THE COURT MARTIALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3244, 17 May 1916, Page 27

THE COURT MARTIALS.

LONDON, May 11. General .Max-veil reports that the Dublin court martials of the active participants in the rebellion have finished, and the provincial court mar> tials are proceeding. In view of the gravity of the rebellion, the fact of German support, the loss of life and property, it has been imperative to inflict the severest sentences upon the organisers and active fighters in the detestable rising. He hoped this would deter intriguers, and show them that the murder of the King's subjects would not be tolerated. MR ASQUITII IN DUBLIN. INSPECTION OF FIGHTING AREA. LONDON, May 12. Mr Asquith arrived at Kingstown early this morning and drove to the Vice-Regal Lodge via many of the- principal areas o#

disturbance. He saw Sackville street and the Four Courts. Mr Asquith arrived weary and haggard. Troops guarded the quay.- He drove slowly through the thoroughfares, and was visibly impressed by the scene of desolation. A PLEA FOE CLEMENCY. GREAT DECISION URGED. LONDON, May 12. The Manchester Guardian states that James Connolly, and presumably MacDermott also, both now under the death sentence, must, by an unwritten law, be nursed back to life before being executed. It must be some weeks before Connolly is sufficiently strong to stand up. "What conceivable gain can there be in shooting him ? There have been grave errors, and some signal act is needed to efface certain hideous memories, such as the shooting of Major Skeffington and two others equally innocent. Mr Asquith's main object is to restore good feeling. Great ends demand great decisions, and for Ireland our policy at this testing time may be summed in the one word : ' Clemency.' " Intense satisfaction has been expressed in London that the Government Jias not acceded to the clamour to reprieve Connolly and M'Dermott, signatories to the rebel proclamation. General Maxwell immediately confirmed the sentences, which were carried out at dawn before Mr Asquith arrived. MAJOR SKEFFINGTON'S CASE. LONDON, May 12. Mrs Skeffington states that on the day following her husband's execution the military surrounded her house, fired through the front windows, and then burst in. They placed herself, her son (aged seven years), and her maid under arrest, ransacked the house, and removed all books and papers. The court-martial of the officer responsible for shooting Major Skeffington has been opened. PLOT AGAINST SIR E. CARSON. LONDON, May 12. The Daily Telegraph's parliamentary correspondent states that evidence exists that the Sinn Feiners plotted to kidnap Sir E. Carson from Mr Rcnald M'Neill's residence at Cushendall on Easter Monday, but the plan miscarried owing to Sir E. Carson's inability to visit Ireland because of the brevity of the parliamentary Easter recess. VICEROY OF IRELAND. LONDON, May 13. A correspondent, in a letter to the Daily Mail, suggests the appointment of tho Prince of Wales as Viceroy of Ireland. The Daily Chronicle urges the immediate

creation of a National Council to govern Ireland, pending full Home Rule, Other newspapers indicate that the Dublin Castle system is definitely doomed, and though the Lord-lieutenancy will not be abolished, a new system of administration will be created. THE ILL-CONCEIVED RISING. LONDON, May 13. The rebel executive assembled on Good Friday in Dublin, awaiting news of the German gun-running attempt. Meanwhile emissaries with news of its failure met with a motor accident at Killorghan. News not arriving, the executive, by 86 votes to 82, decided upon a rising without further delay. When news of the failure of the gun-running expedition was received it created confusion, and some attempt was made to countermand the rising, but without success. [A motor car jumped over a bridge into the River Laune, near Killorglin. Three passengers were drowned, and two of the bodies were recovered, ori which were found revolvers and ammunition. Sinn Fein badges were also found. These were evidently the missionaries sent to advise tho executive of tho failure of the gun-running attempt.] DEFENCE OF CASEMENT. LONDON, May 13. Mr George Gavan Duffy has been instructed to act as counsel for the defence of Sir Roger Casement. - CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION. LONDON, May 13. Five hundred claims for compensation for the destruction of property in Dublin, totalling £1,400,000, have already been lodged. MARTIAL LAW RELAXED. LONDON, May 13. Mr Asquith conferred with Chalmers (?) at Dublin Castle. Martial law lias been relaxed, but inhabitants must be indoors between midnight and 4 a.m. It is reported that Mr Asquith is desirous of establishing an Irish executive, partly administrative and partly deliberative, during the war. General Maxwell has forbidden parades, process-ions, political meetings, and footba'l, athletic, and hurling meeting* anywhere in Ireland without the written authority of a chief of police. .LORD WIMBQRN"'S ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE. LONDON. May 14. The Times Dublin correspondent alleges j that Lord Wimborne never exercised any I real supervision over Dublin Castle, and never influenced Mr Birrell's policy or want of policy. Though he must have known what was happening, if he disapproved of it ho had not the courage to

