NEWS OF THE WEEK.
"DI Y far the most important event of the week is Mr.
Balfour's resignation. We have dealt with it and the question of the succession elsewhere. Here we Will'only say how great a loss has been- suffered by the Unionist Party and by the country. Faced with the problem of how to preserve the United Kingdom from disintegration, the party would have received incalculable assistance from Mr. Balfour's courage and patriotism and intimate knowledge of the Irish question. As Mr. Balfour, though ceasing to be leader, remains in Parliament, it is, however, greatly to be hoped that his health will allow him to take some share in the Home Rule debates. In the case of most party leaders an almost impossible situa- tion might be created by Mr. Balfour retaining his seat though resigning the leadership. The whole nation feels, however, that he is one of those very rare men who could vacate the box seat and yet never yield to the temptation to try and seize the reins when he thought the driving bad. Mr. Balfour's sense of fairness and loyalty and his knowledge of how the game of politics and of life ought to be played are so strong that one may trust him to do nothing which will in the least embarrass his successor.
