The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-19
O'CONNOR'S IMPRESSIONS.
Tells what He Believes the Scene in
House of Commons Thursday POr-
tends

Tells What He Believes the Scene in
House of Commons Thursday POr-
tends.
London, Oct. 1S.-T. P. O'Connor,
NJ. P. has written for the Associated
Press his impressions of the scene
caused by the Irish members in the
House of Commons Thursday, and
what he believes it portends, as fol-
lows:
II have seen many strange and ex-
citing scenes in the House of Com
mons, but that of Thursday was the
most strange and most exciting. 1t de-
serves serious notice as a symptom of
and clue to the present political con-
dition. John O'Donnell, the chief char
acter therein. is not the kind of man
one would expect to see figure in such
a scene.
ITO see this ordinarily quiet young
man addressing the whole house for
quarter of an hour, amid a din which
was tempestuous and in violation
OF every rule or order, with
the speaker, ministers 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, who sat pallid,
with sickly smile on his face. to see
this was one of the most curious proofs
OF how honest passion and indignation,
| created by oppression, can COW even
the most powerful of tyrannies. OF all
the points of that terrible scene, for
| 1t was terrible, the most remarka BILE
was the absolute helplessness, the cow
| ed inaction of the Unionist majority.
| so divided and harassed by the sense
| of irresistible doom coming hourly up
| on their leaders that they cannot con-
| ceal their depression and are made i'm
| potent by panic. And there was the
other reason that the spectre of Ire
| land, 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 Ire
| land 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 drag
! ged from platforms by the police be-
fore he opened his lips, and he was re-
! Gently subjected 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 plank bed and nine days on bread
| and water. All this suffering of the
| past and to come was written in legi-
Bile letters on the pale face, and in
the excited eyes of this ordinarily quite
! 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 good reason, Irishmen
hope it may take the shape of start
/! ling, gigantic surrender. One of the
most important portents is the eager
ness of nine out of ten of the
landlords to attend con-
ference 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, therefore, independ-
ent of Irish agitations and because
they are, besides, politicians first and
landlords afterwards. Every thinking
man, whether landlord or tenant, be-
lieves that two to three years pur-
chase and a small grant from the i'm
perial exchequer are all now standing
between Ireland and final settlement
of the land question, and the recon-
quest Of the land by the Celts from the
English garrison. Among those who
think that a gigantic surrender is in
evitable at an early day is, l have
| reason to believe, the Irish chief secre-
tary, Mr. Wyndham himself. He
urged the landlords to consent to
conference, even travelling long dis
tances to their homes in order to put
personal pressure on them. He has al
| ready announced that there will be
bigger bill next year, and 1 have heard
! he has said privately that coercion
| might be over in three weeks in case
of certain events, whereby I under
| stood he meant that if the landlords
| and tenants agree on a common basis
OF settlement In the meantime pres
| sure on the government is coming from
! various quarters. 1t is doubt
! full If the government can car
ry the educational bill without
violent closure, which may lead to
scenes inside the house by the Eng
| fish non-conformists very like those
caused by O'Donnell. so vehement is
| party passion, and outside it may pro-
| duce outbreaks in England, also on 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 maJadroit
antics of Mr.. Balfour. 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.