tical and industrial character of the people, and
consequently a barrier to progress. I know that most of the Nationalist
leaders justify the employment of these methods on the ground that, in
their opinion, the constitutional reforms they advocate are a condition
precedent to industrial progress. I believe, on the contrary, and I
shall give my reasons for believing, that their tactics have been not
only a hindrance to industrial progress, but destructive even to the
ulterior purpose they were intended to fulfil.

It is commonly believed--a belief very naturally fostered by their
leaders--that, if there is one thing the Irish do understand, it is
politics. Politics is a term obviously capable of wide interpretation,
and I fear that those who say that my countrymen are pre-eminently
politicians use the term in a sense more applicable to the conceptions
of Mr. Richard Croker than of Aristotle. In intellectual capacity for
discrimination upon political issues the average Irish elector is, I
believe, far superior to the average English elector. But there is as
yet something wanting in the character of our people which seems to
prohibit the exercise by them of any independent political thought and,
consequently, of any effective or permanent political influence.

The assumption that Irishmen are singularly good politicians seems to
stand seriously in the way of their becoming so; and yet it is a matter
of the greatest importance that they should become good politicians in a
real sense, for in no country would sound political thought exercise a
more beneficial influence upon the life of the people than in Ireland.
Indeed I would go further and give it as my strong conviction that,
properly developed and freed from the narrowing influences of the party
squabbles by which it has been warped and sterilised, the political
thought of the Irish people would contribute a factor of vital
importance to the life of the British empire. But at the moment I am
dealing only with the influence of politics on Irish social and economic
life.

I am aware that any political deficiencies which the Irish may display
at home, are commonly attributed to the political system which has been
imposed upon Ireland from without. If you want to see Irish genius in
its highest political manifestation, it must be studied, we are told, in
the United States, the widest and freest arena which has ever been
offered to the race. This view is not in accordance