The Northern Guardian. — 1892-12-28 (Hartlepool, Cleveland, England)

THE MFSSAGE OF PEACE.  THE fiendish outrage at Dublin still continues to keep the newspapers busy with comment. The Gladstouian press of this country have united in condemning the I authors of the murder while endeavouring to divest it nf lir:political significance; thebetter part of the Irish press have done the same. On one point pretty well all the newspapers are in agreement, and that is in deciding that the outrage cannot be placed to the credit of the Nationalists—we mean, of course, the Nationalists as a Party—for it must be plain to the intellect most untutored in politics that such dastardly outrages can only retard the accomplishment of Ireland's aspirations. According to a telegram received to-day, an arrest has been made at Nenagh, but at the present time the real object and significance of the crime cannot be defined. Still, it is a warning to Mr Morley that such messages of peace as he can take to Ireland are not to the liking of the lowest element of Fenianism. On the morning of elm day on which the outrage occurred, the Gweeclore prisoners, the brutal murderers of an innocent police officer whose only crime was the performance of his duty, were released from gaol. According to the Dublin correspondent of the Times, public opinion in the Irish capital inclines to the belief that the release of these men, while the dynamiters, Daly and Egan, are still in prison, aroused the extreme faction of Irishmen to perpetrate the deed as a protest against the timidness of the Government. The conjecture is not without reason, and it brings out with startling vividness the painful position in which Mr Motley is placed. The Chief Secretary is attempting to govern Ireland on a plan which', the experience of the Ages has proved can never be successful. You must have Some law and some obedience to the law before a country can be at peace; and Mr Morley, during his term of office, has spent his time not in helping and working for the well-being of the law-abiding population, but in making concessions to criminals and bartering with the little clique of men who make the troubles of Ireland their livelihood. If a man commits a peculiarly cruel murder in England, public opinion will never demand his release unless there be some doubt as to his guilt. There was no doubt whatever about the guilt of the G weedore murderers; there was not, we believe, any demand for their liberation except from violent partisans who wished to curry favour with the lowest classes of Irishmen who interest themselves in politics. Yet Mr Morley turns them out of gaol to conspire once more against the law. "Ireland," he says in effect, "is now at peace. We shall let bygones be by-genes, and forgive those who have sinned in the past." What a frightful commentary on his recent speeches is the outrage perpetrated on Christmas Eve! Surely Mr Morley can see the ruinous folly of his position! By all means let by-gones be by-gones, send the olive branch of peace to those Irish men and women with whom we have differed on matters of legislation, and who honestly desire to see the country happy and prosperous under fair and equitable . laws. But to the criminals who fight against this desired consummation there should be no mercy. What does Mr Morley's present attitude amount to? It amounts to this, that the moment a country is in a state of political tranquility the gaols should be opened. Well, why not try it in England?. We are in a state of perfect peace. Why not turn loose our murderers and felons to prey again upon society Why should Irish criminals alone be favoured, while poor persecuted Men in England, whose only fault perhaps is that they have kicked a woman to death or strangled a drunken man, languish in prison ? • We should suggest that, when Mr Morley has healed the wounds of Irelani bx proclaiming a general amnesty