the coalition of Unionists and Tories, in which Mr. Chamberlain was the
most powerful Minister of the Crown.

Of the purely domestic branches of the Civil Service in Great Britain,
the Treasury, the Home Office, the Boards of Education, of Trade, and of
Agriculture, the Post Office, the Local Government Board, and the Office
of Works, are all responsible to the public directly, through
representative Ministers with seats in the House of Commons, the
liability of whom to be examined by private members as to minutiæ of
their departmental policy is one of the most valuable checks against
official incompetence or scandals, and is the only protection under the
constitution against arbitrary rule. The whole administrative machinery
of the forty-three boards in Ireland has been represented in Parliament
by one member, the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, but he is
supported since a few months ago by the Vice-president of the Department
of Agriculture. The result is that, while in Great Britain a watchful
eye can be kept on extravagance or mismanagement of the public services,
the maintenance of a diametrically opposite system of government in
Ireland, under which it is impossible to let in the same amount of
light, leads to the bureaucratic conditions of which Mr. Chamberlain
spoke in the speech from which I have quoted.

In answer to these complaints it is usual to point to the case of
Scotland as analogous, and to ask why Ireland should complain when the
Scottish form of government arouses no resentment in that country. The
parallel in no sense holds good, for Scotland has not a separate
Executive as has Ireland, although she has, like Ireland, a separate
Secretary in the House of Commons. Scottish legislation generally
follows that of England and Wales, and in any case Scotland has not
passed through a period of travail as has Ireland, nor have exceptional