Sir Edward Grey, who followed Mr. Balfour, confessed that he
was not prepared to answer the five specific questions that had been asked. If there was no parallel for the Government proposals, " Let it be so." No doubt argument from tire- cedent can be carried too far, but surely in a matter of such vital importance there is something very ominous in the way in which human experience is set aside as of no account. Sir Edward Grey's main argument was the growth and pressure of business. Our system, he declared, was be- coming increasingly unworkable, and the Imperial Parliament could not be expected to deal with both British and Irish problems, since they were so different. That is the sort of argument used by those who take quack medicines in a half. heartdd way. They say the patient's condition is desperate, and therefore advocate the use of a nostrum, not because they have much faith in it, but because they declare it is necessary " to do something?' As a matter of fact in this ease the nostrum must make things infinitely worse. Does any sane man suppose that the forty-two Irishmen are going to keep their mouths closed in Parliament ? But if they do not, we shall have plenty of Irish debates. It is the loquacity of members of Parliament, not the pressure of genuine busi- ness, which encumbers the House. From this Parliamentary disease the Home Rule Bill gives us no relief whatever.
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