THE Mariborough Express Published Every Evening. MONDAY, JUNE 13, 1881. THE CRISIS IN IRELAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XVI, Issue 136, 13 June 1881, Page 2

THE Mariborough Express Published Every Evening. MONDAY, JUNE 13, 1881. THE CRISIS IN IRELAND.

No. VI. Ok the death of Grattan, William Plunkett, a prominent Dublin barrister, succeeded to the leadership of the Mali party m the House. In politics he was , what is now designated a Liberal-Con-servative, and m this respect differed from Grattan, who was a Liberal. His support was, notwithstanding, greatly :. valued by the Catholics, as it was . Imown that the Government were only waiting an opportunity to confer on him any vacancy that might arise m tie Cabinet. On February 28, 1821, Plunkett moved that the House go into committee to consider the Catholic demands. The debate on the. motion . was confined to two great speeches, one delivered by. Plunkett m support of his proposal, and the other by. ' jJßoberi Peel, who opposed ii A divi- <

sion was taken, with the result that I the motion was carried by a majority of six. In committee he 'presented a Relief Bill," which proposed to give Catholics the right to hold any office m the publid; -service, excepting the Lord. Chancellorship of England and the Lord^Lieutenontcy of Ireland. The seconcTfeading of the Bill was carried by a majority of 11, and the third, by a majority of 19 votes. The Upper House, however, threw out the measure, 120 peers voting for. and 159 against it. In Ireland the exasperation of the population at the action of the House of Lords was extreme. A secret society, known by the name of " White Boys," from " the white masks with which' they disguised themselves, sprang into existence. Unlike the unfortunate Emmett, the White Boys did not aim at seizing Dublin and establishing a republican form of government. Their ambition did not soar higher than to making war on the Protestant landlords. If it transpired that any given landlord had been guilty of an abuse of power or an act of inhumanity towards one of his tenants, a coffin was secretly deposited m front of his hall door, as an intimation that he was a marked man. A few days afterwards he would be sought out and murdered by a party of White Boys. Sometimes the crime was committed m full light of day, and m the presence of hundreds of people, yet no witness was ever forthcoming to identify those whom the police succeeded m arresting as accomplices m the i ..urder. Near Limerick, one Torrance and his wife were attacked upon a public road whilst on their way to church, and stoned and beaten by the mob. The woman died on the spot, but the husband survived his injuries. The head of the Limerick police was assassinated m open day, and his death was immediately afterwards announced within a circuit of 20 miles by immense bonfires. More horrible crimes than these even were committed. The house of a man named Shea, near Tipperaiy, was surrounded dining the night by a gang of Whiteboys, who set fire to it. Inside the building were the landlord, his wife and seven children, three servants and five farm servants, m all seventeen persons. The unfortunate inmates on being aroused endeavored to make their escape, but were mercilessly driven back into the interior of the blazing building, where they were burnt alive under the very eyes of their murderers. The news of these and many other atrocities, worthy of the Bed Skins of North America, raised a feeling of indignation throughout all England and led to the adoption of exceptional measures for the repression of fresh outrages. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended m Ireland and an " Insurrection Act" passed authorising the Lord-Lieutenant to proclaim any county or portion of a county a troubled district, m which persons accused of having disturbed public order might be summarily dealt with by the local magistrates. A further Act was also passed restricting the manufacture and sale of arms for a period of seven years. Several execu tions were made and little by little the country was restored to order. One effect of the panic caused by the Whiteboys had been to suspend agricultural operations, over a large area of the country. To cap this evil, the autnmn of 1821 proved to be extremely humid, and m many districts m Ireland the potatoes went rotten m the ground. In the opening months of 1822 the price oi potatoes had gone up to four times their usual value m ordinary years, and the peasantry were literally dying of hunger. The middle classes were affected by this m then turn, and it is said that two-thirds of the population of the towns, and five-sixths of the country proper were reduced to a state of beggary. In the spectacle of such great distress England forgot the crimes of the preceding year, and large sums of money were soon at the disposal of the Viceroy for the alleviation of the prevailing misery. Work was found for the unemployed, anS the crop proving a good average one, the staple food of the lower classes resumed its normal price.