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CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
 1980 
 
Technical Notes / Notes techniques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
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 fe''':ures of this copy which may alter any of the 
 inr ages in the reproduction are checked below. 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains 
 ddfauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la 
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The images appearing here are the best quality 
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 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
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 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
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 The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall 
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 or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever 
 applies. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la der- 
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 le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols 
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 The original copy was borrowed from, and 
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 Library of the Public 
 
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 Maps or plates too large to be entirely included 
 in one exposure are filmed beginning in the 
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 Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre 
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 illustre la m6thode : 
 
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 1 
 
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 e 
 
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7 
 
 '*'' " ■ n^iiff iitAT r hiAt >.» Ju^i^^div »"i'- •<--/« . , 
 
 
 i.'/ sttttftttifi 
 
 FOURTH SESSION. FIFTH PARLIAMENT.— 49 VIC. 
 
 '^" SPEECH OF HON. E^' StAKE, M.P., 
 
 0» 
 
 ar*^ 
 
 ••'„-j?'Hr • 
 
 HOME RULE FOR IRELAND. 
 
 OTTAWA, MAY 4th, 1886. 
 
 .. .V- 
 
 Mr. BLAKB. I rise for a moment to intercept that ques- 
 tion, in order to bring before the House another, in which 
 the last House showed a deep concern — I mean the Irish 
 question. In 1880, I spoke my views upon this subject, and 
 expressed my belief and hope that we should at no distant 
 day see a measure of Home Ilule granted to Ireland. In the 
 year 1882, the question was moved on the other side of 
 this House. At that time we, on this side, heartily co-ope- 
 rated in order to give the greatest possible weight to the 
 proposed action. Then I spoke at length my opinions upon 
 the whole question, which saves me from the necessily of 
 trespasting now upon the time of this House, and since that 
 time, to the best of my humble powc, here and elsewhere, 
 I have aided in the advancement of that cause. Since thni 
 a new Canadian House of Commons baa been electoa, 
 which House has not yet spoken upon the question. 
 Since 1b( n great events have transpired in the United 
 Kingdom itself. The people, both of Ireland and Great 
 Briliiin, have received for the first time a very full measure 
 of representation in Parliament. The Irish people, under 
 that measure of represeutution, have, by an enormous, an 
 overwhelming majority, pronounced in favor of Home Rule, 
 and the great statesman who leads Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment has recognised the vital necessity of grappling 
 at once with the question ; and Her Majesty's 
 Government have, as I ventured to suggest on a 
 former occasion, seen the propriety of themselves formu- 
 lating a plan for the settlement of that question. 
 Now, Sir, a controversy has arisen on some of the more 
 important details of that meaieuie. I do not, myself, 
 admire all those details. For example, admitting the great 
 difficulties, I should yet prefer, to the prese: t plan for the 
 exclusion of Ireland from the management of Imperial 
 afifairs in which she is interested, i "c continued representa- 
 tion for those Imperial purposes a an Iraporiul Pailia- 
 men — I should prefer the plan, notwithstanding its great 
 difficulty, of her retaining that share of coalrol. But it 
 needs not to discuss this or any other mattoia of detail, 
 because it has been expressly and authoritatively slated 
 that none of these points are considered in any way vital 
 to the question which is now before England ami before 
 the world. The vital principle now at stake is that of 
 self-government for Ireland in local aifairs. Thii^was stated 
 by Mr. Gladstone in his reply to the criticisms on the first 
 reading of the Bill, and he has further and authoritatively 
 declared it by his recent manifesto, which was transmitted 
 to ua only yesterday. In that manifesto, he thus speaks : 
 
 " As for the means we take the eatablishment in Dublin of a le^Bla- 
 tive body, empowered to make laws for Iristi, aa coatra-distinguiahed 
 from Imperial, affairs. It is with this that we are now bnsied, and not 
 with details and particulars ; their time will come." 
 
 He adds : 
 
 " We are not debating the amount of Irish contribntions to the 
 Empire, of the composition of the legialatire bodr, or the maintenance 
 of representative connection with Westminster. On these oaestlons and 
 many more we may and we may not be at odds, but what we are at 
 this moment debating is the large and far larger question which 
 includes, and I think absorbs, them all— the quention whether yon will 
 or will not have regard to the prayer of Ireland for the management by 
 herself of atfai.s specifically and exclnsirely her own. This and no 
 other is the matter which the House of Oommons has at once to de«ide. 
 If on t*<i9 matter it speaks with a c'eer and 'nteD'giblo.voic?, I feel the 
 strongest assurance that the others, difflcult m lOJie of them are, will, 
 ':''rertLo;o8s, with the aid of full discussion and with the aid of a wise 
 and conciliatory spirit, be found capable ot a rational and tolerable 
 settlement." 
 
