The Sun. — London, England, 1847-02-13 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 12. Their Lordships met at the usual huur. Earl FITZ WILLIAM gave notice that, on Monday. ';',e should present a petition from the Rev. A. Jordan , of Gloucester, praeing that an addition might be made to the number of Bishops. The Noble Earl presented a Prtitieu from a place in the West Riding of Yorkshire, P ta Yleg for the repeal of the Poor Removal Act. MESSAGE FROM TUE COMMONS. , Messenge rs f rom the Commons brought up the Desti tute Persons (Ireland) Bill, and the Brewing from Sugar which were read a first time. LAW OF SETTLEMENT. Lord WALSINGHAM. presented a petition from a b°a rd of guardians in Norfolk against the la w of settle ment, passed last session. IRISH DISTRESS. meting Lord MONTEAGLE pr e sentee. a petition from a Zting of ratepayers ea the county of Westmeath , o ve r d elch the high s heriff presided, representing the gr ea t Llesetipseeisting in that country. and praying their to adopt speedy and effective measures for their relief. CLAN WELLIN AND SHANID (IRELAND). t Lord MONTEAGLE sa id he now rose to move, ac e°ding to notice, for copies of applications made t o the , I'd - Lieutenant of Ireland, on behalf of resident s in the ° fireflies of Clunwellin and Shanid, praying for u division of those baronies, for the purpose of holding special ses sions, u n d er the 9th and 10th Vice, c. 107. He t he he w ou ld nut be understood as complaining of the Course whi c h hail been adopted un this subject by Government, who had no doubt pursued the course Irish this urs e particular instance which appeared to them to he right; and all that he meant now to do was to move for certain papers which might form the basis of eerteiu observations which he thought were required in aft erwards bringing the subject before their Lor d s hi p s. Ile _hegged to remind tl , eir Lordships, that under t he Labour-rat e Act of last session, there was a power re served to the Government, by the 18th clause, to enable them, if they thought it nec essar y , to ride the parishes which appeared at present to be uttop l arge- He said that clause had been specially in troduced into the Bill 'or this purpose, when it was under debate in the other House of Parliament. It was then felt that some of tee baronies in Iretand, like the r idings of this country, were become so large that it was next to impossible to administer the Labour-rate Act, and that was the special reason for introducing the clause to which he had alluded. In two cases ap plieee ---en had been made to the Lord-Lieutenant that this clause might be put into effect, but the Irish Go vernment had thought fit to re:use these applications. lie would only remark further his hope that whatever sys tem their Lordship* might rearwards adopt, they would take care w h at b a ronies and parishes they united together. From these c onsiderations he had come to time conclu *ion, that time greater the distress the greater would be the difficulty of ascertaining correctly how the law was administered. At present the Labour nitre Act was in operative. If they extended their electoral divisions they would subject themselves to all sorts of fraudulent applioations, arid they wuuld be called on to decide upon works of consideration, but of which they had no per- Donal knowledge. The consequence of this, as was already shown, was, that in the larger districts they were but imperfectly done, while in smaller districts they were well executed. This was a most important subject for their consideration. When the Poor-law for Ireland was passed a Noble Lord who was not then in his place, introduced a clause. The object of the Noble Lord's clause was to give the possessors of property in Ireland as much of the management of their estates as possible, and to make it the interest of the landlord to look after that of his tenantry. This would effect a most desirable object, and where it was carried out there was a decrease in the pauper population, while in those where the dirisions were large there was an augmentation of the pauper population as well as an increase in the poor- F ates. The subject had been tried for several years, and was brought under the consideration of a Committee of their .Lordships' House, and after the most mature deli beration, the principle for which he contended was agreed to. With respect to interfering with the pri v i le g es of In(' other House in the discussion that might arise, he did not think it should operate. Ile would conclude by 'moving that the papers to which he referred should be Produced.—The motion was agreed to. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE was glad that the teble L or d disdained making any imputation to her Majesty's Government, but even if he had dune so, he (Marquis of Lansdowne) would not o b j ect to the p ro- I ll ation of the paper. However , the N oble Lord had candidly avowed that he made no such imputation. With regard to the other points referred to by the Noble Lord, such as the apportioning of the rates, and the dividing the districts over which they were to be levied, .tl o e the s i 0 n s he tho ug h t th a t, when the Bills with which the se 11t were mixed up were before their Lords hi p s, that would be the best time to discuss them. In ad dition t papers moved for by the Noble Lor d, he would su ggest that the answer of the Lord-Lieutenant to the a pplication, and all the correspondence th a t had taken 1:484° on the subject of the baronies, should be also laid on the table. Lord BROUGHAM concurred with the observations that had been made, with regard to the propriety of re taining what was called the Duke of Wellington's clause. With regard to abstaining from discussion on the se points now, he thought it was most absurd. They should not do so, from any affected regard to keeping Inviolate the privileges of the other (louse. The reason why he was of this opinion, with regard to the points In question, was because tee rating principle was of the greatest importance, and gave the distinctive feature to the Bill. There ,was a minute system of inquiry adopted in Scotland before any relief was extended, and .this had a good effect; but of the twenty-three questions proposed to the applicant, there was one to which he objected—namely, the 17th, which inquired to what place of worship the applicant ter relief belonged. Ile (Lerd Brougham) had known this to operate most injuriously, for Catholics had (Atli been refused relief after the answers to this query. He objected to all such questions, for churches and sects, were all very well in their place, but they had nothing to do with questions involving the dispensation of charity. They could dress their dinners on Saturday, but it did not matter whether they were dressed on Sunday or Saturday, but it did matter very materially whether this facility were allowed for Sunday or not. He had his information from a most respectable person, that a physician who Was called in to the assistance of a person who was dangerously ill, was unable to travel without the payment of an extra price. In America he knew that among some of the most religious people in the world—he meant the Pilgrim Fathers, who formed a large and important body in the north and west of America this convenience was not denied. In Scotland too, which is distinguished for its high religious feeling, he knew that in many places it was the custom to keep the shops open in order to supply those necessaries which were absolutely requisite, and he thought that it would be much wiser to adopt this principle on rail- Ways. He Vtought that these persons were the great cause of the violation of the sabbath. No man telt more deeply than he did the necessity for rest from work on the sabbath, but he believed that no other persons Were such great violators of the eabbath as those, who by their conduct contrived to render the sabbath uta popular. Earl FITZ WILLIAM thought that the most impor tant consferat noes to be considered on this, was not the travelling of a physician, but that the business should so managed as nut to do away with the confidence which was felt by the ro rietors of landed property, he meant t he b • P t su stunned ended proprietors, in the right ad ministering of the rates. It was of the utmost import ance that there should be a confidence created between the t own and the rural e l ectoral di str i cts . Th e y oug ht to Consider th e t wo as one. He was sure that nothing towns be done than to induce the inhabitants of the "Its to feel that the rates levied for the relief of the Poor were properly administered in the ruraldistrictseand that the inhabitants of the rural districts should feel th&t the rates levied were properly managed in the towns. Lie said th e reas onableness of that would appear 'row a case of the fallowing kind:—lf they suffered a Poor but populous town—populous, he meant, in paupers -- to have a rural district adjoining—a district which he Would call well managed, where the rate for the relief of the poor was low—the effect which an act like that, supposed should have, would be to release the rural dis trict from contributing to the relief of the poor of the to wn ; and again to impose on the town enti rel y the re lies of their own paupers, which would effectually take "ay all the interest that the country would have in the relief Of the town poor, as well as the interest which the ' 4-) "o might have otherwise expected to have In the poor assessmtnt of the country, because such dis trict would be entirely interested in the relief of their own poor. That was his urgent reason for saying that the district allotted in a system of poor assessment oughtit out to be n arrow or confined. He said he had heard with pleasure the remarks i of his Noble Friend, the L .rd Presid ent of thee° u c downe), but he would have heardne (t him "e Marquis with still Lees greater satisfaction, if he had expressed l definitely on this, that their thistmrdshipt7sewolttu'illetlirlillul_eilao'll:Nailtltm th mea sure when it came up from e o Parliament, whatever might be the form in which House °.f it came betore their Lordships—that they would deal with it freely end fully as they might think should be neces sary. --(Hair. hear.) Lord MONTEAGLE begged to add the words sug gested by his Noble Friend to his motion. The motion was then agreed to. The Marquis of WESTMEATH said, it gave him great pleasure to confirm the views anopted and advo cated by his Noble Friend, e s to the injustice cad evil " f ° It arising from ill-assorted divisions of the bar:. nies. 110. Marquis of LANSDOWNE begged to move that an humble aderesste heuld le pteeente d to her Majesty, P' e) lo g that she would graciously order to be laid en their Lordship's table a copy of the letter from the Lord Li eutenant of Ireland to the Home Secretary, on the distress of Ireland. Lord BROUGHAM said he would postpone the ! l wtion, of which he had given notice for M onda y , till Thursday next, that nothing might interfere with the ',ecoted r ea di ng o f th e D e stitute Persons (Ireland) Bill. As he had risen, he might take leave to say, in refer ence to the sub ect under notice for Monday, that the evil arising from the influx of Irish paupers into Liver - Prn an immigration oeo l hudctually increased. On Sunday last there had of 2,100 persons, and the day ful• "wine as many as 2,200 had landed from Ireland. BISHOPRIC OF ENGLAND AND W ALES. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE begged to lay Co pies_ o f eotnm i ss i ous ma d e by h er M a j est y' s Govern r_ent, as well as a correspondence on the subject, for an in l quiry int o t h e sta t e o f bi s hoprics in England and Wales. Noble Marquis begged else to call the attention I ;,the House to a matter of a personal nature, and which e r,atag t a some members of the Church of Ei;gland. He t.m :he I),,tri ant C:apier Munceeeter. Cer tai„ lutputations had been male by the Noble Lord op "lite, which were calculated to be detrimental to the O 0 ....