[Inclosure 2 in No. 218. j Lord Granville to Mr. Lowell, FOREIGN OFFICE, June 28, 1881. SIR: In compliance with the request contained in your letter of the 8th instant, I have now the honor to forward a copy of the warrant under which Mr. Joseph B. Walsh, who is said to be a naturalized citizen of the United States, was arrested at Castlebar, county Mayo, Ireland, on the 8th of March last. Her Majesty's Government have also had under their consideration the application made by you on the 10th instant, requesting to be furnished with particulars of the charge under which Mr. Daniel Sweeney or McSweeney, an American citizen, had been arrested on the 2d of June and lodged in Dundalk jail. In the first place, I beg leave to assure you that Her Majesty's Government are very sensible of the friendly feeling toward this country, and of the appreciation shown by the President of the United States with regard to the difficulties presented by the ab. normal condition of affairs at this moment in a portion of the United Kingdom. It will not, I trust, be necessary to enter at great length upon the reasons which, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, prevent them from recognizing any distinction between the liability of foreigners and British subjects, in respect of unlawful acts committed within the limits of British jurisdiction, or from admitting any claim to exemption on behalf of any persons, whether alien or citizen, from the operation of the laws which equally affect all persons residing in the dominions and under the protection of the Crown. It will, it is hoped, suffice to refer to the dispatch written on the 18th of December, 1848 (see British and Foreign State Papers, vol. 47, p. 1242), to Mr. Bancroft by Mr. Buchanan, where he admits that the application of the law suspending the writ of habeas corpus (11th and 12th Victoria, cap. 35) was one to which his government might have" submittted in silence," if it "had been carried into execution in the same impartial manner against the citizens and subjects of all foreign nations." On the present occasion Her Majesty's Government have no reason to believe that there is ground to suppose that American citizens have met with exceptional treat ment. I have, &c., GRANVILLE. NUMBER II. 44 Victoria, chapter 4. AN ACT for the better protection of person and property in Ireland. Warrant to arrest. Whereas by our order, dated the fourth day of March, 1881, and made by and with the advice of the privy council in Ireland, and by virtue of the act made and passed in the forty-fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intitled "An act for the better protection of person and property in Ireland," and of every power and authority in this behalf, we specified and declared that the hereinafter mentioned part of Ireland (that is to say), the county of Mayo, should, from and after the fifth day of March, 1881, be and continue a prescribed district within the meaning and provisions of the said act. And whereas our said order is still in force: Now, we, the lord lieutenant-general and general governor of Ireland, by virtue of the said act, and of every power and authority in this behalf, do by this warrant declare Joseph B. Walsh, of Castlebar, in the county of Mayo aforesaid, to be reasonably suspected of having, since the 30th day of September, 1880, been guilty, as principal, of a crime punishable by law, that is to say, inciting others to intimidate certain of Her Majesty's subjects with a view to compel them to quit their lawful employments, committed in the aforesaid prescribed district, and being the inciting to an act of intimidation and tending to interfere with the maintenance of law and order. And this is to command you, to whom this warrant is addressed, to arrest the said Joseph B. Walsh, in any part of Ireland, and lodge him in Her Majesty's prison at Kilmainham, in the county of Dublin, there to be detained during the continuance of the said act unless sooner discharged or tried by our direction. Given at Dublin Castle the 7th day of March, 1881. COWPER. To the subinspector of the Royal Irish constabulary at Castlebar, in the county of Mayo aforesaid, and his assistants, and to Captain St. George Gray, governor of Kilmainham prison aforesaid. [Inclosure 3 in No. 218.] Mr. Lowell to Earl Granville. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, July 1, 1881. MY LORD: I have to thank your lordship for your letter of the 28th ultimo, inclosing a copy of the warrant under which Mr. Joseph B. Walsh was arrested at Castlebar, county Mayo, Ireland, in the month of March last. It appears by the copy of a certificate sent to me that Mr. Walsh was duly admitted by the superior court of the city of New York on the 16th day of October, in the year 1875, to be a citizen of the United States of America. I have been instructed by Mr. Blaine to make the necessary inquiries into the cause of Mr. Walsh's arrest and detention, and I should feel much obliged to your lordship if you could furnish me with a statement of the dates, places, and other details of the specific acts said to have been committed by Mr. Walsh, upon which it was thought proper to issue the warrant in question. I have, &c., [Inclosure 4 in No. 218.] J. R. LOWELL. Lord Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, July 8, 1881. SIR: I have lost no time in referring to the proper department of Her Majesty's Government the desire expressed in your letter of the 1st instant, to be furnished with a statement of the dates, places, and other details of the specific acts said to have been committed by Mr. Joseph B. Walsh, upon which the warrant was issued for