The Evening critic., 1883-02-24

There was much excitement III tne
House of Commons at the opening of the
session yesterday afternoon, as 1t was ex-
pected that Mr., Parnell would speak in
answer to the charges made against him
by Mr.. Forster. A large number of persons
were in the lobbies, being unable to find
room in the House. The strangers gallery
and the peers gallery were filled. The
seats of all the members were reserved.
Mr.. Parnell said the utmost he desired to
do was to make his position clear to the
Irish people ut home and abroad. Mr.. For
ster, he said, ought to be ashamed for ira
ducing him. He declined to reply to MIR.
Forsters questions and charged that gem
tleman with having asked him to inform
against his associates. If Mr.. Forster had
believed that articles published in the
Irish World we're likely to incite crime,
why had he not stopped the circulation
of that paper2 He compared
the responsibility of Mr.. Forster, who had
read the articles and believed what the re-
suit would be, to that of himself. who had
never read them, though they were now
brought against him. Mr.. Forster had
unfairly singled out the name of Sheridan
as mentioned in the Kilmainham treaty"
negotiations. Why did he suppress the
names of Davitt, Egan and Boyton, who
were also mentioned as likely to endeavor
to prevent outrage in 1reland2
Mr.. Forster exclaimed: They were not
mentioned to me-"
Mr.. Parnell continued: He had been
challenged to defend himself, but he had
nothing to defend himself from. He occu-
pied better position in the eyes of the
Irish than Mr.. Forster did in England. Mr..
Forster was also guilty of snppreSsio reri, be-
cause the heading in the United Ireland,
"Incidents of the Campaign, over the
column recording outrages, ceased the mo-
ment Mr.. O'Brien, editor of that paper was
liberated from prison. Mr.. Forster's unfair
ness was shocking. Mr.. Parnell also ana
lyzed the evidence Of Carey at the hearing
Of the Irish prisoners in Dublin, which he
said was not statement of fact, but of be-
lief or hearsay. 1t had been already dis
proved as regards Mrs Byrne. The evidence
in reference to the source of the murder
fund.-" he said, rested upon the fact
that some men while in prison had received
checks from the sustentation fund Of the
Land League. Such aid had beea given to
thousands of prisoners. Mr.. Forster's ami
mus was due to the fact that he had at
| tempted to obtain promise from him
| (Mr. ParnelI but had failed to do so and had
| lost his office. In concluding his remarks
| Mr.. Parnell declared that the present
| officials in Ireland are manifestly unfit to
| administer the crimes act. Mr.. Forster
| OugnU 10 TeuuTn 10 his COuPeuidl WoIh' Nl
| Parnell said he was hopeful that ireland
would weather this as she had weathered
| other formidable expressions. He spoke for
| 35 minutes.
| Mr.. Trevelyan, Chief Secretary for Ire
| land, in reply to Mr.. ParDell, proceeded tc
| indicate the policy.of the Government il
| Ireland. Since the present Government
there had been commissioned to suppress
crime the number of murders had been re
duced from three monthly to one in the
last four and a-half months. The only
policy for Ireland was to say exactly wha
the Government meant to do and then d.
it, He regretted that Mr. Parnell had no
made his position clearer. Mr.. Gorst
amendment to the address in repl.
to the speech from the throne wa
distasteful to Earl Spencer, Lord Lieuten
ant of Ireland, and to himself and would
if carried, lead to their designations, as wei
as to the designations of the Cabinet IL
thought that nothing would be more fatal
Ireland than to hand the responsibility oft
government to local bodies Mr. Trevelya
said if the Government were convince
that the life Of any official or privat
person had been pointed at by melting Lar
guage of the press they would act again.
During Mr.. Parnell's speech Mr.. O'She;
member for Glare, exclaimed that Messr
Boyton, Egan and Davitt were mentione
to Mr.. Forster. AS proof that the prison
ers charged with the Phoenix Park mu
ders were not members of the Land Leagu
Mr.. Parnell pointed out during his speec
that one of them had returned q chec
which had been sent to him from the su
tentation fund, saying that he had nothir
to do with the league.