-- O 0 O 0 )unt. rs the. made to be It is r shall whole er, to reford ng to ),000/. stone. ed by waded ny, A to tb 0 le fol. )rs in ban's, ?ro ring then able tion past hen THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORYING, FEBRUARY l3, 1847. ~~~ character s)f these reverend gentlemen. The Noble Lord read a letter from Dr. Herbert, denying the truth of the statement in the petition. i Lora STANLEY did not quarrel with the latitude takers by the Noble Marquis in reading the lett( r from the Dean of Manchester. lie was sorry that t.in obser i vation he made a few evenings ago, should have given harm to that gentleman, but he must s:iy, after what he now heard, that the case was merely in the same posi tion as he had left it. lle eid not re-fer to the points to which that letter alluded, but what he did say, that the charges complained of where non-residence ; that by the terms of the charter, thie*as enforced, and that the obli gations imposed had not been observed. What was now stated by the Noble Marquis made his case stronger, for if the fines for non-residence were enforced when the salaries of the warden, canons, and chapters were 701., 35/., and 17/. 10s. respectively, how much more should they be when the salaries ware raised to 1,500/., 1,000/, and 800/. ? He still was of opinion, that however freed from legal responsibility, the Dean and Wardens were morally bound to fulfil obligations imposed by the charter and the original founders. All he would say was this, that they would be perfectly warranted in sending two of the careens to watch the procee dings iu Parliament, end that if a Committee were to be ap pointed to ascertain what were the obligations anti re strictions of the eharter, he, for one, should be ready to accede to such a Committee. Lord BROUGHAM thought that the Dean and Chap ter were perfectly competent to look after their own interests, and ho should recommend the Dean and Chapter to resign. (Laughter.) Why, they had sworn to resign. They had sworn that, in the event of the obligations not bring complied with, that they : would resign. It was no reply to say, that they swore that they could either resign or pay the fine. The fine was imposed to enforce the duty, and the payment of , the fine no more exonerated them from the obligation to resign than a person would be who had used a profane oath, and had then gone before the magistrate, and had thrown two shillings instead of one, would be exonere ated from the fault, than if he had not paid the fine at all. As a lawyer, he should say, that they could not be ex onerated from the effence by the payment of the find, and he knew what view the Court of Queen's Bench would tyke of it. He, therefore, conceived dist the De-an and Chapter had no other course than to resign. He did not say that this was an immoral thing, but it was a wrong thing and ought to be remedied. Lord CAMPBELL said that this was no party ques tion—(Hear, hear)—but simply a question of law, and whether the terms of the donor's will had Leen carried out or not. The court of equity bad decide d that it a man entered into a contract and failed to perform any portion of his contract, the payment of the penalty would in no way exonerate him from the specific per formance of the contract, and the Lord Chancellor would direct the specific performance of that contract. SUGAR DU - TIES DISTILLERY BILL_ Theiirl of CLARENDON moved the second read ing of this Bill, and that it be referred to a Select Committee. Lord STANLEY did not apprehend that there would be any opposition to the Bill, but he believed, from the calculation that had been made, that it would prove use less. He would not then enter upon a discussion of the subject, but was in favour of its being referred to a Committee. The 13111 wni then read a second time. The House then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 12. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. SECOND READINGS. The following Bills were read a scond time:—Ashton. Gas; Birkenhead Improvement (Gas Works) and pur chase of Birkenhead and Claugbton Gas Works; Ips wich Dock; Ipswich Gas; London end South. Western Rai (Widening, &e.); Manchester and Southport Railway and Branches; Midland Railway (Masbrough and Normanton Stations Enlargement); Protestant Dis senters and General Life and Fire Insurance Company; and Southampton and Dorchester Railway (Blandford Branch) Bills. The Marquis of CHANDOS presented petitions against the Bristol and Exeter and other railways. Mr. 'WILLIAMS presented a petition against the Newport and Hereford Railway. POOR REMOVAL BILL. Capt. GLADSTONE presented a petition from St. Clement's, Ipswich, against the Poor Removal Bill. UNIVERSAL PEACE. Mr. B. B. CABBELL presented petitions in favour of universal peace. RAILWAYS IN IRELAND. Colonel CONNOLLY presented petitions from Man chester and other places, in favour of the Railway Bill for Ireland. REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. Dr. BOW RING presented a petition, respectably signed, from the ton n of Malton, praying for an ex tended system of representation. SMALL DEBTS IN WALES. Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from the town of Abingdon, and places in South Wales, praying that the persons, appointed to administer the provisions of the Debts Act, might be persons conversant with the Welsh lai.guage. POOR-LAW. Mr. AL PHILLIPS presented a petition from Man chester, praying for n alteration in the rate-paying clauses of the Poor-law. COPPER ORE. Mr. PARKER I resented a petition praying foi• tlye remission of all duty on f 'reign copper ore. POOR REMOVAL BILL. Mr. BENNETTpresented a ptetition from Sudbury, praying for an alters ion in the Poor Removal Aci, of last session. LiW OF SETTLEMENT. Mr. CHUTE presented petitions, praying for an alteration in the law of settlement. POOR-LA W AND HEALTH OF TOWNS. Sir WALTER JAMES presented a petition from the guardians of the Hull Union praying for au altera tion in the present purer-law as regarded the Board of Commissioners, which they alleged was unsuited to the wants ot the country; also a petition from:a society of architectural gentlemen praying the House to take mea sures to improve the sanatory condition of towns and cities by drainage, Sze. COPPER ORE, &c. Mr. MILNER GIBSON presented a petition from Manchester, praying that the duty should be abolishes' on the indenture of apprentices; also a petition from the Chamber of Commerce in that city, praying fur the abolition of all duty on copper ore. they were entitled to the franchise, and had taken the neceesery steps to obtain it. DESTITUTE PERSONS (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion of Mr. LABOUCHERE, that the order of the day for the third reading of this Bill be read. NEWSPAPER 3 PUBLICATION OF DIS PA i CHES. Mr. ROEBUCK, seeing the Noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs in his place, wished to put a ques tion. In the Morning Chronicle of that morning, a dispatch, dated the 11th instant, signed Palmer sten, and directed to the Marquis of Normanby, was published. It was not the matter of the dispatch with which he wished to find fault, but to the circum stance appearing in a newspaper before it could have reached Lord Normanby, to whom it was addressed, or the Court to whom the communication was to be made. Now he wished to know whether the appear ance of such a document in a public journal was not in contravention of the rules which regulated diplomatic correspondence, and contrary to the courtesy which should be otszerved with regard to such comtnu ideation. Ho was exceedingly grieved to make this statement. as he believed that the conduct and the good faith of the political agents of the Noble Lord nod of the Noble Loi d himself with respect to the recent relations with France, had been completely vindicated. Still it was abso lutely necessary that the good faith, candour, and straightforward conduct of the Government should be maintained beyond all suspicion.— (Hear, hear.) The question he wished to put to the Noble Lord was this, and he was sure he would pardon him for doing so —had he any cognisance of any document of the kind? Lord PALMERSTON said the fact was, that yester day evening he laid on the table the coctinuation of the correspondence which he had previously laid before the House. That continuation contained the last dispatch of M. Guizot to Count Oliviers, which had been officially communicated to her Majesty's Government. It also cen lt Mite: d a dispatch from him (Lot d Palmerston) to Lord antmibeyi,thatthrTpy, v''as to no intention bat last tin the dispatch. part ;e of the i t i l t U rm ver a to certainly must return . his thanks to the Hon. Member for the handsome manner in which he mid spoken or the conduct of her Majesty's Govern ment, to connexion with these dispatches. These papers also contained a dispatch from Lord Nor mashy, complaining of the iuterences that mght be drawn from certain statements which had been made in the Fi • ich Chambers ; also his (Lord Palmerston's) answer to Lord Normanby, stating that the confidence of the Government in him had not been shaken by anything that had passed.—(Hear, hear.) These papers, as he had said, were presented yesterday, and the Hon. and Learned Gentleman must be aware that a short time must elapse before they could be circulated to all the Members of the House.— (Hear, hoar.) He was sorry, that by some accident, the papers had not been generally delivered, but he begged to tender the Hon. and Learned Gentleman his (Lord Palmerston's) copy. (The paper was handed byihim to the Hon. and Learned Member fur Bath, amidst considerable laughter.) It might, he thought, be instructive to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. The Bill was then read a third time and passed. FEVER IN IRELAND. Mr. F. FRENCH wished to call the attention of the lion. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland (Mr. La bouchere) to the recent extraordinary increase of fever in Ireland. He had received several letters this day stating that fever was greatly on the increase. He wished to suggest that the valuable medical institutions of Ireland should be made available for the purposes of the ailing during the prevalence of the present calamity. He also wished to know what steps the Go vernment proposed to take in order to alleviate the suf ferings of those persons? Mr. LABOUCHERE believed that the statement of the Honourable Gentleman was correct. He stated last session that, if the Government found it necessary, the Board of Health in Dublin would be renewed. The Lord-Lieutenant, owing to communications which had been made to him, had made that renewal, and the board had been in operation during the last three weeks. The attention of the Government was fully directed to the question. RAILWAYS (IRELAND) BILL. Lord G. BENTINCK moved the second reading of this Bill. Lord NEWRY presented a petition from Newry in favour of it. The CHANCE,LLOR of the EXCHEQUER said before he directed his attention to the important mea sure before the House, he wished to offer a few observations on what had already taken place. There were one or two symptons of party feeling in the obser vations which fell from one or two gentlemen on the other side of the House. He was perfectly ready to believe that his Noble Friend was willing to abstain from all partp expressions, and he could assure the Noble Lord that such was the feeling of her Majesty's Government. if the measure were carried, they were not prepared to undertake the responsibility of carrying it out. But it was of such importance and magnitude, that they were not prepared to adopt it. A plan which was to give no less a sum than sixteen millions— Lord G. BENTINCK—Not more? