The Irish standard., 1888-07-07
.0'D0NNELL'S. STRONG CASE
Against the London Times for Endeav-
oring to Connect Him With
Mythical Crimes,
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
Absolutely Refused to Grant an Inyestiga-
tion Into the Charges Made Against
0'Donnell and Others.

.& t1Ol llLo Jl6 UnargeS ilaue Against IS
s O'Donnell and Others.
Blakely Hall wrote last week as fol.
lows: + had long interview to-day
with O'Donnell, whose libel suit against
the Times comes on next week. 1t will
be a great sensation. Mr.. O'Donnell Is
a tall man, with a nervous manner and
incisive speech. He has worked out the
whole line of defence, and here it is:
ITO begin at the beginning" Mr.
O'Donnell says, II was on the conti-
nent and occasionally read one Of the
'Parnellism and Crime arti,les in the
Times, in which the greatest possible
stress was laid on Mr.. Frank Byrne's
connection with MIR. parnell, and which
tried to make out that Mr.. Frank ByrDe
was the beginning. middle and end of
the Home Rule Party. had had con-
siderable difereces with Mr.: Parnell re-
specting the management Of the agra
rian question. have more extreme
views on the national question than
he. ! consider that he kept agrarianism
too much in front, national independ-
ence too much in the rear. We had Sc
rious difference on this subject, but per.
sorally we were on the best possible
terms. was half amused. and a good
deal shocked, at the Importance att
tached to Nj. Frank Bylne, because he
was q nobody--nerely a courteous, at
tentiye. paid subordinate-a man who
possessed no more influence in our
pounsels than c.shier Of the Bank Of
England in the counsels Of the directors.
Iaiso knew that it was not Mr. Parnell
who had given Mr.. Byrne his appoint
anent Ill the organization. Here is the
whole history of his connection with it:
The previous name Of the Land League
Of Great Britain was the nome sRule
Confederation, which was founded by
Mr.. Isaac Butt, and not Mr.. Par
nell, and in it was Mr.. Butt, who
brought Mr.. Bryne into the federation
and appointed him assistant clerk.
When the federation, about 1880, took
the name OF the Land League, Byrne
was taken III exactly the same way as
office furniture MIR, Parnell became
president Of the league, but it was the
honorary secretary who was cnieay re-
sponsible for the working Of the organ
ization. For three years was honor
ary secretary, and if anybody was di-
rectly By1ne's superior it was l. Well,
I most innocently thought that if I laid
these facts before the Times, that journ
al would admit that 1t had been egreg-
iously dnped when it itrepresented Frank
Byrne as a person Of consequence or
authority in our councils, or a person
for whose conduct MIR. Parnell was re-
sponsible.R But the letter which (
wrote, instead Of calling an expression
of regret or repentance, led to furious
leading article directed against me,
which WAS a perfect shower Of wrath
and calumny. Itaccused me ofireplYing
on a side issue, OF being deliberately si-
lent ON matters Of Importance, respect
ing which I had information and
authority, and put all sorts Of insulting
questions. I then saw that they were
bent on dragging my name through the
mire, SO I Immediately looked up the
previous articles on the subject and
found that in their desire to blacken
A1r. Earnell they had blackened every
body connected with him. Triaing and
innocent matters in whichsI was con-
cerned, I found elevated into criminal
transactions, in which Mr.. Frank
Byrne, MI. Parnell, Mr.. O'Donnell and
Others described as trusty few, were
Implicated in the first degree. Imme-
liately took steps to bring an action
against them. / wrote them letter
which they suppressed, but q portion Of
which was published by the Daily
News, to whom had fortunately sent
i duplicate I offered them the oppor-
tunlty for which they seemed to be
anxious. OF having the truth of their
facts tested by q London jury. The
Times charged me with certain crimi-
nal transactions with persons in Lon, q
{ don, and nov is doing it's utmost to-
avoid the issue by trying to prove trans
] actions in Ireland and America. 1 may
Observe that for some time I felt Ger
tain that the accusations Of the Times 'e'5
against the Home Rule party must uAs'tt
j form the subject Of a Parllamenta iIl- in
syestig gaLlon, for in the VIII ole histor l
Pafliamant there never so % mo- on
strons 8 this t'lll| 81
Sthe Times III qms
hero m of
arnslN |I11p zIllta ien