New-York tribune., 1883-03-17
THE LONDON EXPLOSION.

THE LOADON EaILOctON.
The explosion in the Offices of the Local Gov
ernment Board is generally regarded IN London
as an Irish plot. Gas and dynamite are de-
structive agents which can readily be distin-
guished in their effects. The experts have been
convinced by the evidence of the tremendous
force of the explosion that it was caused by
either eunpowder or dynamite. The assump-
tjon that the gunpowder CT dynamite was
nlanted by Irish conspirators follows az n mat
ter of course. The English people are thus
brought face to face with another Clerkenwell
outrage.
An important distinction between these afro
cous crimes must not be overlooked. The
Clelkenwell explosion was planned TO effect an
immediate result. The cOnspirators exploded
barrel of gunpowder under the wall of the
house of detention where two Fenians accused
of complicIty in the Manchester murders were
confined They expected To make breach in
the wall. to cause CONSERVATION among the
officials, and to enable the prisoners TO escape.
They strangely miscalculated the effects of the
explosion, by which many houses were de-
stroyed and rs many as fifty women and chill
dren were either manned or killed. They had'
however, a distinct purpose in view. They
aimed to liberate those prisoners by an outrage
even more conspicuous for recklessness than
the audacious attack on the prison at Manches-
ter had been. Now those who planned this new
explosion in the heart of London could not have
expected TO accomplish any direct result beyond
the destruction of Government property.
Apparently an effort was made to avoid an IN
discriminate slaughter of clerks and bystanders
for the explosion occurred at an hour when the
Offices were deserted and the streets empty !;
and it is probable that those who secreted the
explosives behind the massive balustrade or
within the windows did not have'an adequate
idea of the tremendous forces with which they
were playing. Be this rs it may, the conspira-
tors could not have had any definite purpose
in view. The aimlessness and wantonness Of
the crime tend to make it, therefore, peculiarly
diabolcal.
1t is painful to observe, however, the readi-
ness with which political agitators make use of
an outrage which was apparently planned by a
small group of miscreants in London for their
own recreation. We would have said that
there was glaring injustice in saddling the re-
sponsibility for so wantOn a crime upon the
whole Irish people. Sorely as our patience has
been tried by the systematic lawlessness and
cowardly assassinations of recent years, our
faith in the best traits of Irish character was
still strong enough to Justify the belief that
public sentiment on the island would hold such
plot in adherence. We would naturally ek-
pect to hear ODonovan Rosa wbstling Ju-
bilate and pronouncing the work not only
very good but all his own. What startles us
is to find Mr.. Parnelps confidential friends and
followers now in this country treating the
dynamite incident as huge joke, laughing
heartily at the CONSERVATION caused in London,
and even predicting that there will be more
explosions "right away" They are candid
enough to admit that political use cen be
made of dynamite plots. Such outrages, they
seem to imply, will exasperate the English peo-
pie and convince them that it will he better to
let ungovernable Ireland go. They do not say
that the murders were n long way of, although
Cavendish was one Of the victims, but that
dynamite can be worked 80 close at hand as TO
scare England out Of its senses. Is this thought
in their minds ? Does their ribald hilarity over
the London panic betoken q secret sympathy
with the dynamite campaign 7 And in this
respect do they reflect the main mass of pub
lie sentiment in Ireland The island has no
leader, unless it be Mr. Parnell, and there are
associates who know his mind. Can 1t be that
he and they have degraded Ireland to their