New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-14
IfP pAPNELL IN JAIL.
ar,y.

II is now plain that it was with a most de-
liberate purpose in view that Mr.. Gladstone
public attention upon Mr.. Par
nell When he declared at Leeds that the
agrarian conflict had come to be question
of law ON one side and of lawleSsness on the
other. and in the next breath vehemently de-
nounced the Irish agitator Tor preaching
gospel of public plumber and masslng pubilc
sentiment against the Land Act, he pointed
with unerTing finger to the responsible leader
of the new revolt against land reform.
Mr. Gladstone was compelled to choose
between arresting Mr. Parnen and aban-
doning the great reform measure Tor
which he had battled i'll the Commons so
many months. Being leader of dauntless
courage. and having absolute faith in the EN-
cacv of the remedial legislation which he had
devised with painstaking care and III spirit
of enlightened patriotism, he has not shirked
his convictions. He has not hesitated to ar
rest the most popular man in Ireland.
When the Land Act was passed, the great
body of the tenant farmers seemed disposed 10
accent il as an unmixed good. large ma
;ority of the Irish members had voted for 1t
as a substantial measure of justice, and the
group of malcontentS who sneakcd out OF the
Commons when the final division was taken
formed an inconsiderable minority. The first
fest election in Ulster resulted in an unequly0-
cal victory for the Government Genuine
Nationalist like Sir Charles Gayan Duffy bore
testimony to the merits of Mr.. Gladstoncs
scheme of reform, and so influential leader
of the Land League as Mr.. Dillon lost
heart and announced that he should pause
awhile and watch the practical workings
of the Act. The influence of the Cathohc
bishops was brought to bear most powerfully
upon the peasantry. They united in earnestly
exborting their hocks to avail themselves OF
tbe advantages of So large an instamcnt OF
Justice for which the gratitude OF the country
is due to Mr. Gladstone and his Government
A powerful reaction seemed to have set III
against the Land League Yet within few
weeks Mr.. Parnell has succeeded in overcom-
ing these conservative impulses and in giving
n new direction to Irish disafcction. I'm
der the pretcxt of prOvidinga convenient method
of testing the Land Act he has discredited
the concessions which have been made to the
tenant farmers. Going from county to coun-
ty and addressing vast concourScs, he has re-
gained his asccndancy over the masses. Every
where he has warned his cOuntrymcn against
what he has described as the ilus0ry promises OF
a faithlcss Government. He has cautioned
them TO wait until the Land League could es-
tablish the utter worthlcssncss of the Land
Act before putting themselves in the power OF
the landlords. He has directed his energies
to paralyzing the action of the Liberal Gov
eminent and bringing to naught one
of its browning achievements in lcgls-
lation. His success during the last fort
night has been simply marvellous aud
has caused dismay in England. 1t was time
for the Government to challenge him, if an alb
icct surrender to the Land League was TO be
avoided.
1t is only on the ground of political ncccs
sity that so arbitrary an act as the arrest of
Mr. Parncl can he justified. While his replies
to Mr.. Gladstoncs inyectives have been coarse
and vindctive, his speeches have been ia the
main cautious and moderate albeit always in
sdious. He has invariably deprecated lawless-
ness and revolution, and has argued with no
little skill that the Land Act should not be- pre-
Judged from the rack-rcntcd cases first
submitted TO the Commission, but subjected To
more exhaustive test 10y the repre- cntatiycs
of the League. We do not believe that the
warrants for his arrest are based on any
speeches of exceptional violence. The umpris-
onmont of so popular an agitltor under such
circumstances may bc fraught with momcntous
consequences. The provisions OF the Coercion
acts are not to be loosely identified with
those resources of civilization which
Mr.. Gladstone declared at Leeds had
not been fully exhausted. The Premier
has taken an enormous risk in ordering
this arrest, for 1t may end in his making Mr..
Paucll far more powerful than O'Conncll ut
his best, and in prcjudlcing the Irish people for
whole generation, not only against the Land
bill, but against every measure that may be
conceived at Westminster. Yet, if the risk
was great, so was the emergency. Mr.. Clad
stone had TO choose between arrcsting Mr..
Panel and abandoning the Land bill ont
right, and confcssing that the Crown could
neither introduce new law nor enforce its
own authority in Ireland. 1t was a most
melancholy alternative.