Various 'Carrion Crows'

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 16, 22 April 1909, Page 610

Various ' Carrion Crows '

On account of their general -*afid traditional lack of ability, the Irish Orange-Tory members of the Westminister Parliament have for generations been known as c the deadheads of Ulster.' On April 26, 1907, a new designation was given to them by Mr. Birrell, Chief Secretary for Ireland, in the course of a notable speech at Halifax. He described them as ' carrion crows,' whose ' sole object is to malign and misrepresent their native country in the eyes of the English people ' by false or exaggerated stories of Irish crime and 'outrage.' Like one of Sheridan's termagants, they have ca. free tongue and a bold invention.* Among" their English aids and allies was the Daily Graphic. In its issue of July 26, 1907, and at other dates, this ' carrion crow ' organ published ' faked ' photographs as genuine representations of ' Irish outrages." The Chief Secretary for Ireland described one of these alleged ' remarkable photographs ' as ' a scandalous production,' and as ' illustrations of absolute invention ' passed off as ' historical pictures of actual occurrences, for the purpose of inflaming the public mind.' ' All fair-minded men, 3 added he, ' will give unqualified condemnation to such a procedure ' (An Impeached Nation, pp. 287-9). The Daily Graphic ruse has not been without imitators. It has been (according to our British and Irish exchanges) copied by various ultra-Protestant associations (the Protestant Alliance) in order to ' scare up ' opposition to Mr. Redmond's Catholic Disabilities Bill. ' Anti-Catholic agitators,' we are told, ' are going about the suburbs of London and the country giving lectures on what is callefl the " Life of a Carmelite Nun," in which grotesque scenes alleged to be part of the daily life of a nun are shown on magic lantern slides, and then the audience is invited to sign the petition.' The,, photographs are, of course, like those of the Daily Graphic,,' illustrations of absolute invention,' palmed off upon the credulous and simple-minded ' as historical pictures of actual occurrences, for the purpose of inflaming the public mind.' It is indeed a desperate and bankrupt cause that needs such resorts.