On Wednesday, Mr. Carew moved the second reading of his
Bill for the Reform of County Government in Ireland. The measure, which is both ill-considered and ill-drawn, proposes generally to apply to Ireland the provisions of the English Local Government Bill, the only difference being that five of the counsellors would be elected by the Magistrates of the county. This concession was to be made in order to allay the fears of those whom Mr. Carew, with the frank ingenuousness of his race, described as "the loyal minority." In the course of the debate, some extraordinary instances were given of the way in which the Irish Boards of Guardians, when controlled by the elected members, mismanage their affairs. Mr. Gladstone, in a short speech, supported the measure, and attempted to show that the examples taken of Boards of Guardians were not material, since Boards of Guardians contain ex officio members. Because bodies constituted and elected as these are abuse their trusts, ought we to refuse to abolish them and to substitute another elective body? Mr. Gladstone further declared himself convinced that "the proper mode of infusing a just and prudent public spirit into the transaction of all public business, is to commence not with local, but with central institutions."
Previous page
