Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-23
WORLD VIKINGS.
The "rimes'- '-Parnell Inquiry
Begun.
PLAINTIFFS VAGUE STATEMENT.
Chinese LabOrers Not Permitted to
Land in Transit Across the
United States.

OultCu Nt0tCNs
Associated Press Dispatches TO the HEHALD.l
LONDON, October 22.-The commission
appointed to investigate the charges made
by the Times against Irish members Of
Parliament, opened this morning. Sir
Charles Russell, the leading counsel for
Parnell, applied for the release from
Wexford prison of William Redmond.
Justice Hannen, President of the Com
mission, said the same course would be
adopted with Redmond as in the case of
John Dillon. His release must not be
construed to mean that he had been
granted immunity from imprisonment.
He would be set free only under strict
conditions. These would not allow his
taking any part in public life, and would
compel him to hold himself strictly a
prisoner on parole.
Sir Charles Russell intimated that for
the present he would not insist upon his
application for Redmond's s release. A dis
eussion then ensued up n the length of
time the Court should sit weekly. The
counsel OF both sides concurred in the
proposal to hold sessions of four days in
each week, but the Court decided to
meet every weekday except Saturday,
and asked council to expedite the pro-
ceedings.
Attorney General Webster opened the
case for the Times. He promised to give
the court the fullest information in the
Times power, regarding the source OF
the evidence against the Irish party
which the Times published. He would
not treat the case as having anything to
do with the merits or dement's of Home
Rule, or as having any supposed bearing
on the Irish question. The inquiry was
strictly into specific charges made in the
O'Donnell action against the Times, and
he would be careful not to introduce
questions beyond these charges.
The Attorney General then proceeded
to review the Times articles on "Par-
nelIism and Crime" going over the old
ground. The general public is not
admitted. Parnell and numerous other
Nationalist members of Parliament are
present.
It would be shown, said Webster, that
many of the men in the Times purticu-
lars had especially taken part in crimes
Of the worst kind, while with scarcely
any exceptions had the persons men
toned ever denounced the outrages or
crimes. Owing to the failure of the Off
GERS of the National League to comply
with the Commissions order regarding
the discovery of their bank books, the
Times counsel had been unable to shape
their case as they had expected. Still
even without the bank books they would
prove that something had been paid by
the League to men appointed for the
actual commission of acts of violence and
crimes A few of the men thus con-
nected belonged to the American League
and were provided with funds obtained
in Ireland. From the outset of
the Land Leagues existence and since
the formation Of the National League,
Parnell and his colleagues had been in
timately associated with the American
adv vocates of dynamite. Remarkable
evidence would be produced to prove
this connection, and to show also that
an extraordinary number of untraced
crimes were due to the Indictment of the
League.
Referring to the letters alleged to i'm
plicate Parnell and others in crimes,
Webster promised to produce before the
Commission all the letters which had
been mentioned in the trial of O'Don-
nell's case. He then recounted his story
of the Leagues connection with the
agraiian agitations, and showed how
they we're related to Fenianism. He re-
cited instances where Davitt, Cevoy,
Welsh, Egan, Brennan and Matthew
Harris had held communication with the
Parnellite party, and declared that they
were linked to that party by common in
terests and aims.
The Attorney. General quoted from
speeches of Nationalist leaders from the
year 1879 onwards. When the court ad-
jorned for the day Webster was appar-
emily only small way advanced in the
presentation of his case. The vagueness
and general character of his statement
left the impression that the Times has no
absolute proof of the truth of its charges.
Instead Of producing evidence that Par
nell and his associates were accomplices
before or after the fact with the Phoenix
Park murderers, he will attempt to justi-
fly the Times accusations, by raking up
outrages attributed to members of the
League, and trying to connect them with
the Parnellites.