JOHN DAVIS, Acting Secretary to James Russell Lowell, August 16, 1882
No. 135. Mr. Davis to Mr. Lowell.
No. 439.]
Sir: Referring to my telegram to you of the 11th of this month, in relation to the arrest in Ireland of Mr. Stephen J. Meany, and to your reply of the 13th instant, announcing that he had been liberated, I inclose herewith for your information a copy of a communication to this Department from Mr. George H. Sandison, the managing editor of the New York Star, from which it appears that Mr. Meany is an American citizen of good character, and at the time of his arrest was the editorial correspondent in Ireland of the above-named journal. Although it is probable that your proceedings in relation to the arrest of Mr. Meany will have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion before this instruction reaches you, I deem it proper to transmit to you Mr. Sandison’s letter for your information should any further steps be necessary.
That part of Mr. Sandison’s communication which relates to the opening of a letter addressed to him has been referred to the Postmaster-General for his attention, as it is a matter properly within the jurisdiction of his department.
I am, &c.,
Acting Secretary.
Simultaneously with the tidings of the liberation of Henry George comes the announcement that Stephen J. Meany, the New York Star’s special correspondent in Ireland, has been arrested at Ennis, whither he went to visit his relatives, and whence he was about to make a tour of the most distressed portions of the West of Ireland, where evictions are being carried on at a wholesale rate. These arbitrary seizures are the first fruit of the new repression act, and their manifest intent is to intimidate American citizens from visiting Ireland. Mr. Meany was arrested on Thursday while in bed in Brennan’s Hotel, in Ennis, County Clare, under a warrant issued by Earl Spencer, charging Mr. Meany with being a dangerous character. Mr. Meany was subsequently released on giving bail for his good behavior for six months. Mr. Meany’s trunk was searched for treasonable documents, but none were found.
Mr. Meany’s Arrest.
It now appears that Stephen J. Meany was arrested on Thursday night at Brennan’s Hotel, Ennis, under a warrant of the lord lieutenant, charging him with being a dangerous character. He was detained all night at the police barracks and discharged in the morning on giving bail for good behavior for six months. His trunks were searched but nothing of a treasonable character was found in them.