Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-12
PIGOTT'S LETTERS.
Harcourt, Gladstone, Balfour and Par
nell In Debate.

Harcourt, Gladstone, Balfour and Par
nell In Debate.
In the house of commons yesterday after the
reading of the queens speech Sir William YER
non Harcourt offered o motion declaring that
| the London Times in publishing the forged
Pigott letters was guilty Of breach Of privilege.
He contended that breach OF privilege COM
| mitted during one session could be punished
during another session. He said: ''Since the
| suit for libel has been decided in favor Of Mr..
| Parnell and since il has been admitted that the
| letters used as q cover to the assault On him
were forgeries the house il afforded an abso-
| iutely sure basis whereon to act 1t is now
obvious that tho object Of the publication of
the forgeries on the day when the coercion bill
had Its second reading was to influence the
division in parliament 1t was q gross and
palpabie outrage upon the house. A more
Migrant breach OF privilege could not be con-
celved. Some PREPARATION should be made for
| this use OF poisoned weapons
He urged that all sides should unite to brand
with the stigma OF parliamentary reprobation
this practice OF the art of poSsicsl forgery.
Sir John Eldon Gorst under secretary for
India, responded. He said the time was passed
for the discussion of the breach of privilege.
Moreover such discussion would be mop
Fortune while the report Of the Parneli COM
mission was pending. He moved that the
of privileges.
GLADSTONE DEFENDS PARNELL.
Mr.. Gladstone, who was loudly cheered as he
arose, spoke in support of the motion. He said
he could not consider that the Times offense
against the house had been purged by the apol-
ogies which had been made before the Parneli
commission through Sir Richard Webster,
which apologies grossly exaggerated the orig
mai offense. He was surprised that Sir Rich
ard Webster had allowed himself to be made
the vehicle OF such an apology. This was the
earliest chance the house had had and it was
the most opportune moment for it to express
Its indignation over the publication of the
fOrgsries.
peen successful the result to him would have
been absolute political death and the mortal
blow struck at him would have been felt
throughout the Irish nation. The Times had
aimed to affect the judgment Of the house
on reay had in that ala dr net
wish to dwell upon the horrible and loathsome
character OF the whole affair. He trusted the
fouse would vindicate its right to deal with the
ofiense. The government owed it to itself to
deal fairly toward Mr.. Parnell and the Irish
people for the injustice done to both through
the forgeries. Surely the house should not
hesitate to express its full sense Of the in
justice"
BALFoUR SCORES GLADSTONE.
Mr.. BalfOur accused Mr.. Gladstone Of dealing
in himsy fiction. He declared that the delay
was the fault Of the Gladstone party alone, and
said the charge that the Times had acted
with view to influencing the judgment of the
house was a calumny. If that had been their
object they would have had better prospect
OF success by quoting freely from Mr.. Glad
stones and Sir VIM. Harcourt's denunciation
OF MIR. Parnell and the land league He OBJ
1ected to the ancient, cumbrous and often mis-
used machinery Of the breach OF privilege.
Mr. Labouchere expressed his surprise at the
Petty ana paltry arguments advanced by Mr..
Balfour and Sir John Gorst 1t had been
proved that the Times had supplied Pigott
with bank notes to provide for his family with
In ten days OF the time when he had absconded.
ne could understand the reticence of Mr..
smith on this subject. He could not defend
his old friend, Mr.. Walter and was naturally
inclined to attack him.
Sir Edward Clarke, the solicitor general ad-
vanced numerous presidents for the course of
the government in this case and declared that
IL was inconsistent with the principles of
justice TO prosecute the Times again, for such
proceeding would be q corollary of adoption of
the motion.
PARNELLs FIERY SPEECH.
Mr.. Parnell, who was enthusiastically cheered
as he took the floor, said that Sir Edward
Clarke had not ventured to present the delay
as reason against the vote ON breach of
privilege, for he well knew that Hansards de-
bates contained many precedents of the house
iinquiring at great length and very carefully
before inficting the penalty for breach Of
privilege. The Irish leader spoke briefly but
emphatically and concluded as follows:
Il, the leader Of the party that must always
be in the minority here. should te sorry to treat
my most powerful opponents with the incred-
IDLE meanness and cowardice with which have
been treated by them. Even now am further
insnited by the terms of the amendment, which
insinuates that the forged letters may after all,
be genuine If you believe those letters were
forged have the courage and the frankness to de-
clare it. move to place the word forged be-
fore the word letters in the amendment to the
motion"
MIR. Smith, in behalf of the whole govern
ment and his party, expressed himself satisfied
that Mr.. Parnell had proved the letters to
be forgeries, and consented that the word
forged" should be inserted, as Mr.. Parnel
proposed.
The motion offered by Sir William Vernon
Harcourt was then rejected by 26O to 2l2 and
Sir John Gorsts amendment was adopted