Mr. Lowther, till now the Under-Secretary for the Colonies; has
been offered and has accepted the Chief Secretaryship for Ireland,—without at present a seat in the Cabinet. The appoint- ment of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach to the Secretaryship for the Colonies of course rendered it unnecessary to have the Under- Secretary also in the Lower House, and as Mr. Lowther has gained some reputation for ability, he has been promoted. Any special fitness for the post of Irish Secretary does not appear, and Ireland will hardly take it as a compliment that the abler Irish Members of the Conservative party have been completely passed over. Does Lord Beaconsfield wish to indicate, by the transformation of the Under-Secretary for the Colonies into the Secretary for Ireland, the quasi-colonial position which Ireland may have to accept, in case she insists on embarrassing the procedure of the Imperial Parliament?
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