemn had been the tone of the deliber-. 
 atiODS. 
 ...; li That was the birth of the Irish Home Rule movement." 
 
 The expression of such .sentiments as these must do much to pacify conflicting 
 passion p•^d to bring about in Ireland that state of harmony and good feeling with- 
 out whv ^ood government is impossible in any country. Doubts have been ex- 
 pressed V jciher it would be expedient, even if it were i)0ssible, to give to Ireland a 
 .system of self-government. I have been asked during the present Session, since 
 this question came before the attention of the House, what guarantee, what reason 
 had I to believe, that if Ireland had Home Rule it would be more pi'ospei'ous than 
 it is at present. Well, I will not take up the time of the House by dwelling upon 
 details, I will not give my own opinion, but what may be accepted as facts by this 
 House. In order that the House may judge whether a system of selt-government 
 for Ireland would prove beneficial to the Irish people, I will give them the true 
 I'ecord ot the past, when the Irish people possessed the rights which they want to 
 have once once more : — 
 
 " Self-government had not been an idle toy, but an efiiclent weapon in tho handd of Ire- 
 land. After 1782 her commerce was extended, her manufactures fostered, wages rose, and the 
 value of land mcreased. The bankers and merchants of Dublin, naturally a cautious and con- 
 servative class, declared in petitions against the Union that the prosperity of the Kingdom had 
 wonderfully grown under the care of a native Parliament. But statistics spoke with more 
 stringent force. During the period of parliamentary indipf-ndence, when the use of tea in- 
 '•reased 45 per cent, in England, it increased 84 per cent, in Ireland ; the use of wine increased 
 in England 22 per cent., in Ireland 75 percent; coffee increased in England 79 percent., in 
 Ireland 600 per cent. ; and so of the other taxable articles, the consumption of which measures 
 the rise of prosperity. After the Union the proportions were reversed ; in some cases, not- 
 withstanding the growth of popultvtion, an actual decrease of consumption followed the loss of 
 indepejjdencCj" * 
 
Sir, at tho Bumo time, we all kaow tLe population of Ireland was much larger than 
 it is now. We have been told that the true i-eiuedy for the evils of Ireland is to 
 find an outlet for the population, to tell the people to pack up their traps, and come 
 and find a home on this continent. But, Sir, where a national dissatisfacion exists, 
 this is no remedy. If there be any people on the face of the earth who love their 
 own landj, who are attached to the soil on which they woi-e born and brought up, it 
 is the Irish people ; and to tell them that their liberties are to be fettered, that 
 their system of government is more stringent and oppressive than any other system 
 of government in the world, and still tell them that the only hope for them is to 
 pull up stakes and come to our North-West or the north-west of the neighbouring 
 Republic, is to add insult to injury. Sir, I would like to see any of our people 
 come and take up their homes amongst us ; I would like to see those who leave 
 Ireland come and settle in our North- West, where I know, by theit industry and 
 toil, they would soon become independent, happy and prosperous, establishing com- 
 fortable homes for themselves, and contributing to the prosperity of Canada, in which 
 tliey would become citizens. But still 1 do not think that is really a true and 
 tjenerous way of meeting the grievances of the Irish people. I had hoped for a 
 better feeling ; and if there is any people in the world whom I would like to see 
 exhibit that better feeling it is the Canadian people ; if there is any people in the 
 world who ought to prize the rights and liberties they enjoy it is the people of 
 Canada, who are living under a form of the most perfect self-government in the 
 world. Sir, t will not appeal to the warm sentiments which might arise in the 
 breast of every man in this Parliament by asking him what he would do in the 
 same circumstances ; but I will ask them, Avhen the wire flashes accounts of outrages 
 in Ireland across the Atlantic, not to be hasty in their judgments; I will ask them 
 not to be too severe against the Irish people. I will go half-way and tell them that 
 I blush at some of the crimes committed in Ireland ; I will tell them that the great 
 body of the Irish people condemn any indefensible acts perpetrated in Ireland as 
 strongly as any people in the world condemn them. We are told also that these 
 agitators are responsible for all these acts. Sir, I take a very different ground. It is 
 my solemn conviction that if the leaders who are imprisoned in Ireland to-day were 
 still at liberty to use what they believe to be constitutional means to advocate the 
 cause they have at heart there would be more order among the people than there is 
 to-day. I believe that the fact that the outrages of which the telegraphic wires 
 tell us from day to day — ^though I believe they have been exaggerated in many cases — 
 have not been more numerous is largely attributable to the fact that the men who 
 are imprisoned, from the time they first headed this movement to the time they were 
 imprisoned, confined themselves to constitutional means of agitation. On this point, 
 I admit, there is a difference of opinion. There are many who claim that Parnell and 
 his associates did use means that were not constitutional ; but even to these men I 
 will say, will you criticise with so much nicety and so much severity men vvho are 
 striving and struggling to bring about reform, men who are seeking the redress of 
 grievances that have been endured century after century 1 Sir, I think it would be 
 only fair to say that the Government themselves are responsible for a great deal 
 that has taken place in Ireland. I do not ask the members of this House to hold 
 the Government of that country responsible ; bu'i in asking the House, in judging 
 of the merits of this question, not to be too severe in their estimation of the men at 
 the head of this movement, I may use this argumtut in order to show that a good 
 deal of consideration ought to bo allowed for the circumstances of these men who are 
 found battling for what they call their rights in Ireland, and for what are generally 
 conceded to be their rights. We, Mr. Speaker, are not the only people who are 
 influenced by a desire for Home Rule. The very proposition itself, independent of 
 the claims of the frisli people or of the Scotch people, is on the face of it one that 
 ought to be well considered by the people of Canada. Our own experience of the 
 system of government we live under shows us, and many able writers are beginning to 
 express the same view, that the time must soon come when the system of legislation 
 in England must be changed. Suppose that to-morrow the House of Commons 
 in England were relieved of that portion of legislation which might fairly be dis- 
 tributed among the different portions pf the Empire ; it \yovUd certainly be in s^ 
 
