NEWS OF THE WEEK.
WE have dealt elsewhere with the political situation pro- duced by the return of a new Parliament of almost exactly the same political complexion as the old. For neither party can it be said to be a triumph. No doubt the Liberals, as the possessors of power, are confirmed in that power, but the phrase beati possidentes hardly applies to them. They are still in the position of being in office rather than in authority, for the authority belongs to Mr. Redmond, and be is not an easy master to please. Very possibly, if he could take his own line, he would be complacent enough, but he is scourged on by fax more violent men both in Ireland and in America. To put the matter in a concrete form, he bad a very unpleasant time when. he went over to Ireland to obtain the acceptance of Mr. Birrell's Councils Bill, and had, instead of acceptance, to carry back a contemptuous rejection of the measure. Come what may, he is not going to risk another humiliation of that kind. We shall not repeat what we have said in our leading article as to the position of the Unionist Party, but we would once more counsel that party to remember that they are the Constitutional party, and therefore their role must be to act as Constitutionalists.
