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PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE. diminished by one-half, much excuse may be found for the sympathy which Irishmen have expressed with the enemies of this country, and for the attitude adopted at the time of the Queen's death. If the position of the two countries had been reversed, it is certain that the feelings of Englishmen towards Ireland to-day would be not one whit less bitter than those of Irishmen are to us. Owing to the operation of the Land Purchase Acts, the admirable work done by Mr. Horace Plunkett for the organization of the Irish agricultural industry and the community of interest between all classes of Irishmen brought out by the Financial Relations Commission, Ireland is in a better position to manage her own affairs than she was ten years ago.

The Act of 1898 placed the power of local government for the first time in the hands of the people. It was a first step in the direction of self-government. The new local bodies are a valuable training-ground for the men who may later feel called upon to serve their country in a wider field. On the whole, the experiment must be admitted to have worked well. Its success will be a fact which will form one of the most powerful arguments for granting to the Irish people that larger power of self-government which they demand.

The agitation for compulsory land purchase is a factor in the situation which cannot be neglected. The agitation has developed a community of interest between bitter political opponents, even greater than that produced by the Financial Relations Commission, and any movement which has this effect is all for the benefit of Ireland. The fear that an Irish Parliament would deal unjustly with Irish landlords is without doubt at the 62