House of Commons debates on a motion of censure so often end in a mere conventional negative, which simply means the obedient voting of the Government's majority, that one is pecially glad of Colonel John Ward's amendment to Mr. Asquith's motion on Ireland. Not only wag Mr. Asquith soundly defeated, but the House went further to express its admiration of the conduct of the R. I. C. and the soldiers in Ireland. This is the very least that these gallant men could expect. Years ago Gilbert satirized The idiot who praises in enthusiastic tone Every century but this and every country but his own, But the tenderness with which some minds seem to regard the dastardly, cold-blooded and premeditated murders by Sinn Feiners, in contrast with the abhorrence they express because a few soldiers and police, living in perpetual dread of assassination and under the immediate provocation of some horrible outrage, take the law into their own hands, is, frankly, incomprehensible. Mr. Asquith's attitude on this occasion is the more difficult to understand because, if anyone knows what Sinn_ Fein means, he ought to do so. He was not the most popular of politicians before. He will be still less popular now, Generally speaking, Sir Donald. Maclean's denial that the Liberals were only making party capital out of the Dublin atrocities is not convincing. As regards the Home Rule Bill much of the criticism is discounted by the fact that the critics have had their chance at Ireland and have done nothing with jit. The Government's position is that Sinn Fein will accept nothing but complete severance, which is impossible. The rest of Ireland would be more reasonable if Sinn Fein terrorism could be broken. Of that, they assure us, the measures now being employed begin to offer hope, and they look that the influence of the decent folk in Ireland wil be strengthened by this Bill, which is certainly far more generous than any of its predecessors. The Government may be right or it may be wrong, but one dors not see that others have any better idea to offer.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.