THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN IRELAND.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIB,—Your somewhat discourteous correspondent, Mr. Hall, misunderstands what I said about the public service in Ireland. I said that the practice which Swift found intolerable has not " ceased " to this day, meaning not that it prevails to the same extent as in Swift's time, but that it has not disappeared.
And please to note that I did not speak of the Civil Service alone, but of the "public service,"—a phrase which includes the political officers as well as the permanent ones. It was to the former class chiefly that Swift alluded; and as far as they are concerned, has the practice which he complained of ceased, or, indeed, till quite recently, has it been seriously mitigated I can remember a time when the Lord-Lieutenant, the Chief Secretary, the Commander of the Forces, the Inspector-General of Constabulary, and the Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police— that is to say, all the essential agents of Government in Ireland—were Englishmen or Scotsmen. It is not so bad just now ; but the practice of excluding natives still prevails to an extent which would be impossible in any other part of the United Kingdom, or in any Colony of the Empire. Are the chief public employments in England or Scotland ever monopolised by Irishmen Would it be possible for any Government to fill them in this manner, even on a solitary occasion If not, and if it be still possible in Ireland, has the system which Swift denounced ceased to exist P—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
