Widnes Examiner. — 1887-10-22 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

IRISH TENANT FARMER ON COERCION. •  I The following is a characteristic- extract from a ; letter written by a tenant farmer, in county Tipperary, Ireland, under date the 12th inst., to a wellknown resident in Newton-le-Willows. After commenting upon personal matters, the letter proceeds: —I suppose the English press do not give a very full report of events in Ireland. Such a fault could be easily , remedied by reading Irish papers, the "Freeman's Journal," or "The Weekly Freeman," in particular. As a 1 rule they give the two sides of the picture, and it is very easy to judge which is the correct side. Another advantage to be gained from reading them is a full report is always given in their columns. "United Ireland,' "The Nation," and "Weekly News" are thoroughly Irish and very truthful, but the " Express" and the "Irish I Times" are red hot Conservative prints. Their chief I character is they are splendid liars and bitter enemies of the Irish people. I regret lam not able to give you an extended view of the current events in this country, however, I will do my best. In the first place the Coercion act has done a terrible lot of mischief, and there was not the slightest reason for the passing of it. It simply caused crime as it brings into collision the armed ; forces of the Crown with the people. The chief aim of its promoters is to bolster up the landlords and to help them to evict their unfortunate tenants. The struggle ' between the tenantry and landlordism is very bitter and fierce. The landlords are using every cruelty that the I devil can suggest or human ingenuity can carry oilt to I reduce to slavery the people of Irelana ; they are backed up by the Government in everything, no matter how cruel or heartless. The people, however, are well able ' for them, and with the help of God the people will win— they have justice and right on their side ; they are backed ' up by the democracy of England and by the people of the civilised world. The path to victory is pointed out to them by their own chosen leader and by the greatest of living Englishmen. The fatal affray at Mitchelstown is another nail driven into the• coffin of the Government and of landlordism. It was a cowardly proceeding for I armed men to fire from behind iron shutters upon an unarmed crowd —it was cold blooded murder. The blood of the victims will rise up before God and bring down His just wrath upon their murderers. The police are convicted before the world on their own evidence. Well, let them do their best, their days are numbered; their reign is over. You 1 may think this to be a picture drawn from my imagination, and the fact of my being an Irish tenant may lead i you to that opinion. .But lam telling Gospel truth. Not I until the great Judgment Day, when we will all appear before our Maker, will the wrongs inflicted on the Irish r people by the landlords be fully known. The people of 1 Ireland will outlive the landlords: they will soon own the land they till ; they have cast off 1 the shackles of serfs, and will assert their rights; and when bloody Balfour and Co. will have sunk into 1 oblivion, the Irish people will live in peace and joy in I their own land in the light of freedom and prosperity.