Lord Salisbury regarded local government as not an Irish question,
but as a United Kingdom question, and held that it must be dealt with "on lines generally similar at the same time over the whole country,"—the most dangerous principle, in our opinion, which the new Government have announced. He pro- posed a Commission to inquire carefully into the development of Irish fisheries and arterial drainage. With regard to social order, Lord Salisbury showed that at present thirty-eight police- men are employed in guarding the life and property of the Earl of Kenmare, and as they cost in general about £100 a year per man, that gives £3,800 a year spent in guarding one valuable life. He thought that by sending Sir Redvers Buller to Ireland, to look after the system by which outrages are repressed in Kerry, Clare, parts of Cork, and Limerick, this very expensive use of the police might be avoided.
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