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Not more. Those sixteen millions of money were notlof such a light de scription, as would warrant the adoption, whatever the Govern ment might be inclined to do in minor matters, and accord inely his Noble Friend at once frankly stated that he could not undertake it, and that it should meet with his opposition. He confessed that he bad great satisfac ion in seeing the measure in the shape of a Bill, becau-e, however lucid anti clear the statement of the Notate Lord opposite might be, nevertheless it was surer, and more satisfactory to judge of a measure reduced into a shape, than merely a statement in that House ; and though, he confessed, that standing in the situ ation which he did, he was a little appalled at the test prospect of a loan of 16 millions, that feeling was in no degree removed, but to a considerable degree increased, when he saw the provisions of the Bill, provisions calculated to favour in many respects railways rather than distressed persons in Ireland, He had no doubt that the Noble Lord had introduced the measure to relieve distress in Ireland, but he confessed that when he saw on the back of the Bill the name of a gentleman, the Lord Mayor of York, who was so deeply interested its railways, and the name of another gentleman, the Hon. Member for Westmoreland, who was so largely concerned in furnishing the materials of which these railways were constructed (Cheers) be should have been surprised it the interest of the railway proprietors and shareholders had not been adequately considered. He did not mean to say that these were reasons why the measure should not be fairly considered and discussed, but he did think that it justified him in looking with a more critical eye at the provisions of the Bill than he should be disposed to de with a measure introduced simply for the relief of the people of Ire land. He would concede to the Noble Lord that an extension of railways in Ireland would be beneficial to that country. He would concede, moreover, that to a certain degree, but by no means to the extent supposed by the Noble Lord, labour in Ireland would be improved under the provisions of the Bill, and that a certain number of destitute labourers would be provided for. He conceded all these points to the Noble Lord, and having con ceded them, he thought that the Bill had also a tendency to establish certain other points which. ought to be instantly explained to the satisfaction of the House. He had heard nothing advanced to cause him to admit the statement that the State should become a great money-lender, or to convince him that the security of railways in Ireland would be an advantageous security. Ile had heard nothing to convince him of the benefits that the distressed persons of Ireland would receive from the present Bill, that he should consent to the advance of such a large stun of money, proposed to be advanced as a loan. In the present state of the finances of the country, and the distress which so gene rally prevailed, he had heard nothing to justify him in adding so largely to the burdens of the people of this coun try. (Cries of " Hear, hear.") For the sake of securing efficient relief for the distress of Ireland, he could not ask the people of this country—themselves;uffering under considerable difficulties and:privations—to consent to advance tnis large sum of money. Of this he was assured also, that the money would not be effective for the purpose. With regard to the first point to which he had referred, he was not of opi nion that the State should become a joint moneys'ender, ex cept it was under most extraordinary circumstances, and with the assurance that the benefits would be commensurate to the advance. Now, with regard to measures of improvement, though souse Gentlemen in that House had talked about the " new and fantastical" doctrine of political economy, he was quite persuaded that if the security was good, there would be no difficulty in getting advances from private individuals for the construction of these works. He doubted if, in the happy times which certain Hon. Members had referred to the times of feudality, there was any great disposition to advance sums of money for the public good, in order to serve the interests of the yeomen and the tenants on the landowners estates. It had also been complained that the rate of interest was too high. but this he submitted was the only check which the Government had that the money would not be recklessly required. It was only because the security was not equal to that .required by private capitalists, that it was necessary to fix the rate of interest at higher than ordinary rates.—(Hear.) He believed that the greatest departure made from that prin ciple was made last year in the case of the Drainage Act, and as far as Scotland was concerned it was fortunate that that measure was in existence, because the proprietors in that country had availed themselves of it, to ex tend employment to the labouring classes around them. But the measure itself was a measure of exception, and he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) did not know tat it could be defended. The Noble Lord had stated that these railways afford the most unexceptionable security. He was exceedingly sorry to say anything which might depreciate the value of these undertakings in the market, or to express any decided opinion as to the value of the securities which they mig ht offer. But when lie in referred to the past transactions lr eland,when he referred to die advances made to public w or k s i n I reland, he was nut singular in his doubts of the securities they had to offer. He remembered that canals were at one time in much the same situation that railways were now, yet be found, on referring to the Acts, that not one of these had paid the advances made fr.= the public treasury. Now he scarcely need to refer to any of these old canals, but he might instance the Loggan Navigation, the money advanced by Government in the case of this canal had not yet been paid. Soon after he had been honoured with the seals of office, which h e now held, a eeputation frem the Ulster Canal had waited him, they represented that unless the whole of the upon emitted, would be debt, due to Government, wer!_ . r impossible for them to go OIL Id ( ear l , he ar.) The whole 30,0001. of hitch estimate for that canal was 160,90 0 et Y ( c7ut of that 130,w050/ had been advanced by the public. interest had been Made ° . one payment of either principal or tin beund o r the most There was the Grand Canal , which was get . favourable circumstances; i t was not three several rs y since the d an amount, in sums of Act was passe d. an mem , amounting in all 40,0001., 38,000 L , and another bl'cyet this under to 98,000/., was advanced by the psi ! al or interest, taking was so unable to pay either pri p of 10,00 a, that it was agreed that on the rec ei p t b the public. the amount of 98,0001. should be forgiven y _ these Before the promoters of Before the existence of railways, w schemes were utiable to obtain mon e y from individuals, they applied to Government, and the resu lt was that both sacrificed. Other principal and interest were altogether son and advances had been made, not to the poor lar et impover ished districts and parts of Ireland, but to some of the g towns and richest cities in that country. Wid they been paid? No such thing. There was now d ue from the city of Dublin the sum of .245 000/.. advanced to them and interest upon it, that was now considered quite irrecoverable. Advances had been made for the wide streets of Cork, 13.000/. principal, with 10,000 interest, but no repayments had belau made. The sum of 55,000/. had been advanced W the city of Limerick, no payments of any kind had been made on account of interest, but of if y a m :si edsl either otnei and tn e rtoe h oei iro,uttsrepkhnti repaid, undertakings principal t e areipdri a r t:eneavae e asl kadpbpnri :or advances interest.m now a d e due either 34 T , oe l r . made, not to poor and impoverisbed districts. Thus, ex m e c. s were advances internal com munications, or to the three richest towns and cities in Ir th respect gt s dt u s b. individuals,l the boet w fo Tno o ta u hed l di the advances e b nvd e cae found—noelnslecahr: sacrificed.cyh atamni do made description tdapodri repayment of either principal or interest, and all the advance si:tvdhaiginetseetlDni rneeuermlbtaa a iolino n ilsnyid d com panies to speaking, and Kingstown Railway had, however, been all repaid.— (Loud cheers from Lord George Bentinck and his supporters.) lie thought the Noble Lord would not, however, be able to discover any parallel between that railway and these country railways which he proposed to construct all over the country. If this, then, be so, and the fact was indisputable, he did not think that he was other than justified in saying that it was by no means so clear as the Noble Lord had supposed that the security to be afforded by these railways was of AO unexceptional a cha ratter.—( Hear, hear.) There was also another objection to the measure of the Noble Lord, especially if the measure was to be consideredas a comprehensive scheme, because it would put both the good and bad schemes upon toe same footing of equality. If the proposed examination of the Board of Works were to be of any avail, then if they were to reject all those rnertures which they considered as inadequate security, the mea titre of the Noble Lord ',solid not amount to the bene fit he seemed to attach to his measure; but if the Board sbonld think fit to recommend all the schemes, then it would be a grievous injustice to those schemes among them which were considered as really solid or good ones. He had been in formed that the best of the lines now in the course of construction in which the companies had advanced sums sufficient to enable them to borrow under the terms of their Act, had been far some time borrowing money at 4% or A per cent. Upon the announcement of the plan of the Noble Lord, that the other railways vr euld be able to obtain advances at 3 1 4 per cent.,t_the value of the shares immediately fell I pe: sent. Lord G. BENTINCK—What line was that? CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The Great Southern and Western he believed. He would ma call the attention of the House to the opinions of other persons beside himself as to the injurious effect of this measure. He would trouble the House by reading a letter be bad re ceived from a very wealthy gentleman, residing in Dublin— & gentleman whom he would not then name, but whose opinions were entitled to the greatest respect. He said in his letter, " If the Government were to give the means of obtaining advances of money at 34 per cent., the project would have the effect of rendering the most bankrupt con cern rich, and putting them upon a level with the best lines of the country. If the Government should be insane enough to yield to the cry persisted in for railway's in Ireland without the most stringent conditions, and the most satisfactory explanations as to the proprietary and the paid up capital (if those schemes, the railways in Ireland will become no more than mere sinks of speculation in that country. And if the provision requiring a certain amount of paid up capital in each company before they had the power to borrow were to be ,et aside, the effect would be to place all the worst lines in the country on a level with the best of them. He confessed when he looked at this Bill ka thought there were some provisions which looked very much as if they were intended to relieve gentlemen from speculations which had not met their original expectations. For instance, the 29th clause provided that where any share holder could not pay up his calls the money advanced by the Government should be applied to the purpose. This looked very like helping the speculator rather than the public. That did not seem to be a provision to insure employment to the destitute poor. Then, again, there was the 31st clause, provideTww oh h re ic ity h s wt p eh r fre o oey v r. i ded t the e shoulde however,ht in m a phl et a t k ke en event n p h by f a company the state e h o abandoningshould he N lia o b w le h f s e r di I d l t n h o e t debts andthese u w n ei d tr e tee r tdpa:kroi destitute n rpe g o: s p tai o rroks f noaenb t sle h yn e il ne c bu o ella m i p ifiad a cn n i d y tao .. l ym h e e nt ad o m f to shareholders.