In the debate that followed Mr. Wyndham's speech there was
a striking unanimity of agreement. Mr. Redmond would have liked a larger bonus, but his tone was conciliatory ; Colonel Saunderson declared that the landlords would throw no obstacles in the way of the Bill ; and Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman, though he guarded the rights of the British tax- payer, was distinctly friendly. Mr. T. W. Russell described the Bill as a great one, and Mr. Healy expressed a general approval. In elucidating the working of the measure Mr. Wyndham pointed out that the maximum sum spent in pur- chase would be £100,000,000, and that this sum could not possibly be required in fewer than fifteen years. It is, of course, useless to prophesy as to things Parliamentary, but certainly no Bill ever started under fairer auspices. Mr. Wyndham has our heartiest congratulations on the success he has so far met with and our warmest wishes for the future. If he can start the machinery which in fifteen years will automatically give the soil of Ireland to its tillers he will have indeed accomplished a great work.
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