The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-11 00:00:00

------- sear to regulate the relations 17 etteeen landlord and
teretat. These Bills were not inte.nd ed to put down ea-i-
-t/4ton in Ireland, but were only r :wino, to be talked of
there, and made the means of keel iinte up a sort of mock
'popularity—a purpose that now wesof no avail. It
was not for Irish or independent Members to frame for
the lane-officers of the Crown a Bill to meet exigencies
which they had over and over again admitted to exist.
It was said that the Hon. Memoerae Bill proposed to
compel Irish landlords to let their la nds at a fixed rate.
They who asserted this had not read the Bill and made
themselves masters of its details. The Bill really only
gave compensation to temente' for improvements, which
tenaats in England would be en tit led to claim. He
Would ask the Howe if the letting value of tee hold-
ings were increased by the tenant's ci ',past or exertions,
whether it was just or equitable that tenants should be
dispossessed of their holdings without the chance of
gaining a shilling compensation for that outlay of capi-
tal and that exertion which had been. made. It was only
IA cases where the letting value 'was increased that
compensation was to be given; and %hat made the Bill
identical with the Bills introduced ihems time to time by
Government. If irritation existed on the subject, it
was from neglect or the introduction of such a measure
as his Hon. Friend the Member for .Rochdale had intro-
duced. Tne late Sir R. Peel had introduced a Bill for
that purpose, but it did not allay discontent, because it
did not meet the evil nor go far enough. If Sir R. Peel's
Government neglected their duty it this respect, tha
Present Government had more than neglected their
duty, for they had faltered with the question—had al-
'lowed it to drop to the ground, and now assailed those
who came forward to advocate the questiou. No one
abhorred crane iu Ireland more than fe, did, and he be-
lieved the law, if properly adminiseered in Ireland, was
sufficient to repress crime. But ho would tell the Noble
Lord, no law and no nasasure would be sufficient to re-
Press crime, if everything was made a waiter of party
enactment. and every person, high and low, placed in
office merely for party objects.—(llear.) Way had not
the Right Lion. Gsutleman the Secretary fur Ireland
addressed the House on the subject? Why did he not
state his opinions on this question? Why
.did he hold
back? Wny did he not manfully come forward and
state hie deliberate opinions, and let the people of Ire-
land know what they had to expect from her Majesty's
Government on this subject?
Mr. BRIGHT had no specific for this difficult ques-
tion, as assumed by the Hon. Meinber for Middlesex.
He had, however, given a good deal of attention to the
subject, and had spent some time in Ireland, obtaining
practical information from all classes on the subject. He
bad termed an opinion on the subject, end had endea-
voured to embody his opinion in a tew clauses in a Bill
which the Noble Lord had examined, l'he dill did nut
Meet with the general approbation of Iri-h Members or
de Irish people, so he had taken no step towards intro-
ucing the Bill to the House. He was glad to see the
Bill ot the Hon. 'efember for Rochdale had been brought
forward, though for some of its clauses he could not vote.
Re believed, however, the Bill mignt be made of use to
Ireland during its progress through the House. The
Ile °hie Lord had made a very ingenious speech in order
a° get out of thu difficulty of his position. Tne Bill al-
luded to by the Noble Lord formerly not having been
adopted because not sufficiently satisfactory, had met
With this misfortune because the clauses were so complex
:and the machinery so complicated that no one could say
:)r expect that the Noble Lord's Bill would have been of
the slighteat use for the purpose for whicn it was brought
forward. It wes no ace ch3guisieg the fact that in the Ce-
binet there were large Irish proprietors, tied it was easy
"to understand why largo Irish proprietors should be
alarmed at a Bill such as that introduced by the Hon.
auember for Rochdale. They did not like the powers to be
interfered with which a landowners' Parliament for cen-
turies had made law. The question was, were cats the
Pr°Per legislators for mice ? The law as it stood
tve the landlord the power of taking possession of all
Iheeijrn3Pr"ents
made by tenants at the expiration of
tenancy, without giving compensation. He would
iu_o.t consent to any Bill, or clause of a Bill, which vio-
lated the principles of political economy. But the law
has_ it stood violated those principles, and that was way
le wished the law to be altered. A comparison of Scot-
tiud and Ireland was not to the purpose, for of 1,100
Witnesses the Devon Commission had examined, the
ITb/omission could only make out that about 20 landlords
BPent money on the improvement of their property.
they did
in Ireland sprang from the same causes now as
dense,
did 70 years ago, and it
.was the decree of Provi-
b uee, so long as the population of a country were de-
larred from all the interest in the soil by legal and legis-
atti"e chicanery, that such crimes as prevailed in Ireland
6 °tlld be committed and exist, as a warning and a
to"ucon to the upholders of injustice. He should be glad
I,.,.°llPPort any measure that would settle this question,
he believed there was no question which affected the
People
of England more intimately than the settlement
the relations of landlord and tenant in Ireland.
44
a,r• WHITE ADE said if the Hon. Member for Man-
ster had in three weeks discovered a remedy for the
Bcta ot Ireland, he had eclipsed the fame of either
or Lycurgus.—(Laughter.) He confessed that it
in'ta tot the fortune of all to he blest with the power of
tzitive leei it If the Hon. Gentleman meant to
1(1)% that Irish alard.lords generally were merciless and
whiehsors, he would, as the representative of a county in
tenant-right prevailed, repel the slander, and
assert that lenalorde were merciful and considerate to-
ho,p`
atas their tenants.—(Hear.) He admitted that the
glad to it stood, required alteration, and he would be
had a-I,sec the law altered judiciously. Hots. Members
brit';'d why he and other Irish Members did not
the '"4° Bill on the subject? lie asked, why should
bn-tY. do this? The law was cumbrous: and perpleaa d.
