THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE USE OF IMPERIAL TROOPS.
[TO THE EDITH OF THE " SPECTATOR.1
Sin,—An article in last Saturday's Economist on "The Rand Riots and the Restoration of Peace" contained the following remarks :-
"Responsibility for the use of Imperial troops is, however, a divided one, and largely rests on the Governor-General, who is representative of the Home Government in this matter. This position is a particularly odious one in which to place the King's representative, who in a self-governing community should not divide with his responsible Ministers any responsibility for the acts of the executive. The incident, as we have more than once insisted, illustrates the difficulties which must inevitably arise where Imperial troops are maintained as a garrison in a colony without being placed under the Colonial Government."
This was written with reference to South Africa, but is it not applicable, with a very slight change of phraseology, to the state of things which would be created in Ireland by the Home Rule Bill ?—I am, Sir, &c., X. Y. Z.
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