The new Irish Reform Association, as we anticipated last week,
has greatly disquieted Irish Unionists. The blessed word "devolution," ordinarily interpreted, can only imply the transference of the power to legislate to some elected body in Ireland, and in this sense most Unionists seem in- clined to take Lord Dunraven's new propaganda. Since no details are forthcoming, it is premature to speculate upon how far it justifies Nationalist hopes and Unionist suspicions; but it is reported that Sir Antony Macdonnell is not uncon- cerned in the " devolution " sections of the manifesto. Mean- while in West Belfast Captain Smiley, who has been chosen by the Unionists to contest the seat on Mr. Arnold-Forster's retirement, has emphatically repudiated all connection with the policy, declaring that Ireland had her full measure of local government already, and that anything more meant boycotting and persecution. "Ireland possessed every reasonable facility for local administration that was possessed by the cities and counties of England, Scotland, and Wales."
Previous page
