The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-17


are appointed by the Government, the Coy.
eminent may be said to nominate onc.haf
OF every board Of guardians IN Ireland.
1t Is, therefore, impossible for the rep.
resentative principle to prove effective
in the case of these bodies. Even
where the principle Is allowed to
operate, that Is to say with regard
to one.half Of every board, further precau.
tions are taken to deprive 1t OF any practl.
cal effect by means of the multiple or Gu.
mulative vote and the system OF voting by
proxy. Each ratepaycr is allowed votes
In proportion to the amount at which he Is
assessed for rating purposes; the result be.
ing that one person may have as many as
thirty-six votes and another only one vote.
Again, votes by proxy are allowed only in
the case of owners OF property, who, there.
fore, may be absent altogether from the
country. whereas the humble occupier must
be on the spot or lose all right to take part
in an election. To the boards of guardians,
thus constituted, Is intrustcd the ad.
ministration not only Of the poor law, but
of the public health code In rural districts,
OF the laws relating to diseases of cattle
and of a number of other statutes. We
should note, finally, that lest by any chance
the slight admission of the representative
principle which Is contained in the con-
%stitution of the Poor Law Boards, might
lead to unexpected Developments, every.
thing these bodies do must be approved Of
by the Local Government Board in Dublin
before it can take effect. With regard to
the next most important set of local au.
thorities in the Irish counties, namely, the
lunatic asylum board. there is no pre-.
tence of anything in the nature of popular
control, for the members of the boards,
with n few exceptions, are appointed by
the Lord Lieutenant.
We need not enter further into the de-
scription of the existing system of local
government in Ireland, for no more proof is
needed Of the fact, patent on the face of
things, that 1t is n bureaucracy, so much
out of date that not even conservatives
deem it possible any longer to defend it.
That it is obsolete as excluding four-tifths
of the Irish population from any share in
the management Of their own concerns has
been publicly admitted by Mr.. A. j. BAL
FOUR, the First Lord of the Treasury. The
admission involves, or ought to involve, the
concession of a reform, which will do what
the present system fails to do. namely, con
fer upon the mass of the Irish people, in
stead of on a single class, the power of self.
government in Irish local affairs. Mr..
REDMOND maintains that, in the first place,
there must be a clean sweep of existing in
situations, especially of the grand juries.
Next, the new system must be thoroughly
representative. This means, of course, not
only that the local governing bodies must be
elective, but that the electorate must be as
wide as it can be made. There is no excuse
even for depriving OF the local franchise
rate-payers who are unable to read, now
that Parliament has conferred the parlia-
mentary franchise on illitcrates. Mani
testify, the suffrage at local elections ought
to be at least as wide as that which OBJ
tains for parliamentary purposes. The
fear, indeed, has been expressed that the
anti.Home Rule minority would not secure
under household or manhood suffrage a
representation in the new local bodies pro.
portionatc to the material interests which
that minority represents. Mr.. REDMOND,
for his part, does not believe that the fear
Is justified. Nevertheless, he is willing
that the so-called property classes should
be represented upon the new bodies moro
fully than their number on the electoral
roll would warrant.
If a genuine system Of local ~self.govern-
ment is conceded to Ireland, it will logi-
cally lead, as is pointed out by Mr.. RED
MoND, to Home Rule, or National self gov
eminent. For it would be recognized as
scanda!ous, If truly representative bodies,
to be set up in the place Of the present
grand juries, boards of guardians, &c,
were to be confronted, interfered with, and
controlled by an English official at Dublin,
appointed by II foreign Government, and
without a shadow of representative author
ity. That is why Mr.. REDMOND believes
that local self.govcrnmcnt, instead OF be-
ing accepted as n substitute for Home Rule,
will constitute a long step toward the cs-
Enlistment Of a separate Irish Legislature.