better position. We am iir.ugiue the difficulty wo would laboui- under i» this country 
 if we hftd to legislate for ail the Provinces in this Dominion ; and how much more 
 difficult it must be for the House of Commons in England to legislate for the 
 whole country in subjects which in this country are settled by the municipal council. 
 Sir, we find the people of Scotland are also awake to the idea of a measure of self- 
 s;overnment. I am aware that many who have admitted the necessity of self govern- 
 ment for Ireland believe that it would be a prelude to separation from England. 
 I think that the majority of Irishmen who have suffered in their own country and 
 fought for it are not open to such a suspicion. But, while Irishmen have suffered 
 more than any other portion of the Empire T say that they have not been behind 
 any other element that constitutes the British Empire in the defence of the country, 
 and in building up the power of which Englishmen to-day are so proud. I do not 
 for this reason think that Irishmen have a right to ask what is unreasonable, 
 unconstitutional, or what is inconsistent with the rights, liberties and freedom of 
 their neighbours ; but they have a right to ask the same measure of freedom and 
 liberty freely conceded to other elements in the Empire. My own opinion is that the 
 more yQU relax the bonds which now fetter Ireland the more strongly you bind her 
 to England. I believe, and will appeal to the experience of hon. members in this 
 House and to that of old Provinces of Canada, as well as the experiences of those 
 other Provinces now constituting the Dominion, which did not always enjoy that 
 measure of freedom and responsible government that we are now so proud of, to say 
 if the concessions that have been made to these Provinces by the Imperial Govern- 
 ment have weakened the tie between them and the Mother Country 1 I say no. 
 Nothing has tended more to strengthen that feeling of loyalty and attachment to 
 the Mother Country now prevailing than the fact that she was willing to ex- 
 tend to this country those liberties which every free man has a right to expect. 
 The same result would follow concessions to Ireland. You can make Ireland faith- 
 ful. Irishmen have been as faithful as Englishmen in every great battle and in 
 every great undertaking for adding glory and lustre to tha British flag. If you deal 
 with Irishmen as with other intelligent beings — .if you admit that they are 
 created by the same God, and are entitled to the same rights as other men, and 
 give them a measure of self-government — give them the rights that every man has a 
 right, to exjject, you will find them, like Canadians, loyal and true, ready and willing 
 to support that Empire which would shelter and not crush them. I think that 
 argument is one that will shortly disappear. I am satisfied it has no great force. 
 I am not one of those who generally feel angry at expressions that I may consider 
 inspired by prejudice to my country or creed. I entertain a diflfererxt feeling when 
 any such attack is made. I experience a sense of pain rather than anger — a sense 
 of pain to know that my fellow-man, who should treat me as a brother, 
 should refuse to concede to me the same rights and liberties that I would 
 concede to him. And I am a firm believer in that broad principle that actuates 
 everyright thinking man, in every country, that we are all necessary to one another, 
 and that we cannot do too much to discharge the duties we owe each other, and that 
 everything wo can do to promote thfl harmony and well being of that society of 
 which we are all component parts we should do, to discharge our duty as fellow- 
 citizens. I might turn to the pages of history, and suit the ear and taste of any 
 man in this audience by selecting difierent authors to show the cruelty and oppres- 
 sion that has been dealt out to the people of Ireland under the land system that exists 
 and has existed for centuries. But I will not undertake that. 1 do not appear here 
 to-day with the view of making a brilliant and eflective speech. I think hon. gen- 
 tlemen who have sat in this House for fifteen years will acquit me of any vanity of 
 that kind. I have never troubled the House except when I felt it my duty to 
 speak, and then I have felt how weak I was and how far short I fell in discharging 
 the duty incumbent on m?. But my only desire is, if I can in my humble way, 
 with my humble abilities, state my case in such a way as it may recoaimend itself 
 to the hon. members of this House, and enlist the aid of those of our friends who 
 are more eloquent, to give ma the benefit of their eloquence. Shouli I succeed, I 
 shall feel that I have discharged my duty in a humble manner. I will not read the 
 reports or call the attention of the House to facts and pictures which members have 
 
