4 JANUARY 1908, Page 10

For ourselves, we sincerely hope that the Irish Peers will

elect Lord Curzon. If they do, they will show them- selves to have a higher sense of public duty than the Prime Minister.—We admit that if they choose to take a narrow view of their functions they may argue that Lord Curzon is not an Irishman, and therefore nothing to them, and that they have a right to do what they will with their own, rather than act as trustees for the higher interests of the United Kingdom and the Empire.—That Lord Curzon's experience and width of view in regard to India will be of great use in the House of Lords we do not doubt, though that usefulness need not in any sense be confined to India. Lord Curzon has, we believe, a very thorough grasp of administrative principles generally, and may be relied upon for the expression of sound views whenever questions of military and naval administration of the first importance come up for settlement.