National Republican., 1883-01-06
TERRORISM IN IRELAND.
The Effect OF Earl Spencer's Revival OF
Forster's systcm-Tho British Press
Upon IL.

The Effect OF Earl Spencers Revival OF
Forster's System-Tho British Press
Uponu IL.
A London correspondent of Redpaihs Weekly
cables as follows undordatc of January A:
The spasmodic revival by Earl Spencer of
FOrstcrs system Of striking terror Is doing
great service to the patriotic cause, and deep
! injury to English interests in Ireland The
| officials, as might be expected from the fact
that all of them belong to the landlord class
and are bitter partisans, are OVERRIDING the
thing. They show neither wisdom nor COM
mon sense in their action, but strike out
blindly and with evident passion.
Almost every act of theirs is u blundcr.
! They have sent four reporters to jail simply
| for attending meeting for the purpose of re-
porting the proceedings. This is fair sample
of the blind fury with which the local officials
are acting.
Another instance of their folly was the ar
rest of the little boys last Sunday for groan-
ing the lord lieutenant as he came out of
Christ church, Dublin. Spencer had' to for
bid their prosecution, with which the police
were about to proceed, to keep all Ireland
from laughing Mt him.
The freeman omits part of Mr.. William
| O'Brien's speech at Mallow, in which the
editor of United ireland says
At this moment liberty of the press does not
exist for papers which dare to crticlSo the action
of the executive, while unlimited license exists
for those who take the other side.
! Several of the leading English journals bit
! tcrly attack the Irish executive on account
of the prosecutions. The Weekly Despatch, n
| Journal of wide spread circulation among the
| working men, speaks of them as an indiscrc-
| tiOn, and adds that the Irish executive is only
discredited by such conduct.
The Saturday Rerietg proclalms the whole
proceedings to be of doubtful wisdom, and de-
] a1n tI, Of T.gI. -
" the most clumsily performed application of
sound general principles that even Anglo
! Irish administrations have ever made them
| selves responsible for"
Tho PaH Mall Gazette says of the Biggar
| prosecution: "rho whole affair makes a
mountain out Of n mole hill, and i'm n country
| where you are governing with public opinion
against you this is even greater folly than
elsewhere. The details of the prosecutions
in the meanwhile are imbecile and farcical."
Harrington, who is prosecuted for speech
| at Mullingar, is himsclfa journalist and short
| hand writer, and succeeded in completely
| breaking down the evidence of the incompe-
tent police reporter, ON whose notes the prose-
cution relied, and made him confess that he
! committed practical perjury. As u specimen
of the style in which these prosecutions are
conducted, the following Is the chief sentence
complained of in Harrington's speech:
"The agitation carried on in behalf of the
| farmers will be turned against them if they
do not come forward and assist the laborers
now in their hour of need"
This is called intimidation" The case
against Mr.. Biggar has been already much
| damaged. The reporter Of tho local Tory
| paper in Waterford is the only witness against
him, and he had to confess that he reported
only detached portions OF the speech.
| Several more national league meetings have
been stopped, and there ID talk of general
suppression of all meetings. This is a strong
proof Of the progress and power of the new
organization. Ii is making hendway steadily
throughout the country, and the best clc-
ments of land league are already enrolled in
its ranks, Thcmoetings are organized by tho
people themselves, aud up to the present its
| growth has bcon entirely spontaneous.
| William OBricn is meeting with fine re-
ception in Mnllow, and his canvass progresses
favorably. The parish priest remains neutral
but tho three curntes have promised Mr..
| O'Brien their active support,
! The applications under tho arrears act now
number 10000.