Dublin Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 27, 26 October 1888, Page 9

Dublin Notes.

(From the National papers.)

Mr. Balfottb has confessed himself beaten, worsted, and driven to the wall by his stupid course of conduct on Monday, August 27. The arrests of a priest, a journalist, and two members, happening as they did simultaneously, were meant evidently to strike terror into the hitherto incorrigible Irishrie. Balfour's thunderbolts have not, howeyer, any particular virtue save that of adding to the courage and determination of the men against whom they were hurled. The latest spurt of terrorism on his part is proof patent that he is conscious of his policy, up to the present, being a complete failure. He fiads that the instrument in his hands has besome ridiculously rusty, and he is now trying to give the blade something like a crystalline sheen. Failure, however, will dog his every effort in this direction. Coercion must remain & fiasco throughout the future as it has been a fiasco in the past. Arthur James Balfour would do well to take the flattering unction of such a maxim to his soul, and act in conformity with its principles.

A large number of police proceeded on cars on Monday, August 27, to Bosslare, for the purpose of arresting Messrs. W. and J. E. Bedmond, M.P., the latter of whom is " accused " of having unlawfully taken part in a conspiracy to compel a certain Captain Thomas J. Walker not to let certain lands formerly in the hands of James Clinch. District -Inspector Tottenham having duly served the warrants, both hon. gentlemen were conveyed to Wexford, escorted by the flower of the Royal Irish of the neighbouring barrack?. When the Messrs. Redmond appeared before the court shortly afterwards, their solicitor applied that they should be admitted to bail. Mr. Kennedy, R.M., had no objection that they should ba allowed their provisional liberty by entering each into recognisances of £500 and two sureties of £200. Mr. William Redmond, we may add, is charged witb having at Coolroe, on August 16, incited Thomas Sorners, James Somers, and others to resist and obstruct James P. Connors, depntySheriff, in the execution of his duty. Mr. Redmond, addressing the court, said that he felt the highest satisfaction on finding himself prosecuted by Balfour ; but he protested against being arrested and dragged through the country like a criminal by policemen when a summons was all that was necessary lor the purpose of his appearing before tbe magistrates.

On Sunday, August 26, a large assemblage cf people took place at Meelin for the purpose of protesting against the incarceration of Father Kennedy, the P.P. of Meelin. The Key. T. O'Keefe presided, and the Members of Parliament present were Mr. J. C. Flynn and Dr. Tanner— both gentlemen having hooiwioked the police authorities and evaded their vigilance by taking one of those circuitous routes known only to campaigners and their friends. While tne big-wigs cf the constabulary barracks fancied that the contemplated nuecing would bo held in Kanturk, the demonstration was actually taking place in Meelin, where the alien garrison— five in number, di \ not, of course, dare to interfere with the proceedings. Father O'Keefe, in the course of an eloquent and impassioned speech, gave it as his belief, before God and man, that Balfour intended to mnrder Father Kennedy in Cork Gaol. Mr. Flycn said that Father Kennedy was incarcerated because he had championed the cause of the people, and because he bad stood between them and the hereditary enemies of their rac«. It was, continued the hon. gentleman, incumbent on Nationalists to maiut.in the altitude they had taken up. Ia Father Kennedy's enforced absence they would still face such men as Leader and Co. Dr. Tanner observed that he hoped on the next occasion he came to Meelin it would be not only to welcome Bother Kennedy on his ielease, but also to congr itulate the rev. gentleman on the triumph of the cause with which bis name is associate 1.

