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PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE. United Kingdom to meddle in the private affairs of the others is apparent. That Irishmen and Englishmen should be supposed to legislate on the Scotch Crofter question, of which they cannot have the necessary special knowledge, is absurd. That such a question, for instance, as the Disestablishment of the Church in England should be decided partly by the votes of Irish Roman Catholics, Scotch Presbyterians, or Welsh Dissenters, is totally opposed to the right of self-government on which the Empire has been built up, and which the Liberal party has long advocated with reference to Ireland.

What has been said with regard to the special knowledge required for the proper conduct of the business of each country of the United Kingdom applies with even greater force if we take a wider survey. Lord Rosebery, in his rectorial address at Glasgow, lamented the want of men of first-class capacity in various walks of life. But, as far as politics are concerned, the field is becoming too vast for the capacity of the ordinary politician. Imperial business and domestic business each require special training, special study, and special aptitudes. The training of the School Board, the County Council, or the Trade Union may be admirable for one who seeks to take part in domestic legislation; but something more is required from the member of a Parliament which deals with the great questions of Imperial and Colonial policy. To those who have travelled much in the Empire, the assurance with which some men speak on the Imperial and Colonial questions, of which they have no special knowledge, is amazing. Nowhere is this more conspicuous than in the treatment of the great question of the 58