The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-03 00:00:00

THE DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS

Lord Hartin2ton, having moved that the other business
on the paper should be postponed until after the order for
resuming the debate on the Address, Mr. Yorke commented
on the refusal of the noble Marquis to give facilities to Sir
S. Northcote for moving for a Select Committee to inquire
Into the circumstances connected with the release
of the three members from Kilmainham, notwith-
standing that the noble Marquis had challenged
the Opposition to censure the Government on the subject
The hon. member observed that he did not think the action
of the noble Marquis would be endorsed by the Premier when
he returned. Meanwhile, he appealed to the Government, in
the interest of decency and fair play, to show tkat they had
not yet emancipated themselves from all the honourable
traditions of Parliamentary life.

Lord Hartington thought it a pity that the honourable
gentleman should have taken up the time of the House if he
believed that the decision of the Government would not
be confirmed by the Prime Minister, especially as the
Leader of the Opposition had given notice that on Monday
he would put a question to his right hon. friend; so that if a
mistake had been committed it would soon be rectified. But
as to the allegation of the hon. member that he (Lord
Hartington) had challenged the Opposition to enter into
further discussion of the transactian it was an entire mis•
apprehension, and nothing could have been further from his
intention, because the House had been discussing from
Tuesday last the allegations made against the Government
since May, and the House had pronounced its decision upon
the subject.
After some observations from Mr. Alderman Fowler, Mr.
Ashmead-Bartlett, and Mr. Hopwood the motion was agreed
to.

--
The adjourned debate on the Address was then resumed,
and
- -

--
Mr. A. O'Connor moved an amendment calling attention in
a comprehensive paragraph to the state ot distress, the in-
adequate machinery of the Land Act, the unsatisfactory
character of the Arrears Act, the Parliamentary and Muni-
cipal Franchises, and the condition of Local Government.
Colonel Colthurst dwelt on the growing distress in various
parts of Ireland, and recommended a relaxation of the con-
ditions of outdoor relief.

Mr. M'Carthy also impressed on the Government that the
distress was increasing, and that serious danger was im-
pending unless it were averted by a generous effort.

-
Colonel Colthurst, Mr. M'Carthy, and Mr. C. Russell urged
upon the Government the necessity ot further remedial
measures for Ireland.
- - - -

Sir J. Hay ridiculed the idea of doing any good by legisla-
tion for a population always on the verge of famine, and
maintained that the cheapest thing the Government could
do was to hire 250 transports and send away once a month a
thousand persons in each of the ships, and if this was done
for one year they would send away three millions of persons,
and the condition of Ireland would thereby be greatly
benefited. (Laughter.) He said, truly and sincerely, that he
believed that was a process by which Ireland could be re-
duced to a population and a condition with which they could
have contentment and happiness. In the course of his
further remarks, the hon. baronet said he believed that the
best thing for Ireland would be that at the next dissolution
the writs should be suspended for that country, except for
the learned constituency of Dublin University ; and, were
that done, and the course which he had indicated strictly
followed, they would in ten years have a contented and
prosperous country. (Hear, hear.) There was no legislation
that could govern a country of paupers who were determined
to be absolutely discontented.
Mr. Trevelyan, in replying to Mr. Russell, declined alto-
gether to mix up crime and redress of grievances, but as-
sured him that the Government had ready several Bills for
Ireland—a Union Rating Bill, for instance, a Lunatic Bill, a
Registration Bill, a Sunday Closing Bill, and Sea Coast
Fisheries Bill. Dealing with the representations as to the dis-
tress, he said this was a subject which had given the Govern-
ment even greater uneasiness than the assassination plots. De-
scribing the results of his visit to the West, he said there
could be no doubt that the population were passing through
a crisis. The holdings were too small, the land was losing
Its productiveness though overwork, the facilities for
going into debt had disappeared, and the people's re-
sources were disappearing. If left to themselves, the people
would be willing to accept the only remedy of emigra-
tion. Was it right, he asked, that the taxpayayers of
England and Scotland should be made to contribute to
keep up a state of things and a system which could lead to
no permanent relief? In reply to Colonel Colthurst, he went
at length into the statistics of the last famine and of the
present crisis to justify the refusal of the Government to
relax the conditions of outdoor relief and its determination
to deal with distress according to the existing law.

Dlr. Gibson, while admitting the existence of distress in
several parts of Ireland, laid the responsibility of meeting it
on the Government. But he held, also, that a judicious ap-
plication of the Poor Law might be advantageously supple-
mented by a sympathetic system of emigration such as
that promoted by Mr. Take for the benefit of the smaller
holders.
Mr. O'Connor Power maintained that no grants had been
made for the relief of recent distress in Ireland from the
B!iiiala Exchequer, and in the course of some discursive
remarks on the mole of meeting the distress, he dwelt em-
phatically on the benefits of emigration.
Mr. Rathbone described the progress of Mr. Tuke's emi-
gration scheme, and the debate was again adjourned on the
motion of Mr. Molloy.