Mr. Henry Fowler, in his speech at Wolverhampton on Thursday,
virtually admitted the extreme difficulty of finding. any solution of the Irish Home-rule problem which would satisfy the Irish. "He did not pretend that the solution of this problem was simple or easy. He did not shut his eyes to the difficulties with which it is surrounded, or to the fact that these difficulties might be enormously aggravated by party quarrels, by personal jealousies, or by sectarian bigotry;" but he declined to admit that the problem was insoluble.. No one thinks it insoluble. What Unionists say is, that there is much more chance of solving it by sticking to the present state of things, than by embarking on the sea of Irish difficulties which will arise out of making special concessions to politicians who are insatiable. Mr. Fowler charges Mr_ Courtney with caricature in describing the present state of Ireland as tranquil and prosperous. All that we can say is,. that if the present state of Ireland is not satisfactory, it is. at least far less unsatisfactory than any which has prevailed in this century, or any that is in the least likely to prevail under a Gladstonian Administration.
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