The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1885.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 5466, 26 January 1885, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1885.

For tho cause that lacks asslntancA For the wrong that needs resistance, For tho future In tho distance. And tho Rood Chat we can do. ,

The warnings given to the London police a short time ago that the dynamite .conspirators were plotting new outrages were no!, it seems, mere alarmist rumours. The outrages perpetrated at the Tower of London and Houses of Parliament on Saturday, following ugon the explosion at London bridge, prove that the ruffians are growing in boldness as well as malignity. Not that these crimes display much bravery, or have any sensible purpose about them, except to enrage the populace against Irishmen and support the call that has been ma.ie by Earl Spencer, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, tor the re-enactment of the Crimes Act and the adoption of severe repressive measures. On Saturdays, the T«wer of London and Houses of Parliament are open to tlte public free. Tickets nre issued indiscriminately, without any questions being asked. It is easily possible, therefore, for fifty scoundrels, it they so wish, to obtain access to either of these buildings, and wandering freely and unchallenged within their wall?, to deposit a packet of dynamite, with clockwork arrangements for exploring it, anywhere; and then slink away, leaving chance to determine who shall fall victim to the mine. That is evidently what was done on Saturday. One package was lodged in a crypt under Westminster Hall, and the other under the Speaker's Gallery—the course along which visitors usually pass in making their peregrinations through the building. The explosion at the Tower, occurring about the same time, proves that a gang of conspirators were engaged in the plot. It is evidont, also, from the extent of the damage done, that a considerable parcel of explosives was used in each case. That it should have escaped detection by one of the policemen in attendance, and who was among the persons injured, may seem, at fust sight, surprising; but when the area of the buildings—the House of Parliament covers eight acres, and the Tower a larger space— is considered, there is nothing remarkable in the fact that among a miscellaneous crowd a man could carry in a parcel of dynamite without being observed. A lady visitor, it seems, saw one packet deposited and immediately gave information, but the explosion occurred before there was time to remove it.

The White Tower is the oldest and most interesting part of the famous Tower of London. Tradition, on insufficient grounds, attributes the earliest structure to Julius Czesar. There is conclusive evidence that William the Conqueror was the builder, and extensive foundations discovered show that an earlier Saxon fortress existed there. The Tower is one of the most treasured of national monuments; no building figures so prominently in the pages of English history. Every inch of ground within its walls has memorable associations. But more than a century has passed since the last political prisoner was confined there, and nothing remains in connection with this national show-place and Government storehouse, to which visitors from the provinces all flock in their rare treats of a visit to see the "sights o'London," that would excite the ire of any but lunatics. If there is any purpose about the plots of the dynamiters other than wild and wilful destructiveness and the preference for a life of plotting to one of hard work with the hod and trowel, t is the belief that England will be alaimed into getting rid of so worthless and .troublesome an attachment.

Nothing, however, is less likely to happen. Among John' .Bull's faults cowardice docs not range itself, and his obstinacy is proverbial. In order to prevent a repetition of these offences, it may be necessary to restrict the freedom of access hitherto enjoyed by the people to public buil'Hngs; but if the liberation of j Ireland wjits until the dynamiters have j struck terror into England, that event is very distant indeed. Crimes like this will cause the withdrawal of all outside sympathy from the Irish leaders, and postpone the attainment of whatever r; just in their cause.