§
Postponed Resolution [7th May] considered.
(2.) "That a sum, not exceeding £38,000, be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge for the Administration of Military Law, which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1886.
§ MR. SEXTONwished to know what steps the Government had taken, or meant to take, respecting a series of outrages committed in Downpatrick on the night of the 30th of April by a number of men of the Down Militia? As far as he could ascertain, the outrages had been followed by complete immunity. When he last brought the subject under the notice of the House he pointed 1126 out that the Government had deliberately abstained from using the best ground in the vicinity of Downpatrick for the Militia-; that they had not made use of any of the unoccupied houses in the town for the billeting of the men; but that they had billeted thorn promiscuously through the town, which meant the complete destruction of military discipline and opening the door to a breach of the peace in a part of Ireland where Party feeling ran notoriously high. The noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War (the Marquess of Hartington), in replying to his complaint, said that the private houses were not suitable to the purpose. He (Mr. Sexton) had since ascertained that the unoccupied houses in the town of Downpatrick had been actually inspected by a sergeant of the Staff, who found that one of them was capable of accommodating 80 men—that, in fact, there was abundant accommodation in such houses for the whole of the men, 190 in number. However, the War Office refused to accept the suggestion which he (Mr. Sexton) made, and, as he had said, the men were billeted promiscuously through the town. The conduct of 15 of them who were billeted in one house was so bad on one occasion that the sergeant was obliged to remove 13 of them to other quarters. The War Office refused to take warning from that circumstance. The moment the regiment came into the town early last month disorder and breaches of the peace were feared. That might have been because the character of the regiment was known to the townspeople—it might be due also to the political character of the Commanding Officer. Colonel Waring was an extreme Orangeman; he was one of the magistrates who signalized themselves in the matter of Lord Rossmore's removal from the Commission of the Peace; ho was the man who led an armed and violent mob at Saintfield some two or three years ago; and he was only prevented by Mr. Clifford Lloyd from making an armed and murderous attack upon an orderly organized public meeting. Major Stewart, the Adjutant of the regiment was also a partizan, and after the Militiamen had been allowed to march through the town drunk and shouting "to Hell with the Pope," he was the officer who had not the courtesy or the common sense of duty to reply to the complaints made by 1127 the Catholic clergy. He (Mr. Sexton) made a complaint of these proceedings in that House; hut he was met with a "categorical denial," and the Government took no steps to inquire into the condition of affairs or what was taking place. On the evening of the 30th of April, about 40 men from the regiment formed themselves into military order, and, headed by two civilians, they marched through the town attacking every Catholic in the streets and the houses of the Catholics along the line of route. During the evening they made an incursion upon the premises of a man named Gilmore, and violently attacked and beat some people who were in the shop, and then made their way back to barracks after breaking the glass in Mr. Gilmore's windows. The noble Marquess seemed to think that that was a proper kind of conduct. It was well known in the town of Down-patrick that the police had orders not to arrest Militiamen, and the result of that was very naturally to try the tempers of the population of the town and to bring about ill-feeling. He did not know which side got the upper hand in the disturbances which took place; but this they did know—that the civilian invariably got punished and the Militiaman went free. Why did the noble Marquess mention this "categorical denial" at all unless he had meant it to go in palliation of what had taken place? He met his (Mr. Sexton's) statement by saying that a "categorical denial" had been made; but he did not say who had made that "categorical denial." Was it Colonel Waring or Major Stewart, for he held that a denial from such men was entitled to no credence? It was one of the grievances in the town that such a man as Major Stewart should have been allowed to occupy his position for eight years. He wished to inform the House that he had declarations proving the accuracy of his statements, and therefore he was anxious to know who had made the denials. He had a declaration made by Mr. Gilmore himself, saying that every one of the statements he (Mr. Sexton) had made was correct, and going particularly into the question of how the people in his shop were knocked down by these drunken Militiamen. It was a very serious thing when people got up in that House and denied statements which were so undeniable 1128 as that he had made there that evening without being able to give some substantial authority for their denial. He did not rely altogether on the statement of Mr. Gilmore; but he had in his possession a great many other declarations which fully corroborated Gilmore's testimony in regard to the breaking of his windows, &c. One of the persons in the house at the time of the occurrence, Patrick John M'Intosh, gave corroborative testimony, and so did another man, Patrick Cunningham; but it was useless for him to go into any more of those statements. Would the noble Marquess repeat his denial, or would he get up and admit that it was no longer tenable? Colonel Galbraith, an official of the Government, had been sent down to make an inquiry into those statements; but he should like to know what was the result of the inquiry? Would the noble Marquess get up and state what the result of that inquiry was? Everybody knew what was coming. All those Militiamen were connected with the Orange Society, and the people were Catholics, and when the former were given liberty to go about as they liked the result was inevitable. Ever since they had been in the town of Downpatrick they had gone