THE TABLET. A Weekly Newspaper and Review.
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUS, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMÜS OT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From the B r i e f o j H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, 1870.
V ol. 91. No. 3020.
London, March 26, 1898.
Price 5<L, byPost 5 % d .
[Registered at the General Post Office as a N ewspaper.
Chronicle of the Week Page
Imperial Parliament : The Irish .Local Government Bill— Passing o f the Second Reading—The Distress in Ireland— Education in England and Ireland— Australian Federation— In Honour of Alfred the Great—Sir James Mathew on Money-Lenders—Mr. Davitt on English Opinion — Better Prospects in India — International Sport — The Taxameter — The
I t a l i a n Chamber and Signor Crispi—A Soudan Campaign — 473 Leaders :
Catholics and the Marriage Laws 477 Agitation Against Duelling in Italy 478 The Progress o f Catholicism in
Non-Catholic Countries .. 479 N otes m ... - - .. 483
CONTENTS.
Reviews :
Page
The Life o f Ernest Renan . . 485 The Fringe of an Art : Apprecia
tion in Music . . . . .. 486 Sermons .....................................487 Miss Balmaine’s Past . . . . 499 Letters and Correspondence^ of ohn Henry Newman During is Life in the English Church 500 Correspondence :
Rome (From Our Own Correspondent) . . . . ~ — 489 News from Ireland . _ 491 News from France......................... 492 Letters to the E ditor :
The Anglican Position . . . . 493 Indian Chaplains . ....................... 493 Nonconformist Marriages (Attend
ance of-Registrars) Bill . . . . 494 A Martyr's Prayer Book . . . . 495
Page
Father Scheil’s Discoveries.. . . 496 St. George's^Hall and Club . . 496 Sir W. Laurier and Manitoba . . 496 Among the Pondos . . . . . . 497 London Guardians' Elections . . 497 The Rising in Uganda . . . . 497 Anglican Bishops and the Irish
University^ Question . . . . 498 The Conversion o f Father Ignatius
Spencer .. . . . . . . 498 Missionary Work Among the Lepers 498 The Archbishops’ Reply to the Vin
dication . . ..................... 499 Books of the Week . . . . . . 500 Obituary ......................... * .50 1
SUPPLEMENT. N ews from the Schools:
The Irish Catholic University
Question . . . . . . . . 505
N ews from the Schools (Con
tinued): Catholic Industrial School Chil
Page dren . . . . . . . . 506 The Pupil Teacher System . . 50S School Attendance . . . . 508 Catholic Schools in Natal . . 508 Football .....................................508 N ews from the D ioceses :
Westminster ............................509 Birmingham.................................... 509 Clifton ..................................... 510 Leeds .....................................510 Northampton ......................... 5i t Nottingham.. ....................... 511 Salford .....................................5 ir Shrewsbury . . . . . . 511 The Vicariate ......................... 511 Newport .........................
*- * Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
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THE IRISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL. A
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT :
F T E R question tim e in the
H ouse o f Commons on Monday, Mr. Balfour secured for the several stages o f the Irish
L o c a l Governm ent B i ll precedence over all orders o f the day and notices o f motion on the days for which the B ill is appointed. Mr. Gerald Balfour then formally moved the Second R eading o f the measure, upon which Mr. D illon rose to address the H ouse. H is first enthusiasm for the Bill seems to have been considerably cooled by a study o f its provisions in print. H e was afraid that far from being a simple measure, it was in reality a very com p licated one, and he regretted that it proposed to conduct so much o f its work by reference. I t fe ll short o f what had been given in the shape ot local government to Great Britain, and o f what had been freely promised b y L o rd R andolph Churchill and the D u ke o f Devonshire. In spite o f all its faults and shortcom ings, however, he still adhered to the opinion chat the B ill would effect a beneficent and far-reaching revolution in the conditions o f Irish lo cal governm ent and o f Irish life. T h e shortcom ings he particularly alluded to were the refusal to p lace the control o f the police in the hands of the County Councils, the lim itation o f the Council’s power to spend money on roads, and the control o f the Councils b y the Local Government Board. Mr. D illon very properly protested against the exclusion o f ministers o f religion from the County Councils in Ireland. There was no reason why a distinction should be made between their rights as citizens in Ireland and those o f th e ministers o f the rest o f the United K in gdom . T h e disqualification was an insult to the people, as it was to the ministers o f religion in Ireland. H e then passed on to criticism o f the financial proposals o f the B ill, and particularly that which relieved landlords from a portion o f the rates,which he denounced as a bribe or b la ckmail to buy o ff their opposition. Mr. R entoul gave th e B ill his cordial blessing, and trusted that it would pass in its entirety, but added a hope that the Councils would be opened to ministers o f religion. Mr. R edm ond deprecated the way in which Mr. D illo n had gone into particulars when he agreed with the principle. T h e measure was a far better
N ew S eries V o l . LTX., No. 2,329.
one than could have been conferred on Ireland by a L ib eral Administration without the driving power o f a L and League behind it. It undoubtedly conferred upon Ireland a very broad and democratic system o f local government, but it was not a substitute for H om e Rule. Mr. L e ck y followed w ith a carefully prepared speech, the first part o f which was followed by a full House. H i did not believe Ireland was a country adapted for democracy, but he thought the B ill would answer its purposes exceedingly well. Considering the attitude o f those who had been elected in Ireland on the Parliam entary franchise towards law and order, he thought that to give them the control o f the police would be as near political insanity as anything that could be devised. Mr. Lam bert objected to the charges p laced upon the Im perial Exchequer, because the money was going in to the pockets o f individuals, and moved an amendment based on this objection, which found no more than 20 supporters.
A fte r this the attendance in the H ouse
— p a s s in g o f dim inished. Colonel Saunderson made an s e c o n d r e a d i n g , amusi° g speech, in which he pointed out the new Councils would certainly make the county government o f Ireland, i f not so cheap, at any rate more exciting than it was at present. T h e Irishm an would never confine h im self to the humdrum business he was e lected to perform, but would soar to such h igher things as financial relations, H om e Rule, & c . H e hoped, however, that the working o f the B ill would bring about the ultim ate union of all men o f commonsense in Ireland. Mr. Morley, speaki.jg to a larger audience, contended that what Ireland really needed was a strong central Government instead o f the local authorities proposed in the B ill. T h e control o f the Irish L o ca l Government Board, which was practically an alien Board, was a serious flaw at the very root. H e thought the Bill gave the landlords too much in the way o f exemptions from local contributions, but he would support it because it would lead, though by a troublesome and circuitous route, to that larger extension of selfgovernment which the inextinguishable national sentim ent o f Ireland and the peculiar circum stances o f the country demanded. Mr. Gerald Balfour explained that the Government had not brought the B ill forward with a view to satisfy the demand for H om e Rule, but as a measure in itself desirable. T h e local bodies to be established were hedged in on every side, and were to be for administrative and not legislative purposes. It might be possible and even beneficial to appoint a minister as the head o f the Irish L o ca l Government Board with a seat in the House, but he hoped it would
