Sir Edward Grey, speaking to his constituents at Berwick- on-Tweed
on Thursday, declared that Mr. Birrell in attempting to govern Ireland without resorting to exceptional measures of coercion was carrying out a policy which bad the sympathy and approval of the Cabinet and of his colleagues. " Those who ask us to resort the moment there are difficulties in Ireland to the policy of the Crimes Act and to coercion over- look the fact that though at a given moment you may by coercive measures preserve order and repress crime, yet every time you resort to those coercive measures you are not bringing the solution of the Irish disorder any nearer ; on the contrary, you are weakening the sense of responsibility in the people themselves." Much as we respect Sir Edward Grey, we can only describe this view of the question as sophistical. It rests upon the assumption that you can make a distinction between the ordinary law and what he calls coercion, which, translated into practical language, means the Crimes Act, and that the
application of the ordinary law is just and reasonable, while the application of coercion is unjust and oppressive.
