Arthur Lynch Sentenced for Treason
Col. Arthur Lynch, an Irish-Australian, who had aided the Boers in the South African war, and was afterward elected to Parliament, has been convicted of treason in an English court and sentenced to death. Mr. Joseph Devlin, a member of Parliament, and now in America, expresses the opinion that “the question of one's right to throw off his allegiance to his government was settled by the arbitrament of war between this country and Great Britain in 1812.” He also avers that “in the war of the Revolution thousands of Irishmen, while subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, came to this country and aided the fathers of this country, fought against the British and returned to their homes after freedom had been acquired, and were not prosecuted by the British Government. The opinion of the attorney-general of that time was that no treason had been committed.” It is believed in many circles that the sentence will be commuted to a term of imprisonment.