Mr. Trevelyan denied indignantly that the Irish Government 'had in
any case interfered with the freedom of the Press and with free discussion. As an illustration of the gross misrepre- sentations made, Mr. Trevelyan explained that in one very bad -district where terror and murder had been rife,—eight most deliberate assassinations had recently taken place there,—persons -calling themselves reporters, and perhaps really reporters, but better known as dangerous agitators whose speeches had con- stantly been followed by crimes of a grave kind, had not been allowed to address a public meeting, and this had been repre- sented as a most arbitrary interference with the liberty of the Press. If they had been allowed to speak, the Government would have been responsible for the crimes that would almost • certainly have followed. A freer Press than that of Ireland, and one availing itself more fully of its freedom to assail the -Government as it pleases, Mr. Trevelyan intimated that he did not believe to exist.
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