Mr. Balfour retorted that it was ridiculous to attributelto the
landlords a desire to provoke a lawless agitation directed against themselves, and interpreted Mr. Redmond's speech as a hint to the people of Ireland to start a wild and reckless agitation and render the lives of the planters intolerable. Mr. T. P. O'Connor, who followed, declared that he and his friends would not divide against the question before the House, and on the Motion being agreed to the Nationalist Members left the Chainber. On Tuesday the Lords considered the Commons' reasons for not accepting the amendments which had been refused. They agreed to waive further opposition, with the result that the Bill received the Royal assent. The principle of the Act—the rewarding of those who break the law—is essentially unsound. We can only hope that its effect in practice will be to help a peaceful settlement of the land question.
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