Mr. T. W. Russell, whose knowledge even Parnellites will not
dispute, publishes in the Times of Wednesday a short history of Clare and Kerry, two counties where agrarian outrage has been most prevalent. Between 1877 and 1880, the highest average of agrarian crimes in these two counties was 34; but on the establishment of the Land League, it rose at once to 380 in 1880, and 514 in 1881. By 1885, under Mr. Gladstone's Crimes Act, it sank to 155, rose when that Act expired to 350, and sank again under Mr. Balfour's Act to 203 in 1888, and only 34 in the first quarter of 1889. There is nothing surprising about these figures, which only prove that in Ireland, as everywhere else, when profitable crime is punished, profitable crime tends to become extinct. More- over, in October, 1887, 783 persons were being ruthlessly boycotted—that is, excommunicated under penalty of out-
rage on all who disregarded the popular edict—whilst on January 1st, 1889, only 42 persons were being victimised in that cruel way. The improvement is palpable, and is exactly of the kind which civilised government is instituted to secure, though one black spot still remains. There are persons in Clare and Kerry who, when put on oath, think it necessary to tell the truth even about agrarian outrage, and other persons who think themselves justified in taking empty farms ; and of these two classes of criminals, no less than 208 are still under special police protection.
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