Evening star., 1897-01-20
Collapse of the Case for the Prose-
cution.
PROOF OF INNOCENCE DISCOVERED
General Surprise at the Turn of
Events.
DISCUSSION IN COMMONS

surprise al the Old Bailey. central crtm-
| inal court this morning. when the crown
! prosecutor withdrew the charge of conspir-
| ing TO commit a dynamite explosion
| brought against Edward j. Ivory alias
1 Bell, of New York. who was arrested in
| September last at about the same time tnat
p. J. lyman was taken into custody at
| Boulogne-sur-Mer. France, and John T..
| kearney and Thomas Haines, alias j. Wall
| lace, were captured by the police at Ant
| werp, Belgium. on the same charge
Justice Hawkins upon the announcement
| by the crown prosecutor, ordered the pris-
oner to be discharged after the jury. act
| ing upon his instructions, had rendered 4
verdict of not guilty.
Shortly after the opening of the proceed
| ings today, the solicitor general r. b. Fin
| lay. q. c., NJ p. who prosecuted for the
| crown, announced that he had definitely
| ascertained yesterday that the delivery of
| the explosives at Antwerp occurred after
| Ivory left that place, and that there was
| no legal evidence that the prisoner was
| cosnizant of their delivery. Therefore It
| had been decided not TO present evidence
| thereon.
| Continuing. Mr.. Finlay said in regard TO
( the other evidence against Ivory. that
| while he felt that the correspondence
which had fallen into the hands OF the
| police. and the movements of Ivory. per-
| mitted the gravest suspicion. there was no
| evidence justifying the crown in asking for
| his conviction on a felony charge. and
under the circumstances he did not propose
to continue the prosecution of the prisoner.
| Justice Hawkins thereupon addressed the
| jury, saying he was convinced that the So
| licitor general had adopted a wise course,
| as in English courts doubtful evidence
| could not b, pressed against any one. and
| the step taken by the crown was therefore
| the one which would have been expected.
| After complmenting the police upon the
| intelligence shown In the discharge of a
| difficult duty, Justice Hawkins directed the
| jury to return verdict of not guilty, and
in ordering the discharge of the prisoner
the Judge added his earnest advice that
| Ivory should dissever himself from doubt
ful company hereafter which might other
wise bring him into the greatest peril In
| conclusion, Justice Hawkins advised Ivory
| strongly to look carefully at his future
Ivory bowed smilingly in return and left
| the dock. He was met in the body of the
| court by several friends. who shook hands
with him and congratulated him upon his
| release Ivory was heard 10 remark:
Il knew l should get out OF it,
The collapse of the prosecution was a
| complete surprise to ALL
Ivory, n conversation with a representa-
| tive of the Associated Press. after his dis
! charge from custody, said he had arrived
| at no decision to his future plans when
| he returns to the United States He added:
Il am pleased at the result, but it is only
| what 1 expected
AS matter of fact, however. Ivory ex-
pected to be convicted, and he so told John
| +. Mcintyre, formerly an assistant district
| attorney of New York, who acted as ad-
Visory counsel during the trial Mcintyre,
| talking the matter over with a repreSenta-
| tive of ;ne Associated Press, remarked:
While the result was surprise to me.
have all along contended that Ivory was
| used as a stool pigeon. in order to enable
| the police to make capital out of the case.
| L am glad the prosecution had the fairness
| to drop the matter"
There were very few people in court to-
| day. Among them was Thomas Meric
| Jones', the informer.
The afternoon newspapers express dis
| gust at the collapse of the prosecution, and
blame the police for il.
| DUBLIN, January 20.-The withdrawal
| of charges against Edward j. Ivory in the
| central criminal court, London today Is re-
garded here being due to the crowns
dread OF the exposure of Thomas Merle
Jones, the informer. Two witnesses left
the city on Saturday in order to testify for
the defense in regard TO sensational over
| lures made to them by Jones a week be-
fore he appeared at the Bow street police
court to testify against Ivory.
Irish Political Prisoners.
LONDON, January 20.-The debate on the
address in reply 10 the speech from The
throne was resumed in the house of COM
| mons today. Patrick o Brien, the ParneI-
| lite whip, member OF parliament for Kill
kenny City, moved amendment to the
effect that the time has come for the cases
recons;dered. He appealed for amnesty
for the few remaining in prison.
James {. Flynn, anti-Parnellite, member
Tor the north division of Cork county sec
onded the motion, and John J. Clancy, Par
nellite, member for the north division of
Dublin county, supported it.
Timothy NJ Healy, anti-Parnellite, MEM
Der for North Louth, said that if inquiry
is made into the conspiracies and plots i'm
America IL will be found that an English
agent has mad his nose in every one of
how,
that fifteen years Imprisonment was
enough punishment for the prisoners and
he added that the sixtieth anniversary of
the queens reigl was a good occasion to
show clemency.
The home secretary. Sir Matthew White
Bldley, replied. saying that IL would be
satisfactory to the government if they
could remedy any Irish grievance; but he
added, whatever the motives of the polit-
ioal prisoners, they were guilty of crimes
abhorred by the civilized world" and he
was unable at present to advise her
a)esty to grant them amnesty
Continuing, the home secretary pointeJ
out that In the withdrawal of the charge
against Bell ed dward J. Ivory, the coun-
try has just had proof of the fairness and
impartialty Of the courts.
Mr.. OBrien's amendment was defeated
by vote of 204 to 132
The Ivory Case
Sir MatthewWhite Ridley also said he was
convinced that the police discovery of the
conspiracy with which Ivory was connect
ed had saved the public from great dis
aster. He added that should the health or
sanity of the political prisoners he affect
ed they would be released lie did not de-
sire repetition of the results which un-
fortunately happened in the case Of Dr.
Thomas Gallagher, explaining that he first
heard DIR. Gallagher was threa tened with
Insanity at the end of June and that he
acted Immediately.
Mr.. Clancy, in supporting Mr. OBrien's
motion, referred to the case of Ivory, and
said that the most important crown witt
ness was an American informer whom the
government shrunk from putting in the
box. If they had done so, continued Mr.
Clancy, he felt certain that instead OF
proving Ivory's guilt II would have shown
the completely of government officials in
the alleged conspiracy.
Mr.. Healy, in his remarks, attacked the
course followed by the former home secre-
tary. Mr.. H. H. Asquith, in regard to the
political prisoners, rallied at police plots.
and said that Superintendent Andersen
was paid fl0.o00 yearly to promote such
plots. In the course OF his remarks Mr.
Healy was repeatedly called TO order.