The situation in Ireland is very far from promising, but
this was only to be expected after the- Government, for reasons which we do not pretend wholly to penetrate, decided to give the insurgent Irish a long notice of ' the intention to impose Conscription. The only rational way to impose Conscription with success would have been to make a sadden show of strength and rapidity. To give the various-factions in Ireland time to solidify themselves into an effective alliance, however-artificial some people may still think that alliance to be in essence, was to ask for .failure. As it is, for all practical purposes Nationalist Members of Parliament, by appearing on Slim Fein platforms, have allowed themselves to . be absorbed by the Sinn Fein organizations. The Nationalists may pretend that they want to co-operate with British Unionists in preparing the way for the federalization of the United -Kingdom ; but since the co-operation of the Sinn Feiners and the Nationalists is an accomplished fact, nobody can believe in the pretence.
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