“Michael Boyton arrived upon the second day of the Convention with two members of the Supreme Council, who, as it will be readily understood, did not figure publicly upon this occasion.”
XLIV.
It was shortly after this—I think somewhere about the 29th of May—that I was fortunate enough to learn from Sullivan some particulars as to what was going on in connection with the Dynamite Campaign. A demonstration had been arranged at Milwaukie, Wisconsin, in honour of Patrick Egan, and at Sullivan’s pressing invitation I accompanied him in order to participate in it. We travelled together and conversed almost all the way, Sullivan, as was his wont, supplying me with very interesting details. He told me that the management of the secret warfare was entirely in the hands of the Revolutionary Directory in America. Men, it appeared, could not be obtained at home to do the work, for from some lack of courage or discipline they could not be relied upon.
The rule adopted was that no volunteer should be accepted. Special choice would be made of men without families, and a special course of instruction in the use of explosives would be necessary after a man was chosen. So great was the care taken in the selection of agents, that their whole career and character would be inquired into beforehand without their knowledge. No new members would be chosen for the work, because forty of the Royal Irish Constabulary had been sent on full pay to America to join the organisation with a view to selling it. Sullivan imparted the further interesting information that Dr. Gallaher, when on his mission, purposely abstained from coming in contact with Irish members, and obtained introductions to, and acquaintance with, English members. He was often in the House, I was told, and had been even introduced to Mr. Gladstone himself.
Contrary to expectation and the requirements of the existing constitution, no Clan-na-Gael Convention took place in this year—1883. In the ordinary course of events such an assembly should have met in August 1883. For reasons best known to themselves, however, Sullivan and his colleagues on the executive of the secret organisation postponed the gathering, and in the end, by a system of manipulation which Sullivan developed to a perfect science, in connection with his management of Irish affairs, the approval of the organisation was gained to certain changes which included the putting off of the Convention to the following year, 1884. To allow of these changes being approved of, it was necessary to hold a series of district Conventions, and delegates were there elected to represent the districts at the general Convention which would follow. Sullivan’s adherents were generally in the majority at such district assemblies, and so it was a matter of ease for him to have supporters elected at almost every gathering, which, in other words, meant that the delegates then elected were nothing more or less than ardent Sullivanites, who in the future Convention would question nothing, whereas ordinary delegates would undoubtedly prove curious, if not embarrassing, in their search for information as to the conduct of the affairs of the Clan-na-Gael.
All was not clear sailing, however, and murmurs were heard in several quarters regarding this attempt to burk discussion and inquiry as to the work of the past two years. Several of the camps eventually ceased their allegiance and were immediately expelled, and the organisation split up into two sections, the one being Sullivanite and the other anti-Sullivanite. Devoy and his whole camp were amongst those expelled from the Sullivan wing. The seceders formed a new organisation under the old name, and the Sullivanites became known as the U.S. Sullivan was still the strong man, and had the greatest number of supporters; and, following my usual rule, I acted with the majority and became a U.S. man. At the start a change was made as regards the number and title of the governing body. Three members formed the executive, and they were now known as the Triangle—a name taken from the △ sign which was used by way of cypher signature on all documents coming from head-quarters. The fight between the two sections was now raging bitterly, and the oath of the U.S. was so drawn as to exclude members of any other Revolutionary body, thereby denying the right of any person to be a member of both organisations.
Meantime, under the plea of imminent danger of discovery, the books of the organisation were all burnt, and no record whatever was left in existence which would allow of investigation. This had driven very many men to desperation, and loud and sweeping were the charges which the seceders made against the Triangle for misappropriation of funds and other like matters. None were more prominent in leading the attack on Sullivan and his colleagues than Dr. Cronin, whose murder has recently been the subject of such lengthy investigation. Indeed, from this point onwards, almost down to the end of 1888, the history of the Clan-na-Gael is the history of the dispute between Cronin and Sullivan. And now, having purposely excluded all special mention of Dr. Cronin from my story heretofore, in order that I might the more fully and clearly deal with the matter in a compact form, I shall proceed to sketch the life and career in Irish-American politics of this last victim of political assassination. In explaining the situations in Irish affairs as they affected or were affected by Dr. Cronin, I shall have to travel rapidly over points already dealt with; but I think it better to do this than to improperly represent the ill-fated Cronin by omitting from my reference to his career the points which told in favour of himself or his adversaries.