The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1890. THE MAYOR OF TIMARU.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2126, 18 November 1890, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1890. THE MAYOR OF TIMARU.

A nxjmeeotj BUT signed requisition has been presented to Mr D. M. Ross, asking him to allow himself to be nominated Mayor of I imam, for the third time this year. We are glad that Mr Boss will has consented te comply with the request. There can bo no doubt that the mayoral chair of Timaru has been filled to the general satisfaction of all during Mr Ross’s occupancy of it, and we are glad that the people recognise it. But, is nothing new to the people of Timaru to recognise sterling worth in public men Sir Edward Stafford represented Timaru until he left the colony; he was succeeded by Mr lurnbull, who also retained the confidence of the people up to the day of his death. In ether parts of the country opinion changes with lightning speed, and the many who may be popular one day may be despised the next. This is not the case in • imam. Once a man secures the confidence of the people there it must be his own fault if he forfeits it. Timaru has had good men in her public positions and Timaru has duly appreciated them, and amongst those deserving of appreciation Mr D. M. Ross must take a front place. We are not acquainted with his actions in the mayoral chair very intimately, but we know that since he was first elected Mayor the meetings have been decorously conducted and there have been no complaints. It is as a member of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board which he fills in virtue of his office as Mayo that wo know Mr Boss best In that position he has fought the battle of the poor vigorously and we feel confident that many will be glad to learn that his tenure of office on that board will be prolonged by his re-election as Mayor, Before Mr Boss become a member of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board we heard very little of its doings. It was a “ happy family ” sort of affair, and very little was known of it. Mr Ross has, however, let in a strong ray of light on it, with the result that it is probable improvements will eventually be effected, lie as well as Mr Barker have fought hard to reduce the cost of : attendance in the hospital to the poor, and wo have hopes that their efforts will yet be crowned with success. There is one thing which people from this district must not forget for Mr Ross. When Mrs Egan was turned away from the hospital Mr Ross interested himself on her behalf and became personally responsible to Mrs South for any’expenses she might incur in attending to the requirements of the patient. On the Hospital Board Mr Ross has performed his duties faithfully, vigorously, and intelligently, and it will give us great pleasure to learn that his connection therewith has not been severed.

MR BALFOUR IN IRELAND. Mb Balpoijb’s administration in Ireland has made him famous in some respects, and infamous in other ways. His brutal methods of “ bludgeons and bayonets ’’ cannot be defended in this age, but the impartiality with which he treats his victims, irrespective of age, condition, or position, and his unflinching courage must really be admired. Mr John Morley visited Ireland rececently, and he even did not escape Mr Balfour’s bludgeons. It is admitted on all sides that Mr John Morley will bo Mr Gladstone’s successor, and consequently Prime Minister of England at no distant date, yet no distinction was made so far as Mr Morely was concerned recently in Tipperary. Some of the Irish members of Parliament were arrested, and Mr Morley went over to Ireland to examine matters for himself. He went to Tipperary to be present at the trial, but found he could not get near the court, as it was guarded by police. He was accompanied by Mr Harrison, M.P., and Mr Illingworth, j M.P., two English members, when the police attacked them. Mr Harrison was severely cut in the head, and an editor of a newspaper was rendered unconscious through having been batoned by the police, but Mr Morley and Mr Illingworth escaped with paratively light injuries. Mr Morley describing the affair in a speech at Saint Helens said it was “ a desperate outrage, a lawless outrage, a cowardly outrage, and a wanton, unprovoked outrage.” He continues,

“ I had not the slightest apprehension of there being any disturbance until I suddenly, to my amassment, was hustled,

pushed, and menanced by constables with uplifted arms and faces in a state of fury —in a state of moat, to me, unaccountable agitation. The gathering of people was very scanty in the street—not anything worth the name of a crond. There was no sort of obstruction. The nearest approach to a not and disorder was a shrill Tipperary cheer on my account."

So we have it from the lips ©f Mr John Morley who was an eye witness that the reason the police batoned the people was because they cheered Mr Morley. There was no disturbance, no stone-throwing, and a couple of English constables would have been sufficient to keep the crowd in order ” so Mr Morley avers, yet. ‘ c In a singla instant without the shadow of justification or provocation, blood began to flow freely," that is, blood spilled by policy batons.

“ Mr Harrison, M.P., expostulated with the police, but the only reply he got was an effort on the part of the police to strike him on ike head with batons, The end was that Mr Harrison, with his head all dripping with blood, was let inside the gate. A constable close by Mr Keating then and there struck him a mu r derous blow across the mouth, and sent him, with the blood flowing from him, flat on the ground on the other side of the wall. 1 say deliberately, that there was no more justification in that murderous blow than there would be if some man were to come into this room now and strike me a murderous blow as I speaking here. Violent batoning went on outside the gate; from time to time men dripping with blood were pushed inside the gate.’’

This is the way Mr Balfour rules Ireland. Coming from the lips of Mr Morley removes doubt on the subject. Whatever else may be said of him no one will believe that Mr Morley would tell a lie about it. Now this is how outrages are manufactured in Ireland, Times out of number we have read of similar outrages committed in the name of “law and order” in Ireland, jet in all instances they were the result of police ruffianism- It is a sad case that such conduct is tolerated in the name of British law. Yet so it is, and it will be until there is a change of Government.