New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-24
SCOPE OF THE COMMISSION.
Mr. pARNELL DEMANDS ADHERENCE TO
THE ORIGINAL PROPOSALS.
ur CAN PROVE. HE DECLARES. THAT THE LETTERS
.pr "BARErACED rORGERIEs "a STRONG
SPEECH by THE IRISH LEADER-MR. SMITH
sAYs THE COMMISSION WILL CONSIST OF
SIR JAMES nANNEN AND JUSTICES
DAY AND sMITH-MR GLADSTONE

DAY AND sMITH-MR. GLADSTONE
JOINS IN TIE DEBATE.
London July 23.-In The House Of Commons to-
day Mr.. Smith moved the second reading Of the
bill dealing with charges and allegations against
members of Parliament. He said that the Gov
ernment offered the Commission of Inquiry upon
prcccdents. lie considered that commission
with less authority than proposed would fail
10 do justice to all persons concerned. The Gov
ernmcnt would not be doing justice to the accused
II it did not give them the completest chance 10
clear themselves He had confidence in the pro-
posed tribunal 1t rested with the House TO say
how complete the powers of the Commission ought
to be- Sir James Ilannen would be the president
and Justices Day and Smith would be the othcr
members of the Commission.
Mr. Parncll said he glad that ME- smith
admitted that it rested with the House what the
powers Of the Commission ought to be- III seemed
that Mr. Smith had friendly hint from the coun-
sci for " The Times in consequence of which the
inquiry was to be extended not only into his per-
sonal conduct but into the acts of the League in
America Ireland and Great Britain. 1t evil
dent that the case as regards the forged letters,
was going TO break down. lie demanded that the
Government limit the scope of the Commission
70 what Mr.. Smith originally proposed, namely,
the charges against himself ard the other Irish
members.
1t would be proved, he said, that each and every
one Of those letters barefaced forgery. The
allegations against the League could not come
before the Commission affecting him. They
were the NEST cruel and infamous charges ever
made against public man. He did not suppose
that :" The Times would have given 81, 900 for
these forgerics by an ex-Commoner unless they
had been against q public man. He could demon
stratc to conviction within week that the letters
were forgerics. IIe had never seen Pat Ford in
his life AS for the scope Of the inquiry, it would
be intcrminablc unless the bill excluded vague
allusion 10 other persons and named specifically
the Commoncrs charged. Cheers
Mr.. Parnell admitted that he had had communi-
cations with John Dewey, but those communca-
tions solely in regard to political matters
and were open to the fullest scrutiny. lie also
admitted making speech at Ennis in favor of
boycotting lie believed boycotting did good then.
but he ceased to advocate boycotting after the
passing Of the Arrears Bill of 1882. To make the
inquiry iudicial the Government ought definitely
to specify the charges. and ought also to provide
for scrutiny of the documents upon which the
charges were based. 1t was Of vital Importance
to the Irish members to see these documents be-
fore the Commission began to sit
Here there was eXpcctant pause, dur
Ing which calls were raised Tor tIc Attorney -uch-
eral No member Of the Government respond
ing Mr.. Gladstone expressed surprise that the
Government did not Mr.. Parnell and
declared that there must be an answer lie
would vote for the second reading Of the BILL
but the issues raised must be considered at
later stage before the Commission was approved
1t was in the power Of the Government to make
n better selection of Commissioners. The Gov
ernmcnt ought to make definite charges against
definite persons There ought to be no skulking
The letters were really the only new charges
Unless Mr. Parncll's conditions were conceded the
country would be driven to the conclusion that
the proposals were made tGS be refused.
Previous to the debate on the Commission Philip
Stanhope called the attention of the Government
to the threatening language used by the Crown
counsel before the coroner at Mitchclstown, and
to his charging the court with pervertng the
inoujry in the Vaudeville case Mr.. Stanhope
asked whether the counsel acted so in pursuance
of instructions from Dublin Castle, and whether
the Government would order the counsel to assume
n more respectful attitude toward the coroner.
Mr.. Balfour replied that he had no information
on the subject, but he believed that the Crown
counsel did not need any instructions either from
himself or from Mr. Stanhopc. Laughter and
cbcers) In reply to Mr.. Clancy, Mr.. Balfour said
he had asked the Home Office that the highest
and most experienced officers in the department
be sent to Ireland to inspect the condition and
management of the prisons. One of those sent
was Dr. Barr
Mr. IIcaly asked IL IL was trne that MT. Dllioh
had been brought before DR.. Barr in Dundalk Jail
for examination, but refused to submit unless ne
knew whose agent Dr. Barr was. Mr. Balfour