Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1890 — THE PRESIDENT IN EARNEST. [ARTICLE]

THE PRESIDENT IN EARNEST.

AU Ireland Tarns Oat to the Trial of O’Crlsnnt Tipperary; The*tadal®f Patrick O’Brien, who was arrested on the 23d, was begun on the 25th, at Tipperary. A large number of premia ; nant Irishmen were present. Tipperary* was full to overflowing with peopfe interested in the case. Nationalists had thronged the town from all adjacent parts, ; many of them carrying the national weap- ; on, the shillalah, and prepared to use - it should provocation arise. When the hour for the sitting of the court arrived, an immense crowd had collected before the court house, ready to rusfi in the moment the doors were thrown open. The authorities thereupon decided not to open the doors to the general public, but to : admit only those who were immediately inter* ested in the trial. The crowd did not take kindly to this treatment, and it required energetic action on the part of the police to keep the people from breaking in. They used their clubs freely, and many persons were wounded, among whom were Timothy Harrington, member of Parliament for Dublin, and a Mr. Halifax. Both re* ceived heavy blows on their heads, which bled profusely. They made their way into the court room as soon as they could. But by that time their hair and coat collars "Were saturated with blood, and they pre--sented a pitiable spectacle. Their appearance in court created a profound sensation and sent an additional emphasis to the complaint which Mr. O’Brien was making to the court of the brutality of the police. At first Mr. O’Brien had refused to enter the court room unless the public could be freely admitted. He maintained this attitude for some time, but at last decided that he could accomplish more by appealing to the court, entered the room and bitterly denounced the wanton clubbing of the crowd of which he had just been witness. It was while he was speaking that the sensational entrance of Messrs. Harrington and Halifax occurred. Them-John - Morley arose and addressed the cor- *. - ianifesting great agitation both in ton" p’ d manner. He earnestly appealed . o Lie court to protect the populace against tl.c wanton use of the club of the police. Meanwhile the Nationalist leaders continued to protest against the exclusion of the general public from the room. Both Mr. Morley and Dillon appealed to Colonel Caddell, the presiding magistrate, to revei’se his decision to keep the doors shut against the public. For some time he re* fused to recede from his determination. Morley and Dillon, however, continued to labor with him, and at last he yielded the point and ordered the doors thrown open. The court-room at once filled to its utmost capacity, and all the proceedings were followed with intense interest. At the outset Mr. Dillon objected to being tried before Resident Magistrate Shannon. The grounds of his objections were that he had a personal encounter with Shannon on one occasion at Cashel. At the time he asserted Shannon had grossly insulted him. He urged that there would be manifest impropriety in Shannon sitting at the present trial. Mr. Shannon refused to admit the validity of Mr. Dillon’s objections. He knew of no reason why he should not go on with the case. He declared that he would perform his duty without bias. Mr. O’Brien also objected to Shannon. The last time he saw Shannon, he said, Shannon was at the head of a body of police who were using their clubs upon the people. Moreover, Shannon had already tried him three times on similar charges. His sitting in the presen t case, O’Brien said, was an ’ indecency and in* suit. The magistrate answered Mr. O’Brien’s objections in the same way that? he had disposed of Dillon’s.