The Irish standard., 1900-11-10


struck at and felled to the ground by
cowardly ruttians. The priest who ac-
companicd his flock to the depot Jared
no better; he was ioltcd. cut in the
head by Il stone flung by an Orange
man. The police protection was Who'll
ly inadequate. only two policemen be-
ing on hand to preserve order, though
the police authorities must have heard
of the threats uttered during the pre-
ccding week. and word had been sent
to them by the priests of the threaten
ing attitude assumed by the Orange
crowds surrounding the Catholic
Church.
Arrived at the depot, the priest, see
ing the fruitlessness of applying to the
local authorities for protection, sent
a telegram to the Under Secretary ut
Dublin Castle, asking protection for
the cNcursionists on their return home
in the evening. The atfrighted excur-
sionists spent Il miserable day ut Bun
doran, dreading the home coming. The
priest StrOvc to persuade them that
everything would be all right, that he
doubted not but that ample protection
would be afforded them on their return
to Portadown. His telegram had the
effect of bringing n considerable force
of police to the scene, but n force by
no means sufficient to protect the ex-
cnrsionists from the Orangcmcn.
On arriving at the depot in the even
ing the cXcursionists were hootcd and
mercilessly hunted down. Awaiting
themselves of the shades of the falling
evening, the Orangemen set upon some
of their victims and almost beat them
into insensiblity. The worst feature
of this dastardly affair was the absence
OF police protection. lf it were II ques-
tion of Suppressing IN orderly league
meeting in Tipperary or Cork there
would he police enough on hand, but
here, when 1t was question of pro-
tccting the lives OF Il few pleasure
seeking Catholics there was not Il suf-
ficient force present. In n town like
Portadown, with n population of over
10000 people-S,0OO Professionals and
1000 CnthOlics-and record in the
past for serious rioting and dcstruc-
tiOn of property, there were only twcn-
ty policemen, whereas in towns in the
south of Ireland of two or three thou
sand inhabitants, as large n police
force is stationed. The criminal in
difference of the police authorities in
Portadown in the present instance
was In great measure the cause of
the state Of feeling which existed in
tack here mentioned. The windows
were broken in the houses where it
was known Catholics lived. Catholic
tradcsmcn and merchants were ham,
pcrcd and harasscd in every concciv-
able manner. Orange wOrkmen actu-
ally left the factories because their
employers would not dismiss their
Catholic employees.
These Orangemcn felt strong be-
cause they were convinced the govern
ment connivcd at their rOwlyism. The
general elections were approaching; 1t
suited the aspirations OF Salisbury, II
Balfour or a Chamberlain to light the
spark Of party strife in the North pre-
paratOry to the electiOnecring cam
paign. Portadown, though II small
town, may have been the place select
ed to light the fire of strife. The at
tack made on an unoffending Catholic
association may have been the means
chosen by schcming politicians to
arouse the spirit of dscord among the
people Of the North, cmbittcr party
strife. to be availed of for selfish pur-
poses.
Portadown has long been known for
it's intensely Orange spirit. Almost
half Il century ago Sir Samuel Fergu-
son, in Il poem which Lord FitzgibbOn
declared on n public platform in Dub
lin a few years ago, to be one Of the
finest pieces of satire in the English
language, describes the creed of the
Loyal Orangemcn from Portadown
Upon the Bann" in q memorable
| cOuplet:
The crown of the causeway in road
and street,
An the rebclly Papishes under my
feet.
The attacks which were the sources
Of all the excitement are over but the
Orangemen show no signs OF quieting
down. Peter McQuirk, n laborer in
one of the weaving factories, was CRU
ely attacked at dinner hour during
the week, knocked down and kicked
in most brutal fashion; many others
were equally cruelty treated The
culprits were summoned before the
tribunals but the law was favorably
administered in their behalf, for
though there were crcditable witness
cs present to prove their guilt still the
evidence Of n single constituencies
witness swearing to an alibi was suf-
ficicnt to set them free. thus clearly