The South African precedent leads naturally to a few observations on the
proposals for the extension of local self-government, usually classified
under the head of Devolution. These proposals differ, not in degree only
but in kind, from schemes for the granting of responsible government, or
Gladstonian Home Rule. Under all devolutionary schemes, properly
so-called, the central Parliament and executive remain the ultimate
depositaries of power; and the powers entrusted to local bodies are
administrative only, and can be resumed at will. The Acts by which
County Councils were set up, first in Great Britain and afterwards in
Ireland, were steps in this direction. The Welsh Intermediate Education
Act, 1889, was another. The establishment by the Agriculture and
Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, of a Council of Agriculture,
as Agricultural Board, and a Board of Technical Instruction, was a
third. By these statutes wide powers are delegated to representative
bodies directly or indirectly elected by popular vote; but in each case
the delegated powers are strictly defined, their exercise is made
subject to central control, and the right of Parliament to modify or
withdraw any of them is absolute and unquestioned. The appointment by
the House of Commons of a Grand Committee for Scottish Bills is another
experiment of a similar character, though on different lines. Such
delegations of power are consistent with the maintenance in its entirety
of the Union of the Kingdom, and there is no reason whatever why
further progress should not be made in the same direction. The events of
1907 are evidence that Devolution, regarded merely as a means of
satisfying the political cry for Home Rule, is indeed "dead." But when
the din of political battle has once more passed by, it may be possible
to obtain consideration for a moderate and clearly defined scheme of
delegation which, if applied not exclusively to Ireland, but to the
whole country, might relieve the House of Commons of much of its work,
and strengthen the habit of local self-government throughout the United
Kingdom.