The attempt to poll Irish landlords over the projected Con-
ference about a Land Bill has, in a way, proved a failure. A circular letter was sent to the 4,000 proprietors holding more than five hundred acres, but only 1,704 replied. As more than one half abstained, it is impossible to treat the poll as final evidence; but it is significant that of the 1,704 who voted, 1,128 were in favour of the Confer- ence. As it may be assumed that a majority of the abstainers did not dislike the proposal enough to vote against it, this means that a compromise satisfactory to both landlords and tenants is not hopelessly beyond the reach of discovery. That is important•, because it is known that the Government will make an Irish Land Bill the great topic of the next Session; and if both parties have been brought to a reasonable frame of mind, the Bill may succeed. The Govern- ment must be arbiter,—first, because it will have to provide the funds ; and secondly, because it is the only impartial body in Ireland ; but a plan not violently rejected by either side would make its deliberations much easier. At present the landlords ask impossible prices, and the tenants an impossible injustice, namely, compulsory sale for their benefit alone; but there is often a moderate party in Ireland, as in France, whose opinion is hidden away in the flood of violent words. Acquiescence is what Governments need, not bursts of gratitude.
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