On Thursday Mr. Balfour made a speech of great force
as well as of dialectical brilliancy. He strongly criticised Ministers for having entirely omitted to explain or defend Clause 28 of the Bill, which makes provision for the revision of the financial arrangements with Ireland in certain con- tingencies. It may be remembered that under this clause thirty or forty Irishmen who do not represent constituencies sending members to Westminster—that is, who are not part of the forty-two, but who are to be chosen in some unexplained way—will come over and dominate the position in the House of Commons while any revision of the financial clauses of the Act is under discussion. " There would thus be three different classes of Irish repre. sentation in the Imperial Parliament." Very important in our opinion was Mr. Balfour's remark that the forty-two members having seats in the Imperial Parliament would become mere advocates demanding further concessions. That, it seems to us, is inevitable. The forty-two members will have no interest in the greater number of measures that come before the House, and very little interest in the question who is to form the Cabinet—the Liberals or their opponents. They will be detached from the work of Parliament mere onlookers. Yet, at the same time, the power of these forty-two onlookers, of whom some thirty-six may always be expected to act together, will be tremendous.
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