The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-14 00:00:00

SPIILIT OE THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

- 40- --

TlmES.—Magistrates exist, or ought to exist, as a
terror to evildoers, and the loyal classes of the Irish
people are not without excuse if they complain that
the law in their country is too weak to fulfil its pro-
per mission. It seems tolerably certain that the
customary penalties of disloyalty in Ireland de not
restrain men from being disloyal, and the first im-
pulse is, of course, to increase the severity of their
paid-shun:et, and at the same time to make it more
swift in its infliction. Much may, at all events, be
forgiven to the loyal people of Irela id if they clamour
for arbitrary dealing with the disturbers of their
peace. We in England have some difficulty in rea-
lising their position. None of us live in a " pro-
claimed" county. No Londoner goes to bed uncer-
tain whether he may not be rowed in the middle
of the night by a deemed for arms and ammunition.
The extent of his anticipations is a startling para-
graph to be read at breakfast time, and he does not
suffer that to disturb the comfort of his morning
meal. When we advise our fellow-subjects across
the Irish Channel to be calm and t) rely upon the
securities for safety' they possess, we are very wise,
but we are also somewhat like the well-known ab-
sentee who sent the comforting message to his
steward —" Tell the tenants that no threats to shoot
you will terrify me." If we have underrated the
apprehension among sonic of the influential classes
in Ireland, we have consequently failed to estimate
the pressure which has been put upon the Irish Go-
vernment. The Lord-Lieutenant and his advisers
deserve, in fact, much credit for their steady resist-
ance to -the demands that have been made upon
them. No course was too truculent for some of
their amateur advisers, andase can well understaect
the mischief which must have ensued had any
countenance been given to their suggestions. The
Irish Government have used the power the law
gives them, and it has been proved sufficient to re-
press disorder, but they have not been tempted to
overstep the constitutional limits of their functions.
Happily for us, indeed, the law under which we live
gives the Executive no such powers as the Irish Go-
vernment has been adjured to exercise. The Lord
Lieutenant, even if he desired it, could no more
carry fire and slaughter into Munster than into
Middlesex. ' He cannot even restrain the personal
liberty of
_a single Irishman, except under the pro-
visions of an extraordinary and temporary act of
Parliament. He could, no doubt, as a matter of
fact, proolaitn,martial law, or, in other words, de-
clare the lives and property of all Irishmen to be at
the discretion of himself and hie subordinates, but
the proclamation would be the ground for instant
impeachment, and either principal or subordinate
would be responsible before ~he ordinary tribunals
of the country for any act done under it. It is
strange any one should be called upon to enunciate
now these elemeetery truths, which, were inscribed
in our statute book and sanctioned by the blood of
a civil war two centuries ago. It is stranger that
Enghshnien, not, Irishmen alone, should hold those
essential articles of our peace of such little account,
as if they Might be disregarded as obsolete. The
fact, however, is that the Irish Government has not
desired, and we are glad to know does not desire, to
possess the arbitrary powers for which a few excited
loyalists clamour. It is equally certain the Impe-
rial Parliament would, not concede any such privi-
leges. If it were disposed to do so, a case would be
made out for reform such as no one has yet ventured
to suggest. Parliament has, on the representations
of the Ministers of the Crown—representations
which have, unfortunately,. been too fully verified
by subsequent events—placed for a season the per-
sonal liberty of every Irishman under the abso-
lute controi of the Irish Executive ; but further
than this there is no necessity, and there would
be no justification for going.. If, however, the Go-
vernment has been called upon to exercise powers
it does not possess, it is not for want of weapons
which the law has already placed iu the hands of
the loyal. A Memorandum has been seasonably
issued from the Castle instructing magistrates on
the powers and duties devolving upon them at a
crisis like the present. It beeins with a statement
of the conditions under which special. constables
may be sworn in, which ought to quiet the alarms
Of some o` those who are flocking from their houses
in the country to towns, and the neighbourhool of
constabulary barracks. The-conditions were discussed
so recently, on the occesioa of the march to the
drill ground at Brompton, that they are well known
here, hut it is *ell that Irish gentlemen should be
reminded that they may defend themselves. When-
