Henry George and the Phoeni Park murders.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 368, 15 May 1889, Page 6

Henry George and the Phoeni Park murders.

'Henry George arrived in London on' tho 14th of March to start a fresh land " nationalisation campaign. Ho is> as great, as over on his single tax pro/ gramme, contending that the only impost should be on land. He boasts that his. principles have taken firm root in New Zealand, and asserts, it is to be foared rather prematurely in face of tho recent Ne\v< South Wales election, that land nationalUa- j tion is rapidly ' weaning over ' the protectionists in Australia. Apart "frftmrthe speojal "^objects of his mission, it leaked out that Mr George had something to .unfold in regard to the 1 attitude of iNJ r Parnell on receipt of the' news of tho.Phccaix Park murders, and ho was quickly introduced by the London' .correspondent of the 'New York Hereld/j when the following facts transpired : — 4 1 presume you know Air Parnell V \ 'Yes, I met him first when he was im-. prisoned in Kilmainham gaol in ISSI. 4 Did you have, auy discussion with him about the theory ot land as beating upon' the Home Rule question in Ireland ?' .'Very slight, if any, I, however, was fully aware of Mr Pamell's positron. He did not agree with me then, and does not, I suppose, yet. His aim at that time was peasant proprietary, in which I can see no solution of the liish or any other,, land question. Evon if the huge scheme of established poasant proprietary were can ie.d in Ireland, it would only gi-vej to It eland the condition from which we in the United- States staited, and which- We : can now clqarly see cannot continue passing into such concentration, of land owner- : ship as ha 3 taken place in England since the time which, according to Macaulay, was at the accession of James 1., and when themajority of English farmers were owners of tho acres they tilled.' '1 presume in this Mr Parnell R«d Mr Davitt were not in accordance ?' ' jQavitt has. all along been, I think, more radical on the land question than Mr Parnell ; but I would not claim him as a single tax man, nor do L know precisely how far he goes. ' ' Was there any impression, Mr George, conveyed upon your mind as a visiting American, that Pai noil, at the tin.c he was in Kilraainhsinr), had any sympathy with the extreme movement that led to the killing of Lorcl Frederick Cavendish and Mr Buike?' •No ; on the contrary, I knew that he had none. I knew &o, in the first place, from my knowledge of the antagonistic feeling ot the more extreme men toward Parnell and his movement, and that no man in the three kingdoms mote bitterly regretted these ast sasinations .than Mr Parnell I had the most conclusive pi oof. it so happened that it was through me that Mr Parnell got hft information of the assassination. I had ccme from Dublin but the night previous to theassassi nation romeetMr Davict, who was on the day of the assassination- leleased from Portland Prison. I went in company with Mr Sexton to meet him at Waterloo station. He was e=coited by Mr* Parne'U and iYIr Dillon, who had gone down to Portlaud to meet and bring him to London I went with the party to the Westminister Palace H'tel, and after sitting down a little while went to South Reusing ton, wherel then stayed. We heai d nothing ot the astassination that night ; however, very early in the next morning 1 was awakened by a messenger bringing a despatch from my friend, Dr. James Kelly, then of Dublin and now of New York, telling me of the assassination. I got up and went round to Mr Joseph Cowen's house and woke him up. He, 1 found, luiew nothing ot it. It was too early in the morning to get a cab or any other conveyance, and [ walked as fast as I could to the Westminister Palace Hotel. There I woke up Davitt. Davitt leapt from his bed when I showed him the despatch, wi h expressions of grief and horror that to me were absolutely pathetic, saying in his agony that " he wished he were back in Portland." We immediately woke up Mr Dillon, who was in the house, and Mr Da\itt sent tor Mr Parnell. 4 There could be no' mistaking Mr Parnell's horror and pain. In a man of his usual almost stoical imperturbability they seemed to me even moie pathetic than the impression wrought upon Mr Davitt. He declared that he must at once resign from Parliament and abandon the leadership of the Irish cause, and he explained to me that he felt it as a deadly imputation upon the honour of the movement.'