The Warwickshire Herald. — 1887-04-14 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

CRIME IN IRELAND. DEMONSTRATION IN  HYDE PARK.  NEVER since the three tailors of Tooley-street eases ed to speak on behalf of "the people of England" has there been greater assumption than that which took place in Hyde-park on Monday. A mass of Irishmen, Irish women, and children, marching behind green banners, and keeping time to the tunes of noisy bands, walked into Hyde. park for a holiday. Each man wore a green ribbon in his coat, or a green sash round bis body, or a green band round his shoulder, and because about 40 000 or 50,000 English people of all sorts flocked to the park to see the ridiculous show, the world will be gravely told that "the people of London" assembled to protest against the policy of punishing murderers, assassins, and thieves simply because those crimes are committed by Irishmen. The name of the Queen was hooted, the mention of Mr. Chamberlain's name and that of John Bright provoked arroaua, but an incidental allusion to the Pope produced vehement cheers. Yet Has was a crowd which represented "the people of London." A coffin formed part of the procession, with the announcement at the foot of "Balfour and Co." Of coarse this is the way English crowds conduct their political demonstrations. At the Devon-hire Club a band from the East-end stopped and played the "Dead March" in " Saul." The Devonshire Club is called after the Devonshire family, one of whom was murdered in Phcenixpark only a few years ago. Round the corner, in Piccadilly, is Devonshire•house, where the victim of the Land League was born. On one of the banners was the representation of three men hanged by the neck. They were Lord Salisbury, Mr. Chamberlain, and Lord R. Churcuill, and one of the men who Was carrying this lovely production bore an axe on his shoulder with the blade besmeared with paint to represent blood. These may be Mr. Gladstone's friends, but they are not Englishmen, nor Scotch. men either. The " Scotch" contingent was as great a libel on C iledonia as the whole demonstration oa En.:land. It started for Hyde-park from Black. friars ; it was'to have been headed by twelve pipers, but only two turned up, and an irate Scotch Radioed who was present described them as two wandering street bag-pipers, followed by fifty lean and hungry nondescript s. It is just as well that Mr. T. P. O'Connor energetiesilly urged the demonstrators to " oistribute handbills at toe doors of the C aholic chapels, and have plenty of bands, for without noise we can do nothing." The fine weather had taken the people out of town, to the parks, to the Crystal Palace, md before the a 'vent of the bands the lines of rode were singularly deserted, but the brass bands awoke the sleeping ones, and encouraged the boys and girls and the lazy adults to a march to Hydepark. As soon as the music ceased continuous streams of people were seen wending their way home again under the Marble Arch and out of the gates at Hyde-park corner. The speaking had not commenced, and they did not care a straw about it. There .were sixteen platforms. It is a liberal computation if there were more than a thousand interested listeners round twelve of them. There was a mace larger crowd round the Socialists' platform and that on which Mrs. Ashton Dike made a convicuous figure; but four of the platforms were almost entirely deserted until just before the time  came for putting the resolution: Then brass bands  were brought into requisition, hasty speeches were delivered by Mr. Howell, Mr. Pickersgill, and a few nobodies, and then the resolution protesting against coercion was carried "unanimously." Of course it was. Only one•third of the people in the park eared to hold up their hands at all.  Tie spectaare from Lord Randolph Caurchill'a