The appointment of Mr. Justice Mathew to preside over the
Evicted Tenants' Commission was announced on Thursday. All reasonable men will agree that the learned Judge could be trusted to try any issue with entire and absolute impartiality, and though he will not be called upon to do this, but to do a very different thing—namely, to advise the Government how to get out of their difficulties in regard to the evicted tenants —we do not doubt that he will show the utmost fairness in such matters as permitting the landlords' case to be fairly stated. He is, however, known to have strong sympathies with the political agrarian movement in Ireland, and, therefore, his opinion cannot have the weight of an uncommitted man. We should have preferred Mr. Justice R. S. Wright, who, though a strong Gladstonian, is not connected by ties of race and sentiment with the men who organised the " Plan of Campaign."
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