, 1892-07-06
THE STATE OF A
From the Times. jane 81

To The Editor. Sir, AS coming from one who
has had very considerable experience in Irish
aft lirs for some years past, l venture to think
that the following remarks with regard to the
present condition Of things in this country,
on the eve of the general election, will be of
some interest and value.
The country is very quiet, free from crime,
and settling down in every respect. There is
a gsnerel feeling of confidence in the Govern
ment, such as there has not been for many
generations. The numerous splits in the Ma
tionalist ranks, the utter chaos that exists, the
foul abuse an ! scurrility which has been divert
ed from the devoted heads of the British
Government and it's officials and turned on one
another by the leaders of the various SO ,tions
Of the once apparently united party, the perfect
union of which, as representing the nation,
used to be flllaciously held forward by Mr..
Gladstone as the main reason for handing
over the government Of The country to them,
have opened the peoples eyes to what condi.
ton the country would be brought under suoA
administrators
When this Government came into office near.
ly six years ago all confidence in Irish securi.
ties had gone, and owing to the Home Rule
sea e had fallen to the lowest ebb owing to
tbs same reason, commercial p'ospscts were
gloomy in the extrema, while the shadow of
g,nortl bankruptcy fell far and wide. Up to
tn time, too, parts of the country had been
fDr some years seriously disturbed, in spite of
Mr.. Glalst0nes two very stringent Coercion
Acts of l811-ISS2, under the former Of which
over ! 100 persons were imprisoned for many
months without any form Of trial or on any
specific charge. Moonlighters infested sever
al COUNTIES of Munster, and life and property
wore perfectly insecure. Now all this is alter.
III G,,on,or,t,l ,,.E j,nn, IA, HOO 49,
Irish securities stan we'll, moonlighting has
been stamped out, and the Coercion Act of 1897,
which is a very mild measure indeed compared
to Mr.. Gladstone's Acts of similar nature, has
crushed ont boycotting and made life bearable
to thousands of poor people who were cruelty
oppressed by means of this powerful weapon,
which Mr.. Gladstone himself described as
combined intimidation made use of for the
purpose of destroying the private liberties of
Cholc1 by fear of ruin and starvation" Tho
success of this Coercion Not has been perfect.
as evinced by the ftct that after a severe
struggle the Executive, by means of it, have
entir 'ly restored law, order, and the secure
running of her Majesly's writ, aud this result
having been accomplished the Act is praoti-
oally in obeyance and rarely heard Of at all.
1t would occupy too much of your space to
specify the remedial measures adopted by this
Government. Suffice it to say that no
Government, while determining to preserve tho
Union and to suppress lawlessness, crime. and
outrage of every form, has shown such a real
interest in the welfare of the Irish people, and
that their manner Of coping with the distress
last year which was SO loudly proclaimed with
warnings by Mr.. w. O'Brien and Others, met
with perfect and absolute sucoess. In reply
to all this it will, no doubt, he asked, "Will
the country return members in favour of the
Government" It certainly will not, and no
doubt a large majority of seats will be secur-
ed in ireland for the Anti Parnellites, who are
the chosen Of the priets and the servile follow
ers of Mr.. Gladstone, and there 10 no wonder
that this should be so, as the confessional box,
no one can doubt. is largely used to coerce
and to destroy the freedom OF choice given by
the ballot box, and during the present gener-
ton of voters no change can be looked for in
this respect. Again, the agitators never cease
todip into the earsofthe people that they have
everything TO gain and nothing to lose if Mr..
Gladstone returns to Office; and greed properly
excited is a very strong incentive. Some.
most responsible Gladstonians, too, have as
sured the people that his first act on coming