THE LATE NATIONAL LEAGUE SUPPRESSION BILL.
[To TIIE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.'1
Sin,—I hope you will kindly allow me to explain that you mis- apprehend my position with regard to the Irish policy of this present Government. In my letter to you of last week, I expressed no opinion whatever as to the course that ought to be adopted towards the National League, and I did not give, nor do I entertain, any opinion as to the probability of the Govern- ment erring in any particular direction, whether on the side of severity or of remissness, in the enforcing of law and order in Ireland.
My point is simply this. It is impossible to suppose that a body of men who a few months ago held the urgent necessity of immediately employing special and stringent legislation against the National League, can now be honestly convinced that no such legislation is necessary, in the face of their assertions that matters in Ireland have been going steadily from bad to worse since they last quitted office.
Either then or now, and perhaps on both occasions, it is certain they must have subordinated the welfare of the country to considerations of party expediency. In the future they may be too severe or they may be too lax in their administration of Ireland ; but on whichever side they err, we may rely upon it that their conduct will be guided by the same considerations which have been hitherto paramount with them. In short, my contention is that they will keep steadily in view their own personal and party advantage, and not the good of the country, and that when they assert the contrary, hard facts give the lie
Previous page
