Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-12-20
HOME AND ABROAD.
DEATH OF A WOMAN SAID TO BE
1876 YEARS OLD.
More War Talk in Europe-Matters
in Ireland-FataI Fire
A Fathers Crime
ESPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE REconD-usrox.l
DAvITT's OPINION.
He Thinks His Country VIII Win in the
Coming Struggle.

He Thinks His Country VIII Win in the
Coming Struggle.
CHICAGO, December 19th.-Michael Da-
witt, the Irish patriot, passed through this
city yesterday morning, en- route from
Quebec to the far West on business of
personal and particularly happy nature.
Mr.. Davitt was asked concerning the sig
nificance of the recent arrest, by the Eng
iish Government of John Dillon, Member
of Parliament for East Mayo, and other
Irish leaders acting as trustees in conduct
ing the plan of campaign in Ireland.
Mr.. Davitt said: II am not at all
alarmed at the situation. The Government
is making itself ridiculous. If this plan of
the campaign is really illegal, the Govern
ment should have struck blow long ago
The fact that it has allowed Dillon, o Brien
and others to carry it on for months; shows
its hesitancy to declare it Illegal. The alleged
charge of conspiracy 10 defraud is ridicu-
lous because the United Ireland and those
engaged in this movement are acting in
open daylight; hence the absurdity of a
charge of conspiracy. If the tenant farm
ers show desire to give their rent, or a
portion of it, into the hands Of public men.
and do it without compulsion, the charge
of fraud against Dillon and 0'Brien, be-
cause they have received such money, is
simply ridiculous. Suppose they bring
Dillon and 0'Brien to trial before jury on
such charge. No jury in Ireland will
convict them. What, then, is remaining
of the move on the part of the Govern
ment? l think its action in making the
arrest and bringing these men to trial is
just like the course pursued by Gladstone's
Government IN 1881, preparatory to meas
ures of coercion. Gladstone's law officers
at that time instituted State trials
of Parnell and the Executives of the
Land League-not with hope of obtaining
conviction, but TO show English public
opinion that ordinary law was Intellectual
to cope with the state of things in Ireland,
and that, therefore, exceptional legislation
was required. / have no doubt that this is
the line of argument that will be adopted by
Hicks-B Beach and Churchill, when in the
early days of the coming session of Parlia-
ment they apply for exceptional power to
deal with the National League in Ireland"
What will be the effect of such an ap-
plication for exceptional power?
This means that we are on the eve of
another and probably the last and most
desperate fight with coercion. Both the
League and Ireland are quite prepared for
the struggle, which will be the ffty-fifth of
the kind waged between Ireland and Eng
land during the last eighty-six years. This
means that fifty-four similar measures
have proved so many failures, and in sport
ing language, the betting is fifty-fye TO one
that Ireland wins the coming contest. l
expect to be home in Ireland in a few
weeks, before all the prisons are filled. l
look also for Parnell's speedy appearance
upon the field of action, and am confident
that in few months the bellicose Tory
party will have had quite enough of coer-
con in Ireland. l firmly believe that Eng
fish and Welsh popular feeling will be
wi b the Irish in this struggle against the
course of action OF the Tories"