THE CAPTURE OF LORD METHUEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2511, 30 April 1902, Page 30

THE CAPTURE OF LORD METHUEN.

THE NEWS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMON o

DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT BY IRISH MEMBERS.

(FIIOM OUH OWK COEEESPOXDEKT.) LONDON. March 14. You wili liave recßived by cable all the mam facts in connection with the capture of Lord Methuen as soon and as early as they reached London. But I may add a few notes regarding the discreditable scene in th» House of Commons. The earliest intimation that anything was wrong was caught from the curiously downcast atpeet of Mr Brodrick when he entered the House of Commons on Monday afternoon As lie passed slowly end sadly to his placo hie appearance was fo markedly that of the bearer of ill nowi that it produced upon the House quite a rtiange sense of tmoasiiieFß and imp&nding calamity. Many members tried- to \vaylas' and " pump " him. but lie mereh- shook his head sorrowfully a_nd would not speak until the proper time arrived for him to take the. whole House into his confidence. And then, with a preliminary expression , of regret, he read the entire despatch from Lord Kitchener, which announced a ee\rre reverse to our arms, our General. Lord Mpthuen, wounded and a prisoner, four guns captured, and very heavy losses in killed, ! wounded, and prisoners. j A small gang of members of the Irish Nationalist party actually greeted the ne^iE ] with loud an enthusiastic cheere. The uproarious bellowing* of these disloyalists rang forth with all the more prominence through the bilence with which the reputable portion of the House Leard the evil tidings. But when the decent English, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, too, heard those treasonable and disgraceful cheers, their indignation could not be restrained, and they broke out into such shouts of " Shame. I shame ! "' as had never before been heard within ihose wells, where even the mildest use of that word is always reproved by the Speaker a« disorderly In this in^ance the utterance* passed unchecked, and no wonder ! Messrs Redmond. Dillon, and others of i the Irish Nationalist party, who were absent I at the time of the outrage, have tried to I shirk responsibility for the conduct of their colleagues and "An Irish Nationalist ! M.P.," who dares not sign his name, writes in The Times yesterday ac follows: — "On behalf of myself and three-fourths of the Irish Nationalist party, will you be good enough to allow me to protest against the unaeenily difplay of a few of our number when -the news of the defeat of the British forces was rend out in thp House of Commons last night? We feel and know that by such displays our hopes of redress of our country's wrongs are greatly injured, and the good name of Ireland dragged in the mud. It is Gael to think that a mail of tho education and position of Mr Swift MacNeil! should be i> party to such a fiendish outrage on -decency and humanity. I feel certain that if Mr J. Redmond had been in his place he would have discountenanced such tactics which are simply ruinous to Ireland, and in every way deplorable." But The Times very reasonably remarks : " His letter would have been more effective had it appeared over hi? name. Be declare* — like Mr Morley — that the offenders wore f«w. and that he himee'f Fpenks for * threo-fourrlis of the Irish Nationalist party." Why do not the rest of the three fourths speak for themselves. . . . Mr Redmond might have rebuked the impudent frankness of a portion of his followers, but bolely upon gromids of expediency. Accounts of Mr Redmond's autumn tour in America seem to show that, where these conciderations do not constrain him 1o a .semblance of moderation, the constitutional leader can sanction proceedings, and use laneniago as indecent and as outrageous as that condemned so warmly by bis anonymous disciple. In the same issue of The Times " A Unionist " reproduces come utterancep of Mr Redmond at a meeting in honour of the Manchester murderers, which Mr Redmond addressed at Chicago last autumn " Finorty, the dynamiter, officially opened the proceadings, and a detachment of the ' Clan-na-Gael Guards wero an interestingfeature in the audience. No 2 iro i es i from the constitutional leader is recorded in the re-port. The gathering resolved :— ' Thai we thank the" patriot soldiers of the South African Republic for tho humiliation th&y have put upon England in the fir-Id of battle and for the exposure of her hypocrisy, greed, and cruelty before the H'sfh Court of Christendom; and, further, ihat we hope the flag of thp heioic Brer- will soon float bci.Gß.th the Southern Cio=b as the free symbol of the United State of South Africa.' " Al.-0 at New York Mr Redmond is reported to have told another gathering well leavened with extremists that "'the only fitting end for Chamberlain's, career would be to hang him upon v lump-post." that "never a murderer went to liik doom upon the gallow- whose hands were so deeply imbued in human blood a» Chamborla:o"f>." and thpt the Colonial .Secretary was "the aut'sor of the most hifamou* v.-ar that lias over disgraced oven the blood-stained history of the British Empire." It i> pleasant to find New Zealand's earnest loyalt> instanced as it sort of ciirnterweight to this wretched In«h Nationalist brutahtv of disloyalty The Times obser\ei in it» leading article of yesterday: — "If i» refreshing to turn from this petty di-nlcy of impotent malice — which is greatly erabai raising the diminished band of Tlntish Home Rulers — to the magnificent n'-ibition of Imperial patriotism our New Zealand brethren are giving to the world. A message from Heilbron gives some particulars of the stand Colonel Garratt's force made against De Wet when the Boer leader broke away before the ' drive ' on the night of February 25. The series of outpost* they held was occupied by 76 men and eie' t officers. Twe.nty-five of the men were kil'/d and 3d wounded, and two -of the offi- ;r» were killed and five wounded, while thf* eighth wa- "-hot several time« throuq;!i his uniform. A"U! i.i'rh 200 of the enemy got through and r»,'fl« a gap of half a mile long in the tl.-i^nr thr New ZealanfVi- fcuoofeded in yie ■ r-nt >ptt them from t^Fitiupr cut the rest of their fiiends. The B.icr>i Mnip.'v j

had escaped marched away, leaving their cattle behind them, without firing a shot, and the party which had failed remained to be swept up by the columns,. If all our men fought like the New Zealanders we should have fewer and less disastrous mishaps to record." "It is gratifying," adds The Times, "to remember that a Ninth Contingent of those splendid fighting men is oti ita way to South Africa. In the speech in which he wished them God-speed, Mr Seddon, the Premier, pointed out what i.= the right way in which men of British bloccl ought to meet the news of Lord Methuen's reverse. They ought, said this most pi*ogrcssive Minister of our most progressive colon}-, to redouble their energies. New Zealand, at any rate, is ready to do her part He hinted that this young community, whose entire population of white males is but little over 400.000 men. and whose revenue is under £6.000.000, would be ready to form a Tenth Contingent as an answer to the Boer snoc-ess While England can I produce sons "snoh at* these she may iaugh at the disma! forebodings of such Cnssandras ac Mr Morley." Referring to the same engagement of the New Zealanders. the G-lobe says: — "The record of the small force of New Zealand ers which tried to hold De Wet is oue of which the colony may well be proud. They were not successful, indeed, but to have fought on until out of 76 men and eight officers 61 men and seven officers were either killed or wounded, is an achievement which may well claim its place among the finest feats of arms. The memory of it will endure in the Old Country as long as in the colony it»elf." One very weighty pronouncement has been made from the highest quarter. Directly after the publication of the Irish Parliamentary outrage ou decency, the following official announcement nnpearod : — "The King, 1 by the advice of his Ministers, has expressed his regret to the liord-Lieutenant that the visit of their Majesties to Ireland cnimot taike place this year." This remarknble announcement was. of course, keenly oi'-cussed in the Irish press. The pointed absence of any reason for the abandonment of the trip — such as personal inconvenience or clashing "with other royal arrangements — , and the plain intimation that the King was [ acting expressly "by the advice of his Ministers," was too clearly marked to be j niistnkeable. The step was a distinct expression of the royal displeasure