The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1887. AN UNPOPULAR APPOINTMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1568, 14 April 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1887. AN UNPOPULAR APPOINTMENT.

The appointment of Colonel King Harman as Under-Secretary for Ireland, has, according to the cablegrama io hand, created a sensation throughout the United Kingdom. The office is an important one. It was recently filled by bir Robert Hamilton, who was removed from it—first, because be was a Home Holer ; and second, because he tried to effect reforms in the Irish Administration. The Under-Secretary is the permanent bead of the Administration in Dnblin Castle; be does not go ont with the change of Ministry, and consequently bis power for good or avil is almoit unlimited. No man could be

appointed to the position who would be less acceptab'o to the people of Ireland than Colonel King Harman. He is one of the most violent and irreconcilable of the partisans of the landlord faction. Under the recent Land Act his tenants appealed to the Land Court for a revision of their rents, and in some instances the Court reduced the rents bj 50 per cent, That meant that up to that time he was charging his tenants nearly twice as much rent as be ought to have charped, and that of course is not culculaiiii in raise him in public estimation in Ireland. But this is not what has rendered Colonel King Harman unpopular so much as his political actions. He was one ot the very first to join the Home Rule movement. The first Home Rule meeting was held in the Bilton Hotel, Dublin, on the 19th of May, 1870. and amongst those present was the present Irish Undersecretary. The meeting was composed of the leading Liberals, Conseiratives, Orangemen, and Catholics of Ireland ; it was the most representative assembly that had met in Ireland since the union, and it was then that the late Isaac Butt first promulgated the Home Rule scheme. Colonel King Barman at once look a leading . part in the movement. He was elected to Parliament on the Home Rule ticket and for a lime followed Mr Butt. Eventually, however, he completely deserted, and became the most violent opponent the Irish party bad to contend against. He represented the County of Dublin until recently, and then was returned by some English Conservative constituency. His appointment as Under-Secretory will do more to exasperate the Irish people than, the passing of the Coercive Bill. As a bad landlord, a renegade from the Home Rule ranks, and the most antiIrish of Irishmen, he is. exceedingly unpopular, and'his appointment will be regarded in Ireland as adding insult to jnjury. tie is besides a vigorous, fearleas and daring man, and doubtless he will carry out the provisions of coercion with the utmost rigor.