The Irish Crimes Act passed its third reading in the
House of Lords on Monday, and is now the law of the land. The speech of the evening was Lord Selborne's. He maintained boldly that if Ireland is to remain in any way connected with the British Empire, the fact that five-sixths of the representa- tives of Ireland, or that all their representatives, were hostile to the Crimes Bill, would not justify the Imperial Parliament in not enforcing the law of the land there, and he especially ap- proved the indefinite duration of the measure, which he regarded as one of its best features. Lord Spencer made a very lame reply. He was not opposed to enforcing the law in Ireland, but was opposed to the Bill because he was sure that it would fail in enforcing the law. After a few skirmishes between the Opposition and the Government, the Bill was read a third time without a division.
