The Irish standard., 1897-02-27
A PUT-UP JOB.

Reynolds's newspaper, published In
London, in commenting upon the rec
cent arrest Of the ''dynamiters" by Scot
lar. Yard detectives, has the following
to say:
In commenting last year on the So
called dynamite scare unearthed by
the police, We laid stress on the singular
elements of the affair, and expressed onr
opinion that the whole matter was one
of such sensational and improbable ma
ture, and that there was SO much slls-
picion surrounding it, that we We're jus
titled in believing that the secret police
and the gang of informers hired to do
dirty work by the British government
We're at their old tricks. The collapse
of the Bell trial clearly shows that We
We're right.
When will Englishmen learn that pre-
cisely the same kind Of dark and dirty
ways which they always identify with
continental governments are freely
practised by their own government, at
least, wherever Ireland is concerned?
Dublin Castle and Scotland Yard have
entered into a compact to make crime
where they cannot find it, and to convey
to the public a vague sense of some
dreadful plots always being concocted
by desperate men in the interests OF So
cial anarchy and of revolution in Ire
land
There are, indeed, dreadful plots con-
cocted, but they are deliberately con-
cocted by the police. The disgraceful
Bell trial places that fact beyond doubt.
It is true that the home secretary,
casting his official shield over the mis-
creants and liars of Scotland Yard, was
obliged in the interests Of that institu-
ton to declare in the House Of Com
mons that the prosecution Of Bell was
quite genuine, ana Of course, it is i'm
possible in the House of Commons to
give him the lie. Nevertheless, We have
no hesitation in saying that We do not
believe one word of this, and we do not
think it will impose on any one. The
police manifestly intended to get up a
plot The whole aspect OF the case from
the first shows it. The arrest of lyman
in that melodramatic way which is
characteristic of Scotland Yard, the dark
hints of some plot to murder the Rus
sian emperor and Queen Victoria, the
descent On the lonely house in Belgium,
the pretended discoveries at Antwerp
all show deliberate continuance, albeit
not very clever one, On the part of the
police.
But the average Englishman believes
SO devoutly in the powers that he, from
tne queen to the parish beadle; that
they think the police must be right
when they pretend to reveal some dark
conspiracy, especially as they are so
wise and incorruptible. When will it be
learnt that the police ere neither wise
nor incorruptible! AS Conan Doyle has
so often shown in his detective stories,
the police are among the MOST stupid
and clumsy of mortals. and if we could
get at the records of the secret service
fund, which is disgrace to country
that pretends to be free, we should find
ample evidence of police corruption. We
must say that the stupidity of the police
was never more manifest than in this
whole conspiracy The superstition that
the French government would listen for
q moment to the demand for Tynan's ex-
tradition showed almost imbecility.
1'he cock-and-bull stories of movements
in New York and Belgium were scarcely
worthy of the credence Of beard schoo1
children. Absence Of intellect marked
the whole proceeding.
But along with the absence of intel
lect went malice of intention in a high
degree The object was tWo-fold; to
check the amnesty movement, to which
the police world, with its accustomed
brutality, was hostile, and to secure in
creased pay and promotion fol. certain
men in the force The base trick has
been exposed, and We hope the public
will learn the lesson which so disgrace
full procedure ought to teach them.