The Irish standard., 1888-02-04
WIL|FRID BLUNT'S OFFENCE.
Two Questions Which Should be
Clearly Understood, and the OBJ
jecs of the Meeting.
CLANRICARD|SM AND CRIME
The Revenge for the Midnight Meeting
and Why It Was Mid
night" Meeting.
[From United ireland.l

| 1AASAo AaASSo1AS'
[From United ireland,l
There are two questions which should
be clearly understood and kept il, mind
| throughout every consideration Of the
celebre-- namely:
| (l) What was Mr.. Blunt's offence?
And (2) what was the Midnight Meet
ing:
| Mr.. BIunt's offence arises out of the
Midnight Meeting (though he is not
charged like number of the Irish fell
low offenders with taking part in that
demonstration). So let us deal with
the midnight meeting first.
The object of the Midnight Meeting
was twofold-1. TIC protest against
Cianricard;sm, aud 2 to allay the exas-
peration Of Clanricarde's tenants and
encourage them in their attitude Of pa
tience. Thanks to Lord Chief Baron
Pal|es nobody now needs any proof of
the expediency, the legitimacy--nay,
the sacredness-of these objects.
| The world now knows what C}anri-
cardism is It has the brand of the
High Court Of Justice burned into its
brow. Clanricardism before the inaug-
uration OF the Plan of Campaign never
failed to produce its perennial crop Of
crima. Agents were shot, bailjffs mur
dered, outYages committed. 1t was the
only way The tenants knew---this set
ting up Of counter-reign Of terror
Of protecting themselves against the
reign Of terror OF the powerful Lord
Clanricarde [safe in I.ondon) and lis
instruments. At last Came VIM.
O'Brien ard John Dillon. and showed
them another way--the Plan of Cam
paign. Since the blessed Plan was in-
augurated at Woodford, Clanricardisn.
has ceased TO result in crime. No more
wild reprisais were heard Of. The es-
| tale had become as stainless as that di-
vision of Kerry where County Court
Judge Curran was presented with q
pair of white gloves On Monday. But
about last October this state of things
was being seriously endangered by the
action OF Clanricarde's new agent, Ten
er, who bad begun system Of intoler-
able harrying Of the tenants. With al
escort of police he and his Emergency
men descended upon their farms in
midnight raids and carried of their
cattle. More of these marauders
dashed iato the shop Of the townsfolE
o1 Loughrea. who are also tenants, and
made seizures of goods. It was moon
lighting on a large, bold, brjgandish
scale, aided, abetted, and taken part in
by the armed forces Of the Crown
moonlighting in which the Moonlight
ers were Emergencymen and police
Tener established himself in Portumna
Castle. like a robber chief of the Arbuz-
III Within the great immense wall
which he sentineled like the battlements
t,f q fortress, all the raided cattle were
driven instead Of to the public pound
Tenants were not allowed to look at
their stock after they were cap
tured. In the day time Tener swag-
eered about, defying and jeerng at the
| tenants, and swearing Lord Clanri-
carde had placed $50 600 i'll his hands
to beat them down. and that hencefor
ward every house he avicted he would
level to the ground. He drove around
in high dog cart cracking his whip III
the peoples faces-a veritable cock
shot. This exasperaJion and this
temptation were growing too much for
poor naddened human nature down on
tine Clanricarde estate 1t was to save
| Tener.s life, as much as for any other
purpose-by providing hopeful out
let for popular feeling-that the mid
night meeting was held.
1t was a midnight meeting because
Mr.. Balfour would not allow it to be
held in the daylight. It was summoned
to De held at mid day on Sunday, Octo-
ber IA. But Mr.. Balfour proclaimed it.
He was determined to osuppress it at any
cost. He concentrated great forces OF
police and military at Loughrea and
Portumna, who were to march on
Woodford on Sunday morning. No
meeting was TO be allowed even within
a radius Of dozen Irish miles. On
Saturday night meetings assembled to
hear members Of Parliament i'll Port
umna and Loughrea were attacked and
batoned. The only chance of holding
the meeting at all was to resort to
strategy. 1t was accordingly held by
torchlight in the middle of the night,
with complete aud magnificent success,
while the police were breaking peoples
heads twelve miles away in Pertumna.
II was addressed BY five members Of