The Evening critic., 1883-04-12


THE fright that the English are in over
the abortive attempts to blow something up
is clearly seen in the hasty passage of the
Explosives bill, which confers unusual and
extraordinary powers on the authorities,
and den0unces severe penalties on the Of
Tenders. The bill passed the Commons at
one sitting, the Conservative and Liberal
parties voting for it, while the Parnellites
did not offer any serious opposition to it.
1t is bill that in healthy state of the
public mind would not have the
slightest chance of passage. Yet so in
famed is public feeling in England at pres
ent that it passed the popular branch of the
Government without real debate. So ex-
traordinary are some of its provisions that
we do not exaggerate when we say that it
is distinct step backward in civilization.
The sinister and unlimited powers it con-
fers on the Government are such as OBJ
tain in no government with any pretensions
to liberality and are as obnoxious to modern
ideas as were the Alien and Sedition laws
enacted during the administration of the
elder Adams.
This law provides that persons guilty of
causing explosions whereby life may be i'm.
perilled may be imprisoned for life, the pre-
existing laws providing capital punishment
for the authors of premeditated explosions,
which result in a loss Of life. In the case Of
wholly abortive attempt at an explosion
or the keeping of explosives with criminal
intent, The offender may be punished by
twenty years imprisonment. Harsh as
these sections of the law are, they might
be excused; but the law goes further and
provides that the simple keeping of explo-
sives under suspicious circumstances"
may be punished by imprisonment for
fourteen years. Under this clause the
Government is not bound to establish
criminal intent, suspicious circum-
stances" standing in its stead. The law
does not stop here, but applies not only. to
which they may be made, most of
which are in themselves innocent, as
was pointed out in an article on dynamite
published in last Tuesdays CRITIC. Thus
any scoundrel can get an innocent man,
particularly if of hish birth, into serious
trouble, and perhaps have him imprisoned
fol. "a term of years, simply by sending him
package of saltpetre or quantity of
glycerine.
The dangers threatened by this law are
aggravated by comforting the most unlim-
ited and arbitrary powers OF search on the
police authorities and by empowering the
masters OF vessels to break open packages to
hunt for explosives or the materials for
manufacturing them. No such powers
have been granted to or welded
by the officials of any Government
in modern times, except those of the Third
Section of st. Petersburg. Outside of auto
cratic Russia we must go back to the days
Of the Inquisition to find state of affairs
similar to that created by this law, the
creature of cowardice and cruelty, adopted
by free England Only one thing is
lacking to make this law the most in.
famous that ever blackened nation;
statute books, a retroactive clause, and thi.
provision, SO repugnant to all sense of jus
tice, was favorably discussed in leading
English papers.
We have no disposition TO exult over
England in her day Of trouble, but il is a
trouble she has brought upon herself by
her injustice, continued through seven long
and dark centuries, toward generous,
high-spirited, unfortunate people. A day
of retribution is sure to come to any peo.
pie that oppresses another and England's
hand has been heavy upon Ireland and her
yoke has been grieyous one to bear.
Is IL any wonder that her day Of reckon
ing, though long deferred, has at last over