=Source.=--_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 298, col. 1658. (House of
Lords, July 6, 1885.)
THE LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND (THE EARL OF CARNARVON): My Lords,
my noble friend [Lord Salisbury] has desired that I should state to
your Lordships the general position that Her Majesty's Government
are prepared to occupy with regard to Irish affairs, and I hope
to do so in comparatively few sentences. I need not tell your
Lordships what everyone in this House knows, the nature of the
events which have brought us to the present position. It will be
perhaps sufficient if, by quoting a few figures, I show what the
state of agrarian crime was a few years ago, what it has since
been in the interval, and what it is at the present time. In 1878
agrarian crime in Ireland stood at 301 cases. In the following
year there were 860, and in the three following years--1880, 1881,
and 1882--the cases reached the enormous totals of 2,580, 4,439,
and 3,433 respectively. In 1883, after the Crimes Act had passed,
agrarian crimes fell to 870, and last year to 762. I ought perhaps
to supplement that statement by saying that in 1884 I think that
there was no case of the worst form of agrarian crime. I think that
there was not one case of actual murder, and the calendars promise
to be of a comparatively, if not singularly, light character. The
substance therefore of the statement is that, whereas crime rose
in those three years to an enormous figure, it has since fallen
to what I do not call an absolutely normal level, but to the same
level--in fact, below the level of 1879. In these circumstances the
question has naturally arisen--what Her Majesty's Government are
to do; and it is impossible to conceive a graver or more serious
matter on which to deliberate. Within a very short time--indeed,
within a time to be numbered by weeks--the Crimes Act expires, and
the question is, What course should be taken? Three courses are
possible. Either you may re-enact the Crimes Act in the whole,
or you may re-enact it in part, or you may allow it to lapse
altogether. I think very few persons would be disposed to advocate
its re-enactment as a whole. The more serious and practical
question is whether it shall be re-enacted in part. The Act having
produced, as all agree, its effect, and three years having lapsed,
it seems hard to call on Parliament once more to re-enact it.
I believe for my part that special legislation of this sort is
inexpedient. It is inexpedient while it is in operation, because
it must conjure up a sense of restlessness and irritation; and
it is still more inexpedient when it has to be renewed at short
intervals, and brings before the mind of the people of the country
that they are to be kept under peculiar and exceptional coercion.
Now I have looked through a good many of the Acts that have been
passed, I may say, during the last generation for Ireland, and
I have been astonished to find that ever since the year 1847,
with some very short intervals which are hardly worth mentioning,
Ireland has lived under exceptional and coercive legislation.
No sane man can admit that this is a satisfactory or wholesome
state of things. It does seem to me that it is very desirable,
if possible, to extricate ourselves from this miserable habit,
and to aim at some wholesome and better solution. But, more than
being undesirable, I hold that such legislation is practically
impossible, if it is to be continually and indefinitely re-enacted.
I think it was Count Cavour who said that it is easy to govern in
a state of siege. It may be easy to govern in a state of siege
for a time, but to attempt to govern permanently is, I believe,
utterly impossible. It may be said that this is a question of
trust. No doubt it is a question of trust; but trust begets trust,
and it is after all the only foundation upon which we can hope
to build up amity and concord between the two nations. I know of
nothing more sad than to see how, instead of diminishing under
the healing process of time, there has been a growth of ill-will
between these two nations; and I think it is time to try how far we
may appeal to better feelings. I for my part believe that Ireland
will justify the confidence which is shown her when this Act is
allowed to lapse. If I am asked further as to policy, I will speak
generally in these terms. So far as the mere administration of the
law is concerned, it is our hope and intention to administer the
ordinary law firmly and effectually. So far as the larger field of
Government, which includes law, and more than law, is concerned,
I hope we shall deal justly, and that we shall secure perhaps a
somewhat better, wholesomer, and kindlier relation, I will not
say merely between classes, creeds, or races, but between the
rulers and the ruled. I cannot and will not lightly believe that
the combination of good feeling to England and good government
to Ireland is a hopeless task. My Lords, I do not believe that
with honesty and single-mindedness of purpose on the one side,
and with the willingness of the Irish people on the other, it is
hopeless to look for some satisfactory solution of this terrible
question. My Lords, these I believe to be the views and opinions
of my colleagues. And just as I have seen in English colonies
across the sea a combination of English, Irish, and Scotch settlers
bound together in loyal obedience to the law and the Crown, and
contributing to the general prosperity of the country, so I cannot
conceive that there is any irreconcilable bar here in their native
home and in England to the unity and amity of the two nations.