THE CONDITION OF IRELAND.
[To ME EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—The loyalists of Ireland are utterly disheartened by the failure of the British Government to govern this country. Ever since the trouble began feeble half-meitsures have merely caused irritation without effecting the slightest good. Assas- sination is now so common that if only two or three victims are announced in our morning paper we feel a sense of relief. The time has surely arrived when steps should be taken either to end the reign of terror or evacuate the country. To go on as at present means to bleed the loyalist population to death, which is the object of those with whom it is said the Prime Minister is anxious to come to terms. We loyalists are willing to suffer any inconvenience or loss that may help the victory of law and order, and many of us think that the whole of Ireland, Ulster included, should be mapped out into military districts, that all inhabitants, male and female, should be compelled to register, and then be furnished with a permit having on it a photograph of the bearer. Then that anyone found without a permit, or outside one's own district without a special permit, should be arrested and punished as might be deemed proper. This should, at any rate, put some restriction on the perambulating murderers who are now doing such foul work. After the rebellion in 1916 persons were not allowed to go about without permits. Why, then, not adopt that practice
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