resign when such a protest might have averted the calamity. RIB REDMOND'S MANIFESTO. LONDON, May 14. Mr Asquith has interviewed a number of rebels at Richmond Barracks. Sentries are still on guard in the chief thoroughfares of Dublin, and the search of houses continues, numerous arrests being made daily. Mr Redmond's manifesto is being widely discussed, and there is a general tendency to support his appeal for submission. Several ringleaders and rebels have been arrested in Galway. Those in Athenry are still in hiding. LARKINIT ES' ACTIVITY. LONDON, May 14. The Manchester Guardian states that some days before the rebellion the Sinn Fein executive in Dublin, by a three to one majority, voted against an armed rising. The minority (Larkinites) wormed their way into the organisation, though they had not a single aim in common with the Sinn Fein. GERMAN HELP RELIED UPON. THE REBELS - CONFIDENCE. LONDON, May 14. Connolly, one of the rebel leaders, issued an order on April 28 rallying his followers, and saying : "We have every confidence that our allies, the Germans, and our kinsmen in America are straining every nerve to help us." A young Englishwoman who has been interviewed .said she was buying stamps at the Post Office on Easter Monday, but was not allowed to leave the building. She was brought before the chief rebel leader, Pearse, and a man of German appearance. Pearse said to her : "We have formed a republic; you had better stay, for there may be bloodshed. All Ireland will coon be in our possession. Before England realises the situation, German armies will land and assist us." Pearse was confident about the invasion of Ireland and England. She was shown proclamations printed in German. She and other women were terrified when the shelling began, but Pearse bade them be resigned, and asked them to kneel while a priest conducted a brief service and the rebels sang "Faith of Our Fathers." The women were taken at midnight to a backyard and helped over a wall. Two women preceding her were shot dead. She herself fell into an officer's arms and was taken to a hospital. Some men who wero detained in the Post Office during the shelling went mad and begged to be shot.

. MR ASQUITH IN BELFAST. LONDON, May 14. Mr Asquith proceeds to Belfast on Monday to held conferences with the civil and military authorities. This is the first Prime Minister's visit to Belfast since the Marquis of Salisbury was there. MAJOR SKEFFINGTON CASE. LONDON, May 14. The court-martial on the officers concerned in the execution of Major Skeffington will he a secret trial. GERMANY'S PART. LONDON, May 14. The Times Stockholm correspondent writes: "A Swedish traveller who has just returned from 'Germany says that the Munich members of Parliament discussed an impending revolt in the extreme west of Ireland. Germany's communication with the rebels was maintained through Bergen. Asked how the letters evaded the censorship and passenger scrutiny, the traveller replied : ' Wherever the submarines go there is no censorship of the postal service. The Germans did not expect a successful revolt, which could not occur without the co-operation of German troops, which it was as impossible to land in Ireland as in England. The rebels only would suffer in an abortive insurrection, and that is not Germany's concern. Generally the Germans have no sympathy with Ireland.' "Another Swede declared that there was "•reat excitement in Berlin. He left three davs before the revolt, and it was believed that Britain would be forced to divert 200,000 men to keep order. The Berlin people declared that the War Ministry was daily in wireless communication with Dublin.'"' GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND. LONDON, May 15. There are widespread rumours that the Government proposes to establish a provisional government representing all parlies in Ireland. It is expected that a council will he established in Dublin resembling the Viceroy's Council in India, upon which Nationalist and Unionist members of Parliament and Irish public men will sit, forming what will be called an Irish coalition. It is rumoured that Lard Derby will succeed Lord Wimborne as Lord Lieutenant. Tine casement trial-. INTENSE INTEREST IX LONDON. LONDON, May 15. Intense interest is taken in the trial of Sir Roger Casement. The demand for admission tickets is so great that the authorities have determined to issue none, and the public must wait in a queue. The

procedure resembles the case of Mr Arthur Lynch, M.P., in 1905. Sir Roger Casement is in good health, though he showed indications of breaking I down at first. On the day of his arrest ' he was taken to the Brixton Gaol under a strong armed guard, and thence to the Tower, where he is incarcerated in the room where Lodz spent the night before his execution. It is expected that he will be brought to the Bow Street Court in a taxi-cab with an armed guard, and thus be scared the indignity of a journey in '• Black Maria." Sir F. E. Smith (Attor- ; ney-general) and Mr Bodkin. K.C., will lead the prosecution for the Crown. Mr T. M. Healy, K.C., refused a brief for Casement. HOME RULE MUST BE CJR ANTED. RUMOURS AND COMMENTS. LONDON, May 15. The Daily Chronicle says:—"After the manner in which the Nationalists have ralli'd to the defence of the Empire, even a Unionist Government would not withhold Home Rule at the end of the war for at least three southern provinces, but Ulster's j consent must be wen, for the coercion of Ulster is impossible. If the time is not for agreement, the opposing Irish leaders might form a war executive to prevent the continuance of the Dublin Castle system." Despite the currency of rumours, Mr ! Redmond and Sir E. Carson are not aware of negotiations regarding the new executive, and have not been invited to Dublin to confer witli Mr Asquith and other leading Irishmen. Nevertheless, there is evij dence that the calamity of Easter week I has shocked Irishmen of all shades of j opinion into a re-examination of their responsibilities. Recriminations, however, tend to continue. Thus Freeman's Journal published verbatim Mr Dillon's speech, the more violent passage being brought out i in heavy type. i The Irish Times hopes that all Irishmen will co-operate to build up a bright future | upon the nrserable past. The Daily Express, in a leading article, headed "Let the Castle Go," says it is intolerable that a Government whose dutyit is to defeat Germany should be disi tracted by Irish disaffection.