Mr. Labouchere, in Truth, lets in some startling light on the position of Mr. Smith, one of Mr. Parnell's future judges. The following information relative to that personage will, we are sure, be perused with interest by our readers :— •• YVbcn only a week or two ago I advised tha other two Parnell Commissioners to ' keep an eye on Brother t*mitb,' Brother Bmith merely presented himself to my mind as an English judge, with no worse fault than a possible infection of the current prejudices of the very best ' fassiet) .' lam afraid, however, that things are a good deal worse than I supposed. Here is an extract from the Irish Land Commission returns for 1883, which seems to show ' Brother Smith ' in an entirely uew and disagreeable light : Komney FoJey, Legal Sub-Oommiesioner. (Date of decision May, 1883. Co. Tyrone. No. 2,002). Tenant, John Donnelly ; landlord, A. L. Smith. Townland, Derrynascobe. Old rent, £22 3s 10d • judicial rent, £17 10s. G H. Garland, Legal Sub-Commissioner' (Date of decision, October, 1883. Co. Tyrone. No. 3,197.) Tenant John Dooris; landlo.d, A. L. Smith. Townland, DerrynabcoVe. Old rent, £8 5s ; judicial rent, £6 15-. Now, the surname of Smith, I am aware, is not altogether an uncommon one ; but the Christian names, " Archibald " and " Lcwin," ia conjunction with it are rot of every-day occurrence, and I confess it will be a surprise to me to learn that there are two A. L. Smiths— one the rack-rentiog Tyrone landlord, who in 1883 was taken iuto the Land Court by two of his tenants, who obtained reductions respectively about 18 and 20 per cent.; the other the Hon. Bir Archibald Luwiu Smith, a Justice of the Qieen's Bench Division, and one ot the Commissioners now appointed to try the merits c f the \\U anl death struggle between Irish landlord and Irish tenant.

At a large an! entbusiatic meeting of the Bantry Branch of the Irish National League, Mr. Gilhuoly, M.P , expressed himself certain that meetings of the suppressed and unsupprebsed branches would be held in every part of the country notwnhsianding the terroiism of Balfour and his infamous Government. Wheiiwer the Plan of Campaign had been adopted, said Mr. (Jilhooly, it had not in one single iusUncu failed to defeat tho combination of the landlords. II tho people were only unite i and remained tru.j to oneaLotter they would, before the lapse of a few joar?, sco thid country in a happy and

prosperous condition. In conclusion the hon. gentleman impressed upon his audience the necessity that existed at the present time for combination, in order to show to Balf jur that they were determined to keep the banner of the National League flying until Ire and wm conceded all her just rights to national self-government. Resolutions sympathising witb John Dillon, and Father Kennedy brought the proceedings to a close.

The address which Mr. Sbaftoa, as chairman, delivered at the Trades Union Congress in Bradford is one well worthy of consideration not only by workingmen merely, but by all classes of the community. He referred to the improvements wrought since the Congress first met in Manchester, and attributed them to tie power the trades had secured by proper combination, and to the consequent influence therefrom derived over public opinion. With the latest mechanical inventions in the way of lab mr-saving machinery ho expressed much dissatisfaction. The labour population is continually increasing. Yet the machines by which two men do the work of three, or even four, are daily being devised, so that the number of unemployed must all the more increase, unless, which is impossible, the consumption of manufactured goods should keep pace witb the production. Mr. Shaftoe recommends as a temporary remedy for the many grievance?, the reduction of the working day to eight hours a reduction which is demanded not as a favour but as a right. How this would benefit the English tradesmen he leaves unexplaine 1. The manufacturer has to compete in Continental markets with foreign rivals whose employees work nine or ten hours at a low rate of wagee. Any such change as that advocated would only handicap him the more, and the trade would suffer in consequence. What is needed it a combination of Continental and English workmen to bring the hoar and pay to a uniform level everywhere. Mr. Shaftoe denounced Parliament as an assembly of capitalists and landowners, of its nature opposed to the drastic legislation required ; and advocates the election of labour representatives who " are attached to the workers by training, association, and duty," so that the labour party may no longer be " the city of refuge for every political outcast."