out of their way to insult the people. One of their favourite amusements had been to stand outside the places of worship of the people as the people came out and insult them and their religion. Now, he wanted to know whether the denial was maintained, and whether if the case he had made out was admitted—and it was vouched for by all the priests in Ulster—would the Government free the town from all this riotous element? If they refused, and this conduct was allowed to be continued, he could not believe but that those outrages would be renewed and the peace would be broken. The magistrates had refused to go into the provocation which the people had received, and nothing had been done to bring the Militiamen to justice. When would those men be taken away? Would the Government be good enough to take those men away from Downpatrick, where the fear of those riots occurring was constant? They might take them away to Limerick or any other place where there would be no fear of their breaking the public peace or raising riots. What steps had ever been taken to 1129 find out the Militiamen who had committed outrages? Civilians had been punished; but, as he had said before, Militiamen went free, and he contended that it was the immunity from punishment that gave an impetus to those men to commit outrage, because they knew perfectly well that they would not be charged with their crimes. He thought that the Military Authorities ought to co-operate with the Civil Authorities in this matter, and endeavour to punish the real culprits. He should be very much surprised if any of the claims he had put forward that evening were shown to be unreasonable. It was almost hopeless for them to expect to obtain justice from the Military Authorities in those matters; but he should use every effort on that and every other occasion to obtain justice for the people. The effect of allowing people in the Service of the Crown to do as they liked must produce bitterness in the minds of the people, and induce them to retaliate. If the War Office took steps to put a stop to this kind of thing they would probably have no more trouble; but if not they might depend upon it there would be much rioting, and many heads broken. As long as this state of things existed the prospect of anything like peace was anything but certain.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, he regretted that the hon. Member appeared to attach an exaggerated importance to this matter. He was not aware of what was the direct bearing of the hon. Member's speech, and he could not remember what wore the statements to which he had given a categorical denial. The War Office had referred the matter to Colonel Galbraith, and had directed him to inquire into the disturbances. Although they had not yet received his full Report, they had received a telegram from Colonel Galbraith on the subject, in which he said that the disturbances were not commenced by the Militia, and that they had been greatly exaggerated. The telegram was not a very long one however, and he would not altogether rely upon it, for Colonel Galbraith might, of course, be led to modify his opinion by subsequent information. He regretted that the hon. Member had thought it necessary to impute bad conduct to the Militia on this particular occasion, and in this partiular 1130 way. The fact of Militia regiments being billeted on the towns was not generally deprecated by the people, but, as a rule, was regarded as a matter to be desired, as it brought money into the town, and was a source of profit to some of the poorer classes of the townspeople. Those men had been previously quartered in Downpatrick, and Major Stuart desired to obtain the same barrack accommodation which they had had before in order to have the men the better under his control. That, however, was found to be impossible. The billeting, therefore, was not a matter which was altogether under the control of the Military Authorities. Nevertheless, the recruits assembled in the town on the 6th of April; and, as far as he could ascertain, no disturbance occurred until the 29th of April. The hon. Member had said that a disturbance occurred the day before the races; but he understood that that disturbance was caused by an assault on a Militiaman, and was caused by a well-known disturber of the public peace, who was now undergoing punishment for offences of that kind. On the following day, as he understood the hon. Member, the disturbance in regard to Mr. Gilmore's shop took place. Neither he nor anyone else had been able to identify any of the civilians who took part in the disturbance. It was true that the windows of several houses were broken; but he (the Marquess of Hartington) was informed that some of the houses were inhabited by Protestants. Since the occurrence, however, the regiment had been in camp outside the town, it was now under strict military control, and the Commanding Officer did not apprehend a renewal of the disturbance. The hon. Gentleman asked what measures had been taken by the Military Authorities to prevent any further breaches of the peace. He (the Marquess of Hartington) was informed that the town had been patrolled at night by a strong picket under the command of an officer, and that, in addition, other precautionary measures had been taken. He had not obtained full information on the subject; but there seemed to be no reason whatever to doubt that what took place on the 30th of April had been very greatly exaggerated. It was perfectly clear to him that the disturbance was provoked not by the Militiamen, but by certain civilians of 1131 the town. Every facility had been given by the officers for the identification of those who took part in the breach of the peace, but up to the present without success. As to the Commanders of the regiment being Members of the Orange Society be knew nothing; but he did not think that Colonel Waring or any one of the officers would allow their political opinions to interfere with the discharge of their military duties. If anything in the nature of Party spirit or feeling entered into the discharge of the duties of Militia officers a Report to that effect would be immediately made by the superior officer, and proper steps taken in the matter.
§ MR. SEXTONasked if compensation had been granted to the people whose property had been destroyed?
