In the debate which followed Mr•. Birrell's speech Mr. Balfour
dealt with the scheme with great force and vivacity. Why, he asked, if the creation of a Board elected by the County Council electors of Ireland is necessary for their• self- respect, is a similar Board not necessary for England!' That appears to us to be a perfectly sound point. Mr. Birrell throughout talked as if the Irish people suffered under an alien administration such as was unknown to other portions of the United Kingdom. Yet in fact almost every word he used might have been applied, say, to the County Palatine of Lancaster not only with equal but with greater• force. In Ireland the administration is at any rate carried out wholly by men of Irish birth and blood living in Ireland, whereas similar functions of government that concern Lancashire are carried out, not by Lancashire men in one of the cities of Lancashire, but by non-Lancashire men working and living in London. Mr. Birrell is a great admirer of Dr. Johnson, but he certainly did not " clear• his mind of cant "—the cant of Nationalism—when be composed his speech.
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