THE MAAMTRASNA INQUIRY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 19, 4 September 1885, Page 9

THE MAAMTRASNA INQUIRY.

LIBEBAL circles in England and the London Press almost without exception are furious because the Government has consented to let Lord Carnarvon inquire if certain men, now in prison for alleged crime, are innocent or guilty. A packed jury, under the manipulation of the infamous Bolton, pronounced them guilty. Under this more than doubtful verdict, three men, one of them surely innoceat, were hanged, and seven others sentenced to prisoa for life.

Earl Spencer was petitioned to accord an investigation of the case on behalf of the latter, the former being beyond the mercy of any earthly tribunal. He refused, as a matter of course. It was Bolton, who had procured their conviction, and the Viceroy steadily supported every act of his subordinates. Now that the bloody rule of Spencer is over, Mr. Parnell has reopened the case of the Maamtrasna victims, and the new Tory ■Government has consented to an official investigation. It is a substantial triumph for Mr. Parnell, but a greater victory for justice, so long trampled under foot in Ireland. The anger of the Liberals is on the face of it a confession of guilt. Otherwise, why should they object to a simple inquiry after truth 1 They cannot pretend that the new administration, that any English administration in Ireland, would be biassed in favour of the prisoners. The presumption is all the other way. But they fear, and with reason, that an honest investigation will bring out the shameful truth that the Maamtrasna marderers, so called, have been the victims of a cold-blooded, diabolical plot, at the head of which was Earl Spencer's tool, the man of whom Mr. Parnell said, in the House of Commons, last week : " I believe that if ever a murderer deserved to be placed on trial and sentenced to death, that man was Bolton."

The question is not one of national rights or wrongs, it is simply a question of justice. Evidence has been brought out to prove the innocence of one of the men who were banged, and equally of those who are now undergoing an an just sentence of imprisonment. False witnesses, upon whose testimony the prisoners were convicted, have retracted their perjury in the most solemn manner, without any possible object save that of undoing a heinous wrong in so far as they can. They have shown that the Crown Solicitor Bolton deliberately fabricated evidence to convict, and secured their support under threats of the direst punishment if they refused compliance. All this is matter of history. It was submitted to Spencer but he declined to look into it. He was satisfied with the work of Bolton and the packed juries. An executive not connected as par ticeps criminis with the iniquities of the law is asked to be mora impartial, and because it is signified that an investigation will be made, the Liberal Press and politicians are unanimous in denunciation of the new " bargain " with Mr. Parnell. They seem to fear that the Tories, unlike the Liberals, will keap the terms of their bargains and actually try to discover the truth. Pending the promised inquiry, here is a timely illustration of the working of law in Ireland, under a dispensation now, we trust, about to pass away forever. The graud juryj ury of County K*±rry, says a cablegram of the 18th inst., has awarded 10,000 dols. to S. M. Hu&sey , the land agent, for the damage done to his house by a dynamite explosion in November last. The amount is to be levied on the whole county, and the only question in the minds of the jury was whether or not it should be levied on the adjoining county as well.

The police, we are further informed, had early information of the intended explosion, but they have refused to tell the grand jury where they got it, or, presumably, why they failed to act upon it in time to prevent the crime. The house was under police surveillance at the time of the explosion, and there is no doubt in any honest man's mind that they were in collusion with the owner, and in the 8la D g o f the trade, " put up the job," partly with a view to stimulate the outrage market and partly to secure the damages with a complaisant grand jury has now awarded to the chief conspirator. Think of a commnnity's being held liable pecuniarily for real or pretended damages sustained by any citizen because the police have told the grand jury that they have evidence, which they will not reveal, tracing the crime to political sources I In what other civilised country would such a mockery of justice be allowed to govern the administration of law ?

We do not expect much from the inquiry into the Maamtrasna and other cases, even if it be taken up by the Government. The memory of the dead may be cleared of the stain of murder. The innocent men undergoing penal servitude may be released, but the heinous wrong will not be thus righted, nor do we cherish any hope that the villanous conspirators by whom it was carried out will be punished. Perhaps it is much, however, if one victim's reputation be cleared, and the guiltless prisoners be set free. It is much, certainly, under Irish laws and their administration, and more than Mr. Gladstone and his party have been willing to grant. — Pilot.