We regret to see that Mr. Chamberlain, while reiterating his
determination to consent to no plan for the dismemberment of the Kingdom, renewed his proposal for National Councils with what would be practically legislative powers, and the powers of local administration "now exercised by official Boards in Dublin and Edinburgh, and by the Departments in the government of London." Such a change would, in Ireland, create a national representative body, with Mr. Parnell or some agent of his as its ruling spirit; and would direct its whole effort, as Mr. Plueket, the best informed of Irish Tories, said on Wednesday, towards becoming aParliament. It would wield the powers of the National League and vast legal authority beside, and would centralise and make concrete the diffused and, as it were, gaseous body of anti-English opinion. If it is necessary to face that danger, it must be faced; but with true county self-government in Ireland, we cannot see the necessity. Let us at least have the County Councils first, before we proceed to federalise them.
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