Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1889-02-09 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

THE HERALD.  SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1889.  liirJay, tragic and sensational; has been made in Ireland this iveek, and the events which have transpired have commanded more widespread interest than has been known since the memorabbe time when Mr Gladstone inaugurated the new Irish policy. Mr O'Brien when be was taken to prison was treated with great barbarity. His gaolers sought to degrade him, and to force him into surrender. When they had reduced him iuto a cenditiou of helplessness—when he was lying unconscious on the floor of his cell warders stripped him of his clothes, all but his shirt, and put the hated prison garb upon him. They cropped his hair, boo, after the approred criminal fashion. Mr O'Brien, when consciousness returned to him, quickly perceived what had happened. He remembered how he had struggled with his gaolers, and be guessed the rest. But he was not yet done with his tormentors. He doffed the priiirin habiliments and cast them aside, and then, with no clothing but his shirt, he sat down as near to the steam pipes as he could in order to keep his body in heat For many hours he was left in that position. Protests were sent to the Irish Secretary from all directions against his inhumanity But what cared Balfour the brave. He went into the City of Difblin and dined with the Liberal Unionists, and actually sought to make merriment for them as he described Mr O'Brien sitting shivering in his shirt. The levity of that speech shocked the public feeling almost as much , as the story of the prison barbarities to ' which Mr O'Brien had been subjected. A great meeting was held in Phcenix Park, and speeches were mado condemning Mr Balfour's procedure by men whose voices must have been heard at the Chief Secretary's Lodge. Still Mr Balfour was unmoved. Mr O'Brien was kept without his clothes. Three more days passed—days during which the indignation of the British public rose until it reached great volume, and then, without word of explanation Mr O'Brien got his clothes returned, his treatment was altogether changed, he was supplied with books and writing material. It was a groat victory he had won, but the resolution not to submit to degradation &tumid cost him his life. We only hope that the injury he sustained in the struggle with the gaolers and by sitting exposed in a cold cell may not leave effects.  permanent I  ••...*.....,*  As  was leaving the police attempted to arrest him. gathered around their priest, 11.1 protect him. A serious row  stems were thrown, many people Injured, and one of the policemen—au inspector—sustained injuries which resulted in his death. That sad occurrence Ii most regrettable; every right-minded person deplores it; but the responsibility rests with those who provoked the dis, turbance. As to bow Father McFadden has fared in the gaolers' hands little is known. All we know is that little and no consideration was shown him in his I hurried conveyance to prison.  were 1  mercy I  Mr KiLuna'. M.P., ban also been into the Balfour brigade this week. He was arrested in an English town. The Leicester Liberals had entertained him at a dinner. He had just addressed an enthusiastic meeting when he was confronted by the police, and claimed as a prisoner. The event caused a great sensation in the town, and it has been condemned by Liberals in all parts of the country. Mr Balfour will make another Ireland of England if he does not speedily mend his ways.  thrust!  BY these and other equally indefensible actions Mr Balfour has precipitated a political crisis. A state of indignant ',ding has been aroused quite as intense as was evinced at the time of the Bulgarian atrocities. Indignation meetings have been held everywhere, and some of the most successful have been in the North of England, Darlington deservedly claiming pre-eminence. A National Committee has also been formed, to which many of the most distinguished men of the day have given their adhesion, for conducting a campaign in the country against the Government and its policy; and there are indications that the Government is shaking in its shoes. It is even affirmed that there are dissensions in the Cabinet, and that there is sure to be trouble very soon unless the Balfour policy is very much modified. Many of the Tories recognise that Mr Balfour's plan is breaking down, and that it is endangering the position of the Government. Strange and vexing as it is, the fact cannot be con. coaled that Ireland's most inveterate enemies and the Government's chief supporters are the Liberal Unionist leaders. Lord Ilartington and Mr Chamberlain are applauding Mr Balfour's "firmness," and Lord Selborne and Mr Courtney are still preaching the doctrine of hatred against Irishmen.  Tim principal political speech on the Liberal aide this week was the one delivered at Newcastle by Mr John Morley. The right hon. gentleman was in capital form, and his exposure of the wickedness and senselessness of the ...Government policy in Ireland constituted one of the most scathing indictments levelled against , the Coercionists. Lord Spencer has also been engaged in the "indignation campaign," and has spoken with great vigour in denouncing Mr Balfour's behaviour. The Liberal Unionists have been represented by Lord Selborue and Mr Courtney, both of whose speeches afforded testimony of the velocity with which men slide when on the down grade. The speeches were Uwe of out-andout Tories, let them call themselves by whatever name they please. Lord Selborne adopted the old and worn tactics of running 1 down the credit of the Irish members, and Mr Courtney indulged in some flippant and heartless insolence about the temptation to get rid of the Nationalists from the House of Commons, most unbecoming on the part of any member, but particularly so when that member is Chairman of Cornmittes, and is expected to be at least impartial and civil. Sir Michael Hicks. Beach addressed a meeting at Bristol. "What is all the row about ?" he as good as asked. Mr Harrington got his moustache cut, but, said Sir Michael, "it will grow again." True, 0 wise Michael! But something more will grow besides the moustache: Mr Harrington's power will grow, and the power of the scoffers will wane.  I THE funeral of the Crown Prince of Austria took place on Tuesday. It would be well if the story of the unhappy Prince and his death could soon be obliterated from memory. Sme strange and tragic reports have been in circulation as to the cause of his death and the circumstances which led to his suicide. He seems to have led a most pitiable life. The full details have not yet been authoritatively reported, but enough has been told of discreditable associations to make clear that the Crown Prince was an unworthy son and a faithless husband. The story is one of the ugliest and most repulsive which has been revealed in modern times.