 Now, Sir, that Bill to which this manifesto refers, stands 
 for a second reading in a few days, and then that vital 
 question is to be decided. A great excitement has arisen ; 
 the Empire has been aroused, not merely the Kingdom, bat 
 the Empire. The emotion has passed beyond'the seas ; it has 
 passed beyond the Empire; the English speaking people 
 outside the bounds of the Empire have been aroused, 
 nay more, the free nations all over the world have been 
 moved. Every eye is at this moment bent on Westminister, 
 and every ear is strained to catch the echoes when they 
 come of the great debate, and to learn the issue of the 
 mighty struggle from beyond. Under these circum- 
 stances, marks of sympathy and of admiration have been 
 cabled to the First Minister, and he has responded to them 
 in such a sort as proves conclusively that he regards them, 
 as they must be, helpful to him in the enormous task he has 
 undertaken. We know ao well as if we had received it 
 already, what the tone of the reply will be to any such 
 oommunioation as we have on a former occasion addressed, 
 or as other large bodies have addressed, upon this subject. 
 The circumstancea are, of course, changed ; they are changed 
 since the day we addressed Her Majesty ; they are changed 
 as to the position of the question ; but they are changed in 
 this particular also, to which I call your apeoial attention. 
 At that time we asaamed — and I auppose we are not now 
 prepared to resile ; I am not, at any ra( e, prepared to resile 
 from the assumption of our right respt. (tfully to approach 
 the Throne with a view to tender our ^ambfe advice and 
 hopes upon a subject of such vital importance to the whole 
 Empire, and to Canada as a part of the Empire. But, Sir, 
 at tnia time, not merely in other particulara are the ciroam- 
 
 I t 
 
stances changed, but they are changed in this : That where- 
 as when we were asked to accede to the view that we should 
 aseame the rosponsibility of respectfully tendering that 
 advice and opinion to Her Majesty's Government, that 
 Government had not acted ; now we can say that Her 
 Majesty's Gk>vernment, whether npon that advice or not, 
 have acted in accordance with the spirit of that advice, and 
 that we are no longer called upon by any sense of duty, and 
 it is unnecessary that we should tender them any advice ; 
 what we are called upon now to do, under th3 prjsent 
 circumstance, is to assist them, so far as we can. by f;,iving 
 them our moral support in furtherance of the views which 
 thev have expressed, and in the adoption of the prin- 
 ciple of the Bcneme now before Parliament. The answers 
 which have been given to the communications which have 
 been received show their helpfulness. To the Speaker of the 
 Quebec Assembly, in response to their resolution, Mr. Glad- 
 stone Writes : 
 
 " I am deeply eratefal at the resolutlou adopted bj yoar honorable 
 body. It is my belief that the people of Bnglaad, who hare partial 
 r^Bponsibility for the old miadeeds of the British QoTernment, and the 
 
 Eeople of Ireland who have really uone, will eonoar in the wise and 
 beral Tiew entertained by the Quebec AasemblT-" 
 
 To the Mayor of Boston, in answer to the resolution of 
 the city, he cabled : 
 
 " I teel that American opinion, allied as it is with a regard and 
 affection for the Old Oonntry, affordii Her Majesty'i Qorernment a 
 powerful moral sapport" 
 
 Then, shall we be slack to-day ? Shall we be silent now 
 who spoke before 7 I say, no. We are bound to speak and 
 to speak now. Else it will be said of us : " Tou spoke ere the 
 question was ripe, when your words embarrassed ; now 
 that it is near, even at the doors, you withhold your help." 
 Else it will be inferred that we have changed our minds, 
 and that no longer does the House of Commons approve of 
 local self-government for Ireland. Our silence to-day will 
 be as positively hurtful as our speech to-day would be help- 
 ful. It was but yesterday that we were, in effect, appealed 
 to. Listen to the words of Mr. Gladstone's manifesto. He 
 appeals, indeed, directly, in the words which I am about to 
 read, to the masses of the population of Groat Britain ; and 
 this is what he says : 
 
 "Watching from day to '^ay the movement of the carrenta of opinion 
 daring the present conflict, more and mote I find it vital to observe the 
 point at which the dividing lines are drawn on the side adverse to the 
 (Government. They are fonnd, aa I sorrowfully admit, in proftise abund- 
 ance, in station, title, wealth, social influence and the professions, and 
 the large majority of them in the world, spirit and power of class. 
 These are the main body of the opposing host. Nor is this all. As 
 knights of old had squires, so in the great army of class each enrolled 
 ■oldler has a roll of dependents. Toe adverse host, then, consists of 
 class and dependents of class ; but this formidable army is the bnlk of 
 its constituents, part of the same, though now enriched at our cost, 
 with a valuable contingent of recruits that has fought In every Govern- 
 ment the greatest political battles of the laat sixty years, and has been 
 defeated. We have a great aim. For us now it is to restore rour par- 
 liamentary efficiency, by dividing and by removing obstacles to its 
 work, to treat the Irish question with due regard to its specialties, but 
 with the aame thoroughness of method by which we have solved colon- 
 ial problems, tliat fifty years back were hardly, if at all, less formidable. 
 To give heed to the voice of the people speaking in tones of moderation, 
 by liie mouth of the vast majority of those whom we ourselves have 
 made its constitutional representatives, and thus to str-^ngthen and 
 consolidate the Empire on the basil of mntual benefit and hearty 
 loyalty." 
 