his arrest, on the 8th of March last, at Castlebar, county Mayo, Ireland. In reply I beg leave to remind you that in the letter which I had the honor to address to you on the 28th ultimo, it was pointed out that Her Majesty's Government consider that no distinction can be made in these circumstances between foreigners and British subjects, and that, in the case of the latter, the only information given is that contained in the warrant. I regret, therefore, that I am not in a position to be able to supply you with further details respecting the arrest of Mr. Walsh. I avail, &c., No. 14. GRANVILLE. Mr. Brooks to Mr. Hitt. No. 40.] July 30, 1881. (Received August 13.) SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith copy of a letter* sent this day by me to Minister Lowell, regarding the application of one John McEnery, political prisoner in the Limerick jail, for interference in his behalf on the grounds that he is a citizen of the United States. UNITED STATES CONSULATE AT CORK, IRELAND, The first inclosure referred to in that letter shows that the said McEnery was naturalized as a citizen by the district court for the city and county of Philadelphia, on the 4th day of October, 1862, and the certificate, which exhibits proof that he took out his original papers on the 2d day of June, 1860, is signed by "Philip S. White, prothonotary." (*For inclosure see No. 235 from Mr. Lowell, post.) The second inclosure is a passport for McEnery, dated May 5, 1875, and signed by the Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary, &c. I respectfully call attention to the statements in the said letter relative to the expense necessarily incurred in visiting this class of petitioners in the Limerick jail, and of the probability that the number of them may be increased. I assume that it is my duty to satisfy myself that such applicants have done nothing to forfeit their acquired rights as citizens of the United States, and have instituted inquiries in the case of McEnery for that purpose. In due course I will also visit him in the Limerick jail, as I did Henry O'Mahoney, the result of which visit is given in the inclosure in my No. 31, dated June 23 ultimo. But I have to explain that I have received no especial instructions from any source regarding these cases, nor have I at this writing received from the legation at London any information regarding the fate of O'Mahoney's application. I am, therefore, at a loss to know how to act in the new cases of this kind which I know will soon be presented for my consideration. If it is not intended to take any action in them I will, of course, be excused from incurring further expense in attending to them. Assuming, however, that it is the intention of the proper authorities to decide upon these applications one way or the other, I shall continue to take due cognizance of them in the future as I have in the past. I am, sir, your obedient servant, No. 15. ED. P. BROOKS, Consul, &c. No. 235.] Mr. Lowell to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 66 London, August 11, 1881. (Received August 25.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose a copy of the correspondence between Mr. Brooks, the United States consul at Cork, and myself in relation to the case of Mr. McEnery, a suspect," confined in Limerick jail under the so-called "coercion act." I hope that the views I have expressed in my letter in relation to the intervention of this legation in Mr. McEnery's case will meet with the approbation of the Department of State. I have, &c., J. R. LOWELL. [Inclosure 1 in No. 235.] Mr. Brooks to Mr. Lowell. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith the naturalization papers and a passport of a John McEnery, now a political prisoner in Her Majesty's jail at Limerick. These papers were sent to me by Daniel McEnery, of Abbeyfeale, county Limerick, for the said John McEnery, accompanied by a letter appealing for interference in his behalf by the proper authorities to secure his release or a speedy trial. As I understand it, my duty under p. 110, Consular Regulations, will be to satisfy myself that John McEnery has done nothing since his return to Ireland to forfeit his acquired rights as a citizen of the United States. I cannot do this, however, without incurring some expense in visiting the petitioner in the jail, as I did in the case of Henry O'Mahoney, regarding whose claims I have as yet heard nothing from the legation. I am, of course, ready and willing to go to Limerick at once if I can thereby render any service to McEnery or to the United States Government, but I respectfully submit that until some expression of opinion by the legation or other proper authority is received by me regarding these cases I may be excused from incurring further expense in attending to them. I add that there are several other cases to come of the same kind (the exact number I do not know) from among the prisoners at Limerick, and I do not wish to do anything to encourage such applications unless it is proper and necessary so to do. I have, in fact, discouraged them to some extent, for the reason that I have hesitated about the propriety of involving the legation or the Department of State in any correspondence with Her Majesty's Government regarding these so-called "suspects." I have, nevertheless, an earnest desire, personally as well as officially, to do anything and everything in my power to render proper service to them as American citizens. And I may possibly be permitted to express the opinion in this connection that some of these unfortunate men would, under a speedy trial, be acquitted of the charges against them, and thereby be