Parnell was at the zenith of his power.

The Irish had the man, what mattered the principles?
The new suffrages simply became the figures upon the cheques handed over to the Chief by each constituency, with the request that he would fill in the name of the payee.

On one or two occasions a constituency did protest against the payee, but all that was required to settle the matter was a personal visit from the Chief.

Generally speaking, the electorate were quite docile, and instances were not wanting of men discovering that they had found favour with electors to whom their faces and even their names were previously unknown.
No doubt, the one-man system had a tactical value, of which the English themselves were ever ready to make use.

"If all Ireland cannot rule this man, then let this man rule all Ireland," said Henry VII.