'A, 
 
 1 
 
 often seen tespecting the linrsn and ciiiol tragedies often enacted in Ireland, in the 
 turning out of their little huts, or it you will call them homos, men and women who 
 have in them reared their families and earned their humble livelihood. In many 
 cases it is painful and dreary livelihood they have earned ; but the places wear the 
 sacred character of home, and if you could go with me in imagination and see the 
 landlord with his bailiffs and police turn out from those little huts an aged father 
 ov grandfather, on his dying bed, to leave him on the roadside to die without shel- 
 ter and without covering, your deepest feelings of pity would be stirred. This is 
 no fancy, but a true picture, and one of the results of the land system against 
 which the people of Ireland have long cried aloud. I will say what has been often 
 said of the Irish people, that neither poverty nor oppression could beat them down, 
 nor crush out those feelings of nationality by which they have been so long animated. 
 They feel they have rights, but it has taken a long time to convince their rulers 
 that a better and wiser policy should be adopted towards them. Let me give you 
 the words of a British statesman, spcken in the House of Commons, with reference 
 to landlordism in Ireland : — . , ^ ..• ,- i 
 
 "Sir Robert Peel liad a general horror of exterminating landlords, though be had not 
 adequate courage to restrain them by law. A few years later, speaking in Parliament of the 
 extermination in Clare, he said : ' I must say,! do not think the records of any country, civilized 
 or barbarous, ever presented such a statement aa that which has beeu presented to the House 
 in a letter by Mr. Kennedy. This gentleman — an officer, I believe, in Her Majesty's service ; 
 I presume of unquestionable veracity — states this fact, that in one union, at a time of famine, 
 within one year 1,,'JOO persons have been driven from their homes ; and that within the last 
 month 1,200 more persons have had their houses levelled to the ground. 1 know not. Sir, if it 
 be possible for the law to apply a remedy to that system, but in the House of Commons, at 
 least, it provokes the expression of our deepest indignation." . ; . i' 
 
 I would like to call the attention of the House to the opinion of a Protestant v/riter, 
 who has written an extended history of the difficulties in Ireland on this question. 
 With regard to the cry raised in Ireland to divide and separate the Irish people, 
 he says : — 
 
 "The dread that the Catholics would usurp all the power of the State were concessions 
 made to them is a phantom. No such danger exists. An iacrease of their power is muclw 
 more to be apprehended from a continuance of their restraints. Their accumulation of num- 
 bers alone must in time render them formidable ; but before that period arrives the voice of 
 wisdom will be heard, and we shall then see in what consists our danger. How often was it 
 repeated in the House of Commons, during the discussions on the slave trade, that the 
 suppression of that detestable trafiftc would sign the death-warrant of the few 
 white inhabitants in our West Indian Islands ? Events have falsified the predic- 
 tions. And are not the negro slaves as tractable and obedient as before that memor- 
 able Act, which has shown them that the British Legislature is alive to humanity and justice ? 
 If the prophecies of interested men respecting the West Indian negroes have been falsified by 
 events, is there not the same reason to believe that the pretended dread that the Koman 
 Catholics, if admitted to a full enjoyment of their rights, would seek an undue superiority over 
 the Protestants, and in their turn become the oppressors, is entirely void of foundation?" 
 