ever credible persons &pose to reasonable apprehen-
sion of riot, tumult, or insurrection, and the justices
are of opinion that the police, military, and other
reoular forces of the country are not sufficient for
the present protection of persons and property,
special constables may be enrolled. The power and
duty of swearing in constables 'at any crisis are the
same throughout the kingdom, but there are special
provisions for
:maintaining the: peace of Ireland,
which have been published by the Lord Lieutenant
in the Memorandum to which we have referred. No
one can complain that they are too restricted, and,
indeed, it may be questioned whether they are not
too wide. All persons armed with any weapon, or
appearing in any disguise,
or wearing any uni-
form. or badge, or assuining any name or denomi-
nation not usually assumed by ordinary persons in
their lawful occasions, who shall assemble or who
shall appear, alone or with others, by day or
night, are guilty of a high misdemeanour, sub-
jecting them to penal servitude, imprisonment, and
whipping. Any two magistrates having reason-
able cause to suspect any person to be guilty of thus
assembling or appearing, or of having been at such
assembly, or of intending so to be, are required to
surniumon them, and bind him over to appear at the
Assizes, and, in case of refusal, to commit him to
gaol ; and every magistrate has authority to sum-
mon his jurisdiction whom he may
think
im any
,under person
capable rs onn ft
en
same
giving
s penalty, to answer an material evidence, and
ex-
aminationcom-
pel on oath. These powers are almost wide
enough to repress the conception of treason, but
the Whiteboy Acts stricke at much more than mere
assembling or appearing,.or the intention so to do.
The deeds we have heard of—such as attacking
houses and carrying off horses, or weapons, or other
property; the writing or giving any notice, letter,
or message exciting a riot, or threatening violence,
or demanding arms or ammunition, or requiring a
employment; promoting meetiuge
orny tn
signals—are all high misdemean-
bopoyerrssno,bisLttiesboi g
fieonrtiettsao,
the same punishments of penal ser-
vitude and the rest ; and all magistrates and con-
stables are bound to apprehend, disperse, and oppose
persons so esgaged, and may call on any one to
assist them, and are fully indemnified for happening
to kill, maim, or hurt any person in discharging
such a duty. A mere statement of these means ot
enforcing order is sufficient ; they are so stringent
as to call for the greatest circumspection in their
exercise ; and they take away all excuse for de-
manding further powers, if they do not suggest that
a revision of the laws in force in Ireland for the
maintenance of the peace should be one of the first
things undertaken after the establishment of order.
We may reasonably hope that the Fenian out-
itself. Day after day
rumours,
which prove bbrreinag ks willus soon
nothing
un-
substantial when examined ; and the ordinary
powers of the Irish Executive, supplemented
by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act,
have been sufficient to maintain the peace. If
there were any reason—and there is none—to sup-
pose that these will prove insufficient, the pro-
visions of the whiteby Act take away any necessity
for giving arbitrary privileges to the Government.
We wish we could stop there. Unfortunately,
history warns us too clearly against the craving for
unlimited power iu the Executive Government, be-
cause it shows that it is impossible to prevent its
abuse in the hands of subordinate offiCers. The
rising of 1798 was a real rebellion, compared to
which the demonstrations of our time are but child's
play, and so far there was some excuse for excesses
then ; but whoever will even now refer to the action
against Sir Judkin :Fitzgerald in the State Trials,
and the debates which followed it in the Irish Par-
liament, must feel ashamed of what was and might
again be done in the name of law. Nothing but
imperative necessity should make us willing to. un-
dergo the risk of a repetition of such deeds, and
where the necessity is absolutely wanting we cannot
go a step beyond the safeguards which have been
proved amply sufficient.
THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE ON " REFORM AND
THE WORKING CLASSES."—The late divisions in the
Cabinet of Lord Derby are striking indications as
to the great diversity which still exists in the edu-
cated mind of the country as to Reform. Reform
is no longer a question of parties, but a question
as to the future relations between the different
classes of society in England. This question, as to
the relation between class and class, goes very
deep and effects such momentous interests. that
we are not at all surprised at the hesitation which
men feel in dealing with: what is more a social,
perhaps, than a. political difficolty.. . Whether the
character:of .the English Government should be-
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