Waterbury Democrat., 1902-10-23
T. Ps D'C0NN0R, M. P.
Writes About the Scene in the House
 of Commons Thursday.

T. F. O1Connor, M. F., writes his impressions of the scene caused by the Irish members in the house of com- mons Thursday and what he believes it portends, as follows:
 sI have seen many strange and ex- citing scenes in the house of commons, but that of Thursday was the most strange and most exciting. It de- serves serious notice as a symptom of and clew to the present political condi- tion.
 "John O'Donnell, the chief charac- ter 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 Irish men rising equal to great situations, however humble and unpromising their origin. He was born in a little cottage on one of those small patches of land in the west of Ireland which are most remarkable specimens of the Wreckage of centuries. Yet he speaks eloauently, chaste1y, and the strong physique of the peasant is surmount- ed by a face of sweetness and refine ment as well as of vigor.
 ITO see this ordinarily quiet young man addressing the whole house for 3 quarter of an hour amid a din which was tempestuous. and in violation of every rule of order with the speaker, minister and all shouting, and the ma jority helpless; and then afterward see him cross the floor of the house, and, standing in front of the prime minister, who sat pallid. with a sickly smile on his face: to see this was one of the most curious proofs of how honest passion and indignation, creat- ed by oppression, can cow even the most powerful of tyrannies
 ssOf all the points of that terrible scene, for it was terrible. the most re- markable was the absolute helpless ness, the cowed .inaction of the Union ist majority, so divided and harassed by the sense of the irresistible doom coming hourly upon their leaders that they cannot conceal their depression and are made impotent by panic. "And there was the other reason that the spectre 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 { c0mmons, 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 drag ged from platforms by the police be- fore he opened his lips, and he was re- gently subjected to q sentence which is an example of deliberate ferocity, his last sentence of six months, Octoz Der 14, 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 legible letters on the pale face and in the excited eyes of this ordinarily quiet gentleman This perhaps was why the minister ialists sat cowed, helpless and abashed | at the scene, one of the signs of the great coming change.
 sIt is impossible to foretel what It will be, but for a good reason lrishmen hope it may take the shape of q start Hing, gigantic surrender. One of the most important portents is the eager ness of nine out of ten of the land- l lords 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, l with estates in England, and are there l fore independent of Irish agitation, l and because they are, besides, poll l ticians first and landlords afterWard. l .'ESvery thinking man, whether land- l lord or tenant, believes that two or three years purchase and small l grant from the imperial exchequer are ! all now standing between Ireland and l a final settlement of the land question, and the reconquest of the land by the Celts from the English garrison. I Among those who think that a gi- gantic surrender is inevitable at an early date is, I have reason to believe, I the Irish chief secretary, MT Wyndham himself. He urged the landlords to consent to conference, even travel l ing long distances to their homes in order to put personal pressure on them. He has already announced that there l will be a bigger land bill next year, and have heard he has said privately that coercion might be over in three weeks in case of certain events, where l by understood he meant that If the l landlords and tenants agree on a com mon basis of settlement.
 In the meantime pressure on the ! government is coming from various I quarters. It is doubtful if the govern \ ment can carry the education bill with 1 out violent closure, which may lead to scenes inside the house by the English non-conformists very like those caused I by ODonnell, so violent is party pas sion and outside it may produce out breaks 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 MT Balfour 1 insulted Ireland by refusing to give her q day to voice her wrongs
 To sum up, the Irish members feel that they have scored. Nobody has a good word to say for the ma1adroit an tics of MT Balfour. The government is threatened from many quarters and is l divided. and is, believe doomed.
 while Ireland has once more rushed into the foremost place in the great l drama of British politics.
 I RAN A TEN PENNY MATT