Mr. Balfour made a great speech at Southport on Wed-
nesday, and laid down general principles on which he thought it would be possible for electors who do not know how to meet the details of the charges brought against the Irish Government, to guide themselves in crediting or discrediting the truth of these charges. In the first place, in relation to the charges brought against the Government of the cruelty and tyranny of the Irish Constabulary, he asked whether like charges had not always been brought after every collision between police and people under any Government whatever, British or foreign. Had not precisely the same charges been brought against Mr. Gladstone's Irish Government, against Lord Salisbury's British Government during the Trafalgar Square riots, and against every European Government that had been compelled to interfere with a popular demonstra- tion P Necessarily the police catch hold of people who are more or less concerned in the excitement, and often those who are less rather than more concerned in it are the ones to be caught. But this is a necessary and universal incident of all collisions between the police and the people, and it is absurd to accept them as showing any special abuses on the part of the Irish Constabulary. In fact, if it were the ad- ministration of the Crimes Act which interferes with the liberty of the Irish people, how is it that about a million of people in the North of Ireland regard that Act, not as inter- fering with their liberties, but as securing them their liberties
Previous page
