It is odd that Mr. Arthur O'Connor does not take
a higher place among Irish politicians than any to which he has as yet attained. Apparently, no Irishman has earned the same reputation for transacting official business with industry and punctuality. He has been selected to fill various important offices in the House of Commons,—for example, that of Deputy Chairman,—by more than one Speaker, and has fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of everybody. He appears now to rank as a mere Healyite, but perhaps the very orderliness and clear-headedness which make him so useful, militate against him as an Irish leader. A man with a strong grasp of the conditions of efficiency in such an assembly as the House of Commons, would hardly find it possible to wage a guerilla war such as Mr. Dillon and Mr. Healy delight in. The lucid intelligence of a true man of business rather stands in the way of such a career as Mr. Healy's, than promotes its success.
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