The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-19
FRESHMEN AGAIN
 COMES ID FRONT 0'Conner Describes Exciting Scene in House of Commons DISCUSSES MR. O'D0NNELL Says It Was Remarkable to See a Man Ordinarily So Quiet Rise and
 Speak Despite the Tu-
 mutt In the Hall.
DISCUSSES MR. O00NNELL

London, October 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 follows:
 q have seen many strange and exciting scenes in the house of commons, but that of Thursday was the most strange and most exciting. It deserves serious notice as a symptom of and clue to the present political condition. John O'Con- nell, the chief character therein, is not the kind of man one would expect to see figure in such 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 of those small patches of land in the west of Ireland. which are most re- markable specimens of the wreckage of centuries. Yet he speaks eloquently. chastely and the strong physique of the peasant Is surmounted by a face of sweetness and refinement, as well as of vigor. TO see this ordinarily quiet young man addressing the whole house for a quarter of an hour amid din which was tempestous and in violation of every rule of order with the speaker, ministers and all shouting, and the majority help less and then afterwards to see him cross the floor of the house and standing in front of the prime minister, who sat pallid with a siclxly smile on his face; to see this was one of the most curious proofs of how honest passion and in- dignation created by oppression, can COW even the most powerful of tyranniss
 Absolute Helplessness.
 ''Of all the points of that scene, for it was terrible, the most remarkable was the absolute helplessness; the cowed in- action of the unionist majority, so divid- ed and harassed by the scene of the ir- resistabe doom coming hourly upon their leaders, that they cannot conceal their depression and are made impotent by panic. And there was other reason that the spectre of Ireland, which was supposed to be laid, had arisen 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 drag ged from platform by the police before he opened his lips. and he was recently subjected to a sentence which is an ex- ample of deliberate ferocity. his last sentence of six months. October IA, hav- ing 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 mnisterialists sat cowed, hapless and abashed at the scene, one of the signs of some great coming change. It is impossible to foretell what it will be, but for a good reason Irish men hope it may take the shape of startling, gigantic surrender. One Of the most important portents Is the eagerness of nine out of ten of the landlords to at tend conference with the Irish leaders. The movement is only kept from triumph by the fact that the leaders of the land lords are wealthy, with estates in Eng land, and are therefore independent of Irish agitation and because they are, be-