We observe that Mr. T. W. Russell, the most active
and influential of the Ulster Unionists, accepts Mr. Balfour's pro- posals with regard to Local Government in Ireland quite cordially, not even guarding himself with as much caution as Lord Selborne. And we have no doubt that in Ulster such a Bill will work very well. Mr. Russell declares that we must either give Local Government in Ireland, or establish Home-rule in its Parliamentary form, and he prefers the former. So do all Unionists. But the question is not whether Local Govern- ment must not be given frankly within two or three years, but whether it need be given so soon, before the greater number of the Irish tenants have had time to settle down to their new rights and duties. With murder not yet at an end in Kerry, we must say that, in spite of the great authority which ought to attach to Mr. Balfour's judgment, it seems to us that popular Local Government is premature.
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