Mr. William O'Brien's article on the late W. E. Forster, which appears in ihe Westminster Revieiv, is attracting considerable attention. It is a powerful analysis of the causes of that stateiman'* failure, by one possessed of that knowledge, the lack of which was the grand secret of Mr. Forster's collapse— namely, knowledge of the Iri-sh people. Mr. O'Brien remarks on the evidence of Mr. Forster's igDorance of the Irish nature, even at the moment when he was woiking to relieve the wants of the Irish people. " His incapacity for understanding the Irish *nature," writes Mr. O'Brien, " no matter with whatdogge* determination he puzz'ed over it and persuaded himself he had mastered it, is revealed at a glimpse in his estimate of O'Oonnell. He found ' the Liberator ' among his mountains, with his pretty grandchild and his dogs clusteiing around him ; and the charmed guest does full justice toO'Connell's hospitality and courtesy as that of a ' gentleman of the old school'; yet in the next breath honest Mr. Forster proceeds to remark, with a comic air of generosity : ' I do not believe the man to ba in the least conscious to himself of insincerity ;' and again : 'from several incidental expressions ha made use of, I do believe he deeply feels the distress of the people 1* 1 w.ll be bound that Mr. Forster was 'not in the lea9t consc ous to himself ' of how deep an affront was impliei ia his dubious verdict, that the appalling famine scenes which wrung the heart of a young stranger from Yorkshire, were not altogether matters of indiff;renej to the tottering old chieftain whose life had been one lone pasaioaata struggle for his people, and whose heart-stings broke a few months later at their sufferings ! Is it wonderful that he who with the best intentions in the world barely acquitted O'Connell of beiug the monster of callousness the Times charged him to be, should have lived to doubt whether the Irish leader of another generation is rot tha Mastei-Moonlighter the never-changing Times paints him!" The passage has a moral for more Englishmen than one, we fear. The incident reveals Mr. Forster in an attitude often assumed by even well-meaning Englishmen.

Another lesson that Mr. O' Brien's article discovers is the enormous and cruel absurdity of which Dublin Castle is again and again the inapirer ia our governors. The " Life of Forster " contains a story of curious pathos. The diary of his daughter runs on May Bth: — " Father read to us Mr. Robinson's report of the reception of the seedpotatoes in County Mayo. This has been an altogether delightful incident, and i»- was a pleasure to he^r the Chief Secretary reading anything ho different from an outrage report. ' I wonder whether they would call me Buckshot Forster if I went down there?' pondered father." " Alas for ihe sequel of this melting little incident," writes Mr. O'Brien. " Mr. Foster did not go down among the poor Errisraen ; but a battalion of armed police did, to collect poor-rate off «he unhappy wretches whom Mr. Forster had saved from starvation ; and the result of their visit was that a poor young girl was transfixed through the bosom whh a bayonet, and brought home to her mother —dead 1" Incidents like this ari-c again and again out of the absurd theory that at all cost " the law " must be carried out. In fulfilment of this maxim, poor-rate is levied off the famine- stricken, and tenants who have offered the last farthing of rent I bat their farm can make are evicted at the bayonet point. And yet people wonder that tho syßtem of government is Dot a success.

The man, Joseph Lloyd, who was found guilty upon the fourth count iv the charge brought against him, which was to the effect that he did shcot at ona Henry Thompson with intent to do bodily harm, at Templemore, has got off very easily, owing to oertain inconsistencies in the evidence brought against him. The AttorneyGeneral, in opening the case, sai 1 that but for the fact tbat Totnpson'a evidence had not been consistent throughout, the prisoner would have stood at the bar charged with the willful murder of Kennedy, who had been shot dead by Sweeney, who was in reality the toolanl instrument of Lloyd. Thompson, who was wounded previously to Kennedy's being shot dead, had sworn before the magistrates thafhe heaid Lloyd call to Sweeney to give the murdertd man the " same " as he had given himself, and that immediately afterwards the unfortunate man Kennedy was shot Jead. But the worst and most htinoua part of it all was tho language indulged ia afterwards by

Lloyd. When he saw Kennedy fall dead, he clasped his handß on his knees and called out gloatingly, " Another Irishman down." Nor was he satisfied with expressing himself in this brutal manner, immediately after the deed had been committed, but he gave vent to like expressions is the police barrack after his arrest, and in spite of the warning given him by the police. He expressed a wish to see " ten men I: shot likewise, and talked about seeing them jump in the air after being hit with the bul Jete. There is no doubt that the diffdrence between Thompson's evidence before the magistrates and before the court saved Lloyd's neck ; but we wonder had this man been a struggling tenant instead of a follower of the landlord class and the friend of a bailiff if he would have got off with ten years' penal servitude.

