Mr. Gladstone on Monday made some important announce- ments as
to the progress of business. The obstruction to which he referred last week as an "evil dream" which had passed, is still absent, and work rapidly progresses. Ho, therefore, announced that he intended to introduce the Budget on Monday, April 4th, and the Irish Land Bill on the following Thursday. The announcement, which makes the first week in April the most important week of the year, was received with loud cheers, and the latter part of it certainly shows that the Government have full confidence iu the first impact of their Bill. They deliberately give the Land Leaguers a fortnight, the Easter holiday, from the 8th to April 25th, to abuse the Bill all they can, confident that if the farmers have time to study it, the abuse will fall upon deaf ears. The Budget, the first in which the Premier's hand has been free, is expected to be a very great one, there being dreams even of an alteration in the succession duties, and it is sure to be one of the first importance. The effort to be made by Mr. Glad- stone in producing two such speeches in one week will be very great, and ho has been wisely advised to abstain from any waste of power upon the vexatious and sterile debat- ing about the evacuation of Candahar. There are plenty of men, far inferior to him, who can explain perfectly well that a light-house is not a good base for fighting, and that Candahar at best would have been only a land light-house.
