But while we are anxiously awaiting the event, we feel
it our duty to say one thing. No matter what the expectations of a politi- cal arrangement may be, there can never be any justification for the failure of a Government to govern. To keep the peace, to foresee and prevent public disorder which is in all circumstances illegitimate, is the very fundamental of government. A Government who do not carry out the' first elements of their task are serving no good pur- pose whatever, and are helping nobody. Reports from Ireland suggest that disorder is often condoned in order that there may appear to be a comparative calm inehe country. If those reports be true, we protest against a perilous pretence. We all know what that pretence led to under Mr. Birrell's management. A repetition of the same mistake could not be pardoned.
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