A very interesting debate took place at the Harvard Union last evening on the question of Home Rule for Ireland. Mr. Duane opened the case for the affirmative. After describing the unjust and despotic ascendancy of England over the Irish people at the present time, he went on to point out how this could be remedied by a suitable scheme of Home Rule. He also maintained that the Irish had advanced sufficiently in political training to render it safe to entrust them with self-government. He closed his case by expressing his firm conviction that Home Rule would soon be an accomplished fact, because of its recent rapid advance, and because it embodies a principle which always succeeds.

Mr. Williams, L. S. opened the case for the negative. Ireland, he said, has laws as just as those of England and Scotland. The difficulty in Ireland is not political but economic. At some time, the law question will have to be settled. If the land is to be brought up, England is better able to do it than Ireland is. The Irish members of Parliament have displayed ability in an obstructive rather than a constructive way.

Mr. Mahany, who followed for the affirmative, denied most of the statements made by his predecessor. He then touched upon the fearful oppression to which the Irish nation had been subject to at the hands of England for 700 years. By means of statistics written upon the blackboard, he showed that England would lose nothing by surrendering all claim to the control of Ireland.

Mr. Furber rejoined, on the negative, that Ireland would be just as much an enemy of England, after Home Rule had been granted, as before. Home Rule is something more than an attempt to abolish the evils of caste government; it is the first step in the dismemberment of the empire. In fact, Mr. Parnell declared at Chicago that this was his ultimate object. Mr. Furber closed his case by denouncing the incapacity of the Irish Parliament of 1782, and the violence of the Land League.

The debate was decided in favor of the affirmative.