 In moving these resolutions at this stage of the Session, to trespass one moment 
 longer on the patience of the House than I might be justified in doing would, I 
 think, be committing a great mistake. I know, perhaps, how disappointed many 
 of ray friends may feel. I know that those hon. gentleman who sympathize with 
 me in this movement may think that I might have done more in the discharge of 
 my duty in introducing these resolutions. But if I am deficient in these qualities 
 which constitute an able advocate in introducing a measure to the attention of an 
 intelligent body like this ; it is not my fault, it is my misfortune. But I hopo 
 that any defects in the arguments I have used in the feeble manner I 
 introduced these resolutions may be supplied by the good will of these hon. gentle- 
 men with whom I have sat so long, though I am far from asking that they should 
 decide as a mere question of sympathy with myself or my friends. No ; I ask them 
 to decide on this question on higher considerations, I ask them to give me any 
 favour in the discharge of my duty which this sympathy will prompt. I mentioned 
 this, because, in moving my resolutions, as I am forced to do at a time when, if the 
 ordinary rules of deljate were strictly applied, I would not be allowed to move it. 
 
8 
 
 I feel that I am under an obligation to the House, and knowing the anxiety of hon. 
 members to get through with the labours of a long Session I will bring my remarks 
 at present to a close, and ask their indulgence for a few words at the close of the 
 debate. I thank the House for the attention they have given my remarks, and beg 
 to move the following resolutions :— 
 
 That an hum'ole Address be presented to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, in the 
 following words •, — 
 
 Most Oracious Sovereign : 
 
 We, Tour Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the 
 Commons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, desire most earnestly, in our own name, and on ' 
 behalf of the people whom we represent, to renew the expression of our unswerving loyalty 
 and devotion to Your Majesty's person and Government. 
 
 1. We have observed, may it please Your Majesty, with feelings of profound regret and 
 concern, the distress and discontent which have prevailed for some time among Your Majesty's , 
 subjects in Ireland. 
 
 2. We would respectfully represent to Your Majesty that your Irish subjects in the 
 Dominion of Canada are among the most loyal, most prosperous, and most contented of 
 Your Majesty's subjects. 
 
 3. We would further respectfully represent to "'."our Majesty that the Dominion of Canada, 
 while offering the greatest advantages and attractions for those of our fellow-subjects who 
 may desire to make their homes amongst us, does not receive that proportion of emigrants 
 from Ireland which might reasonably be expected and that this is due, in a great measure, in 
 the case of many of our Irish fellow-subjects who have sought foreign homes, to their feelings 
 of estrangement towards the Imperial Government. 
 
 4. We would further most respectively represent to Your Majesty that in the interests of 
 this your loyal Dominion, and of the entire Empire, it Is extremely to be desired that Your 
 Majesty may not be deprived in the development of Your Majesty's possessions on this 
 continent of the valuable aid of those of Your Majesty's Irish subjects who may feel disposed 
 to leave their native land to seek more prosperous homes. 
 
 5. We desire respectfully to suggest to Your Majesty that Canada and its inhabitants 
 have prospered exceedingly under a Federal system, allowing to each Province ot the Dominion 
 considerable powers of selt-government, and would venture to express a hope that if consistent 
 with the integrity and well being of the Empire, and if the rights and status of the minority 
 
 «re fully protected and secured, some means may be found of meeting the expressed desire of 
 many of Your Irish subjects in that regard, so that Ireland may become a source of strength 
 to Your Majesty's Empire, and that Your Majesty's Irish subjects at home and abroad may feel - 
 the same pride in the greatness of Your Majesty's Empire, the same veneration for the justice 
 of Your Majesty's rule, and the same devotion to, and affection for our common flag, as are now 
 felt by all classes of Your Majesty's loyal subjects in this Dominion. 
 
