1-150-853 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Strangling the Monster', 1881. The Liberal Prime Minister, Mr Gladstone, is seen strangling the three headed monster of the Irish Land League. This follows the introduction of the Protection of Person and Property Bill by the Liberal Chief Secretary for Ireland, William Forster. It proposed the arrest and custody of anyone suspected of complicity in agrarian outrages. There had certainly been much violence and unrest in Ireland, and Mr Forster gave graphic details in the House of incidents that had taken place. Gladstone was firmly in support of this move. Erroneously, though, it was believed by many in authority in England that the agitation in Ireland was caused only by a very few men of violence and that, if they could be stopped, then peace and order would naturally resume. From Punch, or the London Charivari, February 5, 1881.