On Thursday, June 5th, it was announced that the Government
had invited Mr. Justice Feetham, of the South African Supreme Court, to be chairman of the Irish Boundary Commission, and that he had accepted the invitation. He is expected to arrive at the end of this month. The way is being cleared for what is the best of all forms of inquiry—a judicial inquiry. An inquiry conducted by an experienced judge always throws fresh light,. always gives different kinds of evidence their right value, and in this case it must tend towards securing the only kind of bargain which will work. For that reason we welcome the arrangement. Meanwhile the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is being asked to advise the Government as to whether a Boundary Commission can be constituted in the absence of a Com- missioner to represent Northern Ireland. We cannot predict what the constitutional or legal arguments of the Judicial Committee may be, but it is clear to us that the Treaty contains no machinery whatever for enforcing a new boundary against the will of either party. We are thankful that it should be so ; for an imposed solution would be bound to reopen the Irish trouble at its very source. Consent is the only way.
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