Dublin Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 14, 4 August 1893, Page 21

Dublin Notes.

(From our Exchangee) Iw the Honae of Lords in the debate raised with regard to the condition of the coaotias of Limerick and Clare, Lord Spencer, on behalf of the Government, Baid that they were determined to exercise all th«ir resources. He pointed out that there was raocb exaggeration regarding the actual state of the districts referred to, which were actually in a comparatively better condi'lon than they bad been in for some years. The Government would not hesitate to resort to the Crimes Act, or to the other legislative powers they possessed if the ordinary law failed to effect an improvement. At Limerick Petty Sessions lately a number of soldiers belonging to the Manchester Regiment stationed in the city were charged with various offences, principally burglaries and larcenies. In most instances a sentence of six months' imprisonment was imposed. An officer of the regiment expressed tha opinion that these offences wer^ committed, not as real crimes but in order to cause the discharge ef the offenders from the army. The magistrates, who attended in large numbers, adopted a resolution strongly condemning the conduct of the regiment since its arrival in Limerick, and calling on the Commander of the Forces in Ireland to remove the regiment to another district. At last, by a majority of 53—293 votes to 240 — the House of Commons has declared itself in favour of a reform of the magistracy io both Great Britain and Ireland. The scandal of the existing conetitution of the Magisterial Bench in both countries has been pressing upon the attention of the country with ever greater force year by year. In Great Britain the seoession of the Whigs and the nse made of his powers by Lord Halsbury completed the popular iudigaation. As conditions were in England duriog the Tory Administration the state of the English Bench was rapidly approaching the point of scandalous one-aided ness, the position to which we have almost grown accustomed in Ireland. Tbe title and lights of a magistrate were reserved by the Lord Lieutenants of tbe Eaglisih counties for the Tories and Church of England men, to the exclusion of Liberals and Non-con-formists, just as in Ireland they are reserved for Coercionists and Protestants. But, needless to say, the Liberals of Great Britain were up in protest before the justice seat had become degraded to a " political engine." Lord Herschell was asked by the representatives of the people to exercise his powers over the heads of the Lord Lieu. tenants. He refused without a mandate from the House of Commons. In tbe debate both he and Lord Chancellor Walker received that mandate. Indeed, the revelation is a disgrace to past Lord Chancel. lots. For example, there are certainly not tea Cntbolic magistrates on the Carlow Bench at present. Bui the proportion of Catholics and Nationalists to Coercionists as it s'.ood io. 1886, after Lord Chancellor Naieh had made a Blight attempt at improving the state of tbingß, was more than sufficient to justify the surprise and i dignation expressed on the Liberal benches. Though the people of Ireland *re three-fourths Catholic, only one-four. h of the magistrates are Catholic. Mr Balfour attempted a defence of this state of things by asierting, what everybody acquainted with Ireland knows to be untrue, that no Catholics c»n be found fitted for the magis erial bench. There is not a parish in Ireland where there could not be found Catholic gentlemen fully a.a well qualified, not merely in character aDd intelligence, but eveu from the poiat of view of wealth, if property is to be regarded as a qualification for the position of magistrate, as the majority of ihose that now wear the title. What happened recently at Cork, when half a dozou Nationalists were appointed magistrates is instructive, Several of them were found to be more highly rated than the Tory J.P.s who wore acting as ex-offieio guardians, and they accordingly took the places of those gentlemen on the Board of Guardians, The sentiment of the Irish peasmt towards the Petty Beasions Court is one of mis'rust where it is cot one of contempt. It is time to end the scandal. The profession of " loyalty " in Ireland is bo profitable that in many cases one need not be cynic to entertain grave doubts of its disinterestedness. Mr T. M. Healy, M.P,, in an article in the London Star, gives some telling facts, proving bow well sucb " loyalty '' has paid and iB paying. As it is in the House of Commons that this olap-trap about " loyalty " mostly nourishes, it is worth while con•idering who and what are the Irieh standard-bearers of the Union there. Barring the representatives of Belfast, these members are mostly landlords or place-hunting barristers, lhey support the status quo because it Bupportß them, for no change couM bring tram benefit; but where is the "loyalty " or chivalry here? The landlord members are Messrs Saunderson, Waring, O'Neill, Mulholland, Macartney, Hamilton, H. Piuckett, M'l'almont, Hill. Why shou'd they want a change ? The lawyers are Messrs D. rluukett, Carson, Bobb, Dane, Barton, Kenny, Hentoul. What good cou.d a reform do them? Five other Dieter M.P's. are not Irishmen at all— viz,, Messrs Russell, Lea, Forster, Harland, and Wolff, who may be treated as mere party-hacks whose talk does not count. Of the remaining two Clstermen in Parliament, one, Mr Johnson, of Balljkilbeg, has already

