The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-22 00:00:00

EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND.

Mr HENNESSY moved the following resolution :
" That this house observes with regret that the agricultural
population of Ireland are rapidly leaving the country; and
that this house trusts that her Majesty's Government %yid
direct their attention to the subject, with a view of devising
some means by which the Irish agricultural population may
be induced to devote their capital and labour to reproductive
employment at home." He referred to the great extent of
the emigration from Ireland, which was at this moment, he
said, greater than at any period during the last ten years;
to the rapid diminution of the population; to certain theo-
ries as to the effects of this decline of the population, and to
the actual results, in land going out of cultivation, the re-
duction of wages, and the increase of pauperism; and he
showed the quality and inducements of the emigrants and
their condition in the places to which they emigrated. He
suggested that the Government had the choice of three
courses for meeting the evil,—namely, legislative measures
that would restore concord between landlord and tenant at
Ireland ; the employment of public money in public and re-
productive works; and, lastly, the reclamation of waste
lands.

Sir R. PEEL, after adverting to the difficulty of properly
appreciating the causes of the depressed condition of Ireland,
observed that there had been a wonderful revival, and pro-
ceeded to reply to Mr Hennessy upon the two main points
of his motion, namely, emigration and the condition of the
agricultural population. With regard to emigration from
Ireland, Mr Hennessy's statement, he said, was not strictly
e)rrect, and he gave correct details of its extent, which had
recently diminished. There was no doubt, he acknow-
ledged, that there was a great desire on the part of land-
lords in Ireland to facilitate the emigration of the redun-
dant population on their estates, and he showed that emi-
gration had been regarded by Parliamentary committees as
a relief of the mass of destitution and superabundant labour
by reducing the number of those who consumed more than
they produced. As regarded the other point, the state of
agriculture in Ireland, and the statement of Mr Hennessy
that land was going out of cultivation, he observed that
though there had been a decrease in cereals, there had been
an immense increase in the quantity of land under cultiva•
tion, especially in flax; and with reference to his sugges-
tions, he remarked that an immense quantity of waste land
had been reclaimed, and that he did not believe there re-
mained more than 3,500,000 acres of reclaimable land in the
island. In conclusion, he showed that there had been a
remarkable development of the trade of Ireland ; that its
capital had increased, that its tillage had improved, that
impulse had been given to its industry, and that all this
was owing to the innate energy of the great bulk of the
people.

Mr MAGUIRE complimented Sir R. Peal upon the
tone and temper of his speech. He observed that till the
land question was settled, and the tenant was secured a
compensation for unexhausted improvements, there never
could be prosperity in Ireland. Pass a Landlord and
Ten ant Law, give the farmer security, and the rush of
emigration, which showed there was something wrong,
would be checked.

Mr MONSELL considered that the Irish landed proptie •
tors were interested in stopping emigration; that if it con-
tinued at its present rate it would lead to disastrous results.
The question, difficult as it was, ought to be faced, and ha
suggested measures that would, in his opinion, mitigate the
evil.

Sir P. O'BRTEN agreed that the subject of emigration
was connected with the land question, which required a
settlement in the interest of the landlords of Ireland.
After some remarks by Mr MAttox,
Lord ATHLUMNEY adverted to the encouragement
given to emigration in 1847 and succeeding years, to the
immense sums sent from America to invite emigration, and
to the little that had been done at home to detain the emi-
grants there, observing that with so many inducements to
go, and so few to tempt them to stay, emigration could not
be stopped. What was wanted in Ireland was a state of
security, and the manifestation towards the people of a