The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3623, 21 February 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1883.

the world -\vas liorrificd at the news of the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr Burke, the one hope has been that the perpetrators of the crime might be brought to justice. Our English cablegrams have informed us that a number of men implicated in the murder of Mr Field have been charged with the Phoenix Park tragedy. The committal of these men has been due to Information supplied by confederates in the detestible outrages that have from time to time shocked the civilised world and brought disgrace upon the very name of Ireland. It is tin old saying that " murder will out." and there seems now a probability of justice being done through the instrumentality of worthless scoundrels who, to save their own miserable lives, have turned informers. A short time ago we gave from the Pall Mall Budget the " Story of a Secret Society in America, which contained particulars very similar to, if not identical with, the short accounts we have received by cable of the assassination committees of Ireland. In a later number of the .Budget we have "The Sequel to the Story of" a Secret Society," by a former resident in Pennsylvania. It will be remembered that the first part of the story described how a clever young - Irish detective named McParlan, employed byPinkerton's agency, wormed himself into the secrets of the leaders and gained access to their counsels. JtfeParlan, however, was not alone in this arduous service. Several public-minded men of the country joined in the work with a will. The railroad people . organised a body of police some 1000 in number, many of whose members were well-to-do tradespeople. Bribeiy was resorted to wherever an opportunity presented itself. Detective McParlan's work was ended when the first lot of Mollies were convicted. The actual murder had not been brought home to them, the principal witness being indeed an "informer," who it has since been shown, was himself the real murderer. McParlan was forced to leave the country, which he did broken in health, and continually oppressed by the fear of a danger from which lie might never escape. Shortly after his departure the first capital conviction was obtained. It was that of Thomas Hurley, who openly boasted that he had killed Conner James at a picnic. The execution of his sentence was postponed for four months, until after the pending local elections, and every means were taken to have the judgment of the first court reversed—movements for new trials on errors of judicial riding of every description, and appeals to various higher courts and finally to the politicians. The Republican party then in power were threatened that if they did not secure for Hurley a commutation, of sentence the entire Irish colony would throw its vote for the opposition. The party leaders gave way, and promised to save Hurley in order to keep their scats. But their promise was broken. The Mollies boasted that they would not only save Hurley but release the prisoners already convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. Their boasts produced a revulsion of feeling in all directions. The politicians were threatened on both sides ; and as they had to break with one section of their supporters in any case they chose to do it with the Mollies. * Not only was Hurley's deathwarrant signed, but, on the principle of " In for a penny in for a pound," it was determined to prosecute relentlessly their former copartners. When rogues fall out, honest men get their dues. The State and country political authorities sided with Mr Gowen, and as soon as the courts were fairly open he filled the prisons with suspected men, and presented his evidence complete iv all its links against the very men who had been attempting to trade lives for votes. On t]ic first trial that was ! held where the crime of murder was charged four men wevo urrainged. Two days later they were convicted, ttud Hurley was given four companions to accompany JuJii to the soatt'old. Almost simultaneously six other ringleaders, including a State and two county delegates, with three "bodymasters, 0, were convicted at Bloomsbury, and the death-warrant issued for the entire number—fourteen in all—to be hanged on the same day. Deprived of their political affiliation, afraid to move less they betrayed themselves, the members of the order could extend no help to their condemned companions. There was money to spend to engage lawyers and pay the extraordinary costs of special appeals, but there was no one to move, and in due course the law was executed. It was the death-knell of the order. The country demanded just such an example. The scene in the streets was indescribable. The population for miles and miles around had thronged to the vicinity of the glial, with wild threats of a rescue. The militia, upon whom at best little dependence could be placed, were trembling in their boots. The Coal and Iron Police, however, proved effective, and with gentle force drove back the mob, and the sentences were carried out. Similar scenes were enacted at Bloomsbury and Mauch Chunk, but in no case was the mob able to prevent an execution. The blow had been struck, public opinion was satisfied, and the Konublicans, by thus "rounding on ; their old allies, rehabilitated their popularity and carried their ticket. The prosecution of the ifolUes tfae not relaxed in vigor. Mr

Gowen was inexorable. " No," he wrote, in answer to a communication sent him begging him to desist and withdraw the Coal and Iron Police; " no, I will not stop until I have brought to trial every man who can be charged in any of the degrees with any of the murders in Northern Pennsylvania. It is as useless for you to ask me as it is to attempt to escape. I will have you followed and brought back from wherever you may go, and perfect order and a sense of safety must be restored. There shall be no man" afraid to work or forced to obey the orders of any secret society whose methods are like yours, and I tell you again I will bring to the gallows every man engaged in the murders of the last ten years"" Such a manifesto as this had its effect. Men came in to give information, and the secrets of the order were .soon laid bare. Every detail was made known, and the stories of the crimes that had been committed were told by a hundred lips. The suppression of the Mollies, which began in 1575, was not crowned with final success until March, 1879. One by one all the leading Mollies were brought to trial, and so closely woven was the net of evidence that surrounded them that not one escaped. The gallows claimed its victims one after another, until the fact of a hanging taking place became only a matter of local excitement. On the Bth of March, 1879, the last lodge or body of Molly Maguires held its final meeting. It was composed of only ton members, who were the treasurers of the different bodies, and they met in a low tavern in Tamaqua, to divide among themselves the balance of the great sums they once had held. The amount was not large, only 700 dols. for ten of them. They had divided the money, and wore approaching the fireplace to burn the records, when the officers of the law burst in and the last lodge of the Mollies was captured. There were at that time four Mollies under sentence of death, and they made up the number to thirty-seven. The hist arrests did not lead to conviction for murder, but all the ten received terms of imprisonment ranging from three and a half to fifteen years.