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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7719, 18 August 1886, Page 4

It is certainly to be much regretted that rioting has broken out afresh at Belfast and that there has been further loss of life. This however is not to be wondered at, as the feeling of antagonism engendered between the conflicting sections of the community, which had been intensified by the partisanship of the constabulary, cannot be expected to subside in a day. There is this change for the better however, that there was no conflict with the guardians of order. The withdrawal of the constabulary has induced a return in some measure of the popular respect for constituted authority. The rioters on both sides seem to have quietly dispersed when the military appeared on the scene; whereas the sight of the constabulary would only have added fuel to the flame. And there is this further to be noticed that there was no necessity as there was no inclination to resort on this occasion to the brutal habit of firing upon the defenceless crowd. This, taken in conjunction with the fact announced in yesterday's messages, that the tenants in Tyrone are now paying their rente, goes to support Sir Michael HicksBeach's statement that the state of Ireland is reassuring. Another augury of an improved condition of matters there is the change that is coming over the Bpirit of some of the leaders of the Home Rule party. Of these Mr. Michael Davitt isin many respects unquestionably the ablest; and, in the presence of an assembly o ; twenty thousand people at Chicago he his declared that he has abandoned the policy of revenge against England. This is one of the most important statements which have recently been made by any public man, and it is impossible to overestimate the good results it may lead to. It is an unmistakable intimation to the wild spirits in America, who think of no means for effecting reform save those of destruction, that he has no sympathy with their iconoclastic and bloodthirsty creed. It is, moreover, an honourable recantation of any opinion in its favour he may have previously held and an assurance that henceforth he will be a disciple of the doctrine that the regeneration of Ireland must be striven for and effected only by peaceable agencies. A man of Mr. Davitt's clear perception must now be convinced that there is no party in Britain that does not sincerely desire the good of Ireland ; and that, though there be a diversity of view as to the best method of forwarding her interests, there iB but one wish for the well-being of all her people. This will prepare him for discussing impartially any measure devised for this end by the Conservative Government; and it may safely be inferred that his example of moderation will exert a salutary influence over all the Home Rule party.