NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE much-talked-of general rising in Ireland at Easter natur- ally did not happen. The Sinn Fein leaders are not such fools as to do something "against which every precaution has been taken. It would have been astonishing indeed if there had been a rising comparable with that of Easter, 1916. Yet the Govern- ment's precautions were not unnecessary, for if they had not been taken there would have been a rising. As it was, Shin Fein violence exerted itself where it had not been foreseen. Even what is not foreseen must be prevented, however, if the new regime under Sir Hamar Greenwood and Sir Nevil Macready is to be called a success. This is an elementary matter of governing and keeping order with troops and police combined, and has nothing whatever to do with the question whether the Home Rule Bill is or is not desirable. Let every one remember that Mr. Balfour and Mr. Long brought peace to Ireland, and that Mr. Asquith and Mr. Birrell brought death and madness.
