of view was the
principal inducement to grant Home Rule to the Irish people, that is,
freedom from the difficulty of governing Ireland. The difficulty no
doubt will be diminished, or rather shifted; but the dream is vain that
under the new Constitution Englishmen would be able to trouble
themselves no more about the concerns of Ireland than they do about the
affairs of Canada. Ireland would still be our immediate neighbour.
Irishmen would still be divided by differences of class and religion,
and England would still, disguise the fact as you may, be ultimately
responsible for good government in Ireland. Home Rule is not Separation,
and nothing short of Irish independence would greatly lessen English
responsibility. This would be true under whatever form Home Rule were
established, but it is emphatically true of Home Rule under the
particular form contemplated by the Gladstonian Constitution. The army
in Ireland--and no one supposes that England can withdraw her soldiers
from the country--will be the British Army under the control of the
British Government. But the power of the sword is, though we often
forget the fact, the sanction by which law is maintained. Hence it
follows that the British Ministry remains at bottom responsible for the
maintenance of peace and order throughout Ireland. Note the results. If
there are riots at Belfast; if unpopular officials are assassinated in
Dublin; if evictions give rise to murder in Kerry, the British Army must
in the last resort be called in to restore peace or punish crime. If the
army are not under the control of the Irish Executive, then the English
Cabinet become directly responsible for the government of Ireland. If
British soldiers are placed at the disposal of the Irish Ministry, still
the English Government must, shift the thing as you will, share the
responsibility of the Irish Cabinet. During a riot at Belfast a hundred
Protestants or Catholics are shot by British soldiers whilst restoring
order. If any one fancies that such slaughter can take place without the
English Ministry being called upon in the British Parliament for
explanation and defence, he shows utter ignorance of English, or indeed
of human nature. Nor is it for the action only of the troops that the
English Executive will incur liability. If British subjects are killed
by a mob in Belfast or in Dublin whilst British troops stand quietly by
and under the direction of an Irish Home Secretary take no steps to