Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1882. IRELAND.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6430, 13 December 1882, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1882. IRELAND.

Tjieue seems to bo no room fov doubt that the Irish trouble is gradually losing force. Outrages may still occur here and there, but they aro diminishing in number, and the fire that raged so intensely some time ago is manifestly burning itself out. The famous Land League which threatenec^such great agrarian and political changes and drew to itself, intentionally or not, such inhuman agencies, may be regarded as defunct. Both in Parliament and in the disturbed districts of Ireland its talons have been cut, and its truculent spirit has been effectually cowed. Whether the result has been produced by coercive measures, or by recent legislation of a conciliatory kind, it is difficult to say. Probably both influences have contributed to the present more hopeful aspect of affairs. Many people of quick temperament have exhibited much impatience at what they regarded as the slow action of the Government, and would have liked to see a more prompt recourse to forceful methods of securingobedience to law. Bufcour conviction is that all thoughtful men who know anything of Irish history will be brought more and more, as time advances, to see how wise it was to try every available plan of securing confidence and peace before resorting to the final and terrible implement of sheer forco. Others there are whose training aud turn of thought dispose them to find fault with a Liberal Ministry for suspending the ordinary operations of law in any case, and for seeking abnormal powers against traitors, sedition-mongers, and felons of whatever class. We have some sympathy with this disposition, but we cannot overlook the fact that in Ireland, for some years past, all law, human and Divine, has been disregarded by a largo portion of its people, and that rifles, revolvers, and bowie-knives have been substituted for the usual methods of reason and justice. In view of all that has taken place during the Parnellite controversy wo have no doubt as to the Tightness of the Gladstone Government in uniting a firm resolution to suppress all lawlessness with earnest efforts to introduce the principles of a just and sympathetic legislation to a warm-hearted and enthusiastic but ignorant and distracted people. The difficulty all along has been to combine a determination to uphold the majesty of law, with a readiness to concede all that justice might claim, and this difficulty has been faced by the present Government with a steady persistency snd a HSCftSUi's bi svttoess which, deserves fclio thankful appreciation of all classes. Coercion is no remedy, and is at all times a hateful weapon to use, but in the case of Ireland it was a necessity. Law had become powerless in many districts ; witnesses were afraid to speak and juries to convict ; all security of life and property had vanished ; the dread of tho midnight assassin haunted every household; and the dark outrages that daily occurred and went unpunished foreshadowed the frightful anarchy into which the nation would hare been plunged but for the adoption of extraordinary means for the repression of crime. The first Coercive Act lapsed in September last, having been in force for eighteen months, but subsequent Acts rendered its revival unnecessary since they armed the authorities with all the powor they required. It is more, however, for its remedial than for its repressive measures that Mr Gladstone's Government will be remembered in its relations, to Ireland. No excesses in Galway or Munstcr, in Cork or Dublin, and no opposition of the landholding classes in England were allowed to arrest the pushing on of measures that were designed to mete out justice to the Irish tenantry and to uproot the causes of discontent and alienation. With all tho penetration, energy, and skill that are so characteristic of him, the Premier set himself to the task of bringing peace to Ireland, and the result is a readjustment of the land lawa . there which puts the Irish tenant in a more favorable position than his fellows in England or Scotland. Nor do English or Scotch tenants quarrel with this generous dealing. They have rather been led by it to examine their own position and to begin an agitation which will end some day in the passing of a new Land Act for the whole kingdom. Irish landlords, of course, cannot bo expected all at once to accept pleasantly a change which seems to contract their rights ; but it would be a short-sighted policy on their part to put obstacles in tho way of giving the new , Acts a fair and full trial. Some of the more enlightened aud impartial amongst them have already discovered that they will benefit as much as their tenants by tho altered state of things— that their lands will be better cultivated, that their rents: as fixed by law will be secured, that safety and peace will bo restored, and that capital will bo encouraged once again to flow into the country. The time is not distant, we believe, when both landlords and tenants will heartily acknowledge the value of recent legislation as affecting their relations to each other.-and to tho land. A tiational" sore like that which troubles Ireland cannot be healed in a day. It is tho fruit of centuries of misrule and. oppress

