We know no more of this affair than we have
seen in prinet. But we are bound to say that it has an unpleasant look. The Home Secretary has scarcely concealed his reluctance to interfere with the Communist propaganda in England, and we are tempted to conjecture that the Special Service branch is thought to have been too active in this direction. The appointment, as Sir Basil Thomson's successor, of Sir Joseph Byrne, who was Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1916 to January, 1920, strengthens our doubts. For Sir Joseph Byrne was suddenly removed from his post by Mr. Macpherson, who informed the House of Commons that the Government thought Sir Joseph Byrne " unequal to that active discharge of all the essential duties of an Inspector-General for which, in the circumstances now prevailing in Ireland, the Government are compelled to look." Ii Sir Joseph Byrne was " unequal to that active discharge " of his duties in Ireland, must we conclude that he has been chosen for his new post because the Special Service branch is henceforth to " go slow" ?
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