—( Hear.) He confessed a great many of the provisions of the Bill were better calculated for the relief of destitute shareholders than destitute persons.—(Loud cheers.) There had been, however, a much more tempting project be fore the House than that of the Noble Lord. Some time before the introduction of the measure of the Noble Lord a meeting was held in Dublin of shareholders in different Irish railways, who agreed to a petition, which was subsequently presented to the House, asking—not for so large an amount of money as the Noble Lord sought—but for a much less sum, as they proposed that no advances should be made to the companies, except they had expended 20 per cent. of their capital, and that the Government should advance 30 per cent. when they had expended AO/. per cent. of their capital. —(Hear, hear.) Thus they proposed that for every 501. p •r cent. of their capital expended on the This he that tsidthee Governmentred they only sought the Government to advance about' p o r 0 / p p . os t r i 0 c n e , n a t . 3 advanceon a b l e 3 $,(X)0,0001., whereas the Noble Lord so u g ht an advance a m ueh t n shoulder more re of 16,000,0001., or two-thirds of their whole expen diture. It came from the parties themselves, and was a much fairer proposition than the one proposed by the Noble Lord's Bill. The Government did not entertain that proposition, because they were about to propose large grants for the purpose of preventing actual starva tion ; and, whatever was then necessary for that purpose he should not hesitate to ask the House, but he dis tinctly refused to put a burden, or to risk the putting of a bur den of any kind, on the people of this country for the mere benefit of railway speculation in Ireland.—(Loud cheers.) By the calculation made on this subject by those parties, the ag gregate expediture was under 5,000,000?., bat the Noble Lord proposed the expenditure of 16,000,000?., upwards of two-thirds, and both proposed advantages nearly similar—they both proposed to employ a similar number of men, but which of the two was correct was not for him to say. It certainly was must extraordinary that the petitioners calculated to employ so many with one-third of the sum proposed by the Noble Lord, He believed that the Noble Lord when be stated that the capital of railway companies in Ireland was sixteen millions, had included the capital of those corn paLies whose lines had been already executed—if such was the case a reduction should be made in the employ. went it would give.—( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord pro posed that railways to the extent of fifteen hundred miles should be executed, which would give employment to one isundred and ten thousand persons. Now if he calculated the amount of capital of railways already constructed, it was likely he had fallen into the same erg or respecting the number of miles of railway to be laid down, and if such were the fact there should also b e some reduction made. But without presuming to‘eme enter into any discussion on the subjec t with the Ri g ht Hon. l Sunderland, whose experience was p robabl y far greater titan r that of any gentleman's in that House upon matters of the sta e discussing, he had made som e inquiry a s to the number of persons engaged u pon t h e construction of a line,bfor ture they were and he had obtained his information from a p five-and twenty er son of very great experience, who stated, that to the best of his belief, per cent. was the outside of the cap ital spent upon labour, five-and-twenty per cent. on four m illions would leave about one million to be expended in labour . Taking the wages at ten shillings a week, and the number of men on; played at twenty to thirty per mile, which was the avera g e, t would leave the number of men employed forty - five thousand instead of one hundred and ten thousand, as sta ted by the Noble Lord. The Noble Lord went on to say, that calcu lating that one hundred and ten thousand persons were !01- ployed by the measure, and multiplying that number by five, it would give support to five hundred and fifty thousand per: sous. He had shown the number likely to be employed, and they did not come up to the calculation of the Noble L ord. He would make every allowance. lie might be underrating the number, or his information might have underrated them, but between one hundred and ten thousand and forty-five thousand there was a very large difference; and be v; s fully borne out, that nothing like the number names' by the Noble Lord would be employed by the measure. He thought that the Hon. Gentleman opposite was a very erro neous calculator as to the average number of labourers likely to be employed on railways, and from whose labour four per sons were to derive their substance. He thought that those able-bodied labourers who were employed on railways were not likely to have a family of four persons connected with them, and supported by their labour. He did not believe that. any one would get up in that House and say that he believed that amongst the railway labourers distress was most prev h a t. in this country, and anybody who was at all conversant wit subject, and who had been in the neighbourhood of a railwayeur. the course of construction, must know that those persons yed any number of persons connected with them. They emPL em ployed on railways were never family men, and seldoi considerable portjoe, of their wages in good living, and trtbuted, as the Noble Lord said, considerably to the asustoreason Excise. He did not, therefore, think that there was aount of to suppose that there would be anything like the am had stated. 550,000 persons benefited, as the Noble Lord . respect Mere was another consideration in ties which which he thought of still more importance,) The must be recollected also. (Hear, h Is e lL • the class labourers employed upon railways were very se . . in fdestitution of persons who were in the worst state o ; Dublin had Ire land. The Hon. Member for the University os bring cer told them that he had been exceedingly anxiousant his °bin. tain presentments under the Treasury minute, u he unskilled tins was, that he found railways did not cm Piqoftthe country. and con labourer ; that was also the case in other parts • iding in the s Ln u passing near the residence of a gentleman, residing It was distinctly proven the other day, in the ease s own workmen Ireland, that the contractor brought all hbourkood was with him, and not one single person in the neg minute was employed. Early in October last, a Treasuryentm eats for the issued, empowering baronies to make Pre of that minute earth work of railways. In the carrying out t h e baronies as to considerable difficulties had arisen with on the spot. the employment of the labourers the minute, he Subsequently to the issuing what course they terested in Irish railways, who a that in a great number of the ought to take. They complained obtained, because the had received a deputation from a numatbe. r of gen o t f l - e a m r e oa n uil'wL i a n -yf s be the labourers of o o . m — p ( l a H i n e i a n r railway companies would net t h e lines passed, in prefe baromti, presentments could ant each barony through which The railway companies said rence to skilled labourers. to repay the baronies in full it would not be fair for them id make, and at the same time for he presentments they t we eir h unskilled labourers, but they compel them to employ ling to employ them in pre expressed themselves 'Nu ro wing the baronies would be at ference to skilled labourers, P . _en employing the we r t e n: the loss of the difference bet_ e litnot do so—they refused to submit hear.) The baronies w° old to up this small I difference, yet to make good this in ade for unproductive works. Thi g s these were the very parties I eland, 'ekliedPll lh o had attended the operation of the was the difficulty But there had been one railway for which Treasury minute. of presentments b u tc h had been mad e to a considerable e xtent ; the presentments k Railway. In four baronies through d presentments had been m a d e which the line passed, for was done, 78,0001., but the moment this . a letter from the received, stating that the company did not secretary had been he destitute labourers of the Board find it suit them to employ t of Works in preference to independent labourers. In fa c t, did such labourers as the baronies supplied not suit.—( Hear, hear.) What he said was this, that the measure f or promot ing the construction of railroads might be a good one for the proprietors, but as regarded the relief of the destitute poor in Ireland, it was utterly and altogether useless. The result of experience was that railway companies employed skilful labourers from all parts of the c ountry, where ever they could get th em, while it should be the object of that House, and the country and the Government, to afford relief to the unskilful labourer, who was starving.— (Hear, hear.) He believed that it was impossible to unite the employment of one class wi th the relief of the other. There was another circumstance which . was worthy t h e consideration of the Houle, and it was this—if any person took the trouble of looking at the map of Ireland, he would find that the mass of Irish railways were to be constructed on the east side of that country, namely, from Dublin to Cork, and from Cork to Limerick. Now, the destitution and distress which prevailed in Ireland, existed not so much on the east as on the western side of the island. These were the persons who lived upon seaweed in consequence of the failure of the potatoes; these were the persons who really suffered the greatest amount of hardship ; these were the persons among whom disease and destitution were making fearful ravages Were these persons to be relieved by the con struetion of railways on the opposite side of the country 7 He believed that he had shown that even fur the destitute • persons in even the counties and baronies through which the railways eased, the railways would afford but very little relief; but for the relief of persons living on the other side of the island, • sixty or seventy miles from the part of the country where the railways was being constructed, the measure would be a total failure.—( hear.) Why, if it were possible that rail way directors would sympathise in a great degree with the miseries of the labourer, that sympathy would be bounded by the necessity that existed for not sacrificing the interests of the shareholders.