THE IRISH POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sra,—Your correspondent Mr. P. E. Roberts makes a good case logically against the Government's Irish policy in general, but logic is an unsafe guide in human affairs; the premises are usually so complex they cannot be stated with sufficient accuracy. He finds intolerable " the acquiescence of Unionists in the arguments for Home Rule to which they never paid the least attention while the demand for Home Rule was constitu- tional." The values which have changed in the eyes of Unionists are those of the arguments against Home Rule, not those for it; e.g., before the War it would have been suicidal to place Ireland in the position she is now to occupy: it may be dangerous still, but it is certainly very much less dangerous now than then. Putting aside all that has gone before, and considering the existing situation, what feasible alternative have we open to us? No one doubts the physical power of Great Britain to smother all opposition in Ireland—at a price. When it is done she must still do very much what she is doing now. What would she have gained in return for the sacrifice of life and wealth? Just the power of saying : "I grant Home Rule to the Irish purely of free grace, not of compulsion," which would be no nearer then than it is now, but would be a half-truth in each case.—I am, Sir, &c., C. J. EYRES. Denmark House, Rochester.
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