The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-02-08


for coercion? The lawful, peaceable,
powerful organization of the people
against the unjust tyranny of land
lords Qhear. hear); and l would ask
YOU to observe that the landlords have
their organization, too. They had as
Sociations, the Landlords Associations
and the Property Defense Leagues. OF
ganized for the purpose of patronizing
and paying grabbers (groans), and
assisting the landlords to evict the pco-
pie; but while the landlords 0rganiZa-
ton is patroniZed and encouraged by
the Castle the organization of the peo-
pie, which is every bit as legal. every
bit as peaceablc, is made the excuse
for coercion. (Cheers.)
Now, you have got here ON the plat
form today /; man who has taken a
leading part in this struggle, and l am
glad he is among us. He is soon to
be sent to prison, and that is Mr..
Denis Johnston (cheers). He can de-
scribe when he comes to speak to YOU
the character of the meeting for whicn
he was prosecuted. a voice-lIe will
come out again.l (Cheers.l He will,
and he will come out Il stronger ana
more popular man (cheers), and can
assure you from my own observation
that Mr.. Johnston with the prospect
OF four months Imprisonment. has not
a hair turned on his head. CHEERS. J
What is THE nature of the movement
down in RoscOmmon for which Nh
Johnston. Mr. O'Donnell. Mr. Conor
O'Kelly. Mr.. John Hayden, and 9th
ers have been prosecuted? For hold.
ing meetings as peaceful and lawful
as the meeting that is around this
platform today. They have been
prosecuted under the Crimes Act, be-
fore two magistrates. who are hire
lngs and olediclt servants of the
Castle (hear. llear), Just as much as
are the policemen, and who are no
more Independent Judges than any pc
lice constable. They are prosecuted
before these two men for attending
peaceahle meetings and speaking at
these meetings (hear hear.
Let us consider for Il moment what
is the way in which the law is adj
ministered in England at the present
moment as compared with Ireland. L
directed attention the other day to the
riots which took place last autumn ut
Grimsby, where Il house was burned
down, and where the leaders of til"
FiShowners' Association were stopped
in the streets and mGhbo.l. and | di-
rccte1 attention to the riots mt STRAIT
fol1Eon-.Avon, and the riots ut New
castle. for which no individual was
punished. But that was in England
(hcar, hear. But now let me direct
attention for a moment to the great
Birmingham riot, which took place
under the nose Of Mr.. Joseph Cham.
berlain himself Qlcar, henr) only IL
fortnight ago. as many people say and
believe by the direct management and
Indictment of Mr.. Chamberlain (hcar,
her). ! am going to refer to what
happened in birmingham, in order to
contrast the treatment of the Irish
people with the treatment given to
the people of England.
At Birmingham ten days ago Mr..
Lloyd George came to address n meet
ing against tho war. An organized
mob was got up to attack and murder
Mr.. Lloyd George (sroans), for that
is what they expressed their intention
of doing. While the meeting was going
on $4,000 people assembled outside the
town hail. and they pelteh thousands
Hof bricks and stones through the win
tiows of the town hall on the heads
Of peaceful people who We're sitting
inside. They smashed 1000 panes Of
glass in the town hall, they attacked
the police. and here is the evidence
of the chief constable: "'The attitude
of the crowd says the chief cOnsta-
bic OF Birmingham. toward the peO-
pie was neither quiet nor good-humor
ed. Members of the force We're kick
cd. beaten with sticks and stoned for
an hour before Il policeman drew his
baton" They smashed every pane Of
glass in the town hall, they hurled
thousands of bricks through the win.
dows Of the town hall OH the heads Of
the people inside, and at last this
peaceAble, respectable, loyal crowd
got large beam and proceeded to
break in the door of the town hall,
using this as a gathering ram, for the
avowed purpose of getting in to MUIR
der Mr.. Lloyd George and the men
who were talking inside. Then the
police drew their batons, and the gal
liant English crowd ran away as fast
as il De Wet was after them (groans
and chccrs). Then, there was the most
awful row and complaint because ac-
tually the police had batOnel an Eng.
lish crowd, although this crowd had
been stoning and kicking the police for
an hour and a half. They said that
the police commissioner of Birming
ham had brought over lot of Irish
police to break their heads cloud
groans). wish to God they would
take the whole lot over cloud laughter
and cheers).