—(Hear, hear.) But if they brought up labourers from other parts of the country, and neglected the resident poor, what would be the result ? What but an imme diate riot. Why they found that even in England they had faction fights between the Irish and English labourers. The result would be that the persons brought there as labourers would inevitably ',e ill-used and probably driven off. This being so, and believing as he did, and as he had shown to the House his reasons for believing, that the measure would not prove adapted for the relief of the really destitute, even in those parts of the country through which the proposed railways would pa s s, b e c a us e th o se parts of the country were not the parts which were th e mos t di s tressed, and that those parts of the country whe re r elief was most needed no available assistance would be rendered by the measure. He had also shown that the present pressure upon the Government, the state of the finances, and the dipressed state of the country rendered the measure of the Noble Lord totally unfi•ted to receive the support of the Government. The Government ' were prepared to abandon the mode of giving assistance by means of public er other works, because they found that the sums so expended did not go so far in the relief as they should do, and that a considerable waste had taken pl.tce in the expen diture of the pubic money, and that a considerable por tion cf the sums paid by this country d d nut effec:ualiy afford relief to the distressed people of Ireland. then, that be a goad and valid season fir aban doning and discontinuing, that system of affording relief, and he thought it was, and the other system which the Go veernment were prepared to adopt, would cause the same sums to go much farther towards the relief of the existi: g distress, House, n a P va l' i ea a r ls " l a e ' then he thought those circumstances conclusive against the doctrine of the Noble Lord. Upon the data which he hid the laid funds tetore had d e : i n , tfohrat the one employment quar teronl o o f f labour, and that the labour so employed would not be that de scription of labour, for those which the Government were most anxious to find relief. He was well aware that this scheme had, in the opinion of many Hon. Members. great charms, hecause it would afford some employment for the people of Ire land, and the Government were told that if this great scheme were rejected to what other sources were they to look for the relief of the people of Ireland? If there were no other scheme before the House it might be made some reason for pressing this measure. But if there be other schemes before the House, the expenditure of which was very large and tended snore directly to the relief of the poor, then he said that the argu ments fell to the ground, and there was no reason for adopting the present scheme, in preference to other schemes based sim ply upon the advance of large sums to Ireland. He did not mean to deny that if a large amount of English capital were to be carried into Ireland it would be of considerable utility to that country. When, however, such advances were to be made from the produce of English taxa tion, the House ought to consider the subject before they gave their assent to such a measure. The House must bs just before they were generous, and that they should watch carefully over any grants that might he made, and see that they were properly applied. Taking into consideration the present amount of the distress in Ireland, it should be con sidered that the measure which had been read a third time this evening (the Destitute Persons Relief Bill), involved a considerable outlay, and would also afford effectual and imme diate relief to the distress of the people of Ireland. The vo luntary and unaided exertions of many districts in Ireland had supported this whole starving population. Net many days ago, he had received a letter from one district relating that a number of persons, who were but little removed from destitution, by their own exertions had raised the sum of 1761., and supported the destitute poor, of which sum 1361. were subscribed by the farmers, and only 401. by the landed proprietors. He never read an account with greater pleasure and satisfaction, and it gave him hope that the condition of Ireland might still be im proved by her own exertions. He regretted, however, that the same post brought him another letter, from the county of Mayo, and there he found the landlords were pursuing a system of ejectment far beyond anything ever attempted yet. The processes entered at the quarter sessions of Balleybay were 6,400, of which 4,000 were at the suit of the landlords. The consequence was, that the people were flying from the spot, and no doubt many of them had been landed in Liver pool. He despaired of improving the condition of Ireland while this system was going on. The Hon. Gentleman, the Member fur Bath (Mr. Roebuck), asked the other night to what extent the means which had been prepared for the relief of Ireland would be carried. He had a right, and the country had a right to demand informa tion on such an important matter. Before many days passed he should be able to state definitely to the House the extent of the relief which the Government proposed should be given to that country. He was surprised to hear the Han. Member for Limerick (Mr. S. O'Brien) inquire when this enor mous expense was to cease? Enormoss he could not believe it to he, so long as persons were suffering from starvation in Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) But however the Hon. Members for Limerick and Wycombe might despair of the success of the measure which the Government had proposed ; yet they, and others failed to point out any other measures which would accomplish the object which they had in view better.—( Loud cheers.) If he thought this scheme of lending money to Irish railways was a better scheme than those the Government had proposed—that it would bring both food and salvation to the people who were starving in Ireland— he should not be ashamed to adopt it, from .whatsoever quarter it came, not less from the Noble Lord opposite, than from other lien. Members, but believing that it would not answer the end for which it was preposed, and as no suggestions had been made by those resident in Ireland, and practically acquainted with the question for the framing of a better mea sure, he should rely as confidently as he could rely upon the measures of the Government, as those best calculated to afford relief to the indigent people of Ireland at the present moment. In saying this, he was perfectly aware that it was not enough to deal simply with the present calamity, as he believed that measures must be framed which must go much further than dealing with the starvation of the people.—(Loud cheers.) He was fully convinced that a great change—a revolution, he might say —in the social condition of the people of Ireland was necessary.—(Cheers.) He had long entertained that opinion, and had expressed it before he had the honour to hold his pre sent offiee— six weeks before, and immediately after he had bad an opportunity of reading the papers which arrived at that time from Ireland. So fir back as September last he expressed his opinion that, in addition to the question of starvation, there were others of a much more important character, which that distress had shown more than ever necessary. In tact, from the present suffering much good could not fail to be derived. The failure of the potato was net the least important. The plots of land ceased to be valuable where they failed to produce crops. so that those ag.arian outrages which took place for the purpose of obtaining land would in all probability cease when - 1 that land ceased to be valuable. Labourers who came to this country for the purp.se of labouring in the harvests in England and Scotland did so in the full confidence that their families in Ireland would derive support from the patch of potatoes during their absence. Now this would no longer be the case. Though the people of Ireland might 110 longer be maintained by the po t a to which they cultivated, if advantage were taken of the calamity, they could not fail to be placed in a better condition. Then he believed that a change will have taken plac in Ire. land which would tend materially to the future benefit of the country, but it was an exceedingly different thing to interfere, as now proposed. The Irish came over to England to work upon railways to get in the hay harvest, and the other crops, but they had yet to learn the use of stated employment and • s from day to day, that was a mode of employment far wages more conducive to the establishment of a sound relation between master and man, farmer and labourer, in Ireland, than any landlord or tenant Bill . whatever. To promote a system o f l a b our f o r Ireland. not upon railroads, but upon agriculture, a Bill had been introduced, carrying out to a greater extent the principle of making advances to the landed proprietor in Ireland. Much had been said most unjustly against them ; he believed . hy means o f t he Government measure many will be induced to cultivate their land, who, heretofore, has not paid sufficient attention to the improvement of their estates, and he was also of opinion that a great quantity of land, by means of this system, would b e brought into a state of cultivati on , affording in creased quantity of food and employment for the people. Their first duty anti care ought to be to increase tke production of the soil. and the means of agricultu ra l emp l oyment. Other Bills there were of a similar descripti on w i t h w h ich it was not ne cessary to go into at any length. 'I hey were Bills far the improvement and drainage of waste lands; and all these Bill s were framed with the obj ec t o f improving the soil and increasing the food of tie country. For these purposes he was inclined to make any advance necessary, and for the purposes of present relief, and he was sure that the poorest classes in Ireland would willingly bear their share for the assistance of their Irish bre thren ; but when he heard, day after day, of the distress in the country, and knew that many of the mills were t s opped, he should he ashamed to come to the House and ask for advances to be taken out of the country. For these reasons he would oppose the measure of the Noble Lord, and move that it be read that day six months. Mr. - BAILEY opposed the motion. He could not consent to the present measure for the construction of railways in Ire land when Scotland was in the same condition of distress. He would not agree to the grant for Irelaud unless there was one for Scotland also.—( Hear, hear.) The people of Scotland were suffering from a similar calamity which was afflicting the people of lteland ; but because the landed population of that country were trusting to their own resourc.ts they heardnothing of grants for public works.—( Hear, hear.) With the permis sion of the House, he would point out the course the proprietors of Scotland had taken to meet the national crisis, and he saw no reason why the proprietors of Ireland should not have adopted similar means. In doing so, he would take the ex ample of two proprietors in the county which he represented, not because they were more entitled to notice than many others in Scotland, but because they had come more especially under his notice. They were the chief proprietors of the island of Skye—Lord Macdonald and Mr. Donald Macleod. Skye contained 26,000 inhabitants, while the rental was 9 5,004. a year. It was manifest that at the present price of grain this rental would not support the population more than two months. Had not these landowners taken early precautions the whole population would have been starving. The potato crop which supported them nine months in the year, had been an entire failure, and the oats by which they were maintained the other three, had also been short. He did not believe there was any part in Ireland which was in a worse condition. In August last, they were aware of the total failure of the potato crop in the island, but they did not wait till the calamity over took them, but they immediately applied to the Government for a 'can, for which they offered the security of their estates. They were referred to the Drainage Act, but they answered, that it would not answer their purpose in the present form. They met the views of the House, and the House made such amendenentsin the Drainage Act as met the views of these Gen tlemen. The people in the Highlands had, in consequence, been set to work at drainage and the culture of land. Of course, in so large a population, there must be many persons who could not get labour—(Hear, hear) and who oust be supported. These had received some little assistance from the relief committee at Edinburgh, but. with that exception, the single and undivided support of the people them Scottish landlords.throughthe ll h e ar k v n e e s w t, but no a not if t all events they had the singular honour of having made their best endeavours to meet the difficulties of this crisis. Now, t h h a e d i r been resources e e n borne could by the carry with respect to the measure of the Noble Lord, he could very 'Neal understand why the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of York could easily convince himself that the construction of railways was a universal panacea for every evil.