The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3857, 10 May 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1881.

A late cablegram stated (hat Mr Dillon, M.P. for Tipperary, had been arrested and imprisoned under the provisions of the Coercion Act. This gentleman has been most unguarded in his language when speaking upon Irish questions, and is' reported td hare said that all future evictions. would meet with an armed resistance. The power placed in the bands of t'je Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by the Coercion Act is rery great. The first clause is ir^ ''Any: person who is declared'by warrant of the .Lord-Xieutenant to be reasonably suspeqted of having before or after the paseing df this Act been guilty as principal or '_ accesßory of high treason,?:treasonfolonyi or treasonable practice, wherever committed in prescribed district, being an act'ib'f'vidlenise or intimidation, or the inciting to an-aet of violence or intimida-: tioiii !and tending to interfere with or disturb;' ithe : -maintenance of law and order, may be } arrestedj in any part :of Ireland .and legally detained dtfr'iii° r - the Xcontifiuarice of /this: iAct in such prison in Ireland as may from time to time fee 'directed by the; Lord Lieutenant without bail or main«pri«e; and shall not be discharged or, tried by;' any Court without,-4he,direction of & 'Lord-Lieutenant; and erery such warrant hnd dif the legality? of-jt|» arres^ *nd detention of the'person mentioned in such warrant. This is without doub!t/-bne'' of the most remarkable Acts that has for centuries passed the Honse'o( Commons. Liberty of speech is curtailed, tfie right of every mm to a fair trial by jury of his countrymen is and set aside are some of the birthright*! of every subject of the realm. The fact .that suich a measure as the Coercion Act-was deemed necessary, and passefd by the Legislature telis a tale more Forcibly than any mere description of the daily, occurrences, the evictions, and the disturbances, could do of the actual state of Ireland. It may also be taken as an index of the intense feeling, stirring up the people of that country, that men are found who undismayed by the penalties of the Coercion Act' still publicly make their demands for that measure of justice which they assert has been denied them for years. Would it surprise anyone to hear that actual civil war had broken out in Ireland? that men of an excitable temperament threatened with imprisonment during the pleasure of a Lord Lieutenant, forcibly removed from their homes', and denied liberty of speech and action in their efforts to make known their wants, should take: up arms against lawful authority and bring upon their unfortunate country untold misery and persecution. The leaders of the Land League are playing with edged tools in working. upon the feelings of the Irish pedple;and*if further misery should be the lot of Ireland, they will in a measure be responsible; yet, on the other hand, the English Government, by unduly exercising the provisions of the Coercion Act, may drive men to acts never contemplated by them. The new Land Act, and the determined yet conciliatory attitude of Mr Gladstone and his colleagues, may, however, ward off further trouble from Ireland, and thus neutralise the evil effects of the agitator and the revolutionist, f . •;....