One was reminded of PRAED’S lines—­

  “Hume, no doubt, will be taking the sense
  Of the House on a question of thirteen-pence”—­

when the Government very nearly came to grief to-night over a question of five pounds for the Inland Revenue offices in Manchester.  In vain Mr. BALDWIN pointed out the desirability of giving proper accommodation to the gentlemen who pick our pockets in the interest of the State.  The House was still obstinate, until Mr. BONAR LAW declared that the Government would resign if they did not get their “fiver.”  As he undertook, however, not to spend it without further leave, the vote at last went through.

Thursday, March 4th.—­Lord BUCKMASTER’S scheme for preventing the bankruptcy of the State is to make everybody invest a portion of his capital in Government securities and to withhold the interest until such time as the State should find it convenient to pay.  This, he explained to his own satisfaction, was quite different from that dangerous expedient, a levy on capital.  Lord PEEL took a more cheerful view of the situation, and indicated that it was quite unnecessary for noble lords to get the wind up, since the Government would have no difficulty in raising it.

Even the most rigid economists will not cavil at the latest addition to our financial burdens.  The PENSIONS MINISTER announced an addition of close on two millions a year to the annual charge.  The increase is chiefly for a much-needed improvement in the allowances made to disabled officers, who have hitherto been but scurvily treated.

Mr. HIGHAM objected to receiving an answer about the telephones from Mr. PIKE PEASE.  He demanded a reply from the PRIME MINISTER, not from a representative of the department impugned.  The SPEAKER, however, pointed out that there were limits to the PREMIER’S responsibilities:  “He does not run the whole show.”  After this descent into the vernacular I half-expected that Mr. LOWTHER would dam the stream of Supplementaries that followed with, “Oh, ring off!” but he contented himself with calling the next Question.

The debate on the Third Reading of the War Emergency Laws (Continuance) Bill was chiefly devoted to Ireland.  Captain WEDGWOOD BENN, after spending a whole week in that country, is convinced that all the trouble is due to the Government’s reliance upon D.O.R.A., and declared that the only people who were not in gaol were the murderers.  That would mean that there are some four million assassins in Ireland; which I feel sure is an exaggeration.  The two hundred thousand mentioned by the CHIEF SECRETARY would seem to be ample for any country save Russia.

Scarcely was this gloomy episode over than the House was called upon to pass a Supplementary Estimate of L860 for “Peace Celebrations in Ireland.”  As L500 of this sum was for flags and decorations, which, in Mr. BALDWIN’S phrase, “remain for future use,” the Irish outlook may, after all, be not quite so black as it is painted.