The Irish standard., 1902-06-21
THE MAN FOR GALWAY.

THE MAN FOR GALWAY.
Colonel Arthur Lynch, NJ. L. for Gal
: way, is an Australian by birth, an
Irishnan by descent, and a Boer by
adoption. At the outbreak of the
South African war he was sent by
Golfers Weekly with Richard Harding.
Davis to report the battles, but instead
of doing so Lynch organized the seconl
Irish Brigade, composed of men of all
nationalities, and fought the British
brayely in several engagements. Mi
cllael Davitt in his history of the B DER
war says that Lynch proved himself
an able commander, and enjoyed the
confidence of General Botha, who
spoke of him as lone of the very best
of my officers Lynch is a man of
about thirty-five, tall, handsome and
accomplished, and is Il graduate Of
Melbourne university. He is the au-
thor of some works on higher mathe-
matics and is clever with his tongue
and pen.
AS he is Il descendant of an ancient
Galway family, the Irish parliament
tary party selected him as candidate
for the city of the Tribes" to repre-
sent it ut Westminster, and he was
elected by n large majority over Mr.
Plunlett, the government candidate,
after an exciting campaign. Instead
of taking his seat Colonel Lynch re-
manned in Paris until the Boer war
was over and then crossed over to
England to discharge his parliament
tary duties He was arrested on land
ing and is now awaiting his trial on
the charge Of high treason.
What his fate will be time only can
tell. Arthur J. Balfour declared in
the House of Commons that Lynch
was not "a burgler,' thus implying
that he was still British subject.
His case is a peculiar one. Granting
that he was Il BOer citizen at the time
of his election he would be ineligible
for a seat in parliament and if he
was Dutch then he could hardly be
British now according to the terms Of
the Boer surrender, for Kitchener and
Milner stipulated that no English sub
iccts who fought with the burghers
should be exempt from prosecution.
The Tacoma Ledger, which is evil
IDENTIFY pro-British, says his case is
analogous to that Of the Filipinos who
will be forgiven the moment they lay
down their arms and submit to Ameri-
can authority, and the renegade Ameri-
cans who have cspoused the cause Of
the brown men and fought in their
= ranks. "The latter should not be for
given" says the Ledger, Eat least not
until they have been shot"
But the British government has for
given the Cape Colonists who We're
= subjects of England to the extent OF
not trying them for high treason. WHY
F, then should not Lynch, If Il British
subject in the Bucr army. be par
doncd like the .Afrikanders? ITO elect
! Lynch was an III suit to the British
government and WAS intended Fer
nothing else" continues our Tacoma
contemporary. That may lie. but an
insult to the British government does
not constitute high trea on tn the Fart
of Lynch. The Irish Natio ,nl's,s de-
sired to manifest their synpa hy + +
the Beers by honoring Lynch. VIII
| fought against British brigands. ana
by electing him they kept Tory out
of parliament The scat is now Val
cant. but when Il new writ o. eectlon
, is issued Lynch will bc reelected over
any government caNlsla,e.
At his arraignmclt in ,he Bow
, Street palicc court in l.onlCn the ether
day Lynch produced Il certificate
signed by him Mt Pretoria whereby he
became Il burgher. and upon which he
bases his contention that as a burghcr
he is entitled to the benefit CT the gen
eral amnesty. Lynch took every pre-
caution before he entered the Boer
army so that in tie event CT his cap
t,,rc he could not be treated as n Brit
ish subject. He applied for naturalza-
! tion as Il Frenchman before leaving
Paris, though when taking the oath of
allegiance to the South African Repub-
lie he described himself as a British
, subject and not as French citizen.
We feel rather uneasy for Colonel
Lynch and think it was foolish for him
! to land in England so soon. A rebel Of
any other nationality may hope for
some show of clemency Mt the hands of