A great deal is made by an evening journal of
the alleged omission by the Times' report of Mr. Matthews's expression, in relation to the inquiry held before Sir James Hannen's Com- mission, of the word " State " from the sentence, " a State inquiry of some importance." Any emptier point could hardly be made. If an inquiry made under an Act of Parliament is not a " State " inquiry, what is a " State inquiry? A " State " inquiry no more implies that the Government of the day is identified with either party to the issue, than a " State " paper implies that it is a paper expressing the view of the Government. Sir Louis Mallet's Report on the bimetallic controversy, published by the Royal Commission, is as un- doubtedly a " State " paper as is any minute on the subject by the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; yet the Government are no more committed to Sir Louis Mallet's Report than they are to either the Times' view or the Parnellite view of the issue concerning " Parnellism and Crime." The deliberate design
of harrying the Government to the uttermost point, is visible enough in Wednesday's debate, and the failure to discredit it is as conspicuous as the intention to exhaust every feasible device in the hope of discrediting it.
Previous page
