It was rumoured yesterday, on the authority of many French
papers, confirmed in part by the Freeman's Journal, .that Walsh, the man accused by James Carey of organising the Invineibles, had been arrested at Havre, and had " confessed." Mat requires confirmation, but it is certain that the Govern- ment have demanded the extradition of Byrne from France, and of Sheridan from the United States. In the former eountry the Extremists, and in the latter the Irish, loudly threaten a refusal ; but in both, we imagine, the Judges will decide according to the evidence. It ought to be strong, and to be evidence of complicity in actual crime, or we shall be overwhelmed with applications from Russia, Spain, and France. Whether it would not be wiser to include membership of a murderous league among the crimes thought worthy of extradi- tion, is another matter. At present, there is no such clause in the Treaties, and evidence must be given as to acts other than membership. If that is available, we do not believe that Courts will decline to execute the law, or that the Governments of great and friendly States will fail to act on their decisions. The popular notion that murder is something else than murder, if the victim is a King or an agent of authority, is no more recognised by any Court or Government than it is by any moralist worth attention.