 I ask whether we, too, though that appeal is not a direct 
 appeal to us, we too, a democratic people, kinsmen of those 
 he addresses, of that very mass of the population to which 
 Mr. Gladstone speaks, shall not echo a'ld fhrther his appeal. 
 He describes in the same manifesto the response from the 
 world. Thus he speaks : 
 
 " Never have I known an occasion when a parliamentuy event co 
 rang through the world as the introduction of this Bill, under the 
 auspices of 'be British Oovernment. From public meetings and fVom 
 the highest authorities in the OoloDies, from capitals such aa Washing- 
 ton, OincinDati, Buaton, Quebec, and from the remotest districta lying 
 beyond the reach ot all ordinary political excitement, 1 receive the coe- 
 cloaive aitnrance that kindred people regard it with warm and fraternal 
 sympathy. Our present effort is to settle, on ac adequate scale, and 
 once for all, the long-vexed and troubled relations between England and 
 Ireland, which exhibit to us the one and only conspicuoua failure of the 
 political genius of our race, to confront and master a difficulty, and to 
 obtain in a reasonable degvee the main ends of ciTillsed life." 
 
 I ask, under those circumstances, and when the highest tes- 
 timony is given to those resolutions from various quarters, 
 and their utility, shall Canada, who was earliest in the 
 field, be dumb to-day ? Shall her voice, so loud before, be 
 eilent now ? Shall we not listen to that mute appeal and 
 cause our names to be enrolled amongst those who consti- 
 tute the forces of tfie great public opinion throughout the 
 world, giving an added impulse to the progress of this 
 
 great measure ? I dare not be silent longer. I do not 
 ring this as a party question. I have waited till the last 
 moment, hoping that some one on the other side of the 
 House would move. That hope I have been obliged to 
 abandon. I see that the Minister of Inland Bevenue has 
 declined to move, and has cabled for himself and for the 
 Irish representatives in Parliament the assurance of his and 
 their adhesion to the address of 1882. I do not undervalue 
 hia assurance. But it is not the assurance required. What 
 is required is the assurance, not of one, but of all 
 claBses; not of a section, but of the people; not of a Min- 
 ister of the Crown, but of the Commons of Canada ; 
 not of the Irish Catholic members, but of the French and 
 English, Scotch, Irish and German, of all creeds aud of all 
 nationalities. To substitute the hon. gentleman's assurance 
 for our voice would be to acknowledge that we do not choose 
 now to speak in the sense in which we spoke then, and in 
 which he declares hisonrn readiness to speak again, I there- 
 fore speak, bat not as a Beformer, or as a party leader ; I 
 speak as a Canadian and citizen of the Empire to brother 
 Canadians and fellow-citizens of the Empire. This U 
 not a Protestant or a Catholic question ; they are enemies 
 of their country who would make it so. It should not be, in 
 Canada at all events, a Conservative or a Beform measure. I 
 regard those as the enemies of their country who would try 
 to make it so. I hope that we may, by our own action this 
 day, show jarselves united in the redress of wrongs and in 
 the advancement of the cause of liberty. For my pari I 
 should feel myself nothing less than a coward and a criminal 
 should we, without any effort of mine, stand passive today 
 and fail to lend our help at this critical moment to the cause 
 ot freedom and local self-government lor the Irish people. I, 
 therefore, move to leave out all the words after " that and 
 insert the following :— 
 
 An humble addreis be presented to Her Majesty to respectfully 
 asf are Her Majesty that the Interest and concern felt by the (Emmons 
 ot Ganadb, and the people Whom they represent, in the condition of 
 Ireland, a>id their desire that some means may be found of meeting the 
 expressed wishes of so mnny of Her Majesty's Irish subjects for the 
 grant to Ireland of a measure of local self-government still continue as 
 warm and earnest as In the year 1882, when they were humbly signified 
 .0 Her Majesty by an address to the terms to which thia House affirms 
 its abiding adhesion. 
 
 Humbly to infotm Her Majesty that this House hails with joy the 
 sabmisslon by Her Majesty' sOovernment to the Parliament of the United 
 K'ngdom of a measure recogalllng the principle of local self-govern- 
 ment for Ireland. " 
 
 And humbly to ezp.'eas to Her Majesty the earnest hope of this 
 House that the principle of the said measure may be atlirmed, and Ihat 
 it may form the baaia for such a settlement of this great question aa ahoil 
 eondaoe to the peace, happinest and prosperity of the Empire. 
 
 FiiBted bj MaeLean, Bogar * 0*., ParliaoMntatjr Printera, WeUingtoa BtrMK OtUwa