The Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill was read a third
time. in the House of Lords on Monday. In the absence of Lord. Carson through ill-health, the Lord Chancellor rebuked him, as. a Law Lord, for appearing on a political platform and making " bitter taunts " against Ministers. If a Law Lord did such. things, could not other Judges claim the same liberty, and would not the high repute of the Judicial Bench be greatly impaired ? The Lord Chancellor admitted that a Law Lord could speak in the House on political questions. He did not, however, appear to be conscious of his own ambiguous position, as at once the head of the judiciary and a very active political partisan. The Lord Chancellor said that he had not abandoned hope of better days in Ireland. He expressed once more his belief in the sincerity of Mr. Griffith and Mr. Collins. Even it the Irish electors were to refuse the Treaty we should be better off than before, because the whole world—and especially, America and the Dominions—admitted that we had done our best to satisfy Ireland.
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