The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-19
Political Crisis That May Worry the
British Cabinet and Possibly
Cause Its Downfall.
JOHN o'DONNELL's OUTBREAK
SON OF ERIN WHO is ALLEGED To
HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED.
Secretary Wyndham Said to Have
Urged Landlords to Compromise
with Their nan

LONDON, Oct. 1S.-T. p. O'Connor, NJ. P,
has written for the Associated Press his
impression of the scene caused by the
Irish members in the House of Commons
Thursday, and what he believes it por-
tends. He says:
"I have seen many strange and exciting
scenes in the House of m but that
of Thursday was the most strange and
most exciting. 1t deserves serious notice
as a symptom of and clew to the present
political condition. John O'Donnell, the
chief character therein, is not the kind of
man one would expect to see figure In such
a scene. He is one of those men who show
the remarkable power of Irishmen rising
equal to great situations, however humble
and unpromising their origin. He was
born in a little cottage on one or those
small patches of land in the west of Ire
land which are most remarkable specimens
of the wreckage of centuries. Yet ne
speaks eloquently, chastely and the strong
physique of the peasant is surmounted by
a face of sweetness and refinement. as
we'll as of vigor. To see this ordinarily
quiet young man addressing the whole
house for a quarter of an hour amid a din
which was tempestuous and in violation OF
every rule of order, witt the speaker, min
listers and all shouting, and the majority
helpless, and then afterwards to see him
cross the floor of the house and, standing
in front of the prime minister, VINO sat
pallid with a sicklg smile on his face; to
see this was one of the most curious proofs
of how honest passion and indignation Gre
ated by oppression can cow even the most
powerful of ~tyrannies.
o all the points of that terrible scene,
for it was terrible. the most remarkable
was the absolute helplessness, the
inaction of the Unionist majority, so di-
yided and harassed by the sense of the
irresistible doom coming hourly upon their
leaders that they cannot conceal their de-
preston, and are made impotent by panic.
And there was the other reason
that the specter of Ireland, which
was supposed to be laid. had
risen again, more menacing than ever.
And. finally, there was perhaps some sense
of shame at the feeling that this man
who was calling for the right to be heard
in the House of Commons had been gagged
in Ireland by systematic persecution worthy
of Russia at her worst. He has spent
eighteen months in Jail during the last
three or four years and has been dragged
opened his lips, and he was recently sub
jected to a sentence which is an example
of deliberate ferocity, his last sentence OF
six months, Oct. IA, having been so given
by the magistrate that O'Donnell has TO
spend six weeks on a plank bed and nine
days on bread and water. All this suffer-
ing of the past and to come was written
in legible letters on the pale face and In
the excited eyes of this ordinarily quiet
gentleman. This perhaps was why the
ministerialists sat cowed, helpless and
abaShed at the scene, one of the signs OF
some great coming change.
1T is impossible to foretell what 1t Will
be, but for a good reason Irishmen hope
it will take the shape of a startling, gigan-
tic surrender. One of the most important
~portents is the eagerness of nine out of
ten of the landlords to attend a conference
with the Irish leaders. The movement Is
only kept from triumph by the fact that
the leaders of the landlords are wealthy,
with estates in England, and are, there
fore, independent of Irish agitation, and
because they are, besides, politicians first
and landlords afterwards. Every thinking
man, whether landlord or tenant, believes
that two to three years purchase and a
small grant from the imperial exchequer
are all that is now standing between Ire
land and a final settlement of the land
question and the reconquest of the land by
the Celts from the English garrison.
Among those who think that a gigantic
surrender is inevitable at an early day is,
l have reason to believe, the Irish chief
secretary, Mr., Wyndham himself. He
urged the landlords to consent TO a con-
ference, even travelling long distances to
their homes in order to put personal pres
sure on them. He has already announced
that there will be a bigger land bill next
year, and 1 have heard he has said private
ly that coercion might be over in three
weeks in case of certain events, whereby
L understood he meant that if the land
lords and tenants agreed on a common
basis of settlement.
I'm the meantime pressure on the gov
eminent is coming from various quarters.
1t is doubtful if the government can carry
the education bill without violent closure,
which may lead to scenes inside the house
by the English nOnconformists very like
those caused by O'Donnell, so vehement
is party passion, and outside 1T may pro-
duce outbreaks in England, also of the
Irish pattern. The attempt to force the
Irish members into the ministerial lobby
on the education bill died on the first night
of the session when Mr.. Balfour insulted
Ireland by refusing to give her a day to
voice her wrongs.
Ito sum up, the Irish members feel that
they have scored. Nobody has a good word
to say for the maladroit antics of Mr.. Bal
four. The government is threatened from
many quarters and is divided, and is, I
believe doomed. while ireland has once
more rushed into the foremost place in
the great drama of British politics"