—( Laughter. ) But he was really astonished that the Noble Lord, the Meml.er for Lynn, should consider that the future prosperity of Ireland might be trusted to such a system. Instead of depending on a railway system, it were better that they turned their attention to the cultivation of land, and if the population of that country were to have a better description of food, and he prayed God that they might, that could only be procured by a better system of cultivation, which would ultimately, lie thought, relieve that co:a t : t ip: l from her present distresses. He had already consi dering the question before Scottishthe representativeH s against to protest in his character of a h • wished to assist Ire - this outlay of the public mo ney. lf t tors every facility by way of that he did not rise for the peuurpeose but t f simpl land, let them grant the prop loan ands. Let the Govern mentloan for the improvement of t et moneyl advanced, and let them have good security for . h who were the per sonsed to superintend the distri bution of it. d with the Hon. Member for Inverness Mr. STUART agreed the compliment be had paid Scottish to the proprietors, Irish proprietors, leave the outlay to the whose mode of meeting the present evil had made it unneces sary for this House to consider for their sake any one of those important measures, which they were now compelled to con sider, with reference ro the alleviation of Irish distresses. When they were discussing questions to relieve the present calamities of Ireland, it was essential that everything calculated to excite acrimonious feelings should be avoided, and he wished that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had followed the course which he himself had laid down on this subject. But, so far from doing so, to his surprise, the Right Hon. Gentle man had referred to personal considerations, and had mete , firmed the names of the Gentlemen upon the back of the Bill. He thought that if any two names in the kin.clom were more calculated than others to give 'lnce to a measwe of this description, they were the names of •he Hon. Aleaibers for Sunderland and Westmoreland. He denied aiogether tie character which had been given to this metioure. He nenied that any man who looked into it could say, that it was a measure prepared for the relief of the share holders and other persons connected wi-h railways. The avowed purpose of the Bill was to stimulate railways in Ireland, and thus promote labour. They were told that the Government was not a set of money lenders to ad- Vance money on these occasions. If that were to be so, the objection applied equally to all the measures which they had been discussing for the relik fof Ireland. The object of the Bill under it snissian was, that the Government should inter pose credit for the assistance of works o a public nature— ( Hear, hear)—likely to employ the people. The Chancell or of the Exchequer said in at sorer, that the plan had already failed, and he referred to the case of the Ulster Canal as an it,•tanee of money lent, and lost to the country. Ha re!erred to the work of Alt% Porter, who had applied his attention to the subject of the money lent to the Ulster Canal, and to its effects, and he found that this gentleman speaking of the canal, says that during its progress the work proved a great blessing to the district through which it passed, and gave constant employment at fair wages to a great number of labourers, and cured them to a great extent of their passion fur ardent spirits, and enabled them to save money out of their wages. The instance to which the Right Hon. Gentleman referred to as a failure, he referren to as a success, and he asked if it had not proved a blessing to the country ? And though it was an improvident loan it we/ of real service to the labourers and other classes. Another _ . public work referred to by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as an instance of money lost to the country was the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, to which money was lent. They bad before them many returns of the extravagant cost of railways in their construction, but the Dublin and Kingstown Railway beat them all, for it cost no less than 60,0001. per mile, and yet, with all these disadvantage, , , the railway had contrived to pay the money advanced and now returned a profit of 9 per cent. A reference was made to an Hon. Member for Scotland, and when that Hon. Mem ._ _ ber was referred to, he (Mr. Stuart) was surprised why he, above all men, had not spoken in favour of tne expenditure made by Government. If Lord M'Donald and Mr. 11PLeod of M'Leod were enabled to support the poor upon their own estates, was it not owing to the money expended in the coun try by Government, and which had conferred the most lasting benefits to the country? It was matter of notoriety, that not only had the condition of Scotland been improved by money advanced by wise statesmen one hundred years ago, but of late the money advanc e d by p r i va t e enter p r i s e h a d materially tended to the improvement, and enhanced the value of the coun try. There had been formed in Scotland, at the Government expense, 1,166 miles of roa4, 2nd more than 1,000 bridges. Mr. Porter had applied his attention to Ireland, and he had already referred to his account of 'he result of the lodn to the likter Canal; and he would now refer to Mr. Griffith, one of Mr. Porter's authorities, to show the material benefit of interns.- tional communication between even the most barren districts of Ireland. He had referred to the district between Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, in the year 1822, as one of the worst districts in Ireland, and the refuge and habitation of White boys, smugglers, and robbers ; and on the formation of a turnpike road, the country in 1829, only seven years after, presented an appearance of very considerable inprovement and industry. Mr. ?Immo, another of Mr. Porter's authorities, had also referred to this subject, and stated, speaking of a part of the coun'y of Kerry, that a few years since there was not a decent public house in it, and the nearest post-office was thirty miles distant; and since the new road was made the most considerable improvements had manifested themselves. He would ask any Hon. Member what in a financial point of view was the result of the constructions of those works of in ternal communication, and whether it had no: contributed materially to benefit the revenue of the country, and to im prove the social condition of the people?—(Cheers.) The measure of the Noble Lord had been called, most unfairly, a measure to promote speculation and gambling, and to put the money of the English t a x-p a y er i nto the pocets of the Irish landlords. It was easy to demonstrate to any person, who would take the trouble of inquiring into the subject, that when the Noble Lord was accu•ed o f inging forward a people for such a purpose, and calling upon the people of England to pay whe ther they would or not a large sum of money for the construc tion of Irish railways, that never was there a misrepresentation more gross, or one which showed more convincingly the igno rance of those who made it.—(Cheers from Lord George Ben . . tinck. ) He ventured to tell the Hon. Member tor Bath, who seemed to take so much interest on behalf of the tax-pay►ng people of England, more even than they did themselves, that neither he nor the people of England would be called upon to put their hands in their pocket for a single sixpence. The way in which the money was proposed to be raised was such as, he would venture to say, that, if the Hon. Member for Bath, were carefully to consider, he would feel inclined to give the measure his most cordial support.—(Cheers.) It was not proposed to take 4,000,000/. per annum from the taxes of the country. What was proposed was this, that if good security were given, money should be advanced to the different railway companies, upon the credit of the Govern ment.—( Hear, hear.) No advances would be made until a m o s t searching scru my had been instituted by an officer appointed by the Government, into the merits of the railway requiring the loan, and until the receipt of whose certificate was oh . ained as to the probability of the line when constructed being such as to afford ample remuneration to the share holders, and also whether the line were of such a nature as would afford immediate employment to the people and benefit to the country, but not till then, was the credit of the Govern ment to be pledged.—(Cheers from Lord G. Bentinek's party.) If the money was raised by means of Exchequer Bills, Government security would be given to them, and any person would be at I.berty to purchase them or not, at his pleasure. The capital of the Exchequer Bills had the security of the Government pledg,ed for the pa)ment of the principal and interest of these Bills. Those Exchequer Bills would only be issued upon the certificate of the Governmynt officers, who was to report upon the merits of the scheme, seeking the aid of ihe Government.—( Cheers.) It was not a compulsory measure to intitle the holders of all shares to come in for a general scramble of the public money. Lord G. BEN I'INCK—The officer of the Government was to be held responsible for the report which he mace. Mr. STUART—His Noble Frienl had rightly reminded him of the responsibility of the Government officer who, if he should make a false report, either by fraud or by error, was to be held responsible to the Government and the House. The issue of Exchequer bills would not be the only mode of raising the necessary money for this purpose ; there was another mode. which was by the issue of loan debentures similar to those issued for the construction of railways in Canada, making the interest payable at the . Bank of England, and guaranteeing the security of the consolidated fund for the repayment of the principal and interest.—(Cheers). It was nothing new for the Government to interfere in the construction and manage ment of railways. In Belgium and France the Government had interfered to a great extent, and although in Belgium the rates of fares were so low as not to pay a fair rate of interest for the money expended in the construction of the railways, still considerable benefits had resulted to the revenue at large in consequence of the advantages possessed by the people in their cheap mode of conveyance.—(Hear, hear.) In his opinion he was borne out by the statements of Mr. Porter who, in his remarks upon the subject of the railways in Belgium, stated, " that although the interest ob tained from the railway was only a nominal per tentage, still the nation at large reaped .mmeasurable advantages from the diminished charges of conveyance, which had been of immense benefit to the people at large. Some Honourable Mem bers seemed inclined to oppose the measure, fearing that another and greater calamity would arise, upon the grouna of the Prime Minister of the country having threatened to re sign if the measure were carried. It was not impossible to see that some embarrassment and difficulty would exist in conse quence of their resignation. He hoped, however, that Hon. Members would not be induced to vote in opposition to their holiest opinions upon this subject in consequence of this threat. The Right Hon. Baronet, the late Prime islinister of England, once came down to the House, and u-ed the same threat, and stated that if the House did not rescind their resolution he would resign. Some Hon. Members, certainly not much to their credit, in their anxiety to return the Right Hon. Baronet to power, accordingly rescinded their votes, and the threat of the fearful resignation was not carried out. At a later period during the last se-sion the Right Hon. Baronet endeavoured to use the same threat upon the Irish Coercion Bill. He was not, however, able to keep himself in power by such means, and all the efforts to keep him in power had proved unavailing. He hoped, therefore, that Hon, Members who were inclined to support the measure would not be the less inclined to do so in consequence of the threat of the Prime Minister to resign if the present measure were carried. People might say, however, that Belgium was a country where tie Government was despotic, and held more power than any Government, over which the people had more control. ell, what was the case with Great Britain, where the peopl . had the greatest influence? lie would take the American Go vernment—a Government who were wise and prudent, and who would weigh well, not only the work itself, but the mode of doing it. What did Mr. Porter say of this Government? Why that the New York canal, a work of great public import ance, was constructed by capital borrowed on the credit of that Government. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that no such outlay should take place, unless in a case of great emer gei,cy ; but he would ask, when the States which he had re ferred to, who were wise and selfish, had executed such works, could any one doubt for a moment but Ireland apart from the great importance of the works themselves, bad an especial demand on them from her present circumstances for the construction of such works? It was said that the money would be a gift to the Irish landlords, but that was a mockery and so absurd as not to require a word from him for its refutation. The question was, were the objections made by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government to the proposed scheme of sufficient weight to induce them to reject it. His first objection was, that it would give a preference to some railways over others. Suppose he admitted that, how were the public to suffer ? That was, in Isis opinion, no justification for the rejection of the scheme. The next objection he made was, that he was afraid they would only employ the able-bodied. But he would ask was that no benefit ? If the money to be expended was to be employed in that way, he considered that this would be a material benefit to the labourer who was not able.bodied, for it would leave hint to be employed on works of a less laborious character. But the Noble Lord said, that the railroads were on the east coast, and the starvation was all on the west. Such an objection was, in his opinion, absurd, for who could doubt but the able bodied of Galway and Mayo would resort to the east, to the north, and to the south, where employment was to be procured.—(Cheers.) s These arguments were a mockery.—(Cheers.) For, as Noble Friend beside him reminded him , why did the p oorof Ireland flock to Liverpool, and other parts of England. — ( Cheers.) But there railways, in the i opinion of the Noble Lord, were so contingent and remote n their benefits, as to make them unavailing for the relief he of th eef ex l i r s e ti l n a g nd thstress But he would ask, was giving _! p eople .shi system of railway a, imme diate employment no berie o ti r t? t N d would give immediate employ proposed by the Noble L ment, and he had the most sanguine hopes that, if the scheme w as adopted, the greatest benefits, and the greatest blessings w ould be conferred on the Irish people. (Cheers.) Mr. F. T. BARING thought, that if the Hon. and Learned Gentleman who had just sat down had directed his attention to the arguments of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ins tea d dwelling on topics which were not so immediately connected with the measure, the House would be in a better position to judge whether these aiguments could be answered. But, in stead of that, the Learned Gentleman declined to meet these arguments, and made a long speech on a variety of subj ec t s which were not relevant. He would not follow him through thek state of the these topics, but confine himself to finances. Now, he should lik e to money would be raised f or this irnumoewnsehowoutltahye. It was said that it could be raised without diffi• culty, but of this he had very great doubt and if they issued the Exchequer bill s , t h e N oble Lord who informed them last night that he was ready to assume the responsibility of Gi m vernent, might find that they would not go off so particu larly easy in the money market.--( Hear, hear.) Exchequer bills were at present wavering on the holders, and let them take care when these Exchequer- hills should he issued they should have to raise the interest not only on the four militons but on their other rnillons.—( Hear, hear.) lie must say that if that , would he a benefit to the peel& of England, he had very lithe confidence in the financial management of the Noble Lord. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman said that they were quite • sure of repayment for the advances, hut when he came to that part of the subject he glided into the advantages which would, in a general way, be derived from public works. He would ask, however, if they received repayments in similar cases when money bad been advanced? if they were paid the advances en the Kingstown railway, he would ask if they rested their argu mant only on t het ?—( Hear, hear.) Tne Learned Gentleman - then fell hack upon the err-cum-tante that due supers ,sier, would be exercised over the security tha. vertu! be t quired on the advances. He was afraid, however, if they did that the Bill would not be likely to have extensive operation in Ireland. Oue sf the objects !ca• to employ the labouring population. If they gave the advances orals to these lines which were likely to pay, the eonsequeeee would be that the bail lines which ran through the most impoverished districts, woald be neglected, and the people who lived in those distri , to woo d be unemployed.-- (Hear, hear.) The arguments ie favour of the scheme rested on tw o grounds. The first ...as, the teentorary advantaee it would c o n f er un d er t ' ..e present el-cum-latices of Iretand, and the se e end was, the permanent advautage that eould result. But the House were informed that only 1.14t0,00a/. out o f every 4,000,00 e/. advanced would be paid for labour. He pro tested, on behalf of the people of England against giving ad vantage to Irish railway shareholders, by allowing users; to u-e for their sole adv.ntagef the capital of the people of Ergland. • The Hon. and Leal nod Gentleman (Mr. Stuart) centende ri that employment would be given in plaices where the peop!e stood most in need of it ; but as railways did not run through parts of a county where there was little er no trade, end where the people were in a destitute condition, no advantage re ouid be giv.n to those parts.—( Hear.) To pour in money into the east of Ireland, without corresponding advantag es to the west, would do little good It would be useless to pour money into the east whilst the people in the west were starving. There when a railway ran through a destitute district, the people in that district who stood so much in need of empleyment, would not obtain employment.—(Hear, hear.) Even the Hon. Gen lerean (Mr. stuart) had not denied that. It was true he had employed the arguments of political economy to show that if a certain number of persons acre cut of the labour market, otl ers would fill their places ; but instead o f t h e d estitute poor of Ireland being employed, skilled ‘, navvies" from England would be employed. Any one who had read the blue books, which had been published, relating to the condition of Ireland, could not fail to be of opinion that it was net advantageous to employ men in masses, but that it was to bring as far as possible, the work to their own doors.—(Hear, hear. ) That object would not certainly be obtained by this Bill. The Bill had been represented as a great and comprehensive mea sure, and the Hon. Gentleman had devoted a great part of his speech to quoting authorities—Mr. Porter amongst the num ber—to show that it was entitled to come under this definition. He admitted that in some instances it was advisable for the Government, in some cases, to advance money for the construction of great public wells. In 1839 he voted for Mr. Drummund's Bill with respect to Irish railways—(" Hear, hear," from Lord George Bentinck)—but he never bad more difficulty in giving a vote in his life, than he did on that oc casion, and sebsequent considerations had not removed that difficulty. Such undertakings as railways ought, he thought, to be left to private and indivit:ual enterprise. Other countries had followed a different course with respect to railways, and the systems were not deficient in advantages ; Irene of which were to be found in " this great and comprehensive measure." Did Belgium advance money to railway companies? No. It took the whole railway commueication of the country into its own hands. But he should have objected to such a project if it had been proposed. But the management of a railway by the Sta e possessed great advantages. In the bands of private persons they were monopolies, but as in the other ca-e the Post-office would have free transit, and the people would have the advantage ot travelling at a moderate rate, be cause railways, in that case, would virtually be the property of the public. The Noble. Lord's measure proposed nothing of the kind. There were great advantages to the proprietor of railways, but no advantages to the public, as in Belgium. After the passing of the Bill the monopoly in railways would be the same as before. The lines would go on, but those which did not would he handed over to the Government.— (Loud cheers.) That unquestionably would be the result. What he said was, deal with the pressing emergency first, and then calmly deliberate on such a project. That certainly was not the time for such a measure. France, for instance, did not advance funds to parties for the construc tion of railways without securing great advantages in return. The mails passed over the tines free of expense, but there was no such provision here. They granted a lease for a certain number of years, at the expiration of which they fell into the hands of the Government, in trust for the benefit of the public. The advantages derived from such a system were stated to be so great, that if this country had adopted it when railways were first constructed, the pr„ fits which they would have pro , ueed would have paid the national debt.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) This certainly could not be accomplished by the proposition of the Noble Lord ; as it seemed to him so deficient in advantages, that he was sur prised that the Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Essex, (Sir J Tyrrell), should support it. It was not capable to meet the emergency of the present moment, and was wholly defi c.ent in the requisites for a permanent measure altogether. If, however, they lent 16.000,0001 out of the funds destined for the employment of the people of England, for the employ ment of the people of Ireland, they should have some equiva lent advantage in return. And if they followed the policy of foreign Governments, at least let them follow their pt udence also; and do not let them advance their money, not for the purpose of meeting the emergency or the moment, but for the purpose of addine, to the strength ot monopoly, and would not accomplish the object for which it was brought forward. —( Haar, hear. ) Sir J. TYRRELL said, although the Hon. Gentleman had came to the rescue of Goverment they had witnessed some extraordinary things in the conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his conduct on this occasion had shown this more forcibly. He had travelled through various parts of Ire land, and witnessed the lamentable distress of the people. The poor-law of Ireland was extremely defective, so much so that he feared no proper machinery could be devised. He thought that the measures proposed by her Majesty's Government— their " potato and kettle measure," and their soup ticket mea sures"—utterly tailed in comparison to the measures of the Noble Lord. The Noble Lord at the foia,l of the Government had, improperly he thought, made the question one et n confidence." lle did feel most anxerus to ascertain what were the sentiments which the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tam worth held on this occasion, but neither he nor the late Chancellor of the Exchequer had as yet thought proper to favour the House and :he country with their opinions. But as they had not that satisfaction, it might be plcas.ng to the country to know what were the opinions which the Right Ho nourahble Gentleman formerly held and it was pos sible that the. Noble Lord at the head of the Government might arrive at a proper conclusion of what those opinions were, by arguing that they were now exactly the reverse of what they formerly were.