eration of the scheme is clear enough. _A_ sues _X_ in an Irish Court,
say, to simplify matters, before the Exchequer Judges, for L1,000 due to
_A_ for rent. _X_ bases his defence on an Act of the Irish Parliament,
drawn by Irish statesmen, and approved presumably by Irish electors. _A_
questions the constitutionality of the Act. The Exchequer Judges are
divided in opinion. The matter at last comes before the Privy Council.
The Privy Council pronounce the Act void, and give judgment in _A's_
favour. He has a right to recover the L1,000 from _X_. The whole
question in theory is settled. The law is unconstitutional, the law is
void; _A_ has obtained judgment. But can the judgment be enforced? This
is the essential question; for the object of a plaintiff is to obtain
not judgment but payment or execution. What then are the means for
enforcing the judgment of the Privy Council when it is not supported by
Irish opinion, when it sets aside an Act of the Irish Parliament, and
when it may possibly be opposed to the decision, in a similar case, of
an Irish Court? The means are the action of the Sheriff. What if the
Sheriff is a strong Nationalist, and makes default? The only thing to be
done is to appoint an officer empowered to carry out the decree of the
Court. Of course if the Irish Ministry are bent on enforcing the
judgment, if the Exchequer Court, whose judgment, it may be, has been
overruled, is zealous in supporting the authority of the Privy Council,
if the Irish people are filled with reverence for tribunals which are
really English Courts, all will go well. But Mr. Gladstone himself
cannot anticipate that novel constitutional machinery will work with
ease, or that on the passing of the Home Rule Bill the disposition, the
traditional feelings, and the sympathies of the Irish populace will be
changed. Suppose that _A_ is Lord Clanricarde; suppose that _X_ is an
evicted tenant. It is not common sense to believe that the judgment in
his lordship's favour will as a matter of course take effect. At the
present moment the Irish Courts, backed by the whole authority of the
Imperial Government and the Irish Executive, often find a difficulty in
enforcing their judgments. Will English Courts find it easy to give
effect to a judgment in Ireland if the Irish Executive and its servants
stand neutral or hostile? What if the Irish House of Commons turn out as
unwilling that force should be used for enforcing the decree of the
Privy Co