 6. We would further express a hope that the time has come when Your Majesty's clemency 
 may without injury to the interests of the United Kingdom be extended to those persons Who 
 are now imprisoned in Ireland charged with political offences only, and the inestimable bless-" 
 Ing of personal liberty restored to them. 
 
 We pray that the blessings of Your Majesty's Reign may, for your people's sake, be long 
 
 continued. 
 
 t 
 
 Mr. COSTIGAN. — At this late hour and after the manner in which the reso- 
 lutions have been accepted I hope the House will not consider that I am abusing a 
 privilege if I take the liberty of briefly closing the debate. I have reason to feel 
 proud that I have been the mover of these resolutions. I have reason to feel 
 proud of this Parliament, and })roud that I live in a country where these resolu- 
 tions find sach hearty and unanimous approval in a Parliament representing all 
 classes, creeds and nationalities in this countrv. My object is accomplished, but I 
 must discharge another duty. I must say in the first place that I listened with 
 pride as an Irishman to the speech of the hon. leader of the Opposition. It is noc 
 for me to thank that hon. gentleman for simply doing his duty as an Irishm'an and 
 as a member of this House. In that respect he has done no more than myself. I 
 think everyone will read that speech with pleasure and interest. But I have been 
 more pained, I must say, by the remarks of the last speaker than by anything that 
 has occurred during this debate. It is very painful to me that my motives should 
 have been called in question as they have been by a charge that I have been 
 actuated by a desire to make political capital out of a motion which I hold to be 
 one of the most sacred, and to which I adhere with the most earnest conviction. I 
 
'■-'-•'■■- ■ .V/K. '- —' -9-'-:-"--"^ ■-/'■; ;/■',•■ ■^■;:.;;'^' ■'-'' ■''■ 
 
 had no political motive to serve in this resolution. If my motive was to strengthen 
 '. . the party with which we are both connected the hon. member would ill repay me 
 by the remarks he made. I was only actuated by a sense of duty towards my 
 people, and 1 feel proud to-night that I did not miscalculate the tone or temper of 
 ' the Parliament of this country when I moved these resolutions. I think the tone 
 in which this discussion has been carried on is most creditable to this Parliament. 
 If an attempt were made to give this a political character, I should feel it my duty 
 to do all in my power to prevent it. Objection has been taken to the wording of 
 these resolutibns. There is a little inconsistency in the argument of the hon. 
 member for Gloucester (Mr. Anglin). If he has proved anything in his 
 able and lengthy speech on the merits of these resclutions he has proved he was 
 wanting in his duty as an Irishman in this regard. If the resolutions are not what 
 they ought to be^ if they contain principles which he cannot endorse, it comes with 
 a bad grace from him to criticize them as he has done. I hope I shall not be accused at 
 the close of a happy debate with an intention of wounding the hon. gentleman s feelings, 
 but I must say that, although we are not on speaking terms, and have not spoken to 
 each other for many a day — and that is not my fault, perhaps, more than his — I 
 must say that I did take the necessary steps to have the hon. gentleman's co-opera- 
 tion. I invited him to attend the meeting, and through his friends, as well as 
 personally, did all I could to obtain the benefit of his wise counsels in framing these 
 resolutions. I think the hon. gentleman might join me, after this happy debate, in 
 thanking this Parliament for having gone further — if these resolutions are adopted 
 — than any legislative body has yet gone on a similar question in any colony 
 under the British Crown. I will not delay the House any longer, but will thank the 
 House for the kind manner in which they have listened to me. 
 
 Resolutions agreed to. 
 
 Sir JOHN A. MACD0NAL1>. — As these resolutions have now passed the 
 House it will become the duty of the Government to present them to His Excellency 
 for transmission to Her Majesty. I am not at this moment prepared to say what 
 will be the best course for carrying out these resolutions, but the necessary steps 
 shall be taken to have the address prepared and all the forms carried out when 
 we send it to the Senate for their concurrence. 
 
 Mr. COSTIGAN. — I hope that in my desire to return thanks to the House, 
 which I do most sincerely, I shall not be charged with having forgotten another duty 
 — that of thanking sincerely the leader of the House for the kind manner in which 
 he ha.s received the resolutions. 
 
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