12 MARCH 1881, Page 2

About twenty-three Irish arrests, under the warrant of the Lord-Lieutenant,

have been made under the Coercion Act, a number not so large as was expected. Nor are any of the Irish Parliamentary party at present included. The persons arrested and sent to prison in Dublin are treated with great considera- tion, allowed to meet for some hours on every day, permitted the use of tobacco and of newspapers, and allowed to furnish their own meals. As yet, we have heard very little of evictions to be conducted under the protection of the Coercion Act, though in Kilkenny it is said that Captain George Healy has given notice to the tenantry on his estates of such evictions. Cer- tainly it is most undesirable that, in the interval between this and the passing of a new Land Act, the policy of eviction should be encouraged. The Irish landlords should be the last to push on that policy. It may serve their immediate interest ; but it will certainly do much to irritate the people, and still more to render the terms of the Land. Bill more hostile to their interests than they would otherwise be.