The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-07-09
CRIME DECREASING
IN IRELAND
Enemies Of Ireland Delight in Pct.
uring it as the Home
of Crime.
And Yet Statistics Show That Twelve
Prisons Have Been Closed in
Twenty Years.
Many of the Prisons Are Now Put
to Various Useful
Purposes.


In recent issue of the Freemans
Journal of Dublin, Mr.. William Red
mond offers some interesting facts On
the decrease Of crime in Ireland.
The attempt made some time before
the general election to blacken the
character of the Irish people by the
methods we'll described by Mr.. Birrell
as "carrion crow" proceedings, lie
writes. has been latterly somewhat
dropped by those Irish members who
for a long time seemed to take
positive delight in endeavoring to
make the British people believe that
Ireland was country seething with
crime. Of course the object of their
endeavors was very plain. They hoped
to prejudice the British electors ana
so secure the defeat of those candi-
dates in the constituencies of Eng
land, Scotland and Wales who were in
favor of handing over the manage
ment of Irish affairs to Irishmen in
their own country.
There are some phrases so striking
that they never fade from the public
memory, and it is safe to say that the
phrase "carrion crow" as applied by
Mr.. Birrell to those Ulster members
who were endeavoring to injure the
reputation of their own country is a
phrase which will never be forgotten.
And as the word "hoycott" still de-
scribes certain set of circumstances
not only in Ireland but throughout the
world, so it is safe to say that men
who endeavor to blacken their own
countrymen will be for all time known
as "carrion crows"
1t was enough to tempt the mem
bers Of the Irish party to retaliate when
efforts were made to describe Ireland
as being given over to crime. 1t would
have been quite easy to show that, in
proportion to population, crime in
1IedI bIlldlN Is 1dl 6ICdtCl tlloi i'A
Ireland, and indeed it might have been
shown, and it was shown more than
once, that of all the countries of Eu-
rope, no country is freer from both
ordinary and detestable crimes than
Ireland. This fact was perhaps never
more clearly borne in upon the British
mind than by an answer in the House
of Commons by Mr.. Birrell on the SUBJ
ject of Irish prisons.
Prisons Increasing in England.
In England and other countries
prison accommodation is being en-
larged every day and the number OF
prisoners is constantly, for all Of
fenses, on the increase.
Mr.. Birrell was asked how many
prisons had been closed in the last
twenty years, that is to say since
March, 1890, and the answer was that
in that period no less than twelve
prisons had been closed because they
had been found to be unnecessary. No
doubt the population of Ireland has
decreased in those twenty years, but
that does not account for the sum-
mary closing of no less than twelve
prisons in some of the principal towns
of the country The fact is that Ire
land is practically a crimeless land;
and therefore all these prisons have
been dispensed with. Here is the list:
Downpatrick, Carrick on Shannon,
Drogheda, Ennis, Enniskillen, Grange
german, Mullingar, Omagh, Wexford,
Wicklow, Limerick Cfemale), and last
but not least, Kilmainham.
| Kilmainham still remains vested m
the General Prisons Board, and may
be available for use, If required in con-
nection with Assizes and Quarter Ses-
sions, or for emergency periods. But
it's use as a prison has been discon-
tinued, and it is unlikely that it will
ever again be the home, as it was in
the days of long ago, Of hundreds IF
political prisoners. What this vast
building will be eventually utilized for
it is difficult to say, but as 1t stands
it represents a dismal and black chap
ter of the past, and 1t would be in
deed a happy circumstance If it could
be associated for the future with some
v industrial enterprise for the benefit Of