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORsaid the statement of the noble Marquess was not altogether satisfactory. The noble Marquess, who had been Chief Secretary for Ireland, and therefore must know very well what the Party feeling in that country, especially in the North, was, was scarcely justified in instituting an analogy between the riots which took place in English and Scotch towns, and the riots which took place between the Irish Parties. If there were merely drunken rows between Militiamen and low-class civilians no one would say anything about them. But the complaint of his hon. Friend (Mr. Sexton) was, in the first place, that this Militia regiment was commanded by an officer notorious for his Orange proclivities, and his participation in Orange manifestoes and Orange proceedings of all kinds. Under the influence of an officer of that kind, the regiment had been led to insult and provoke the Catholic inhabitants of the town of Downpatrick. He put it to the noble Marquess whether it was good for the Militia, for the Army generally, or good on any ground of public policy that such a state of things should be allowed to continue in the town? The noble Marquess had said he knew nothing of the Orange proclivities of Colonel Waring. It was strange he did not, for there was not a man in Ireland who did not know Colonel Waring. Colonel Waring, as the Deputy Grand Master of the Orange Society of County Down, 1132 had lately affixed his name to the most inflammatory placards; he was undoubtedly a most active member of the Orange Society, and therefore it was the duty of the War Office to remove him from the command of this Militia regiment. The noble Marquess complained that the hon. Member for Sligo (Mr. Sexton) had led the House to suppose that there was some Party or religious feeling mixed up with this matter. There was no one who regretted Party conflicts more than the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Sexton); but the facts remained. There was no doubt that Party feeling was mixed up in this matter. One woman of the town had deposed that she was terrified on account of her young children. Was it not an intolerable state of things that a woman, whose respectability was attested by a clergyman, should be afraid of her own life, and of the lives of her children, because a Militia regiment was allowed to go about insulting and attacking the Catholic inhabitants of the town? As a rule, the Orange body, bad as they were, drew the line at insulting the ministers of the Catholic faith; but Father O'Hara, of Downpatrick, had been publicly insulted by some of those men, one of whom cursed the Pope twice. Those might appear very small things; but they were things which ought not to be allowed to occur with impunity. Though those matters were small in themselves, they became greatly exaggerated in a town like Downpatrick, where religious and political feeling ran extremely high on all occasions. Now, as to what should be done in the future. The only thing that the noble Marquess could do to save the people of the town from those annoyances was to show them that the law was supreme in Ireland, and that the Authorities were determined to protect all classes of Her Majesty's subjects, and that could only be done by removing the regiment from Downpatrick or its vicinity. The noble Marquess said that the regiment was in camp outside the town. That was true; but a large portion of the regiment came into the town every evening, and anyone who was at all acquainted with the state of feeling there must be convinced that those nightly incursions or excursions of the Militia were attended with the most serious dangers to the peace of the towns, and especially 1133 to the safety of the property and persons of the Catholic inhabitants. What the noble Marquess had said was sufficient to show that there was great danger of the peace being broken; he had said a strong picket, under the command of an officer, patrolled the town every night. He (Mr. T. P. O'Connor) did not know enough about military matters to know whether that was unusual. ["It is not unusual."] He had been in garrison towns, and he had always understood that a sergeant was the highest officer sent out with a picket. That a picket was sent out in command of an officer showed that in the case of Downpatrick it was necessary to take exceptional measures—he interpreted the allusion of the noble Marquess to the picket to mean that exceptional precautions for the safety of the town had been taken. Why should the noble Marquess put the regiment or himself to the trouble of taking those special precautions for the preservation of the peace of the town, when there was the much more ready and satisfactory means of doing so—namely, the removal of the regiment from the town? Whatever feeling there was in the town itself, he could assure the noble Marquess that on his (Mr. T. P. O'Connor's) part, and that of his hon. Friends, there was no Party feeling whatever in the matter. They deplored the existence of Party spirit, a great deal of which was irrational and barbarous; but they must take things as they were, in Ireland. He thought that nothing tended to produce that spirit more than the feeling that the lives and liberties of Catholics were at the mercy of a number of Militiamen and Orangemen, and that the law would not step in to protect them.
MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHYsaid, he thought the inhabitants of Downpatrick would feel, after the speech of the noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War (the Marquess of Hartington), that they had no chance of getting justice done between them and those Militiamen. The Irish Members were entitled to press the noble Marquess to remove the regiment to some place where its presence would not be so objectionable. Nothing could be more unfortunate than that an officer, so well known in Downpatrick for his Orange 1134 propensities as Colonel Waring, should be in command of a regiment in that place. He would like to know what the noble Marquess would say if he found a gentleman, equally outspoken in Nationalist opinions, in command of a regiment? He did not hesitate to say that such a man would be immediately removed from his position. The War Office ought to administer even justice between the two Parties. For some time to come Party conflicts in Ulster were almost certain; and if this regiment was not to be removed, every measure should be taken to keep the men out of Downpatrick. If they were allowed to enter the town, it should be under such conditions as would prevent them insulting and provoking the people.
§ Resolution agreed to.