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PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
regulation of the external relations of the great self-governing Colonies; I have said sufficient to show that to no subject which comes before the British House of Commons is it possible at present to give the amount of time and attention which that particular subject demands.
The Imperial Government as it affects—Let us examine how our present system of government affects the various parts of the Empire, and why it is unsatisfactory to each part individually. Ireland.Ireland suffers most under the present system: let us therefore take the case of Ireland first. I don't intend to enter at any length into the Irish question now, though it still occupies first place in the Liberal programme, because I have dealt with it very fully elsewhere. What are we doing in Ireland? We are persisting in governing the country in direct opposition to the wishes of the people as expressed through their representatives, in refusing to recognise what is, in my opinion, the first principle of Imperial Government, viz., the right of each part of the Empire to manage its own local affairs. Some people will tell us that Ireland is not, and cannot be, a unit in herself, that she is only a portion of the United Kingdom, and that Englishmen and Irishmen can be governed under the same laws and by the same body. That is an argument that has been often put to me, but if it is a sound contention, how comes it that measures are brought in to apply to Ireland, which are not applied to England, how comes it that measures are passed which apply to England and Wales, and which do not apply to Ireland? The truth is that Ireland is a country whose conditions essentially differ from those of England and demand special treatment. Let us recognise in4