held orrice, having vacated the neat he woa in the 1874 Parliament (by defying the law find going to gaol) to accept the poat of Fishery Commissioner, and be re-entered the Hoaee on his dismissal ther«from for constant speech-making. . . . The seven years priced ing the incoming of the present Government were years of fatness for Tory lawyers in Ireland, and the savour of them may well affect the highly -strung sensibilities of the legal props of the Union in the House of Commons. There were then given away for parly servioes to True Blues of the right sort the Attorney-Generalship, at £5000 a year and fees (four times) ; the Solieitor-Generalahip, at half the price (four times) ; a Law-Lordthip, £6000 ; a Lord Chancellorship, £8000 ; the Chief Justiceship, £5000 (twice) ; three Queen's Bench Judgesaips, £3500 each ; one Land Judge, £3500 ; one Bankruptcy Juiige, £2000 ; one Judicial Land CommiSßionersbip, £3500 ; two Land Commissionerships £3000 each ; two Purchase Commissioner' snips, £2000 each ; fourteen County Judgeships, at from £1000 to £2000 ; a Chief Receivership, £1000 ; two Taxing Masterships, £800 ; while as for jobs like Registrars in Lunacy, Sub-Commissioner-ships, Resident Magistrateships, Fishery Commiesionerßhip&, Grown Prosecutoißbips, berths in the Board of Works, the Local Govern* ment Board, the Prison Board, Examiners on Title Valuation Boards, Registry of Deeds, Cleik.B of the Crown— trifles at from £800 to £2000 a year— they almost went a-begging. Patronage valued at £150,000 a year must have fallen to the Tory Government in Ireland since tht Liberals went out in 1885, without reckoning local inniDgß at grand juries, boards of guardians, asylum boards, etc., which alwayn remain with the a&cendency party. It is, therefore, safe to say that our Unionist lawyerß in tbe House of Commons are persons with expectations — when the "outs" come in. What wonder, then, if they threaten to " line the ditches " to keep all these good things in the family ? Mr Henry Lucy, the distinguished London journalist, who hal been paying a visit to Dublin, writes under date June 2 : — Lord Houghton is, for the situation, an ideal Lord-Lieutenant. Young! rich, good looking, with a fine presence and an admirable manner, ha steps into the Viceroyalty as if it were a family inheritance, The position of the hour is one of supreme and unique difficulty. Here* tofore, save during the brief term of Lord Aberdeen's office, the position of the Viceroy has been clearly defined. He has been the headpiece, the outward and visible sign of the British ascendancy, which galls the Irish and gratifies Ulster and other sections of the " garrison." Ireland was divided into two camps, the Engliab and the anti-English. Lord Houghton comes upon the scene with tbe dawn of a new era. It is understood that the Lord-Lieutenant has no politics, being simply the representative of the Sovereign. But Lord-Lieutenants come and go with Ministries, and however cleverly they may hide tbe colour, are steeped in the hue of party politics. Lord Houghton is the representative of the Sovereign in Ireland, bat he is also the nominee of a Government which is Btraining every nerve in order to give Ireland Home Rule. No one talks politics in the drawing-room or dining-room at Dublin Castle, or amid the more pleasant environments of the Viceregal Lodge. But factßiare stubborn thiuga. Wnilst the populace of Dublin cheer Lord Houghton whenever he appears, recognising in him the standard bearer of Home Rule, the Ulster party — that is to say, all that is rich, and powerful, professional and official — regard him as a traitor to the Union. The Viceroy had this sta'e of things brought forcibly to bis mind in connection with two race meetings be attended in swift succession. One waa at Puncheßtown, a sort of Ascot in its aristocratic gathering on the grand stand and in the paddocks. The other was at Baldoyle, witbia drive by outside car from Dublin, and much favoured by the populace. When his Excellency arrived at Punchestown he was received with averted eyea and chilling silence, few so loyal as to do him reverence. Aa Baldoyle he had an enthusiastic recepion, and when he left a multitude ran a long distance by the carriage cheering him and Home Rule. Dublin is, ot course, a rnilitury centre, and with us militarism is always a botbed of Toryism whatever popular question may be to the fore. There have been wild stories about Lord Wolseley's feeling on the subject, attributing to him nothing leas than intention to mutiny in case of conflict arising after pacing of tbe Home Rule Bill. These are, of course, gross exaggerations, but in private conversation Lord Wolseley has a frank Boldierly fashion of talking about politics (almost the only science he does not understand) which leaves no doubt on the mind of the listner as to where his sympathies lie on the question of Home Rale. At the luncheon given at the Vice-regal Lodge on the Queen's Birthday I chai,ced to ait near a distinguished officer, who almost apologised to me for his presence. He said he had been invited by Lord Houghton both to the luncheon and to the State banquet in the evening. Cherishing, aa everyone does, a strong personal admiration fur Lord Houghton, he ft It he would be a traitor to the Empire if he p-iltere 1 with the evil thing even to the extent of silting at meat the guest of Mr Gladstone^ Lord-Lientenant. Alter long wrestling with his conscience be arrived at a compromise. Out of personal I deference to Lord Honghton he would go to tbe luncheon ; from concern for his country be would abstain from the banquet. Later in tbe evening I met him at tea at the Chief Secretary's lodge, his arm

in a sling. " Ah," be eaid, " you see one cannot with imponitygbow tbe knee in tbe temple of Bimmoo. When I was riding into town after luncheon at the Vice-regal Lodge my horse came a cropper on the cobblestones, and I have sprained my wrist." I tried to convince him that this was rather a judgment for his having declined to go to tbe State branquet, but he was inexorable.