The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-12-04 00:00:00

"O'DONOVAN ROSSA FOR TIPPERARY!"

The High Sheiiff of Tipperary attenled at the court-
house, Clonmel, on Saturday to declare the state of
tge,wbasut nonecrowd of supportersedacllirete
e the
of Mr. Heron weds+ present ; the learned gentleman
himself had left for Dublin early in the moreing, anl
the
e tm
was not represented even by an agent. The totting
of the pill books occupied a considerable time, during
which the crowd indulged in violent demonstrations of
triumph over their victory.
As so in as the hooks had been made up the sheriff
Came forward and declared( that 1,131 votes had been
reed riled for O'Donovan Roma; 1,023 for Mr. Heron,
and 12 for Mr. Collette, the Conservative candidate ;
he therefore pronounced 0' DODOVAIII Roe." elected to
serve in Parliament as the representative of Tip-
perary." The omission a the usual phrase " duly
elected" was noticed, and believed tribe intenl ionaL
The crowd received the announcement with the
wildest joy, and for • time an extravagant degree of
exeitement prevailed.
When the demonstrations had somewhat subslded
Mr. Peter Gill, who hoe teen accepted as the official
representative of the Fenian convict came forward o
preposie a vote of thanks to the High Sheriff, whose
prudent avoidance of the legal difficulties of the situa-
tion has quite restored his popularity. Mr. Gill. as
usual, made a lengthened and dlieoursive speech. He
thanked the people of Tipperary for the gallant stand
they had taken in the cause of O'Donovan Roma and
Ireland. He denied that Rosa had, se some persons
alleged, received or sought Conservative support, and
stated that the Conservative patty teal refrained alto-
gether from interfering in the cutest. In return-
ing O'Donovan Hosea, Mr. Gill e did, they had
"• taught the British ministers that the Irish people
cannot be insulted with impunity." He advise d the
Government to take this warning in time. Let the
Government, he continued, liberate the political pri-
soners, and send home O'Donovan Rowa with an olive
branch, and they would give up the vacant seat. If
not, the Fenian prisoners would be returned for every
vacant seat in the country, until they would have
materials for a real Irish Parliament. Speaking on
the political questions of the day, Mr. Gill declared
that the Irish people wanted rr!ono, but not revolution;
but if progrd so did not result in reform, history would
repeat 'tea, and it would then result in revolution.
Mr. Mackay, a tenant farmer, and the proposer of
1"losva at the hnstinge, seconded the vote ot thanks
and it was passed with acclamation. The proceedings
terminated without any disturldance.
The rejoicings for the return of O'Donovan ROMS
were most demonstrative. in Limerick. The "national-
ists " had congregated at the telegraph offiee and rail-
way station to learn at the ealliest moment whether
Rosati was elected, and immediately on their expd.cta-
tions being satisfied, absent 1,000 of them marched in
military array, six deep, in regular detachments,
through the streets preceded by a band. When passing
the constabulary barrack the procesgionists threw stones
and broke glass in it; they also flung a volleyed stoma
in the military barracks, and several companies of the
70th Regiment were kept under arms from fear of a
raid.
In Cork the procession of la jeicing was headed by
banners with "WISPS for Tipperary' iffinninatedl upon
them, the standard bearers currying fisting terches.
Abent 5,000 men walked in array—" in regular ndili-
tary order," says a local journal, "and divided iato
sections." There were over 109 torch-bearers, and tar.
barrels were lighted. Many houses were lit up.
In Water Ford the hill of Ballybricken was the ren-
dezvous. Here about 10.090 assembled, and sang
"God save Ireland." There were fireworks, and bands
played Fenian Idris.
In Londondlervr the Ihihernin hand walked through
the streets at the head of a large body of men, who
cheered for Rosen, and sang Fenian songs in chorus.

The Solicitors' Jtawnat, remarking on the election of
O'Donovan Itossa for Tipperary, says :
A felon, being dead in law, is of course incapable of
sitting and voting in the House of Commons (see Coke,
414 Institute, 47), and the election of the convict Rouse,
as member for Tilmerary will, taerefore, be presently
declared void. But it is not, as has been supposed by
some of the daily journals, absolutely void, any more
than would be the election of any other person de facto
ineligible for an ordinary reason—on account, for
instance, of his being a clergyman or a Government
contractor. The voters in I iiiperary are entitled to
nominate a felon and to throw away their votes upon
him, if they please, and the Sheriff, although he may
be satisfied tlmt the candidate and the felon are one
and the same person, has no power to withdraw his
name when it has been duly proposed and seconded.
Cases are not wanting in which members of Par.
Ii ament, aft, r their election, have been diiipuildied
by their being found guilty of felony or treason,
A notable example in that of Smith O'Brien, who
was convicted iif treason in ISIS, while member
for the comity of Limerick. Mn Beat thereby was
ipso fart° vacated and a new writ was issued. But we
I, have that the present is the first case where a
convict has been elected a member of the Legialature
while he is actually underg sing his sentence. There
can, however, be but little deubt as to the proper line
of action to be pursued, assuming that the returning
officer declines to take upen himself the risk of return-
ing Mr. Heron at once. When Parliament meets, that
gentleman will, in all probability, claim the seat by
petition, and his claim, as a matter of course, will be
immediately allowed by the election judge. If he
should not take this step the seat will be declared
vacant and a new writ will be ordered to issue, or, if
the state of the county render it neer ssary, the writ will
be suspended as long as the House may think fit. No
doubt the shortest and best way to settle the difficulty
would be for the returning officer himself to decide on
the question of Roses' ineligibility when the poll is de-
clared. The risk of such a course would be great if
there were any reasonable doubt that Roma is in fact
disqualified. A wrong decision would lay open the
returning officer to an action for penalties. But, as it
is, the only risk he would emounter would be of
personal violence and not of pecuniasy loss. The con-
trary course might ley him open to an action on the
part of Mr. Heron, which, however, the latter would
not be very likely to bring.