It is possible that Mr. Gladstone had in his mind reform of procedure of the nature of devolution to bodies within the House of Commons such as Grand Committees; but in view of his former utterances it is probable that he foresaw the necessity for devolution on a larger scale.
Mr. Chamberlain continued, even during the Home Rule controversy, faithful in his advocacy of devolution. In a manifesto to his supporters, issued on July 11th, 1886, he appealed to the moderate opinion in Great Britain for a “delegation not a surrender of power,” on the part of the Imperial Parliament. He outlined his political aims in the following succinct statement:
The objects to be kept in view are:
(1) To relieve the Imperial Parliament by devolution of Irish local business, and to set it free for other and more important work.
(2) To secure the free representation of Irish opinion in all matters of purely Irish concern.
(3) To offer to Irishmen a fair field for legitimate local ambition and patriotism, and to bring back the attention of the Irish people, now diverted to a barren conflict in the Imperial Parliament, to the practical consideration of their own wants and necessities.
And, lastly, by removing all unnecessary interference with Irish Government on the part of Great Britain, to diminish the causes of irritation and the opportunity of collision.
Mr. Chamberlain was acutely aware of the intimate connection between political and agrarian reform, and outlined a general constructive policy which was adopted up to a point later on by the Unionist party under the inspiration of Mr. George Wyndham:
“It is clear,” said Mr. Chamberlain, “that suggested land reform must precede the political change; and until the long-standing quarrel between land-owners and land-occupiers has been compounded, it will not be safe to trust the latter with full control over the property of the former.... But, assuming that the social war which now exists in Ireland were terminated by a reasonable settlement, there are strong reasons for desiring, on the one hand, to relieve the Imperial Parliament of some of the constantly increasing burden of its local work, and, on the other hand, to open up to Irishmen in their own country a larger field of local ambition, together with greater liberty of action and greater personal responsibility.”
The Duke of Devonshire also expressed himself in favour of devolution, provided that “the powers which may be conferred on local bodies should be delegated—not surrendered—by Parliament”; that “the subjects to be delegated should be clearly defined; and the right of Parliament to control and revise the action of legislative or administrative authorities should be quite clearly reserved”; but he urged that “the administration of justice ought to remain in the hands of an authority which is responsible to Parliament.”