Lord Randolph Churchill is following up his attack on the
Parnell Commission by attacks on Mr. Balfour's Irish Land Bill, which he has thrown into the form of letters to the Morning Post. His chief criticism is the same as Mr. Glad- stone's, that the Bill makes the Government the landlord to whom the tenants' rent and instalments of redemption money are payable, and that this is especially dangerous when it is evident that the Irish Party do not accept the Bill, and will regard themselves as quite irresponsible for the Irish securities to which, if passed, it will commit them. The obvious answer is that Great Britain has ample power, both financial and constabulary, to take care of her own interests; that some- thing must be risked for the purpose of restoring order in Ireland ; and that the least imaginable risk will be in- curred by a policy which holds out to a large tenantry the prospect of becoming the absolute masters of their own holdings. The danger, indeed, which Lord Randolph Churchill thinks so great, is appreciable, but not considerable. We will not say that it is no greater than the danger of having him for an opponent, for two reasons,—first, that we do not regard that danger as equal in amount to the danger of having him for a friend ; and next, that we do consider it a serious disadvantage to place the State in the awkward position of collecting rent as it collects revenue. But in Ireland every political step is simply a choice of evils, and every step is wise which selects the least of many alternative evils.
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