THE DUBLIN RIOTS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1154, 24 October 1871, Page 2

THE DUBLIN RIOTS.

[ALLIANCE NEWS.] As is usual in all such disturbances as took place in the Phoenix Patk, Dub? lin, on Sunday, August 6 th, the first reports are confused, conflicting, and exaggerated often very erroneous. Our brief summary last week, taken, from tjhe telegrams of Monday an 4 Tuesday, we fear, would not give a cois reet impression of the proceedings. We therefore now give our readers the substance of an able and temperate letteron •* The Riot in Dublin," addressed to the editor of the Times, and which appealed in that journal on Thursday, August 10th, from the pen of Mi> Alexander M. Sullivan, than whom no one, perhaps, is better able to state the real facts as they occurred; and it will be seen that the blame of this melancholy affair must rest almost entirely with the police authorities, who provoked and made the riot. This is the yiew accepted by the press generally. Mr Sullivan says :—-Up to and during the time of the attack by the police force on the meeting, no stones or other missiles were for at least one very sufficient reason, if for no othernamely, that no stones could be had. The sGene of the meeting, as every one familiar with it knows, is a sward as, smooth and as clear of stones as a wellkept lawn terrace. Neither missiles, nor weapons more formidable than blades of grass were within reach of the people, who were struck down so freely by the loaded batons of the police. It was only after the meeting had been violently assailed and dispersed, and when the police, in tjie heat of their victory over unarmed men, women, and children pursued the fleeing victims, down to the gate road, and into the city itself, that missiles of any kind began to be thrown. The killing of the child is alleged to have occurred, if it really occurred at all, in Steven'slane, in the city, and not in the park. Jt is not true that the police used their truncheons because they were attacked with stones. Neither is it true, as conveyed to some of the English newspapers, that the police came up to extricate or rescue their superintendent. Tt is true the officer received rough usage five or ten minutes previously, when he came into the ci'owd on an errand of duty, and it is true that I exerted myself, and not at all in vain, to put a stop to, and even resent this violence, such as it was. But all was, over; the superintendent had left the crowd for some time; all had calmed dovui again, and the chairman, Mr P, J. Smyth, iVf-P-j was proceeding with his speech, when suddenly there shot into view round the corner of the Wellington monument a considerable body of police, truncheon in hand, who, without uttering a wqrd of warning, notice, ov expostulation, began to stvike mercilessly on all sides. If an impair tial inquiry be instituted by ment, I believe that it will be found that throughout the period during which so many dreadful wounds were gi ven by the police no resistance was offered—rnone could be offered, na defence was attempted by the people, beyond the use of umbrellas in a few cases to ward off the showering blows of loaded truncheons. The violence or rough usage experienced by the inspector at the outset occurred in this wa y ; —The so called " steps " of the monument are not level on the upper surface. They slope or shelve so much that one can stand on them barely with great care. Half way up these steps Mr Smyth, M-P, and the other intending speakers (myself included) stood, behind or above us being a crowd of listeners, in addition to the concourse on the flat below, tfust as the meeting was about to be formally I observed Superintendent Howe at the foot of the steps in phe midst of the shouting crowd, speaking- towards wheie the chairman, myself, and others stood. I ran down to ask him wkat he. wanted. He came up a dozen step? °£ so to meet me. The crowd on the steps behind, eager to hear what might be sa.id —anxious to know was it by summons or by arrest we were to be brought to account —pressed down upon us, and, owing to the shelving or slope ot the steps, soon the whole mass were being impelled downward with dangerous speed. I cried to Mr Howe W | save himself by « linking" with me, \ I

ran my arm through his, and we both rushed as best we could to the bottom, to avoid falling and being trampled by those behind us. Unfortunately, this incident appeared to be misunderstood. A cry was raised that the inspector had arrested me, and had " dragged n me down the steps, and men in the crowd began to pull him away from me. This I resisted, I feared to let him part from me, feeling bound, under the circumstances, to protect from illusage or insult an officer whom I have always considered worthy of respect for his general character, and who was there merely discharging, fairly enough, a duty put upon him by his superiors. 3ome of the crowd, not hearing or heeding my expostulations in the din, began to " bonnet" him ; hjs lielme. was knocked off, and eventually one man struck him with clinched fist on the side of the head. Full of indignation, I, with my free hand —I had one arm thrown round the inspector—dealt this assailant a blow in the face, the .only blow I strcuk throughout the whole affray, and called him a cowardly scoundrel. I loudly appealed to the crowd not to disgrace the character of Irishmen by illtreating a man who bad trusted himself alone in their midst, And now, sir, a word or two, and I have done. It has been alleged, by way of further excuse for the violent suppression of the Pheenix Park meet ing, that its intent and meaning were to insult the members of the Royal Family then in Ireland. I state a fact within my personal knowledge—a fact susceptible of proof on oath before a commission of inquiry—that withiu the councils of the promoters of the meeting it was decided that no speaker on the occasion should mention or allude to the Royal visitors, lesst a hiss or a thoughtless remark from the crowd might afford a pretext for such misrepresentation. I was present when Mr f. J. Smyth, M.P., declared he

would not take the chair unless a further precaution was taken—namely, the suppression of the Princess Louise's letter in reply to the Irish ladies ; amnesty petition, which was to have been announced on the occasion. Thi« was .cheerfully conceded. Indeed, I believe it to be the fact that members ,of the Amnesty Committee were all the week exerting themselves to prevent any incident calculated t<o hear the semblance of rudeness, outrage, or insult towards the Royal visitors, under the belief —the foojish belief $« they now bitterly exclaim —that popular decorum, together with a well-ordered but impressive amnesty demonstration in the Phcenix Park during the Royal stay, would aid their purpose of. obtaining a completion of the amnesty already partially cai lied out. On this point, however, J do not undertake to speak with authority. I am not a member of the Amnesty Committee, though it has my hearty good wishes in the work of mercy ; and in point of fact I would not have been present at last Sunday 'a meeting but for the assumption of Viceregal dv Executive powers and functions by "Mr E Hornby." After the cle ciaration made in Parliament last week as to the light of public meeting in the public parks, I thought such an assumption a challenge or invasion of public right not to be submitted to. I and others thought it ought to be contestedj and its legality brought to test, by tendering ourselves for summonses or arrest. We never contemplated conflict, riot, or tumult. We were willing to bear the responsibility of proceedings in the law courts and to bow to the decision there. For all this we were prepared; but we certainly took no measures to provide against a brutal butchery by the police.—A demonstration against the conduct of the Irish Executive, in reference to the Dublin riots on the previous Sunday, was held in Hyde Park on Sunday evening. A bono 8,000 persons wei*e present, and perfect order was maintained. No police were to be seen, but 3,000 men were held in reserve in the Guards' Barracks, close by. Mr George Odger pvesided at the principal gathering. A. resolution, denouncing the " illegal and brutal conduct of the Executive," and calling for an investigation, was passed. Letters yreve read from Sir Charles Dilke, M.P, Mr Aid. Carter, M.P., and Mr P. A. Taylor, MP., condemn jng the conduct pf the Government.