The Pall Mali Gazette says : — A suggestion made by Mr, T. D. Sullivan at the recent meeting of the National League in Dublin ought to be canied out at once. " A Balfour medal," he said " should be struck, to be worn by those of their countrymen who had been imprisoned under the Crimes Act." This is far better than the suggestion formerly made that the Irish political " criminals " should stick to their prison clothes. There will be the figure of Erin, we suppose, on one side of the medal ; and on the other, " the highest point of honour," the plank bed. They will of coarse, be of gold, silver, and bronze, according to the length of distinguished service. The wearing of such medals on all public occasions would be of real service as showing what manner of men, women, and children they are whom coercion makes into criminals.

That grim, ill-omened exterminator, Clanricarde, is once more on the war-path. On Wednesday, September 1 2, the eviction campaign was resumed on his estate under the auspices of a large number of policemen and military, the latter having been lent to the arch-exter-minator by the Privy Council of Dublin Castle. Between the lines of the Scotch Fusiliers marched the Bmergencymen, while from an early hour in the morning the peoplu assembled from far and near to the blowing of horns. Several evictions were immediately afterward 6 proceeded with — stout resistance being made, however, by the tenants aad their families in almost every caee. Hot water was poured on the bailiffs and Emergencymen, who yelled with pain over the warm reception with which they were awarded. In one of the houses lay an old woman of more than eighty years of age, who has been bedridden for a considerable period. [This aged dame was pitilessly taken from her bed and flung out on the roadside on the ipse dixit of an army medical officer who pronounced that she " was a fit and proper subject for eviction." Cruel and heartrending scenes such as this ought to arouse the entire British people to a Bense of the odious tyranny of the Tory Government in Ireland.

From the report recently issued by the Registrar-General we find that there is an increase of 86,239 acres under bog waste and water in Irelard within the past twelve months. During the same time it is a significant fact that over 80,000 people have left the country. To prevent these 86,000 and odd acres of land from going to ruin would be equivalent to the support of almost all these emigrants 1 And yet the old heresy is, in certain quarters, being utill dinned into our ears to the effect that Ireland cannot maintain her present population in anything like comfort. With the reclamation of the hundreds of thousands of acres of waste lands Ireland could furnish means of existence to more than double the present number of her inhabitants.

Mr. George Wyndhatn is a clever young man. If he were not, he would hardly be private penman to our present sharp and philosophic Chief Secretary. When Mr. Balfour is too busy hia private secretary keeps the work of misrepresentation going. He occasionally makes a mistake, however. He made an egregious one when he selected the sober and indestructible medium of a monthly magazine to circulate his crams. It has brought upon him an exposure which his character for good faith will hardly survive. His article, which purported to be a reply to an article of Mr. Davitt's in the Contemporary Review, pretended to " exhibit the effect of the decisions by the Irish Land Commission ; " and it set forth as the veritable effect an increase in the rent of 168.3 per cent, in Fermanagh, and of 6.7 percent, in Leinster generally. The gloss was meant for consumption in England ; but it should have been forwarded to some " dear Mr. Armitage " instead of to the editor of the Contemporary. It has provoked a reply from the Archbishop of Dublin, who shows that Mr. Wyndham got his amazing results, deliberately extracted from a cooked table of results with the object of white- washing tke landlord?, by confining the examination to a class of cases which were only '45 per cent, of the whole of the cases decided, and with which the Land Commission had nothing to do but to register the decisions of nonofficial valuers. The statistics serve for the present to show what reliance is to be placed on Mr. Wyndham's figures and deductions ; but the Archbishop of Dublin promises to present, in the next number, some consequential truths, more important than the reference to Mr. Balfour's private secretary.