enabled to return to the United States. I am, sir, &c., SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo, inclosing the naturalization papers and passport of John McEnery, a political prisoner in Her Majesty's jail at Limerick. This is one of a number of cases in which parties desire my intervention upon the allegation that they are American citizens; that they have done nothing contrary to law, and that they desire a speedy trial. The "coercion act" so called is an exceptional and arbitrary measure. Its chief object is to enable the authorities to arrest persons whom they suspect of illegal conduct, without being obliged to produce any proof of their guilt. Its very substance and main purpose are to deprive suspected persons of the speedy trial they desire. This law is, of course, contrary to the spirit and foundation principles of both English and American jurisprudence. But it is the law of the land and it controls all parties domiciled in the proclaimed districts of Ireland whether they are British subjects or not, and it is manifestly entirely futile to claim that naturalized citizens of the United States should be excepted from its operation. The only possible case in which it would be proper for me to intervene would be where an American citizen who is in Ireland, attending exclusively to his private business and taking no part whatever in public meetings or political discussions, should be arrested. In such a case it would be proper to appeal to the courtesy of the government upon the ground of mistake or misapprehension, and ask for the release of the prisoner. It does not appear, however, that these reasons exist in any of the cases that have so far been brought to my knowledge. Unless I am instructed to the contrary by the Department of State, I must take this view of my duties, and it is proper that you should give this intimation to parties interested. I am, sir, No. 16. J. R. LOWELL. No. 220.] Mr. Hoppin to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, November 14, 1881. (Received November 29.) SIR Referring to your telegram of the 2d of May, and to your in struction No. 172 of the 2d of June last, in relation to the case of Mr. Joseph B. Walsh, I have the honor to acquaint you that I have been informed by Lord Granville that he has been discharged from Kilmainham prison on account of the state of his health. Lord Granville has forwarded to me confidentially the order to this effect, a copy of which I have the honor to inclose, as well as copies of Lord Granville's letter and that of Mr. Lowell's to which it was a reply. I have, &c., [Inclosure No. 1 in No. 220.] W. J. HOPPIN. Order for discharge. DUBLIN CASTLE, October 21, 1881. SIR: I am directed by the lord lieutenant to convey to you his excellency's order for the discharge, on the ground of ill-health, of Joseph B. Walsh, a prisoner in your cus tody, under a warrant issued pursuant to the Act 44 Vic,, c. 4, for the better protection of person and property in Ireland (1831). His excellency desires that the prisoner shall be distinctly warned, and given clearly to understand, that any act of violence or intimidation, or incitement thereto, will render him liable to immediate rearrest; that his conduct will be carefully watched, and that he will be immediately rearrested if necessary. The statute requires that he shall not be discharged at a greater distance than five miles from the place whereat he was first arrested, unless he shall himself prefer to be discharged nearer the prison. If, therefore, he prefers to be discharged at the prison, you will forthwith release him from your custody, and you will please to pay him his railway fare, second class, to the station nearest to his residence, and, if the latter should be more than five miles distant from the station, an additional sum for car hire, at the rate of eight pence a mile, from the station. If he should prefer to be escorted, in the custody of the police, to the statutory distance from the place of his arrest, you will please report at once, in order that the necessary directions shall be given to the constabulary. I am to request you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter, and report the discharge. I am, sir, your obedient servant, The GOVERNor of Her MAJESTY'S PRISON AT KIlmainham. J. H. BURKE. [Inclosure 2 in No. 220.] Mr. Lowell to Earl Granville. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I have the honor to acquaint you that I have to-day received a letter from Mr. B. H. Barrows, the consul of the United States at Dublin, inclosing a communication dated on the 30th ultimo, that had been made to him by Mr. Joseph B. Walsh, a prisoner arrested under the protection act and confined in Kilmainham jail. Mr. Walsh, is a naturalized citizen of the United States, and I was instructed some time since to inquire into the circumstances of his arrest. My action in his case and in other similar cases is still the subject of correspondence between myself and my government. Whatever may be the final decision in regard to this, Mr. Walsh's statements in his letter to Mr. Barrows are such that it is proper I should lose no time in communicating them to your lordship. He says that his health is very much impaired, and that further imprisonment would be dangerous to his life. He desires that a medical examination may be made into the truth of his statement. I should be much obliged to your lordship if you would make such representations to the proper anthorities as to cause this to be done, and to have this man liberated from prison if practicable. It is proper to add that Mr. Blaine, in his instructions to me upon this arrest says |