The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-26
The Royal COnstabuIary and
Other Irish Institutions
BY SEUMAS MacMANUS


debts( gave it to ONeiIl in buckshot. The
law Of England says the king can do no
crime. English law as it runs In Ire
land says the constabulary, can hardly
do any crime Very much against the
will of the authorities, Constable Car
michael was tried for the willful murder
of ONeill, found guilty and sentenced
to be hanged. The lord lieutenant forth
with gave quite an effective reprimand
to judge and jury and counsel by COM
muting the sentence to Imprisonment
for life. A few weeks ago, the Jail gates
were opened and Mr. Carmichael invited
to come out and look for more shop
keepers. 1t is confidently expected that
he will give a good account of himself.
During the last quarter of a century sew
eral poor men, whose innocence was un-
questioned, were hung In Ireland, de-
spite pathetic appeals to the lord lieuten-
ant for their reprieve. Poor MyleS Joyce,
whose innocent life was sworn away by
bribed perjurers, and whose complete In.
nocence was testified to by the guilty
men who died beside him, was swung
into eternity with heart-rending protes-
tations of innocence upon his lips. 'Tis
true, justice is bTind-very blind in Ire
land. Some say that her eyes have been
picked out!
/ suppose there Is no country in the
world so thoroughly pohced as is Ire
land. The most frequent features Of
the country are it's police barracks. You
observe one Of these institutions every
three miles on any road you travel. You
observe half q dozen lazy big fellows
holding up the walls of it; you observe
them In pairs along the roadside, lying
up against fences like churns a-drying,
or winking over the hedges at the girls
who are working in the fields, or lean
Ing over the hah-doors in the villages
flirting with elephantfne grace) with
the girls inside Aware that none but
the brave deserve the fair, they astound
and inspire the neighborhoOd occasion
ally by boldly, with daredevil bravery,
charging down in a body upon a poor
old woman from the mountain who is
driving IN a donkey cart without hav-
ing her name written upon 1t In legible
English, as by parliamentary statute
demanded. About a million pounds an
nually Is paid to $4,000 of these gentle
men for the foregoing arduous duties.
The new under secretary, Sir Anthony
Mcdonnell, decided when he came into
grafton Of pretty girls, a much smaller
force OF conStabulary would meet the
requirements of the country; so, for some
time recruiting for the police force has
been stopped. AS they die off, whether
of love sickness or ether epidemic, the
country Is being allowed to mourn their
vacant places at the street corner and
the barrack gables, without hope Of their
places being filed again-except very
rarely by weed pulled out Of the Irish
royal guards and cast into the now dump
ing ground of "the force.''
-
Amongst countries remarkable for the
education of their people, Ireland will,
in another generation, hold place In
the forefront. 1t Is only seventy years
since we were given system of public
education. At that time, as a result of
the penal laws about is per cent
only of our people had any school edu-
cation Today there are only 13
per cent of our people, almost entirely
made up Of old men and women who had
not facilities for education in their