The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-12-04 00:00:00

Et!e ,Stourtribge Obsahr.

-SAT ---------------------- 4, 1886.
- - ---- -
THE NE-W
MOVE IN IRELAND.

THE perennially seething state of politica'.
feeling among the inore demonstrative of the
Irish people has within the last few days
given place to a condition of greater activity
in public affairs. On the one hand the' fair-
rent" cry haá been raised with a louder voice,
on the other authority has show a determin-
ation to sternly set its foot down and insist
upon the law being observed. We have ap-
proached dangerously near to another Irish
crisis. Tha Nationalist party, now undeni-
ably solid and strong, has pronounced flatly
against the system of government and of law
under which Ireland-lives. Such a body has
a perfect- right to take such a course.
lzUrther, it would be within the propr:eties
for a combination of this character, in a free
land like ours, to seek by agitation, orginis-
ation, and teaching, to so chancre public feel-
ing that the whole fabric of the rule under
which they are living would necessarily have
to he subjected to transformation, and that
in the direction of their. own desires. But
to bring about a legitimate alteration of this
character without violence, ,the reforreers
must act constitutionally.. They must put
themselves in conformity with existing law,
..ere ft-17 can OortituAOflollYdemand what
theasleera se-oeld be in ariv.‘nthpent: This is
just e-xactly what the Nationalists are not
~eeys careful to do, and this is the point
upon which they are chiefly- at issue with
thoee.responsible for peace and order. For
this political haste, 'which will not wait for
the due course of Parliamentary legislation,
Mr. Parnell himself and some of his lieuten-
ants had- to f‘languish" for a while in Kul-
. Tr:air:hem earlier on in the agitation. For
this same canpe a Crown prosecution is new
Tee-..gressing against Mr. John Dillon, M.P,
my.-.ich has caused quite a ferment, not only in
Sligo but throughout Ireland. Hence it is
that the dragoon is again a factor in peace
preservetio-n—and also, sad to say, in aggra-
vating, pro. tem. at any rate, disterbarce-e-
-in "rebel" Cork. Hence also it is, to go
from the particular to the
.general, that
there has been this new move in Ireland,
- which has sent Sir Robert Hamilton frem
Dublin to Tasmania, and placed in the suh-
,eeeretarial chair a gallant soldier, Sir Red-
vers Buller, En passant, your Nationalist is
an arrant Opportunist, and confessedly so.
He snatches at everT straw which swims
past on the political tide, well pleased if
thereby he is 'buoyed up ever so little in his
straggle with the whelming waters. To-day
will tell you that Sir Robert Hamilton
was at one with him in aspiration for Irish
autonomy, and hence he has been packed off
"underneath the world." Not so long ago
of all the most obnoxious at Dublin Castle,
no single official stank so in the Nationalist
nostril as the permanent Under-Secretary.
At Sligo, on Sunday, one fire-rating orator
said that Sir Redvers Buller had been sent
as a new Cromwell to sweep out from Ire-
land all opposition to the dominant power in
the State, and -.hat be had rewarded those
who commissioned him by becoming himself
. a convert to Home Rule Little did. the rash
speaker think that; even as his words fell
upon the ears of his audience, Sir Redvers
was preparing himself for the enforcement
of the law at the Castle, and carried the
patent of his appointment as Irish Under-
-Secretary in • his pocket already ! . A few
days hence and General Bailer will doubtless
be denounced from end to end of Ireland.
Lord Aberdeen went to Dublin and was re-
ceived coldly, and as an alien. He came
away landed as one of a party who had bid-
den boldly for the Nationalist -vote. Lord
Londondery is daily adding to the big pile of
prejudiced animosity which exists againA
him as one of the "hated house of Castle-
reagh," and yet, personally, his every action
is for Ireland's good. Nationalism is indeed,
far too Opportunist to have claim to con-
sistency, and in judging, as well as acting,
too hastily, drives away the sympathy of
many friends of a broader liberty. While
the hearts of those unwarped by party pre-
judice ward towards every unselfish effort
•for Ireland's improvement, and while their
Minds are open to find good in the en-
deavours of all active politicians in that
direction, it cannot but be seen that an
organisation thtt will either stoop to every
means to obtain its ends, or hurry on helter-
skelter to the goal, regardless of the dam-
age done by unconsiderate baste, is not pro,
ceeding wisely and well. Law and order must
be maintained, the constitutional rights of
individuals must be protected. If what is
constitutionally right is morally wrong, then
by all means let legitimate agitation struggle
for reform. But security, stability, ay !
even justice are gone, if illegality is allowed.
The appointment of Sir Refver; Buller will
therefore be approved by the bulk of unpre-
judiced people, atel the wish that he will a,.t
fearlessly and have full support from Govern-
ment, will be general. Meantime, the
Nationalists, if they do not obey the law,
will of necessity be discredited and lose caste.
Let tiieni show their sincerity by subordin-
. .
sting passioro to patriot:ern, and constitution-
ally recognisiog the present biadine-ertect of
the stattites whichliy-agitation thy woald
sweep away. The Dillon case is snb
we may not speak'ot its merits no,,v, but it
rests entirely on the Nationalists whether
Crown prosecutions cease (- r extend. We
trust that wisdom's w iispers will be heeded,
and that there will be no need of further
Court work. Violence will not help on the
work of reform. There is intelligence from
America of the snpercession of 0' Donovan
Rossa, and the appointmeut of an even lesa
scrupulous man to succeed him as head of
the Irish Fenian Extremists. It is hoped,
however, for the sake of the true Irish cause-
- that Nationalism will purge itself from
association with this or any other band of
villains or fanatics, who 'ewould ruthlessly
raTike at the lives of those who differ from