—( Laughter.) In March, 1839, on a question of a grant of money to Ireland for the purposes of railways. the Member for Tamworth stated that the money difficulty was the last which he contemplated, and that if he opposed the adoption of the measure, he desired that it might not be understood that the ground of his objection to it would be money. Hear.) let it since b, shown unto him that the measure would benefit Ireland, and the expense attendant would not deter him from adopting it. But that he greatly feared that the very proposal would expose the Government to enormous difficulty, from the interest ot the proprietors of the estates contiguous to the dif ferent lines. In the county of Essex, the sum of sixty thousand had been expended in law proceedings in the Colchester and Harwich line, which was only twenty miles long. It was monstrous that such a sum should be thus lost. He would put every Member in the box to prove the great danger which arises from leaving these kind of speculations to private enter prise. Any person coining down to the House, about four o'clock, would find the streets thronged with legal men and their blue bags. He firmly believed that two-thirds of the jewellery in London we: purchased by members of the legal profession.—( Great laughter.) Mr. DILLON BROWNE said he was not influenced in the vote which he was about to give by the statement of any threat on the part of the Government ; in fact, he believed that no threat was really held out. He was not prepared to support the proposition of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, because he conceived by such a vote he would be de claring a confidence in the Noble Lord, and a want of confidence in her Majesty's Ministers. Under no circumstances would he be prepared to support the policy of the Noble Lord until he found out from him what were his intentions respecting the political amelioration of Ireland. He could not forget that the party of which the Noble Lord was the powerful and intelligent leader, for cen turies had beenthe consistent opponents of civil and religious liberty. He could nut rorget that they had been the con sistent supporters ot monopoly, both as regarded the commer cial and pol tieal interests of the country ; and until he had heard the distinct declaration of the Noble Lord as to what would be his policy, he was not prepared to give him a vote that would have the effect of bringing him into office. He eeuld not forget that he opposed the Catholic Eman cipation Act— (Cries of " No, no.")—that he opposed the Reform Bill.—(Cries of "No, no.") His party did— that he opposed any settlement of the Church t l uestion in Ire land and his party were opposed to the present settlement of the Church question in Ireland. He most cordially declared that he would give his vote to the Member for Lynn if he de clared to him what policy he was prepared to pursue in regard to the franchise, or to give an increased representation to Ire land. He desired to know what policy he would adopt re specting an appropriation ot the surplus revenue of the Church in Ireland to secular purposes, and also with regard to a measure shortly to be brought before the House respecting waste lands in Ireland—a measure which he looked upon as one calculated to infuse a new element in tke social system of that country. He consioered that it would create a body of independent yeomen in the country. He con sidered that the Noble Member for Lynn's measure was more calculated to benefit the landed interest than the people. Any Minister who wished to recommend himself to the popular opinion of Ii elaird, must support a system for the creation of a sturdy, rustic, and rural population of Ireland; and he could not forsake such a system as the present Government had in crew for the sake of suptiorting the measure of the Noble Lord opposite. He entertained doubts of the sympathiest ofe he or the oeep interest taken in, the condition of th a e n p d ea b s e a f n or r a y Ireland, by either the Noble Lord or his par . tY ; Noble Lord's Bills could give his support to the N and if 'l t ' h h e e he must have some guarantee p that or make him- Noble Lord wished to Barry thieve preve that he was actuated people of Ireland required thatt suguvoairltntee, no unanimity in the Noble by no selfish motor the subject of supporting or assisting the self popular in Ire e l s a . nde Th ite ere tn w n as Lord's party upon who was desirous of improving tenant in possession the other hand they supported a system whichwhile characterised the Governme n t i n London engen d er ed absenteeism, and if th e N o bl e Lord nt p er petuate that system, he must mak e land respell ibdto for and the maintenance of its own poor.--( Hear, h ear . sirend ßepresenting , as he did , a large constituency in I re l an d , he had felt it to be his duty thus frankly to express his views upon the measure now before the House, and upon the subject of Ireland generally, rather than to give a silent vote upon this occasion. He attributed the want of energy and improve ment in Ireland to misgovernment and class legislation, and until these abusive systems were abandoned, Ireland would still continue to be a burden to this country.—( Hear, hear.) He must, however, thank the Noble Lord for the generous spirit he had displayed towards Ireland. He thought it was well cal culated to improve the feeling in Ireland towards England. and while he disapproved of his measure he could not forget his noble statement, that he would stake his head upon the block for the loyalty of the Irish if they were treated with justice, nor his truthful statement that the Irish people would spill the last drop of their blood in defence of this country were they pro perily treated and properly legislated for.--( Hear, hear. ) Lord BERNARD should give his vote in favour of the Noble Lord's measure, because he considered it was highly calcu laced to meet the present emergency. He did not believe that it was liable to the objections that had been urged against it, nor did he believe that it would enhance the value of any railway which did not merit, or which w s intrinsically valuable in itself. He confidentlyexpected a t hat no t before any money were advanced to a railway under this its merits and tea:urea would be carefully scrutinised, and he therefore could not understand how the measure could give a stability to wild and bad schemes without conferring any benefit upon the good. It had been said that these railways would not go through those districts in Ireland which most required REGISTRATION OF VOTERS. Sir WILLIAM CLAY presvnted a petition from curtain electors of the Tower Hamlets, complaimi g that they are compelled to register themselves with every fresh rate imposed upon the borough. PUNISHMENT OF DEATH. Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition from a public meet ing held in the National Hall, Holborn, praying for the abolishment of punishment by death. REDUCTION OF TAXATION. Sir 11. DOUGLAS presented a petition from Liver pool, numerously signed, praying the House to employ the surplus revenue to the purposes of reducing the taxa tion of the country, and not for the purpose of Irish relief. PUNISHMENT OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS. Mr. PAKINGTON gave notice that on Tuesday, the 23d inst., he would bring forward a inition with respect to the more speedy punishment of juvenile offenders. IRISH RETURNS. Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL moved for a return from the commissioners for paving lighting, and cleansing the city cf Dublin, of a copy of the existing contract for lighting the city with gas; copy of a letter from Edward Lucas, Esq., under-secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, to the Commi: sinners, dated Dublin Castle, the 25. h day of June, 1844, in relation to the intended contract. Copy of the answer of the Commissioners to said letter, dated the 29th day of June, 1844. Copy of the letter from the Commissioners to Mr. Lucas, dated the 12th day of July, 1844, on the same subjecet. Copy of the opinion of the Solicitor. General for Ireland, tals en by the Commissioners, on said letter and contract. Cnpy of the bond taken from Mr. Peter Brophy and others by the Connnissioners, on permission being given to open the pavements for the purpose of laying the pipes of the Alliance Gas Company. Return of such proceedings at. law (if any) as have been resorted to by the Commissioners fur any alleged violation of the con• ditions of said bond, and the penalties incurred (if any). —Agreed to. ADVANCES FOR PUBLIC WORKS (IRELAND.) Mr. J. O'CONNELL also moved for an account (since the Union) of all sums of money advanced on loan by the Imperial Treasury for public works, or other purposes, in Ireland ; specifying, in the case of ench loan, the purpose for which, the parties to whom, the conditions on which, each such loan has been ad vanced ; and how far such conditions have as yet been complied with ; diAinguishing all advances and repay ments made since the 4siablishinont 01 th•• Board of Works. Similar returns for England and Scotland. Also, a re turn stating the remittances of public money from the I,:hN‘e ‘Cj i t ssiuu:'s.'hupairtite:e'nted aC j British Exchequer to the Irish, ar.d vice versa, down to The present time en continuation of account No. 2 of Sea shine! Paper, No. 652, date Bth August, 1845). Also a return, stating the totals of relief of taxation to Great Britain and Ireland respectively, in each year, since 800 down to the present time (in continuation of the return No. 573, of 1843). —Agreed to. the M i r n . ha i h ' praying the Houosfe LIG lIT DUES. l i l t y. nt L:P HOWARD presented a potion from NI ( o t r f o s t tj h l t,Carlislecs carry into against eff , e t t h e t h e light re c , dues, an tu e n a d t:l . tion m consider the ofwhich the Hon. Member for POOR REMOVAL BILL ject r :nan , appointed by that house to t o , ,a, i f , t reP;rii,sn,s:rysano amend i‘et,inltc7heeta:ceuoruen Poort yof wholly petition from the inhabitants rnwall, praying the House to repoal, or materially to Removal Act, passed in the last session of Parliament. Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN wished to ask the Right Hon . M mber, the S-cretary for Ireland, whether he had re ceiv.rl any kticial account of th e num b er of deaths which ht d occurred in Bantry. He (Mr. S. O'Brien) had been informed that coroners' inquests had been held upon the bodies of 40 persons, who, within a very short period, had fallen victim: to famine. Mr. LABOUCHERE regretted that the destitution was most severe in some districts, but. every means at the disposal of the Government was adopted to relieve it. Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN asked if there was no measure of immediate relief for such a case as this? Mr. LABOUCHERE had no doubt but the attention of the Irish Government was called to it. Ile himself had written conceruinp. - , it, and ne had no doubt but measures would he taken to Aford CA MBRIDG E BURGESSES. Mr. WATSON presented a petition ft= severtl burgesses of Cambridge, compiainiug that they we:e not placed on die list of Yoters for that borough, though 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I re- ue of itiun ad a they He the the ,teds 'mild ition ap- rest ed ; gn -4i