It was not true that the Members on his sitie of the
These had not attempted to correct 'he existing evils.
attl: Noble Lord sate this was a diffisult subject, but
it", that a reason why Government should snriek from
atc_ Were they only to deal with simple and easy
heattons? Where were the law officers of the
roar, e
"‘ True it was that to condense a largo nu-
rof sat utes into a few good and practical lawms
o
tdd be a work of labour and value, but not a
et'ziVill4r work ; but he frankly confss3ed he did not
kip:et such a valuable labour from the present
eistraa Ho certainly did think the Noble Lord
aetgtat to have done something towards effecting a final
lernent of this great question. But he feared this
tesai°°
like the last, was doomed to pass away in mere
,"ntless discussion. It would, however. have redounded
17°N3 to the Noble Lord's credit had he brought for
alaPr4utinal measure, rather than, as he had done,
foraa"d before the House a measure of speculative re-
last, The great question must, however, be settled at
nee a and then, and not till then, might they expect to
haestthat luminous measure of the Hon. Member for Man-
g•`49 er recorded in the statute book.
AGLIONBY said the difficulty of the subject was ,leatly increased by the turn the discussion had taken.
hilt eon tone imported into the debate had merged into party
spemePersonal attacks. The Hon. Member for Athlonea,
tor had
appeared to him to have in view a party triumph;
at °at' the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) by his speech
tiu bid cleared up the difficulty which surrounded the
th:;8:441- It was the duty of all who wished well to
Wh: country to meet together and to agree upon that
itailoh would conduce to the general benefit. Let them
tizet ,t4te the ccurse of the Members for Sootlaed, who
co„, cigether, and by each conceding something, had
thomeLttived to get through their public business with much
st ' 'to their country. Ile should give his best atten-
atuO tip the Bill, although he had no great hope of its
ecoaa%
xr)4/.. LENNARD thought the Hon. and Learned
-saah
whe er for Athlone had not put the question fairly,
11 he asked whether a tenant ought not to be coin-
thno‘sah_ed. for improvements wade by him. He admitted
waa if the improvements were made under the eyes and
tiUdtitloe oonsent of the landlord, the tenant eould be en-
compensation. Such was the practice in this
eoc, Tat •But if he understood the principle of the Bill
liked,rlast
aynedar, the tenant WEtS to make what repairs he
e qtureisntnin.of compensation was to be de-
cided by thes.
species of injustice That, in his opinion, was a
property almost amounting ce—an encroachment on the rights of
vinegbto confiscation. He thought
such a Bill ought to h
(IREienA.ticen;rrhotunr.n
had been
nt
resisted at its first stage;
but as the Governmentindividual, must acquiesce undni,Pr"d it,
he, an humble
Principle of the measure. protest against the
Leave was then given to bring in the •
CHARITABLE BEQUESTS
motion of Ma KEOGEI, thoeffAolploriwi:D-I::4:9aatiaonlitc::
On the
Zia rdered:—Copies of the re pert of John
sq q•C , bearing date the 10th day
I:thra'aessed.to the Commissioners for i7harit.tible
the pecuniary ."`
'bequests, Ireland, upon
to that ',nee between
department; and of all correspondence defalcations
tnin Commissioners and the Treasury upon that subject,
the minutes of the several meetings of the Board of
Charitable Donations and Bequests relating thereto.
RAILWAYS (IRELAND).
ttikr• M'CULLAGH moved for leave to bring in a
ll to enable grand juries in Ireland to make prr,eent-
sienta be aid of railways in certain cases. He believed
e Government had
no intention of opposing the meii,;
hilre at its present stage. In the course of lest session
iatlulterous deputation of gentlemen connected with Re-
v tiu waited on the Noble Lord at the head of the Go-
at-grant on the subject of railways, and received an as-
ob""e from the Nubia Lord that he' had no objection to
r'ider the question raised by them. Acts had been
in hoed for a great number of lines for short distances
dike'4lll.l, but unless some stimulus were given, it was
4 r 'lt to say when they would be carried out. A ge-
fietatil to
prevailed in the districts likely to he bens-
ho' h these lines, in favour of contributing " toytheir completion, and the Bill which hshad to
le tae would confer such a power. He proposed that
OF "lain districts the grand jury should have the power
tioh".Ying a rate—a maximum being fixed—on the taxa-
So 1„1 counties and burghs, and that when the rate was
th,'vled by the grand jury, it should be in the power of
papaoParticular railway company to assign that rate to
raiseallB who advanct the money required to be
the -a*
apUe hoped he should be able ho show that
any ileebbssarY amount would be obtained without
vta; Plication to Government. Every Irish Member
404 cognizant of the mode in which post roads had
to Mad •o in that country, and his object was to apply
cohlch of the Act which related to these roads to the
tetaPw'etion of railroads. Ho proposed that before any
eesa au made that an estimate should be obtained by the
Leta
naPataohYi which had obtainer an Act of Parliament for
he eat of the railroad, and that a certificate should
Ray t tuned from the Board of Works that the estimate
the eleasonable and regular. He did not propose that
latlllt %%rd. should otherwise interfere in the transaction.
prof to
would bo lodged with the clerk of the
era° or the countyofficer jury might thou
ocata , and the grand
th e
t. make the rate. Instead, however, of making
04,::°,11 les and burghs liable for the whole sum at
:hhsth,she preposed that the grand jury should have the
at'ek of dietributieg it over
that,
the - a period of ten
C"'l'allY should transfer a eeretie
aymber ot Sharns LE) rillStetS
4ithiv?hich means the public "reP"aeLLingilis' rat'
_ are interest would be protected,
at stimulus would be given to a branch of in-