Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-15
TIE IRISH SIDE OF THE MATTER,

The entire body Of mankind will be re-
joiced to have it established, beyond ques-
tion, that no Irish organization was con-
cerned in the death Of DR.. Cronin. How
ever harsh it may seem to put these
societies upon proof of negative, there
can be no question but that they are thus
situated, and that the country expects
them to do all in their power to clear.up
the mystery of Cronin's murder. Of
course, until it is proved beyond reason
able doubts, that some of the associations
were involved in the crime, the presump-
ton Of innocence should obtain-neverthe-
less there IS a very general belief that the
societies, especially the Clan-na- Gael, must
clear themselves Of even suspicion. The
San Francisco Monitor of the 12th quotes ap-
proyinglt, and at length, from the Chicago
Citizen, edited by John F. Finerty, in
which the Citizen expresses the conviction
that Cronin was murdered It admits
also that most Of those arrested or sus-
pected bear Irish names. But it appeals
to mankind not to rush to the conclusion
that the Irish people are therefore charge
able with the crime. It says:
There was nothing Irish in the cool prepare
ton. the Cunningly devised decoy, the lonely
dedth.trap, and the abOminable disposition Of
the murdered body, And now although men
bearing Irish names have been deprived of
their Liberty because of the charges preferred in
g4Fegr ZION IL
hopes that this bitter cup of possible disgrace
may pass away from the lIps of Ireland, and
that the sic&ening murder of Dr. Cr0nin NAV be
otherwise accounted for. If however men Of
the Irish race have been guilty of this awful
crime, the laws Of their outraged adOptcd
country must deal with them according TO their
deserts. Justice must be done, even though the
heavens should fall.
The Citizen scouts the idea that Cronin
was q spy. It declares that it was impos-
sible for such a man to have been false.
1t then calls attention to the fact that, ex-
cept in the case Of the Molly Maguires
The Irish-American people have been, as
a mass, remarkable for their strict obedi-
ence to the laws of the country Of their
adoption, and have been free from anarch-
ism, socialism, and other isms abhorrent
to the average American mind. They
have loved America and respected her
laws. Consequently, if the Cronin butch
cry is to be laid at their doors, the cause
Of Ireland and the standing of Irish
Americans viii be inevitably affected, in
the most adverse sense. This will not be
just, but it Is bound to follow if Cronin's
blood is found upon Irish hands. The
race, as a race, will repudiate the terrible
crime to the very confines of the world.
The vindication of the Irish National
principles, or the satisfying of Irish ven
geance, must find a nobler means of ex-
preston than by the bludgeon or the
dagger. The sacred soil of the United
States must not be turned into shambles
for the qualification of public or private
hatred by Irishmen, any more than by
others. O'ConnelI never uttered nobler
aphorism than when he said: He who
commits a crime gives strength to the
enemy"
Appealing to the sense of justice of the
people, beseeching them to calmness and
to refuse to condemn on mere charge, or to
convict on simple suspicion, the same
journal proceeds to condemn assassination.
saying that whenever the club, the bomb
and the vendetta are invoked in America,
crimes against human liberty are COM
mitted. 1t calls attention to the feuds in
some Of the States in which whole families
have been exterminated, and to the blood
shed in factional strife in this country in
which not the Irish, but native-born Amer
leans have engaged. 1t adds that these
things have brought shame upon the
American name, and that public opinion
has always condemned them and always
must. 1t holds that the Parnell- Tines
Commission is at fault in Withholding
from publicity the names of ''spies and in
formers" in America, as given BY lie Caron