Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-02-27
wards us and towards the people whom VIC

we expect to benefit the Irish people by coming
over here and agitating the question in Ameri-
ca? OF course we have been told by those who
are our enemies, by newspapers who are I'M
ES1shd to us, that we had no bushes whatever
here, that we would be far better off at home,
both for ourselves ard for our people. Well,
now, there are several things which "a practl-
cal men we did anticipate we would effect by
coming to America in favor of our people, and
l could mention several but l will just mem
ton one or two which alone would have been
quite sufficient reasons to bring us across the
Atlantic.
Now, the first of these things Is this: This
movement in Ireland which has become SO we'll
known over here now-this movement against
the land system of Ireland-was inaugurated
aud carried out under the direction of the
Irish national land league, spread with extraor-
binary rapidity throughout Ireland, and ac-
qui-ed, in an amazingly short space of time
..eat force, and became very formidable. Now
Ii is proved-if l were to look around for a
proof to show that it has become formidable
it is found III this fact; that the government
has already receded from its position; that in
Ireland at present we cannot hold public
meeting and talk about this question, but we
must have sitting by us three or four detec-
tives or short hand writers sent down from
Dublin and from London to take down every
syllable We utter. in the hope that we may
transgress the imaginary line which divides US
from what they call the constitutional talking
and treason. (Applause)
Now should like to explain, for the benefit
of this audience, what the real meaning of
what describe this state Of things is. There
are some herelt understand, who know what the
law of sedition of England is; am sure there
are great many others who do not know. and
who have never dreamt that such law existed.
The law of sedition is something to this effect:
You break the law of sedition by speaking Ian
guage calculated to sow ill-will or dissensions
amongst any of her majesty's subjects, or cal
culated to lead to breach of the peace, or
bring the name of the government into con-
tempt. just consider what the meaning of
that act is. 1t leaves it open to the crown
lawyers to condemn anything, almost, that a
man can say in condemnation of
the action of the government, or any
thing man can say against a privileged class
in condemnation of privileges which they en-
Joy at the expense of the minority-these come
clearly within the law of sedition. And there
we are logged by detectives at every meeting
held in Ireland waiting to see if we shall say
anything calculated to SOW ill-will among any
classes of her majesty's subjects. Well, of
course, we hold our meetings to condemn a
class of privileges which are enjoyed by one
small party in Ireland to the RUIN and destruc-
ton of the majority of the Irish people. How
can we condemn that system (applsuse), and
those privileges without transgressing this
monstrous law?
Well, now, come back to what | started
with. One of the objects we had in coming to
America was this: We wanted to win tho
public opinion of America in order to stay the
arm of England which was raised to strike
us and to strike our people. ZAP
they were determined-as they showed that
they were determined-and ready to put in
force these barbarOus laws (Which, mind you,
they never put in force in England, but which
they keep on the statute book for their use in
Ireland alone), l say that we wanted to tell
them that if they were determined to outrage
the principles of liberty, which have been held
dear in Ireland, that theylwould not do it in the
dark, and that they would be forced to do it
before the face of America. And it is astranye
fact, and an important fact with us, that the
English people delight in having themselves
looked upon, and boast themselves to be the
most hberty-lovihg people of the whole
world. daughter and applause.) 1t is
a we'll known fact, and it has a
of the English authorities, and the proof of it
is in this, that when VIC left Ireland Michael
Davitt was threatened with instant trial, and
we felt afraid that the right arm of our agita-
ton in Ireland was about to be cut off. ZAP
plause and cheers.) The government, know
ing right we'll who were the men upon whom we
most trusted land amongst those men 1 may
mention Mr.. Davitt) selected him and seized
upon him az one of the first victims of this
horrible system of detective espionage, and
they dragged him up to Dublin and refused
him a fair trial in the place where his trial
ought to have been held, in the hope that they
might obtain Jury to convict him and thus
silence his voice for few years. But what
has happened since we came to America? They
boxy IF h fr.o1 tn mt
and am inclined almost to hope that one
effect of our visit here will be to
make the English government ashamed of
going on with the trial of Michael Davitt for
using language which every free-born Ameri-
can, if he read it here, would adopt and ap-
prove of. (Applause.) That is something
gained by coming over to America. And there
is another thing gained Also and it is this
Now, very curious thing happened, which
shows the force and the truth of what 1 have
just been saying, about the desire which Eng
land has when she is going to do something
cruel and unjust-to do it in the dark. That
has always been the truth in the history of
England.
An article appeared, in the last number 1
think it was, of the Nineteenth Century, de-
scribing the whole process to which 1 am now
going to call your attention. When the Eng
fish government. after the capture of
the Afghan chiefs, determined to wreak
the horrible vengeance they did wreak on those
men whose only offense was that they fought
bravely in behalf of their own country, she did
a thing unparalleled in the history of modern
civilization. They dismissed all represents
tivcs of the press and if any man was found
there to report for newspaper he was seized
and treated as spy. Having thus drawn the
line of secrecy around their proceedings they
prepared by a mock trial to execute by an Or
der of death the officers of the Afghan army
and also the high priests of the Moslem re-
ligion.
Now the fact of that atrocity has since leaked
| out, and there is to-day no blacker page in the
history of England. What she wants to do in
Ireland now is this: She wants to keep things
dark and secret, and 1 am sorry to say that we
had seen every reason to believe that it was the
deliberate intention of the British government
| and Irish landlords to goad our people into acts
of violence and open instruction in order that
they might repeat in Ireland the scenes trans
acted in Afghanistan
But the public opinion in America has made
| it difficult for them to do it..
lam happy also to lay that we have been sue
cessful in carrying out these objects in Ameri-
ca far beyond what we had anticipated. The
| citizens of America have shown an unanimity
and warmth of sympathetic feeling for the
struggles of the Irish people that have aston
ished me. I really thought and feared that the
| Americanswere too busy that they had too much
| to claim their attention, to turn