On Thursday Mr. Balfour reappeared in the House ox Commons
and was received with great cheering. However, nothing farther was said about the time which might be devoted to the Irish Land Bill should it appear likely that it might be carried by some brief extension of the Session ; and the debate on the Committee stage, so far as it was continued on Thursday night, was not particularly hopeful. Mr. Balfour wished to postpone Clause 4 and take it up at the close of the- Committee stage, but to this Colonel Saunderson greatly objected, as he held that on the form which Clause 4, which deals with tenants' improvements, might ultimately assume, would depend his support or resistance to the measure. It is evident that the divergence between the views of the land- lords and the tenants is the great danger before the Bill, and the wish for delay looks as if the negotiations between the Government and the rival Irish sections were still going on. We trust that if the Irish landlords resolve to defeat the Bill, they may not find that by doing so they have jumped from the frying-pan into the fire.
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