14
would have been wise to avoid; but I do not think there is any use
in standing up for the purpose of talking on such an important
subject as the future of the British Empire, and withholding the
opinions which one has and honestly entertains. 1 wish to sub-
mit those opinions, and to ask your indulgence for them. I would
be very loth indeed to say one word that would be mischievous.
My desire is, on the contrary, to say that which will prevent
mischief. Now I admit that it would be almost useless to speak
of any change in the system of government of the empire if the
only ground I could put it upon were the interests of the colonial
portion of it. No doubt attention would be given to their argu-
rments; but we know perfectly well that as long as things are
going on satisfactorily and well here, that this people are not
lovers of change. They like to hold to what they have tried and
found by experience to have been good, and therefore I must
advert to points which have struck me, possibly as an outsider, as
indicating that the present state of things in this country is
undergoing a process of change. It is, no doubt, largely attri-
butable to the Irish question-to the Irish agitation. It is almost
impossible to avoid speaking of Ireland if one speaks on any
public question at all. There is no doubt whatever-any one that
has watched Parliamentary proceedings during the last three years
must be aware-that the effect of that agitation has been largely
to arrest the legislation that was desired, at any rate, by England
and Scotland. It has largely arrested it, and the consequence has
been that the House of Commons have found themselves over-
borne, over-weighted; and they have sought an escape from that
position by, to a certain extent, sacrificing their independence for
the sake of their efficiency. It is an acknowledgment on their
part, it appears to me, that the pressure of business upon them
had gone so far that, in order to discharge it, it was necessary for
them to curtail what used to be the great privilege of the Imperial
Parliament-free discussion. Now I believe it was absolutely
necessary; I believe they could not avoid it. They had to make
the sacrifice. They had either to see an indefinite postponement
of measures that were loudly called for in England and Scotland,
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