46o 



The Review of Ri:views. 



long-winded are other (|ualifieat.icins whii li lu-lp to 

 explain the ascendeney of Mr. As(]uitli over men that 

 would otherwise he perliaps suspicious o( his policy. 

 These elements enhanced liie \alue ol his e.xposition. 

 Irish Home Kulu is to be but the first step in "a 

 larger and more comprehensive policy of the United 

 Kingdom and Empire." It is to be under the supreme 

 authority of the Imperial Parliament. The Irish 

 Parliament is to consist of two Houses — a House of 

 Representatives of 164 members (59 from Ulster, 

 41 from Leinster, 37 from Munster, 25 from Connaught, 

 and 2 from the L'niversities) ; and a Senate of forty 

 members sitting for eight years, nominated fir.st 

 by the Imperial Government, subsequently by the 

 Irish Government. Of the Senate it may be at once 

 conceded that its constitution does not accord with 

 ■general democratic .sentiment. But we understand 

 that the idea emanated, not from the Liberal Govern- 

 ment, but from the Irish leaders, who insisted on a 

 Senate that was nominated. Mr. Redmond assured 

 the Convention that in his judgment such a Senate 

 was more democratic than a Senate elected on a narrow 

 franchise : — 



lie wanted llie Second Cliamljer crowded from the first with 

 men who had not been partisans of the Nationalist Parly in the 

 past at all — men of business and affairs, men of conmierce, men 



representing the professions, arts, science, literature ot Ireland, 



men h.aving large stakes in the country. 



Whether Mr. Redmond's hopes are 

 realised or not, the eight-years' Sena- 

 tor represents, not a permanent 

 obstruction like our old Peers, but 

 simply a temporary clutch of the past 

 upon the present — not a bad de\i(c 

 for ensuring steadiness of working in 

 a new political machine. In case of 

 a deadlock the two Houses would sit 

 and vote together. Irish Members 

 will be retained at Wt'slminster, but 

 only to the number of forty-two. 



The financial ar- 

 rangements tire 

 not exactly ideal. 

 But that any prac- 

 tical solution can be found for so 

 complicated a problem is something 

 to lie thankful for. At present Ire- 

 land receives from the IiTii)erial ex- 

 chequer above whtil she pays into it 

 a sum of about a million and a half 

 sterling. This deficit will continue for 

 a time, and an additional grant of 

 half a million, dwindling year by 

 year to £200,000, will be made, to 



set Ihe new Gox'crnment on its feet. So at the 

 beginning Ireland will be sulisidised to the tune 

 of two millions a year. Irish taxes will be 

 collected by the Imperial Government, and llic 

 amount raised by Ireland will be transferred to 

 the Irish Exchequer.. The Irish Parliament may 

 raise or reduce the old taxes and impose new 

 ones, may deal with Excise, but not with Cus- 

 toms. Free Trade between Great Britain and 

 Ireland is secured. The transfer of the Post 

 Ollice to the Irish Government, instead of keeping 

 it as an Imperial concern, strikes one as a back- 

 ward step. Old Age Pensions, National Insurance, 

 Royal Irish Constabulary, Post Office Savings 

 Bank, are temporarily reserved in Imperial hands, 

 to he transferred later. The relations between 

 the Irish and Imperial Exchequer will be adjusted 

 by an Exchequer Committee, loihn Bull may, per- 

 haps, grumble at having to put his hand so 

 deep in his pocket, may even question the hook- 

 keeping of the arrangement, but let him remember 

 that Irish good-will is an Imperial and international 

 asset worth hundreds of millions every year, and to 

 .secure it at the cost of an annual couple of millions is 

 one of the best bargains which even he has ever made. 



Irish Finance. 



Mr. Redmond Addressing the Great Home Rule Demonstration in Dublin. 



