The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-02-07
Colonel Arthur Lynch.
IIIHEN judgment in the case OF
wv Colonel Arthur Lynch, sentenc-
inn him To the sea fold for the

crime or nlSn treason, WAS announce
in this country through the Associated
Press dispatches, sentiment ran hlgh
in Irish-American circles. Indignation
meetings were called and held, and
resolutions passed in which the action
of the English court in thus condemn
ing Lynch to the death penalty was
denounced as a 'travesty on justice
One branch of these grumblers oe-
serves special notice-that of the deie-
gates of the Irish American societies
of New York. at 9, meeting of these
delegtes, held on the night of Jan. 20,
the following resolution was drawn up:
I'VE desire to express our belief that
the British government will not dare
to carry out the sentence imposed upon
Colonel Lynch, and also to point out
that the action CT an English court IN
finding a man who had been in due
form a naturaliZed citizen OF anorher
country guilty of treason in England,
is unjust unfair and a gross violation
of all the conditions under which NIL
population of this country.
I'VE denounce her (England's) ac-
ton as cowardly, brutal and tyrannical,
and predict that it will only serve to
call the attention of the world to the
fact as you cannot change the spots
of the leopard, so you cannot make
the British government anything but
stupid, cowardly and cruel"
But few things in this age of Won
ders can shock us, but we confess that
the wording of the above resolution
has done so. 1t is surprising, in view
of the circumstances, to find SO intel
Iigent a body of men as that of the
delegates of the Irish-American soci-
cites, so far forgetting themselves as
to be guilty of penning the harsh SEN
timents contained in this resolution.
1t is such morbid and unseemly, I'M
reasonable and unreasonable exhibit
lions of racial bigoty that bring the
ridicule of the outside world upon the
otherwise worthy cause. 1t is unfortu-
nate and deplorable that Irishmen
should make such blunders precisely at
a time when every effort should be put
forth to foster the growing tendency
of leniency and sympathy toward Ire
land and her interests now noticeable
in English gubernatorial circles.
The writer of this paper is man of
few pretentions, but he claims to be
as much of an Irishman and to have
as large sympathy for Ireland's
cause as any of the "Irish-Americans"
that adorn the delegation" He has
lived in Ireland long enough to know
and to realize her sad history and her
wrongs and oppression under English
misrule. Nay, he would go step fur
Their and say that he owes the expatri-
alton and Punishment of many of his
Gear and near relations and friends-if
not his own-to English intolerance in
Ireland. He has good reason, then, to
have, at least, no soul love
for the powers across the Channel. Yet
he is a Catholic, and as such he be-
lieves in justice-he believes that Cath
olics, and Irish Catholics too, should
pull lightly and gently on the string
of justice, even when England is at
the other end.
Now the questions is, was Colonel
Lynch really guilty of the crime for
which he was sentenced? The facts
are all against him. While a subject
of England, he joined the ranks of her
enemies in time of war. If this was
not treason, then we do not know the
meaning of the word. True, it is said
that he made some efforts at naturah-
cation under the Boer government, but
whether he succeeded or not, the fact
remains the same. If he succeeded,
then what right had he, a foreigner, to
accept and seek a seat in the British
parliament to make laws for a coun-
try he had renounCcd? If he had not
been successful in his efforts at
naturalization, then his treason is as
sured, and his act of coming to Eng
land to claim his seat was the great
est piece of foolhardiness in the his
tory of daring. Why censure the court
which had no option but to deal with
the offender according to the laws up
on the statutes? If Colonel Lynch was
dissatisfied with his country, he had
perfect right to renounce her and
seek utilization wheresoever he wished
jim this he has our sympathy, but we
cannot give our sympathy to one who
has sought to bear water upon both
shoulders" in the dishonorable way
that he has done. In fine, we know OF
no better words in which to describe
this comedy than those of the re-
moved editor of the Western Watch
man:
This insignificant instrument has
been used to excite the Irish people
at home and abroad to a. degree that
appears little short of ludicrous. There
is nothing of the hero in Colonel Lynch.
Like that other Boer hero, who trav-
eled around with the Irish Joan of
Are" he is a Boer soldier for adver-
Using purposes. In fact, in his plea
before the court that sentenced him to
death he declared that he was less a
soldier than a journalist, and went into
the Boer war chiefly in the latter ca
pacity. The avowed purpose of those
Irish Boer recruits was the formation
of the nucleus of an Irish army which
when England's flag would be hauled
down in South Africa, would concen-
trate III Ireland and drive England out
of Erin forever. To our mind this is
criminal agitation. We believe in
making it as difficult and as unpleas-
ant as possible for England to govern
Ireland: but the end of all political
and social obstruction should be to COM
pei England to do justice to the sister
isle, not to bring about political sep
aration."
CATHOLIC OPINION.
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