The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1888. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1696, 9 February 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1888. THE STATE OF IRELAND.

The relationship which England and Ireland Btand to each other at the present time is unusual —thef #nost unusual in the whole history Vol the_ two countries. Never were Irishmen more loyal, never was Ireland'more peaceful,!never has existed .a* better, feeling towards EDgland in Ireland thanirat; the present time: yet never sinqe the penal days has Ireland been more ruthlessly illtreated than she is now under the government of Lord Salisbury. Since 1867 there has'not peen the slightest attempt at insurrection. Since that date no attempt has { been made by to effect legislative improvements in th'&r coun-| try. except by peaceable agitation. JThe I'hoarijx Park murder and 'the'

lynamite outrages %ve, of course, 'ex:eptions, but these are' really -'the 1 srork of persons who have iib' asspcia-

i'on with the real'Hottest 1 "Irish/

nationalists, and who do not believe in " Home Eule." 'Even ' those' I ,have; completely vanished since Mr Gladstone and the large majority ,pf his p|rty I)ecafne Home Mlers. Puttitig 1 the *' dynamiters' out' of' the', xjuesfcion, therefore, tftie 7 'iifotiohal movement in [reland . has 'tfe'em carried" ? 'on' <iti ''a peaceable h and legitimate mpner. rh r e H Eanol"lj l e^gu i e i! was at first formed Iw ■'fifeHfc W England— performed its 'uuctions v IfJ/aW'ho't'formed to' rob represented. All the Land League did was to proFide homes for evicted tenants, and- a feh prevent any one else from .taking' farms from which tenants ijrad ■•, been unjustly evicted. \/a&tl(thi4 way the [and f useleVsTy on the bands o£< IwatiMidliffds, and in most to take back the evicted tenant "at 1 a reduced rental. The the landlords and abolished the Land Deagtoe; 8 and I jthei < > Rational -. League; was next formedl'i'ffihis holdsj:

its meetings openly, policemen 4 reporters, apflßwfti $™ and ill its transactions are published. It perfo^m^ l fi&c%ta& Similar to those SUed feyothe*iEmn3/League, and it is to suppress this League that the Jubilee Coercion Act has been passed. Under ;his Act tp publish a report of a League meeting is a criminal ottence, litfrWifr&r this offence that Mr Sullivan,' Lord Mayor of Dublin, and Mr William O'Brien have suffered

punishment, To speak at a Land pettgue meeting against landlords for; charging exorbitant rents iabalso criminal, and punishable by imprison- 1 ment. Trial by jury is suspended in such ca«es, and e two landlord J.P.'s can send a man to gaol for^a^y-l 1 dumber of months for the effeaeaaiceierred to.

It is not, however, oJp fc eing/sent to gaol Irishmen complain so much now.] They are well used to being sent to 1 gaol, but they are not üß^d|o )! ]ge ! mg so badly treated in gapl as J they are at present. .Fifty yeajrs ago, when people were not so enlightened as they are at present, wben to talk of manhood suffrage would have been regarded as insanity, long before the passing of the Reform Act or the repeal of the Corn Laws, political prisoners were treated differently from criminals. O'Connell and three or foui others were sent to gaol, but they were allowed every liberty compatible with confinement in a gaol. They were given the use of well-furnished rooms and a garden; t.wo of them who were editors of papers carried on their business as usual; they were allowed to receive I friends at almost any hour, and, in fact, they were treated as gentlemeD. More recently, when Mr Parnell and his colleagues were imprisoned, they were* not subjected to criminal discipline. This has all been changed The Eight Honorable T. D. Lord Mayor of Dublin—an old'mtn of over 60 years of age, a poet of inOte, and a most amiable gentlemon i<: 'who has hitherto been used to every luxury —has been sent to gaol for .publishing the report of a Land tfiagjie meeting in his paper, and same as a thief or pickpocket, Mr Wilfred Blunt, an English gdtitleman of estate and social position second to none, has been similarly treated, and so have all the priests and the members of Parliament who ! have hitherto been arrested. These gentlemen go on platforms and make these speechea, and publish them in the papersj knowing full we)l they will be imprisoned for it—but they are ready'to sacrifice their own liberty so as to expose to the world the outrageous policy of the Government in trying to destroy the liberty of speeeb, and the liberty of the Press. While 'the' Conservative Government are practising all kinds of cruelty jas regards Ireland, the Liberal party i are doing .all-in their power to maintain thekiMft'feeling towards England which 0 hW been engendered; by, Mr Gladstone promise >f Kule. Large numbers of English members of Parliament and as well as ladies of the highest rank, haye visited Ireland recently,, an<f have to perseWe in to the'cruelties practised upoii 7*u?" Irish member* of Parliament are^al.so holding meetings throughout the lepgth aud breadth of England, a»d meeting with most enthusiastic receptions. Alrßarnstaple, on the 3rd of last December, Mr John MUqu w»£

with a protest signed by 50 Ministers, who denounced o£ the Government as '•utte'nf ; %nworthy ot a professedly Christen nation." Thus tbe wounds Government are inflicting healed by bind sympathy from the Liberabvafid it is to this the peaceful condition of, Ireland, is ,due., The ipeopleAbavei |oifimenced ibelievjb tn'atf-thffLiber&Vof England metairto coo<;Q4»-tQJTOlaad.bec-.legialatiye—in--depenience as soon as they, regain 'pwer| and are bearing patiently the feel sure, thatyn/) q^^ e ?i could |aye so-complete^y;;nnr^ifiuate^, f sefir§t Societies .and fi <>f.,Liiber4s n in, ~,%s(' this gop4 dtate