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It is now suggested that the sterner punishment has become indefensible, not because it may not be deserved, but because an unhappily large number of persons has deserved it. There is neither logic nor common sense in this complaint. Moreover, it is made by men and newspapers who have no acquaintance with the facts of individual cases. Only one man – Sir John Maxwell – can be in full possession of those facts, and the Government has perfect confidence in his discretion. We believe in spite of Mr Redmond’s statement that a great majority of the Irish people, Nationalist as well as Unionist, shares that confidence. They will accept Mr Asquith’s assurance that the cases in which the extreme penalty must be inflicted will be confined within the very narrowest limits. It is probable, as we are sincerely glad to think, that the sterner process of punishment is nearing its end. Nobody, we are sure, will welcome that end with more profound relief than Sir John Maxwell.

The demand for the curtailment of military measures comes chiefly from men and newspapers who refused to recognise the gathering of the storm. With equal recklessness they now insist that the air is clear merely because the thunder has ceased to roll. Everybody in Ireland who is not blinded by timidity or political prejudice knows perfectly well that Sir John Maxwell’s work in Ireland is only half done. A conspiracy which has been growing and spreading for years – which, encouraged by the apathy of a feeble Government has permeated nearly every department of Irish life – cannot be destroyed by ten days fighting in the streets of Dublin. Ireland needs a thorough clearance of all her elements of disaffection. It would be a national calamity if the politicians now beginning to be publicly irked by their enforced holiday, were to return prematurely to the control of Irish affairs. The country must be strengthened and re-established beyond their powers of injury. Much nonsense is likely to be written in newspapers and talked in Parliament about the restrictions of martial law in Ireland. The fact is that martial law has come as a blessing to us all. For the first time in many months Dublin and large areas in the provinces are enjoying real security of life and property. The country rejoices in the prospect of a complete and permanent restoration of law and order. The men or newspapers who try to shatter that prospect will be guilty of a national crime. Strength, wisdom and tolerance will be needed for the settlement of the problems which are crowding on the heels of the recent outbreak. We have no confidence at all that those qualities exist in Dublin Castle or in the House of Commons. We know that we shall find them in a military government in Ireland acting on its own initiative, but, as Mr Asquith says, "in direct and personal communication with the Cabinet." We hope that every patriotic Irishman will resist every proposal to curtail the period of martial law in this country. We have learned by bitter experience that the sword of the soldier is a far better guarantee of justice and liberty than the peace of the politicians.