sion, and some generations must pass before remedial efforts, however earnest and thorough, can produce anything like their full effect. Moreover, it is the interest of professional agitators to fan the flame of discontent, and to prevent a reconciliation in presence of which their occupation would be gone. We are' not surprised, therefore, that out of the ashes of tho dead league there has sprung up another association to which "all Ireland is summoned to give hdp. This association sets before itself various objects with all of which, except one, most men will sympathise. The one exception is Home Rule, and it would appear that the promoters of the movement give more attention to this than any other part of their programme ; for in the House of Commons lately Mr Trovelyan, the Secretary for Ireland, declared that if the Irish members continued to use the new organisation for the purpose of spreading disaffection, ho would prohibit their meetings and prosecute themselves. Such an utterance in such a place indicates a sense of power on the part of the Government. It is clear that the game of Messrs Parnell, Dillon, and Davitt is nearly played out; and thesooner,now,they abandon it the better will it be for all interests. Ireland has been blessed with another good harvest; she is tired of anarchic rule; she longs for rest and security ; and it may be that before long we shall see her on a path of prosperity such as it has never been her lot to tread before. ____ m _ am ..._

The following articles will be found on tlio fourth page: — "Church Tillies," "Tho Oyster Supply of Great Britain," "Those Lost Ten Tribes," arid "A Turkish Beauty."

We are informed that for over a week past the daily receipts of wool at Napier hare averaged a thousand bales. The inquest upon the body of Ebenezer Beck, who was drowned at Glive on Sunday, did not bring to light any particulars beyond those already published by us, and a verdict of "Accidentally drowned" was returned. We are requested to intimate to those who are willing to join in the formation of a Young Men's Christian Association, that they should leave their names with Mr Banbury, at the warehouse of Messrs M 'Arthur and Co., Shakespeare-road. Mr Holm Langkjer requests those who have put their names to his subscription list for the Shaeffler relief fund, and who have not paid, to do so without delay, so that he may be enabled to acknowledge the amounts through our columns. : The rifle competition between the Napier Artillery and the. Rifles for. the cup presented by Major Koutledge will take place to-morrow morning, firing to commence at 5 o'clock. The following names have been chosen to represent the Rifles : — Lieut. Cato ; Sergts. Chicken, Redward, and W. Duncan ; Privates Beck, J. Frame, W. Frame, Balsillie, Crossman, and Tait ; emergency, Privates G-albraith and C. Cato. A committee meeting of the Hawke's Bay Rifle Association was held last evening at the Criterion Hotel, Mr Cato in the chair. A very liberal programme, which will be published in Monday's issue, was drawn out for the next annual firing to be held at Petano on the 26th and 27th instant. Several valuable prizes have been presented for competition, and altogether a most successful meeting may be anticipated. An improved and more satisfactory style of marking, calculated to save all disputes, will be adopted. We hear from Takapau that a party of natives have torn up and destroyed about 180 yards of Mr Wilding's tramway. They removed the rails and cut out the grooves from tlio sleepers. They have also rendered useless a bridge 90 feet long by removing the rails and sleepors and throwing them down the gully which the bridge crosses. Evidently our dusky friends in that quarter want looking after. Our informant states that they are becoming very bounceable, and that a party of them, fifteen strong, were parading about the bush armed with guns, tomahawks, axes, &o. A Woodville correspondent writes: — "1 hear that Mr M'Kenzie, the contractor for the Whakaruatapu and Mangatere bridges, has arranged with tlie native owner of a large block oE totara near Danevirko, for two years' cutting, he ptvpng a royalty of Is 8(£ per 100 feet cut. The consent of Messrs Knight Bros, had also to be obtained, but that was given without difficulty. Mr M'Kenzie intends erecting a sawmill at once. His primary object of course is to cut the timber required for the bridges, but it is reported also that he intends settling permanently at Danevirke. Mr Clark Dann, it is said, is also endeavoring to secure a block containing totara iv the same neighborhood with the view of comraenoing a sawmill." The farewell soiree given to Mrs Harapson in the Theatre Royal last evening was very largely attended. Nearly 400 sat down to tea, the tables being most liberally provided with delicacies and handsomely decorated. The, ladies who provided the tables must be complimented and. thanked for the manner in which they carried out their selE-allotted task. After tea the Rev. D. , Sidey took the chair, and delivered an address, in which he referred to Mrs Hampson's mission and its merits. He was followed by the Rev. J. J. Lewis, who expressed a hope that one outcome of Mrs Hanjpson's mission would be the permanent establishment of a Young Men's Christian's Association. After short speeches from the Revs. C. O. Perry and W. Nicholl, and Mr Co well, Mrs Hampson gave a farewell address, in which she pressed upon all Christians, especially those young in the faith, the necessity for j oining some Church.